2nd Coronation Anniversary Speech By His Majesty Ògíamẹ̀ Atúwàtse III, CFR - The Olú of Warri

2nd Coronation Anniversary Speech to the Ìtsẹ̀kírì Nation by His Royal Majesty Ògíamẹ̀ Atúwàtse III, CFR - The Olú of Warri on Monday 21st August 2023.

Aghan otomi de de. Mo ki’aghan. Mo fe b’aghan fo.

As we continue to build Iwereland, the land of the Ìtsẹ̀kírìs...

We must begin by giving thanks to God Almighty for His faithfulness and enduring mercies, without Him, none of us would be here today. 

We thank every member of the Warri Council of Chiefs under the able leadership of the Ologbotsere (Atabrata).

We thank every member of the Ginuwa Ruling House, and we acknowledge your unflinching and unwavering support. 

And finally, to the best sons and daughters any King can wish for, our Itsekiri-the-beautiful! Ene d’okpe!

Two years (odon meji!) is a short time in our lives and the life of Iwereland, but as your King appointed by God, two years on the throne has brought one thing home to us… 

It is far easier to destroy, pull, and tear down; it is harder to build! But we must build Iwereland, we must build our communities, we must build our children, we must join hands and build Nigeria.

Who no like beta tin? To get beta tin we must work hard, and as your King, we are ready to work for you and dis na open invitation to all Ìtsẹ̀kírìs at home and abroad - make una come join us to build Iwereland. 

Let us build Iwereland! Let us make Iwereland better because together, we attain greater heights.

We will lead by example. By the grace of God, we have just completed our new house in Warri. By the grace of God, we will start the renovation of this great palace, and upon completion, we will proceed to reconstruct the Ode Itsekiri palace, and as we have said in the past, we will go to the river proper and build more palaces, build our capacities and develop our infrastructure to bring us closer to you. Om’Iwere, do as I do! Go and build in your communities.

The land waits for us to drop our excuses and take positive action. And as we do, we will be established, and we will be blessed. 

Building and speak positively to our identity. We have spent too long falsely accepting and believing that we are no better than our current circumstances, we can do better, so Om’Iwere de de, be reminded, we are special and unique people!

As we continue to build Iwereland, we must also build, elevate and celebrate one another, It is time to return to our original identity; the identity that creates, elevates and celebrates one another, - please note - you cannot become what you do not celebrate.

We will start this by celebrating excellence in our youth and education. In this season of conferment of chieftaincy titles, not everyone can become a chief in Warri kingdom; but everyone who achieves excellence will celebrated, everyone who has achieved something worth celebrating will be honoured by this palace. According to Nelson Mandela - “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.” 

Today we will celebrate Master Eworitsewarami Wilbert for scoring nine A1 grades in WASC and a JAMB score of 344, may God bless Eworitsewarami.

Starting now, this palace is open to receiving our own who have excelled in their various fields. And we will return to being a pioneering people that have always excelled. 

The Iwere Masterplan is in progress, and a vital component of the masterplan is using the PIA to our advantage as we develop the areas that produce oil in Iwereland, and link these areas to those that do not have oil. Under our watch, we will not encourage taking resources from one place to develop another, but we must be our brothers’ keepers. We authorised a transparent process to manage the PIA, and we shall be coming to your various communities to engage with you on how we can get the best for Iwereland.

Odon meji, two years, odon meji, two years... the Itsekiri nation prays; we are a praying people; even with our differences, our prayers have kept us UNITED as a people - ONE 

KING! ONE LANGUAGE! INDIVISIBLE! Just like your prayers have held us together, from this throne goes forth ALL the blessings the throne can muster from the bossom of the all-sufficient God to each and every Itsekiri son and daughter, every person in Warri Kingdom, every person in Delta State and every Nigerian. You are blessed.

Ni bar’oritse Itsekiri wa ren no gwa.

Aja mo kian aghan.

Second Coronation Anniversary Program 2023

The grand entrance of Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III & OloriAtuwatseiii