The gleaner-glimpser-glitterer is mounting wings of created words as he is counting upon his Oboghoro Happiness and Joyfulness in the current hour drawing him to the setting sun of his total and un-total attempt to give the leaderly leaders of the island town of beauty their quota of visibly good qualities.

The energised town and people were aglow in the spirit, in the beautiful and true spirit, of the Oboghoro festival which began with intense Christian religious activities a day before we arrived at Oboghoro in the almost late morning of wholesome Keatsian beauty. John Keats’s refined style when he inked “The Eve of St. Agnes” and his six Odes (dwelling on Psyche, Indolence, the Nightingale, the Grecian Urin, Melancholy, and Autumn) stimulated the gleaner-glimpser-glitterer’s imagination mounting on wings of gifted words and the quintessential rhetoric and lyrics of the immortal English poet’s romanticism.

Oboghoro deserves to be celebrated in Christian religious poetry that helps the natives, descendants and followers of infrastructural development leaders in the doctrines of the new post-colonial era. Divine assistance (drawn from William Wordsworth, William Blake, John Keats and Alfred Tennyson’s poetry) would help to extinguish all obstacles, uncertainties, doubts and mysteries relating to the important development vision, plans and goals already marked (out) for Oboghoro; the inspiring vision, plans and goals that will come to fruition are not manifestations of illusions but of authentic reality in the material sense.

The Barrister-at-Law who chaperoned me to Oboghoro and looked after me there – on our host-in-chief’s counsel – is very conversant with literature. He is a good student of John Keats whose Odes, especially the Grecian Urn, he recaptures from time to time. He would be delighted to know now that the glitterer would write a poem or a number of poems, Odes, on the religious psyche of the people.

The glitterer was stimulated partly by his own scrutiny of the situation. On learning that Prince Michael Diden, whose moniker is Ejele, has always been the acknowledged Pastor who preaches and advocates harmonious harmony among the people of Oboghoro and their neighbouring communities, the glitterer asked searching questions – that would enrich his would-be Odes on Oboghoro and the leaders.

Honourable Michael Diden, a Prince of Warri, is a notable Itsekiri politician and patriot deeply committed to the Itsekiri cause. He has always been a spirited pro-establishment person and lord – until recently perhaps. In some circles he is respected as a Pastor who has his own founded and funded church – Mega Praise Church of God, Sapele. But he is as at today anathenatised by the Itsekiri public for his political straits and opinions.

But he must be a genuine personage of God to be a constant, regular and familiar preacher at Oboghoro festivals. The people adored (and still adore) him as the gleaner could glean from the respect they accorded him throughout the time of the gleaner’s observation of events. Curiosity compelled him to search for the meaning of his Ejele moniker and public image. Google describes him as follows: “‘Ejele’ is associated with qualities such as being down to earth, accessible and a keeper of agreements”; “Ejele is considered a household name for someone with strong influence”; the name reflects “Political Resilience” and “Ejele” is described as a “courageous politician who, at times, acted against the desires of established leadership to support his allies”.

What is my impression of him in our brief encounter at the beautiful island town? He has joined the leaders of Oboghoro to mold their society and human relations. He has joined Dr. Godwin Ebosa and his team of thoughtful leaders to lift the veil from the hidden beauty of Oboghoro.

His prophetic whisper to me relating to the beautiful beauty coming to Warri Kingdom via Oboghoro is something I must keep in abeyance for now. I must say less of what was admitted into my knowledge. As we parted after our brief meeting, I remembered Pope Benedict XVI’s “Truth is not determined by a majority vote”. Ejele has his foibles, but in our treatment of him we must not lose sight of Pope Benedict XVI’s little but significant quote. The members of the government of development in Oboghoro in Warri’s Benin River believe in him as a true patriot relevant to the stimulating vision of the leaderly leaders. How will the glitterer capture him glitteringly in his envisaged Oboghoro poems for posterity?

The gleaner-glimpser-glitterer witnessed with glee the traditional dancing events that depicted in his opinion the classic definition of Oboghoro’s cultural melody, harmony and unity needed to mark the development efforts of the community’s leaders. In fact, the dancing events consisted of a cultural dancing competition among Itsekiris, Ilajes, Ijaws, Urhobos and other sundry ethnic nationalities who have been living together in Oboghoro of (the) Itsekiris in Warri’s Benin River for ages.

The dancing competition recaptured beautifully what has become a major touchstone of Oboghoro’s cultural, political and economic unity needed to always mold the environment and human relations everyone needs to enjoy, and to “stay humble, humane and continually preach peace and togetherness” – which is Oboghoro’s “symbol of strength”. Indeed, it is this “philosophy of togetherness” that the Oboghoro descendants of Prince Ijala “annually come together to showcase to the rest of the world that indeed [they] are one irrespective of [their] backgrounds – be it political persuasion, religious inclination, ethnic nationality or social status” as well spelt out in their 2025 festival brochure
Oboghoro people “are together in peace, together in progress”. Their development of these general ideas contains visions that are significantly of the everlasting truth of the human spirit.

Let the gleaner anchor for now on this note. Until he left the energised island of massive on-going development infrastructure, his mouth did not witness Benin River dishes. When he returns another time, he hopes that this phase and cycle will no longer be. Benin River that Itsekiris thrived in, in pre-colonial and colonial times and beyond up to Calabar cannot interrupt for whatever reason the provision of Benin River dishes for the people – indigenes and non-indigenes, visitors and non-visitors.

I shall return to see the new cycle and phase consisting, among other things, of Itsekiri sea dishes – in Oboghoro – the Dubai of Itsekiris and Shangai of the Niger Delta – where the melody of God’s Blessings plays in the consciousness of the people – creating a symphony of Joyfulness, Happiness and Harmony – in the spirit of Itse-kiri-ene.
Concluded.

Afejuku can be reached via 08055213059.