Colourful Pictures From My Uncle's Chieftaincy Ceremony

My Uncle James Odoro Oghoghomeh has just been conferred with the traditional chieftaincy title of Ejomafume I(the first) of Okpe kingdom.

He is my Uncle from my Mom's side of the family. We are from the indigenous Okpe tribe of the larger Urhobo speaking people in the Niger-Delta region of southern Nigeria.

My Uncle is a middle high school teacher in the United States of America and he lives in Florida. He is 69 years old and will be due for retirement in a few months time. He plans to retire home to Nigeria his place of birth in Okpe Kingdom despite being an American citizen for the past 47 years.

It is a norm for our people in Okpe Kingdom to embrace a life infused with traditional core values of our cultural heritage as they grow older. We tend to make a shift from the burrowed Western culture brought about by decades of influence by the Western colonial leaders of West Africa back to our own ancestral culture and tradition.

One way most elderly Okpe people do this is to seek a chieftaincy in the court of the Orodje(King) of Okpe where they can serve as custodians of Okpe culture and tradition.

Becoming a chief of Okpe kingdom is not an easy achievement since it comes with strict scrutiny on the applicants background with regards to his genealogy, to ascertain that he truly belongs to the Okpe tribe, his knowledge of Okpe culture and folklore is also tested. He is also expected to be a "perfect gentleman" with no criminal records. He is expected to be responsibly and happily married with children. Okpe chiefs are forbidden from preparing their own meals by themselves.

After the above checks and more which I cannot state to keep my post short and interesting have been carried out on the applicant he (or she, married and responsible women too are entitled to Okpe chieftaincy) are given tasks to perform, and fees and commitments are extracted from the applicants. It is actually not an inexpensive affair since no less than $7,000 equivalent in Nigeria Naira might be spent on the whole affair from buying of paraphernalia, a bull and ram to entertainment and feeding of invited guests to the applicant's chieftaincy ceremony.

After the conferment of chieftaincy title, the newly installed traditional chief is given a list of does and don't amongst which some are:

1. He is not expected to drink beer or any alcoholic beverage in a public bar frequented by commoners.

2. He is not expected to be found running away from the rain no matter how heavy the downpour were he to suddenly find himself in the rain without an umbrella.

3. He is not to eat his meal served to him in a party in the public view except he is in company of other traditional chiefs of his calibre.

4. He must never go into the kitchen to prepare his meals himself.

5. He must never be found climbing a ladder to unscrew or fix a light bulb or caught cleaning ceiling fans.

6. He must pay his annual dues of N600,000($850) in every month of December and pay homage to the Orodje of Okpe with two rams, ten tubers of yam and five bunches of unripe plantains(cooking bananas)

7. He must never be caught in a fight nor exchange insulting words in a quarrel.

8. He must always make peace between two quarrelling tribes people where he happens to be the only or senior chief present.

The above are just few amongst dozens of rules and regulations binding an Okpe chief to his oath of office and if caught transgressing any of such his chieftaincy can be revoked on judgement by the Orodje bringing great dishonour on the erring chief.

Because of the financial implications of taking a chieftaincy in Okpe Kingdom many people have mistaken it to be a thing only for the rich but in truth it's actually an affair for the responsible and determined. Please find below other pictures I took from the chieftaincy ceremony.

My Uncle in a shot with his friend, an older female chief he invited to his chieftaincy ceremony

My Uncle taking a bow to public cheering after conferment by the Orodje

A shot of a male chief to the far left and Palace Maids with the Orodje of Okpe in the background in bright red sandwiched by palace guards. Felix Mujakperuo, Orhue the First, Orodje of Okpe kingdom.

Pardon the fact I couldn't get a close up of the king, movement is restricted in his palace.

My Uncle saluting senior palace chiefs and the Orodje again pictured in bright red in the background on his throne.

My Uncle leaving the Orodje's presence.

I do hope you enjoyed my pictures from my Uncle's Chieftaincy Ceremony. Bye until next time as I wish you all a Merry Christmas.