Like Obasanjo, Gbajabiamila, Akpabio kneel before Olu of Warri

  Like Obasanjo, Gbajabiamila, Akpabio kneel before Olu of Warri

House of Representatives Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila; and Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, over the weekend visited His Royal Majesty Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III and knelt before the newly coronated 37-year-old monarch.

While Gbajabiamila, 59, paid his homage on Sunday, the former Akwa Ibom State Governor, 58, visited the throne for royal blessings earlier on Saturday.

Photos shared on their official Facebook pages show the two politicians acknowledging the seat of young Utieyinoritsetsola Emiko.

“Had the privilege of leading a delegation of the House of Representatives to visit and congratulate HRH. Tsola Emiko, Ogiame Atuwatse III on his ascension to the throne. May His reign be long, peaceful and prosperous,” the speaker captioned the photos.

“On Saturday, I was in Warri, Delta State, on a courtesy visit to the palace of the newly installed Olu of Warri, His Royal Majesty Eriko Ogiame Atuwase III, to congratulate him for the success and peaceful ascension to the throne of his forebears and to solicit his support for the programs of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs in the region and the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“I also prayed for a successful and peaceful tenure for the King and asked him to continue to preach and practice peace, love and unity in his kingdom,” the minister captioned his photos.

The two politicians visited the serial entrepreneur a week after former President Olusegun Obasanjo knelt before him.

 

Obasanjo, 84, last Sunday, travelled to the ancient Iwere Kingdom, which is the ancestral home of the Itsekiri in the Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State, to pay homage to the new monarch.

Obasanjo’s spokesman, Kehinde Akinyemi, had told The PUNCH that his principal did not kneel before the monarch but before the ancient Iwere Kingdom, which dates back to over five centuries.

Obasanjo was Nigeria’s democratically elected President between 1999 and 2007. He was also former Nigerian military head of state between February 1976 and October 1979.

Apart from Obasanjo, ex-President Goodluck Jonathan; Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, were amongst the politicians who had also visited the Olu of Warri since his coronation last weekend but online photos did not show the politicians kneeling before the young king.

Kneeling and prostrating publicly before traditional seats are no strange acts to the Nigerian political class wont to genuflecting before popular religious leaders, especially in the build-up to elections.

The new Atuwatse III is the son of the 19th Olu Atuwatse II, Godwin Toritseju Emiko and Gladys Durorike Emiko.

Born on April 2, 1984, the new Olu, a descendant of Olu Akengbuwa, studied both in Nigeria and overseas.

He is the founder of Noble Nigeria Ltd. and Coral Curator Ltd. He is also the Chairman of Ocean Marine Security Ltd. and Director, Gulf of Guinea Ltd. and Vessel link Big. Ltd, amongst others.

The husband to Ivie Uhunoma Emiko, daughter of popular Edo billionaire business mogul, late Idahosa Okunbo, is a father of three children.

According to history, it is the first time in over two centuries when the eldest son of an Olu ascend the throne with his mother still alive and well to witness him sit on the throne.

In his opening speech after his investiture as the newly-installed Olu of Warri, the monarch had revisited the past and reversed an age-long curse placed on Nigeria by his grandfather, Olu Erejuwa II, as a result of alleged injustice meted out to him.