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Why I Bowed Before 37-year-old Olu of Warri – Obasanjo
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, has explained why his boss knelt before His Royal Majesty Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III.
Utieyinoritsetsola Emiko, a 37-year-old serial entrepreneur, was crowned the 21st Olu of Warri on Saturday and immediately assumed the title of Ogiame Atuwatse III.
According to Akinyemi, Obasanjo, 84, paid homage to the new monarch on Sunday morning at the ancient Iwere Kingdom, which is the ancestral home of the Itsekiri in the Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State.
Obasanjo’s aide spoke in a conversation with The PUNCH on Sunday afternoon, following a viral photo of the elderly ex-President paying homage to the young monarch.
Akinyemi referred to his boss as the “Baba (Father) of Africa,” capable of paying respect to all exalted traditional seats.
He claimed that Obasanjo kneeled before the ancient Iwere Kingdom, which dates back over five centuries, rather than the monarch.
“He (Obasanjo) went to Warri this morning (Sunday) to pay homage to the new king,” a source said. It is a traditional institution; he (Ogiame Atuwatse III) is not the one who sits on the throne, but the institution is.
“Obasanjo is the Baba of Africa, and he can pay homage to every exalted traditional seat.”
“It wasn’t Baba’s first time; he also prostrated before Gbagura,” the aide continued.
In August 2019, the former President, who is also the Jagunmolu of Egbaland, attended Oba Saburee Bakre’s coronation as the Agura of Gbagura in Ago-Oka, Abeokuta, Ogun State, where he also paid homage to the then-new king.
Obasanjo, unquestionably one of Africa’s most illustrious global citizens, served as Nigeria’s democratically elected President from 1999 to 2007.
Between February 1976 and October 1979, the former Nigerian military head of state served on numerous peace committees, including the United Nations, African Union, and Economic Community of West African States, and was instrumental in the restoration of peace in many parts of Africa, including Liberia, Sudan, and Ethiopia, among others.
Godwin Toritseju Emiko and Gladys Durorike Emiko, the 19th Olu Atuwatse II, are the parents of the new Atuwatse III.
The new Olu, a descendant of Olu Akengbuwa, was born on April 2, 1984, and studied both in Nigeria and abroad.
Noble Nigeria Ltd. and Coral Curator Ltd. are his companies. He is also the Chairman of Ocean Marine Security Ltd., as well as a Director of Gulf of Guinea Ltd. and Vessel Link Big. Ltd.
He is the father of three children with Ivie Uhunoma Emiko, the daughter of late Edo billionaire business mogul Idahosa Okunbo.
According to history, this would be the first time in over two centuries that an Olu’s eldest son would ascend the throne while his mother was still alive to witness it.
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