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Pomp as Otaru of Igarra marks 20 years on throne

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Published by The Guardian newspaper on October 22, 2017
By Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu, Benin City
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It has been weeks of celebration in Igarra, headquarters of Akoko-Edo local government area of Edo State, as paramount ruler of the community, HRH, Oba Adeche Saiki II celebrated his 20 years on his forefathers’ throne last week.

The coronation anniversary came on the heels of the once-in-six-years Aba festival, which attracted over two million tourists to the hilly town of Igarra. The Aba festival is recognised as the sixth most indigenous festival in West Africa.

Oba Saiki II is the 21st Otaru of Igarra beginning from the 1st Otaru, Ariwo Ovejijo. Paramount rulers from neighbouring communities and other areas of the state, as well as politicians, members of the academia and private sector also added colour to the ceremony.

The Otaru used the occasion to draw government’s attention to areas needing development in the community, even as he commended current rehabilitation and construction of roads in the community.

He lamented that several past development policies for the area were abandoned by successive governments after Professor Ambrose Alli of defunct Bendel State, who he said, split Akoko-Edo local government area into three, which was gazetted and established a school of Industrial Technology, which never saw the light of the day.

He said: “I would have celebrated my 20 years on the throne on September 20, few days after Aba Festival celebrations. I ascended this throne on September 20, 1997. But because of Aba ceremony, I had to shift it to this day. By God’s grace and Igarra people’s support since I ascended the throne, I thanked God Almighty.

He has always been on my side. And if you were from Igarra, between then and now, you would have noticed that there have been tremendous peace and security, which have been reigning supreme in every part of Igarra. I thank the Lord for that, because it is not by my making. It is the making of the Almighty God. And He deserves to be praised for it and the wonders He has been doing through that rare opportunity.

“Twenty years on the throne, and Igarra is developing. But for now, we may consider it a slow development. And all we can say is that we should be patient. We have enough mineral resources in Igarra that anybody can come and explore. And I want to use this opportunity to appeal passionately to Edo State government to make use of the mineral resources that we have for the world to see. We have more than enough. I believe if government can develop it, certainly Igarra will develop faster than we expect.

“For instance, our roads are bad, though we appreciate the efforts being put in place. Government should come and help us, because when we have good roads and potable water to drink, we won’t be bothered about accidents and recourse to medical attention. For instance, the old Ojirami Dam we had during Gowon’s regime, which was meant to serve the entire Edo North, is no longer functioning to maximum capacity. It cannot even serve the whole of Akoko Edo, not talk of other local government areas in Edo North. Government should look into this for people’s benefits and see how the dam can be revitalised for the good of all.”

Some of the dignitaries, including the Olokpe of Okpe, HRH Eshomokhai Idogu III, who is currently chairman of Akoko-Edo Traditional Council, lauded Oba Saiki’s achievements for the 20 years he has been on the throne.

The first and only female palace chief so far, the Aviogana of Igarra land, Chief (Mrs.) Juliana Aiyesanmi Gege, described the 20-year reign of Saiki II as highly rewarding.

She eulogised the Otaru after Oshinoyi Ariwo Ovejijo for the uncommon peace, progress and tranquility, which Igarra clan has been enjoying. Also, the current acting chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Professor James Momoh, said Oba Saiki has been very supportive of every developmental initiative in the community.

“Igarra has really been very peaceful and orderly,” he said. “The growth I see in Igarra within this short time is tremendous. The town’s sons and daughters are doing their best and coming home because there is security. I believe and think this is in the nature of this Otaru. There was a time we all wanted to come to Igarra, but were afraid somebody would come to disturb us. But the growth I see in Igarra in the last 20 years is great. Otaru has always encouraged us to come home. We have started coming and to God be the glory, we have not had any incidence. I have been in the US for almost 40 years. The challenges in Igarra are still there. We don’t have enough investments. We have not taken advantage of the mineral resources in the place. There is so much wastage. The roads are damaged. We must check our final product-the marble.”

“Secondly, we the Igarra people must also support one another. It shouldn’t be I am the only one doing it. We must show concern for one another. We don’t work together enough. The task is not for only one person. I shouldn’t be the only one doing the work. Rather, it should be, ‘if I bring an opportunity, Igarra people should support me with it.’ If everybody sees the project as his, certainly we will all benefit from it. I am challenging everybody. There is opportunity, and the only way out is for us to collectively joins hands together. I have a foundation here for young people. I am also trying to develop a university programme through the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA). It is very significant to the community and we need everybody to take to it greater heights. We also need government presence. Government would also help us, when you and I are trying to make life better and great.”

MY TOWN: Igarra Indigenes Adore Idakoriko Shrine, Says 21st Otaru of Igarra

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By Staff Writer
Published by Western Post on June 14, 2014
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His Royal Highness, Oba Emmanuel Deji Seriki II JP, is the 21st Otaru of Igarra in Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of Edo State. In this down-to heart interview with WESTERN POST, the Otaru of Igarra speaks about the town, its people, origin, neighbours and challenges of the average ‘Igarra man’. The traditional ruler also talks about the festivals and shrines in the ancient town. AGENE AKHERE brings here the full interview…

The Otaru title is the same as Oba in Yorubaland, I guess?
Of course, Yes, Otaru is the King of Igarra.

