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By Young E. Freeborn, Warri
Unenurhie community was once again thrown into dancing and singing as Henry Akpega Ogwa was recently conferred with the prestigious ‘Unugbedjor’ traditional chieftaincy title.
The event commenced as the custodian and chief priest of ‘Ohworhu,’ Olorogun (Pa) Samson Ughojor Abrucha, who is also the oldest man (Okpako’Orere) in Unenurhie community, conferred the title on Ogwa and declared him one of the ‘Ilorogun’ in the community.
“By the power vested on me as the chief priest and custodian of Ohworhu, I hereby confer on Mr. Henry Akpega Ogwa the title of Unugbedjor. Therefore, he should be known and addressed as Olorogun of Unenurhie community,” Olorogun Abrucha said.
When asked by our correspondent to speak on the importance of the traditional chieftaincy title, Unenurhie’s oldest man said, “First, the Unugbedjor is a traditional chieftaincy title of the Ohworhu cultural festival which we the Unenurhie people celebrate every year.
“Before the advent of Christianity or before Christianity spread to our land, the Ohworhu cultural festival was the central and focal point of our religious beliefs in the community. The time of the celebration of the Ohworhu cultural festival was the time that our ancestors and forebears were appeased with a certain kind of food. However, many of those cultural practices have changed as a result of Christianity. The Christians now called that cultural festival ‘Juju’. This is now making so many young people to run away from participating and taking part in the festival,” he said.
After the conferment, a reception was put together by the celebrant for some members of the ‘Unugbedjor’ traditional society. Addressing those present at the reception, a highly respected leader, the “assistant defence minister of Unenurhie community,” Olorogun Terry Jabin aka ‘Oviedjor’ told Unenurhie youths to always hold in high esteem the Unugbedjor traditional society and also the celebration of the Ohworhu cultural festival.
The young community leader however called on leaders of the community to add a bit of modernity, through the use of modern technology, to the cultural festival so as to make it presentable to cultural enthusiasts. The chief priest of ‘Ogehi’ deity ended his remarks with a ‘thank you’ to the celebrant.
The celebrant, Olorogun Henry Akpega Ogwa, however, thanked all the Ilorogun, his family members and friends that accompanied him to take the traditional chieftaincy title.
“Today, my joy is complete as I have attained this traditional status in my life. I’m a lover and dancer of Ohworhu cultural festival. I love to promote this cultural festival with all seriousness. I don’t want it to go into extinction. However, my advice to this community’s Christians is to accept the cultural festival as part of our culture. Any group of people without culture, such a group of people have lost their identity and they are worse than animals roaming in the forest. From the look of things here, we would lose our identity soon if Christians continue to call us idol worshippers by participating in the cultural festival. Let me at this time, thank all of you again for making today a reality in my life. I did this to promote and protect our culture from falling away.”
The reception ended with the presentation of cash gifts to the celebrant by his guests.
