All over the Globe, no security or community with people of different socio-cultural backgrounds and political ideologies can be said to be conflict-free. At one time or the other, every society is subject to minor or major internal or external conflicts and the emergence of such conflicts are never used as a perimeter for assessing the capability or otherwise of a leadership. Rather, what is usually considered as a plus or minus for the leadership is the ability to effectively manage the conflicts and the utilization of their outcome to evolve in order.
One of the philosophers of old, Mary Packer Follet stated that conflicts, from an organization point of view, are inevitable describing them as the appearance of differences in opinions and interest. According to Follet, any organization (for the purpose of this article, any community) that does not experience conflicts sometimes is only sitting on a keg of gunpowder and when it eventually explodes, it will be disastrous.
One decided to treat this topic because of the controversies which the three foremost chieftaincy titles in Itsekiri traditional hierarchy, especially the Ologbotsere, have generated and have lingered on for some months now, assuring a new dimension by the day. The other two which, though seem less controversial, are by Iyatsere and Uwangue which were also part of the reasons for the protection by Itsekiri people on July 25, 2017. Various interest groups, including the Itsekiri leaders of thought, Alpha May Club, Ugbajo Oma-Aja and Itsekiri National Youths Council also wrote position papers and newspaper advertorials rejecting the candidature of Chief Ayiri Emami (Ologbotsere), Chief Johnson Atserunleghe (Iyatsere) and Mr. Gabriel Awala (Uwangue) with emphasis on the Ologbotsere. Their main reason was that the candidate for the exalted position of the number two man in Itsekiri nation was not display enough maturity and integrity going by the precedence already set by the last two holders of the title, Chief Jonathan Omayone Mayuku (1955 – 1982) and Chief Ogbemi Newe Rewane (1985 – 1982). After a prolonged meeting with leaders of the Itsekiri National Youth Council and other interested groups, which lasted till about 10:pm on July 25, 2017, the Olu, Ogiame Ikenwoli, as a listening father, was said to have suspended the controversial list with a promise to revert the matter to the families concerned to submit fresh list within three months.
A few days later, something happened which, probably many people did not consider weighty. The Olu was reported by a section of the news media to have said that his decision should not be misconstrued to mean that he had disqualified any candidate. All eyes were on October ending when the three month deadline would have expired, but behold, on Friday 20th October, 2017, the social media was mandated with the breaking news that Waasi Kingdom now has now has new Ologbotsere, Iyatsere and Uwangue in the persons of the same three candidates that were earlier rejected. The magnitude of the tension that followed is better imagined than perceived. Since then, there have been a series of newspaper publications by different Itsekiri groups calling on government and security agents to intervene to avoid a state of anarchy and intra-tribal disturbances in Itsekiriland.
An aspect of the whole episode that looks flimsy is that while the Iyatsere and Uwangue have since October 28, 2017 eight days after returning their scimitar (Uda), the Ologbotsere, as the time of writing, is yet to do so. Having given a summary of the background information of what has transpired so far, it is important for us to understand that every reign, like every regime, must come with its peculiarities for history to develop and not be stagnant. The Itsekiri adage “Kpi umale Kpi esan iyo” explains it well. Going down memory lane, Olu Erejuwa II (1951-1987) introduced female Chieftaincy title holders in the Kingdom. He also introduced the conferment of Chieftaincy titles on non Itsekiris and members of the royal family including his eldest daughter, Princess Jemine. He also appointed his son, Prince Godwin Toritseyi Emiko who later became Atuwatse II an honourary member of the Warri Traditional Council. By their initiative which he made in the exercise of these prerogatives he created a niche for himself in the history of Itsekiri.
Similarly, Atuwatse II (1987 – 2015), among other things, will go down in history as the first Olu to install a chaplain (Okpanran Oritse) for Iwereland and made him a member of the Warri Council of Chiefs. For the present monarch, Ogiame Ikenwoli, within the first two years of his reign, the Itsekiri nation has celebrated the conferment of about thirty-five years of Erejuwa II nor the twenty-eight years of Atuwatse II witnessed such a bumper harvest of Chieftaincy titles. This also is a record which will remain in history unbroken for a very long time.
