Former Federal Commissioner for Information and South-South leader, Chief Edwin Clark, said, yesterday, that the qualities of late Oba of Benin, His Majesty, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo Erediauwa, were unmatchable.
Oba of Benin, HRM Omo N’oba Erediuawa Clark, in a statement, described the late monarch as a humble gentleman, but with arresting royal carriage, adding that late Oba lived a life that could not be defined.
The elder statesman, who condoled with the Royal Court of the Benin Kingdom and entire Edo people on the passing of the revered monarch, said: “Oba Erediauwa maintained the integrity of the revered traditional institution of Edo people, as a trusted custodian of the values of one of the greatest kingdoms on earth.
“He was huge. He lived a life that cannot be defined in plain terms. In short, he set a standard for leadership and comportment.”
Noting that the late Oba succeeded him as Commissioner of Finance of the defunct Mid-West State, and later under the administration of late Brigadier Agbazika Innih, Clark recalled that the late king was a humble gentleman but with arresting royal carriage.
He recalled that he and the late Oba became personal friends when the deceased was Federal Permanent Secretary of Health.
He said after the late king took over from him as the Commissioner of Finance, they became closer. “We became closer as he consulted me from time to time, where he commended me and disclosed that he kept a dozier of all my speeches and statements in the newspapers and urged me not to relent in my crusades for a united Nigeria,”
Clark said. He also highlighted the relationship between the Binis and Itsekiri of Delta State, noting that the Peres, Ovie and Obis in Delta State traced some of their history to Benin.
He said: “I remember that my traditional ruler, Ngbilebri, Bigboghora, the second, paid traditional visit to the Oba of Benin in 1982 after he was crowned Pere of Ngbilebri Kingdom and a similar one by Pere Ngbilebri, the first to Benin in the 15th Century to receive the Oba of Benin’s blessing.
“During the period, he stayed at Ologbo, a Benin village, and while waiting to see the Oba, he married a wife and had two children, who later formed the nucleus of the Itsekiri community at Ologbo, of which the last Iyasere of Warri Kingdom, Chief Gabriel Mabiaku, originated.”
According to him, the late Oba of Benin had an enormous traditional power, because he was regarded as the father of all traditional rulers in the then Mid-West State. He said the transition of the Oba was not only a loss to Benin people but also to the old Mid-West Region, and indeed, the entire country.
Clark said: “At this time of his passage, I join millions of Nigerians in expressing the condolences of the Ijaws to the Crown Prince, his brothers and sisters, and the entire Benin Kingdom.
By his passing, Nigeria has lost a real and rare first class monarch.
“His Majesty, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo Erediauwa, has finished his job successfully.
He was a very definition of royalty, integrity and dignity.” He prayed that the Almighty God would bless the soul of the departed monarch.
(Vanguar)
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