By Fred Itua, Abuja
In November, the long burial ceremony of the longest-serving monarch in the history of Rivers State, King TJT Princewill, Amanyanabo of Kalabari Kingdom kicked off. The colourful event had about 33 towns and villages fully participating in the burial process.
The late king who was a former chairman of the State Council of Traditional Rulers, was buried on November 29 and November 30, 2023, at Buguma City, headquarters of Asari-Toru local government area.
The funeral, beyond the cultural and historic significance, offered a veritable platform for prominent leaders of the Ijaw ethnic group to converge and unite. Governors, ministers and other top government functionaries, drawn from the various parts of the country, participated.
Chairman of the Central Working Committee (CWC) for the burial and only child of the late monarch, Prince Tonye Princewill, had said some of the activities would include novelty football matches, environmental sanitation, and cultural displays, among others.
According to the chief mourner, the burial of the late monarch was the first pan-Kalabari funeral in the history of the kingdom, because all the towns and villages that make up the kingdom participated. Princewill revealed that the late king had during his lifetime handed over the Kalabari Kingdom to God before his death.
He said: “King Amachree handed over the Kalabari Kingdom to God before his death. That was during the visit of Pastor Enoch Adeboye to Buguma. This is a big burial; the whole world is coming for this burial.”
Critical stakeholders in the Kalabari Kingdom in Rivers State were not left out. During the ceremony, they called on the kings and chiefs in the kingdom to use the burial of the late Amanyanabo of Kalabari Kingdom, King Professor Princewill, to unite the people of the area.
The stakeholders made the call during a public lecture as part of the month-long activities lined up for the burial of the late king, which was held at the King Amachree Memorial Hall, Buguma City, in Asari-Toru local Government Area of the state.
Delivering the lecture titled: “Identity Constructs and Social Formations: Their Implications for The Unity in The Evolution Of Kalabari History,” Professor Waibinte Wariboko, stated that the competing identities of Bakana, Buguma and Abonnema communities, led to the disappearance of the Elem-Kalabari identity.
Wariboko said: “Before the migration from the city state of Elem-Kalabari, the competing identities of Bakana, Buguma and Abonnema never existed. So, there was no Bakana man, there was no Buguma man and there was no Abonnema man.
“Have we asked ourselves this question? At what point did we become self-identifying as an Abonnema man against being a Kalabari man? At what point, with my growing up experience, was it not more proper for me to say that I am a Kalabari man than an Abonnema man? At what point did I become an Abonnema man than a Kalabari man? These questions are for all of you here.
“How do you self-identify and what conditions make you self-identify in the way you do? If you answer this question, more of the problems we are talking about can be easily resolved.
“Admittedly, these competing identities called Abonnema, Bakana and Buguma, have contributed to the growth and development of Kalabari speaking group, generally speaking per say. But, equally admittedly, it has also exacerbated the frontline of divisibility among the Kalabari people because it jettisoned the Elem-Kalabari identity.”
In his remarks, the Regent of Kalabari Kingdom, Chief Charles Numbere, said there was the need for kings and chiefs in Kalabari to unite and foster the needed Kalabari agenda.
Numbere said: “The good news is that from the lecture delivered, we have a solution, it is not a panacea, but we have seen the way to go. One is that the old canoe house is dead. That is what I have found very difficult to accept. But today, I am convinced and you should be convinced that our main problem was that we were tied to the canoe house system.
“The canoe house system is dead and the onus is that Professor, in trying to go our ways, we are further divided. When you go to Abonnema, they are divided, if you go to Buguma, it is divided. So, if we don’t hurriedly come together again, we will find that every house will bring a builder.
“Our son, Professor Wariboko has told us, since the fish starts getting rotten from the head, the problem with those of us who are kings and those of us who are chiefs, you come here and try to impose your ideas on the people; it can’t work. You cannot do it now because there is freedom. I think it is incumbent on us the leaders of today to unite and foster a Kalabari agenda.”
