7TH CORONATION ANNIVERSARY: CONVERSATION WITH THE PERE OF KABOWEI

7th Coronation Anniversary: Floods, bad roads biggest challenges of my kingdom — Pere of Kabowei Kingdom

By Emma Amaize, Regional Editor, South-South & Akpokona Omafuaire 

The Pere (traditional ruler) of Kabowei Kingdom, bestriding Ijaw communities in Delta and Bayelsa States, HRM  Shedrack Erebulu, Aduo III, marks his seventh coronation anniversary today, October 19.

The respected monarch and lawyer spoke to Saturday Vanguard at his palace in Patani, the traditional headquarters of the kingdom in Patani Local Government Area, Delta State, on his seven years on the throne, the obstacles and how he is tackling them, what being a monarch has deprived him, how he and his subjects survived the 2022 flood disaster that submerged the monarchy and lots more. Excerpts:

Did you nurse some fears when the mantle fell on you, did your father prepare you for it, and at what age did you take over?

For fears, I must say that as a young man, I nurtured fears. I was scared down to the day of my crowning and coronation; I was worried. I was nurtured by my father, not expressly nurtured as to the fact that you were going to take over from me, but I was an obedient son to my dad, so in a way, he helped in guiding me.

But after his departure and my emergence, I started reading the lines to know this man was preparing me for this, but not as if I was told growing up or at birth that this was what I would be. Even at my father’s passing, he never mentioned anything about that to me. So, when the news came,  I was worried and nervous but I took it in good faith, and overtime flashing back to my relationship with him, and how he helped to guide me in my lifestyle, helped in guiding my growing up, I realized that he was working on me for the stool.

When I was crowned in August 2016, I was about 29 years old because I became 30 on the throne. It is seven years now, the feeling is different now. But at that time, coming in just as a young practicing lawyer, moving away from the legal profession and the dreams of building a legal empire to now coming back home, and running traditional affairs and matters, it was devastating for a person. I did not envisage that for myself at that time but fate starred me in the face and I realized it was my destiny.

 I had no option but to adapt as much as I could. Leaving the law practice, you know when you are a lawyer, you will never stop being a lawyer. The legal profession has helped me to do things at the right time, make decisions I need to, and resolve crises, communal, and between families.

Being a lawyer was the best decision I made before becoming a King. Knowledge of the law has helped me make the right decisions for my kingdom. Yes, I am still in the legal profession but not practicing as a full-time lawyer.

What have been your difficulties in mobilizing your people, especially the affluent ones, and the government, for the development of your kingdom in the last seven years?

First, you know the kingdom is in two different states, part of the kingdom is in Delta State, and the other part is in Bayelsa State. The headquarters is in Delta State, so the seat of power is in Delta State. Therefore, mobilizing the politicians and affluent persons in our place has been very challenging. Before this time, our people did not have this loyalty to the home front, they were more of their interest than communal interest.

So, over the seven years, I have been trying to engender their interest in home development and how we can develop our communities as a people. I must also commend my people for these past seven years, their interest has increased, many moves have been made, and the politicians are now more interested in seeing that our communities are developed. The technocrats also bring their wealth of experience to see we develop our people and draw the government’s attention.

Yes, it is not easy to get them on board but the past few years have shown that we have come to appreciate the need to be more patriotic to our roots, and to be more patriotic to our kingdom and communities.  Therefore, moves have been made, we are creating some developmental bodies that have not been in existence before now and are moving drastically as a pressure group on the government in both states to see how they can attract development, and also call on international agencies on areas that they can assist our people.

What is the major problem of the Kabowei kingdom at the moment?

 Our major challenge is flooding. All the Kabowei communities are located along the river bank, and we are along the stretch of the river. When there is flooding, we are usually hit very deep because the river overflows and water takes over all our communities. I think that is our major challenge, but thanks be to God that after the 2022 flood disaster, we have not experienced that level of flooding again.

We do not expect a flood this year.  Secondly, some of our communities are not yet accessible by road and you know how it is with water transportation. It is expensive and dangerous. Accessing some Kabowei communities by road is still a challenge and we are appealing to the government to see how they can link these communities, two in Delta and three in Bayelsa State that are not yet motorable, that is a problem for our people.

My palace fence is beside the river, and I can stay by it and catch fish, which is how close it is. It is our home and we do not have another. Therefore, when a flood happens, we seek refuge in camps. This is what we have been able to identify, we have created some higher grounds camps where we can run to when there is flooding.

We plead that the federal government creates a permanent solution to flooding rather than moving out and returning during floods, as it affects schools and everything in our locality.

In the 2022 flooding, my palace was submerged and I was navigating through in a canoe, I used a canoe to move within the palace, and we had to set up our property to a high level. There was an apartment built in case of flooding, it was built very high, and that was my only refuge. I stayed there and navigated the palace with the canoe. Getting food was difficult because we had to use a boat to bring food from the Ughelli and Warri axis as the East-West road was cut off.

Food was expensive, there was no light during that period, and people lived like the early men,  but it was our ancestral home and we had no option. It was devastating and terrible because we had reptiles on the water and battled with snakes at various intervals. It was an experience anyway, but not one I wish to experience again.

What has life taught you?

My most treasured life lesson is that I see life as acting as a script written by the Almighty. You do not know the next chapter but you are performing a script. You could be down today, and tomorrow you are high up there. In the same way, you could be all high up, and the next thing you are down, but you keep acting that same script.

That has taught me to take things as they come, to take life as it comes, knowing fully well that there is hope. I learned to trust the scriptwriter that whatever is happening now, there is still a brighter end at the end of the day. That has been one lesson that life has taught me and I take life as it comes.

I only tell people to take it as it comes. That you are faced with challenges today does not mean that things will not get better. In the same way, you might be enjoying life today and tomorrow things might go down. But do not give up, trust the process, and the One who wrote the script that we are all acting.

What were the things you did as a young man that you can no longer do today as a monarch?

As a young man, you have freedom of association. You can go out, sit with friends, attend functions, and live your life. Now, becoming a monarch, you have another lifestyle. This order is not a regime that would approve of you being who you are supposed to be. I was used to being all out for friends and family, but now, I am restricted.

I cannot easily attend a wedding ceremony, and for burials, I am prohibited from burials. I cannot be seen in public too much. The list is long, it is not something that I can mention. So, for a young man, every lifestyle you like to live,  I can tell you for free that the direct opposite of it is what you live as a monarch. You automatically live the lifestyle of an elder, that is the basic example.

For every activity, be it fun and games, there are restrictions to all as a monarch, especially for my Kabowei kingdom, we have a lot of restrictions because of the uniqueness of our tradition. As a monarch and the head of the kingdom, I am to abide by all, I cannot start listing all,  but I cannot just go out. I cannot hang out with friends, and I cannot travel for too long, a whole lot of it. You cannot eat in public, you cannot party and you cannot dance in public.

As a lawyer, what did you miss most since becoming a monarch?

I miss my hours in court, yes, I miss standing before the judge and addressing the court. That is basically what I miss. I still dream of when I could travel somewhere very far and announce my appearance in court. I asked my chiefs about the possibility, but they told me I could not bow before anyone. And I will need to bow before the judge in court. This is where the restriction is, but honestly, I miss my time in the courtroom. As we speak, I still miss that, I feel I should find a way but I cannot. (Long laughter).

Culled: Vanguard News