Let’s talk about Igarra.
I am aware and was told that the person who led our ancestors to this place is called Ariwo Ovejijo. He came around here in the 14th Century and getting here he met some people who were the Aborigines of this land and this people were known as Onafuas. TheseOnafuas, they are the aborigines and they have a king called Uno and when the first Otaru Ariwo Ovejijo came in, there was no crisis between the Igarra people that followed him down with the Onafua but it was the wish of the aborigines that they will surrender the land here to Ariwo Ovejijo. This was accepted but with some little sacrifice, which the king of Onafua, Uno, demanded and it was met by Ariwo Ovejijo the leader of Igarra that came. And after that the soil of this land was handed over to him around 14th Century.

Ariwo Ovejijo had five children, these five children were Andede, Eshinagada, Eshinogun, Eshinavaka and Andiba and after the demise of Ariwo Ovejijo, the kingship of this town now began to rotate among his children in other of seniority and that is what we are still doing up till now.

In the order of succession, what position are you?
I am the 21st Otaru of Igarra.

What is your relationship with the people?
To the best of my knowledge, Igarra and its neighbours have lived very peacefully. They lived together without quarrels and it will interest you to know that Igarra is the only ethnic group that is different from other languages in Akoko-Edo because we migrated from Idah now in Kogi State.

What is peculiar about the Igarra people apart from the language?
What is unique about Igarra that other villages have no clue into is that in Igarra, we have a system of running the administration of the town. We rule through the age groups, which are seven that other towns and villages don’t have in this local government. Each of the age groups all have their duties in the town. In Igarra, we are predominately farmers until very recently when some of our boys are migrating to look for white collar jobs. When I said we are farmers, I mean we grow first food crops and cash crops. Any good farmers must have yam plantation. We have yams.

What about festivals?
There is Ubete festival, which is peculiar to Igarra community. It is celebrated annually and the cause of the celebration is to thank God and that that was the day Igarra soil was handed over to Ariwo Ovejijo, the first traditional ruler of this town. And we still celebrate it. Here in the palace we have a portion of the soil given to Ariwo Ovejijo. Since that day we pray for the peace and tranquility of Igarra. We have so many festivals, there is also the Aba festival, which we celebrate once in seven years by the Igarra calendar but six years by the western calendar. It is a big ceremony in that it is the period that age groups are formed. The first one that will come up we call them the Opafuafu that is the manhood age group will spring up. The others who were before them will now move up gradually and that is how the system is run. And like I said each of this age group, they all have their respective duties in town.

How have you lived here all your life?
I was born and schooled in Igarra. I left Igarra in 1960 for Lagos. It was in Lagos where I worked at the University of Lagos that I was called upon to come and ascend the throne in 1997.

How was it growing up as a child in Igarra and what is the difference now?
Now it appears that things are getting shaped. In the past, we used to follow our fathers to the farm but nowadays most of our boys don’t do that. Some of them have gone into other trades. But we still have reasonable number of farmers still around.

Tell us about how the hills have served as security to the community.
It is true that when you are in Igarra you find rocks around. It was used by our forefathers as a security cover during those years of tribal wars. They used them as hideouts before they descended to settle in the mainland. We have so many caves. There were buildings inside that when you are inside you will not remember the open place like where we are now. So we use it as a security guide.

Any spiritual attachment?
We have many shrines that each family sacrifices to every other time. We have many shrines in the hills owned by different groups of families.

Who does the Igarra man worship?
In Igarra we have this shrine popularly called Idakoriko. It is a shrine that every Igarra indigene respects. And if you are going somewhere or looking for anything or you want to do something big, you will call on Idakoriko and pledge that he should help you achieve what you want and that after you may have secured that position or whatever you have asked for that you will come back and pay homage.

Any peculiar challenges of Igarra?
The major challenge that we have is that the roads are not too good. We have so many mineral resources that we are expecting investors to come and buy into. We have granite, gold and so many others that I can’t mention to you now.

What is the relationship between the throne and town unions?
In any other town or villages, we have unions of various associations. These associations we have in Igarra do come to inform the Otaru of their operation and they work in cooperation with the Otaru for the development of the town.

What is your take on the security challenges in Nigeria?
As regards to security problems that the country is going through, my candid opinion is that it looks more political otherwise the emergency rule that is placed on three states in the North-east should be total. Should be total in the sense that, all the civilian governors should be removed and sole administrators appointed there preferably retired military men so that the military can actually have control of the situation otherwise some politicians will still try to do other things negatively on the issue. Elections are coming next year and my advice will be that in these areas where emergency rule has been declared, they should avoid holding any elections there for now.

How do you assess Governor Adams Oshiomhole?
I must confess to you that the present administration headed by Governor Adams Oshiomhole is one of the best I have ever witnessed since I ascended the throne. He started well; he is trying to spread all over the place even though he has not given us 100 per cent of what we deserve in this local government. But I must confess that he is trying and he has promised that he is going to do a lot of things to open Igarra up and the entire local government. So I will give him a past mark.

Who are your neighbours?
We share boundary with some states. Akoko Edo has a boundary with Kogi and Ondo states.
In Igarra our immediate neighbours are Owan, Uneme-Nekhua, Egbigere and we have Okpe and Somorika.

Do you inter-marry?
Why not? You know in Nigeria you can marry from anywhere.