Accolades for the late monarch were not left out. Ijaw leaders under the auspices of Ijaw National Congress (INC), during the ceremony, praised the leadership attributes of the late Amanyanabo of the Kalabari Kingdom.
Specifically, they described the late king and former member of the Council of Ijaw Traditional Rulers and Elders as a rare and an inspiration to Ijaws worldwide.
President of the INC Worldwide, Prof. Benjamin Ogale Okaba, who was represented by the Chairman of Eastern Zone of INC, King Nla Iraron, Ede Obolo II, who led a five-man delegation, lauded the late monarch.
He said: “The late King was not just a father but a pioneer pillar of INC and a father to many Ijaw sons and daughters.”
According to him, it is the responsibility of Ijaw National Congress Worldwide to fully participate in the burial process of the Ijaw monarch. In his response, the chief mourner and Prince of Kalabari Kingdom, Princewill thanked the INC worldwide for finding time to pay the condolence visit to him and by extension the entire Kalabari People.
Princewill further asked the congress to continue to pursue people centered-policies focused on lifting Ijaw people and others up in society. He said this is what the king would have wanted and that their formal participation would bring him joy.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan extolled the virtues of the deceased in a letter he personally signed and addressed to the only child of the late monarch, Prince Princewill.
Jonathan who was a student of the late monarch at the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, said he was a blessing to the Ijaw nation when he was alive.
Jonathan wrote: “On behalf of my family, I condole with the Princewill family and entire Kalabari kingdom as your beloved father, patriarch and Amayanabo of the Kalabari kingdom, His Serene Majesty, King Prof. Theophilus Jacob Tom Princewill, JP, CFR. Amachree XI is laid to rest.
“His Majesty lived an incredibly active and exemplary life as an academic and first-class traditional ruler. He was a gift and a tremendous blessing to the Ijaw nation. He will be fondly remembered for his contribution to national development throughout his career in the academia where he occupied several strategic positions in which he excelled.
“His achievements earned him a place in the history of our great country and the award of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) in 2011.
“We hope that your family and the entire Kalabari kingdom will take solace in the fact that he committed his time to serving God, promoting peace and development in the society. His legacies should be preserved by all those who knew and loved him. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all as he is laid to rest. May his soul rest in God’s eternal peace.”
Nigeria’s former First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, on her part, pointed out that as an Ijaw daughter of Okrika extraction, the Kalabari monarch was not just a king, but also her father and a father to all sons and daughters of the Ijaw nation. She prayed for peace, unity, love and progress in the Ijaw nation and Nigeria at large.
President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, said: “I was tutored in Port-Harcourt, I am from the Niger Delta region and as a former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, I can tell you, this king was unique.”
He said he knew the Kalabaris well, noting that a man of the king’s pedigree was worthy of a befitting burial.
The Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III described the passing of the King of Kalabari Kingdom as a great loss that has left behind a huge gap and very big shoes to fill.
The Warri monarch said that although he was not close to the king, he was quite proud of the very good things he had heard and promised to send some delegation to give the Kalabari King a befitting farewell.
Elder statesman and former Minister in the First Republic, Chief Edwin Clark described the demise as a great loss to the academic community, the Ijaw nation and to Nigeria in general.
The Ijaw leader prayed to God to grant the family of the deceased monarch and the Ijaw nation the fortitude to bear the loss. He further seized the opportunity to call for unity in Ijaw land.
Prince Princewill in his remarks after the funeral said: “I’m glad that I was able to give my father, the late king a befitting burial. It was a huge success and I didn’t achieve this alone. The entire Ijaw Nation participated and various monarchs and leaders were active.
“He was a good monarch who protected the kingdom and preserved the rich culture of the Ijaw Nation. The burial ceremony was an avenue for many Ijaw sons and daughters to unite and I’m glad that we achieved that.”