The controversies generated notwithstanding, Ogiame Ikenwoli decision to fill the three vacant key positions which are indispensable in the running of the system. The title of Ologbotsere was created by Olu Omagboye (1709 – 1730) who made him replace Iyatsere as prime minister after the same had been created in Benin by Oba Akenzua I in 1713. This important title became vacant about six months after the coronation of Atuwatse II on may 2, 1987 with the death of Chief O.N. Rewane. Iyatsere, the third in the Itsekiri hierarchy, became vacant with the death of Chief G.E Mabiaku on August 21, 2015, exactly two weeks before the demise of Ogiame Atuwatse II on September 4, 2015. Uwangue, the fourth in the hierarchy, had been vacant following the death of Chief Bernard Edema Otuedon-Okome in 2014, a period many considered long enough for Atuwatse II to have installed a successor before his demise. One of the consequences of allowing the three first class titles to remain vacant for so long was seen in the constitution of the last Olu Advisory Council (Ojoye Isan) of the seven members, only Ojomo and Otsodin were legitimately qualified. When Ogiame Ikenwoli announced at his maiden meeting with Itsekiris on January 14, 2016 that he would waste no time in filling the vacancies, it was received with loud ovation. He actually worked his talk when he initiated the process which is the genesis of the on-going controversies, especially as it concerns the Ologbotsere.
There is no gain-saying that the Itsekiri nation has experienced both minor and major controversies over traditional titles in the past; some were between contending candidates while others involved the whole nation. But what baffled our neighbours was that the more they occurred the stronger our unity. For instance, Chief Hope Harriman, the Sobaloju of Ife and Chief Isaac O. Jemide went to court over the Otsodin of Warri title which Erejuwa II conferred on the latter. The case was terminated by the death of Chief Harriman in 2012. Also Chief J.O. Egboro and Chief B.J.A Uku were in court over the title Osula of Warri and the case persisted until they both died at different times.
The first major conflict recorded was in 1795 when Olu Erejuwa I died. The powerful Princess Udorolusan popularly called Iye, with the connivance of some prominent Itsekiri leaders, including Uwankun, placed the crown on the head of Prince Eyolusan as Ikengbuwa without the used coronation rites. The heir to the throne, Prince Erefoluwa who had performed the Iken Ijala rites and was waiting to be presented to the Itsekiri general assembly as the next Olu, was so grieved that he relocated from Ode-Itsekiri to settle permanently in Ureju, his maternal home place with two other princes, Ugberan and Desor who were among those loyal to him. The enormity of the division caused within the royal family and the entire Itsekiri nation was so grave that two rival groups, Bailo and Todonmirenre sprang up within the royal family during the eighty-eight years interregnum. But when the time came for a new Olu to be installed in 1963, all about the old wound was forgotten and all spoke in one voice to crown prince Emiko Kebuwa as Ginuwa II.
The second major conflict was when Ginuwa II joined his ancestors on January 8, 1949. His eldest son and heir to the throne, Prince Akpede performed all the rites that were required to qualify him for the throne. But unlike the 1795 experience that was shrouded in secrecy, a group of Itsekiri leaders nominated Prince Wilson Gbesimi Emiko as their candidate for the throne. This resulted in the emergence of two rival groups of Itsekiri leaders, Moje group led by Chief E. Boyo which supported Gbesimi Emiko and Meeje led by Chief Arthur Prest and later by Chief F.M. Ikomi stood behind Akpede Emiko. The tussle lasted two years before Gbesimi Emiko was eventually crowned on March 24, 1951 as Erejuwa II. Although there was no immediate reaction by the Akpede’s Meege group, the seed of discord sown within the royal family made it easy for the same royal family to produce a replacement when those who possessed political powers at that time deposed Erejuwa II and installed Moju Igbene as Ikengbuwa II in 1965.
But when later many of those who supported the deposition realized that it was a sacrilege, everybody was involved in the agitation for the rein-statement of the deposed Erejuwa II and when it eventually happened in 1966, the jubilation that greeted it knew no bounds.
I have delved into some of the past events to remind Itsekiris that no matter how ugly the situation, none has been allowed to tear us apart. According to the late Itsekiri elder statesman, Pa J.O.S. Ayomike, it is only in a community of fools that everybody concurs to an issue. In conclusion therefore, let us understand and appreciate the truth that opposition or diversity of opinion is an ingredient of an ideal society.
