…As Rivers NUJ Pays Condolence Visit
As the clock ticks closer to the final journey of the late Oba of Ogbaland, Eze Chukumela Nnam Obi II on Friday, August 13, 2021, residents of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area are bracing up for the final and critical burial rites which begins on Monday, August 9, 2021.
A statement from the Palace Media Officer, Prince Charles Amadike and corroborated by the office of the Traditional Prime Minister and Eze Iyasara of Ogbaland, Eze Louis Ajie directed that effective from Tuesday, August 10, 2021, all burial ceremonies in Ogbaland shall be put on hold pending the Oba’s interment on Friday, August 13, 2021.
He explained that as a mark of honour for the late Ogba monarch, no burial is expected to hold in all towns and villages in Ogba Kingdom, until all activities marking the 16 days burial rites of Oba Chukumela Nnam Obi II are concluded.
Prince Amadike also added that all major markets in ONELGA would remain shut on the day of the Oba’s interment being Friday, August 13, 2021.
Meanwhile, a delegation of members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Rivers State Council led by Chairman, Stanley Job Stanley, on Saturday paid a condolence visit to the family of late Oba of Ogbaland, Chukumela Nnam Obi II at his Palace in Omoku, headquarters of ONELGA, ahead of the burial of the late monarch who died March 20, 2021.
This comes less than two weeks after a similar visit was made by the State branch of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), an arm of the NUJ, to commiserate with the people of Ogbaland over the demise of the monarch, a renown grand patron of the media body.
Receiving the journalists, the late monarch’s successor, His Eminence, the Oba of Ogbaland, Dr. (Barr.) Nwachuku Nnam Obi III cautioned the leadership of the NUJ not to communize the body, but should rather hold in high esteemed the core values, objectives, missions and visions which the union represent.
The new Ogba King stressed that when integrity is in place there is no limit to how far one can go in life, adding that the Stanley Job Stanley-led NUJ in Rivers State should strive for greater heights.
Oba Nnam Obi III expressed the hope that the Rivers’ NUJ Chairman would not only grow from being “a member, Secretary and Chairman of the union”, but, according to him, would someday, become the National President of the body, if he upheld the tenets of the profession.
The Oba revealed some of the burial arrangements to include: A Valedictory Speech on August 11; Service of Songs, August 12 with the burial scheduled for August 13. He further disclosed that Traditional Burial Rites would hold August 14 – August 20, 2021, urging members of the NUJ to participate in their numbers as according to him, the occasion would afford the union an opportunity to witness what it is to give an Oba a befitting burial.
Earlier in his speech, State Chairman of NUJ, Comrade Stanley Job Stanley congratulated the new Oba on his ascendance to the throne and urged him to toe the footsteps of his late father whose pedigree spoke volume in the annals of kingship of the Ogba kingdom.
Comrade Stanley recalled that NUJ, Rivers State Council had a good relationship with the late Oba, pointing out that as Grand Patron of NUJ, he had severally assisted the union and contributed towards the growth and development of NUJ in Rivers State and beyond.
While urging Oba Nwachuku Nnam Obi III and the entire people of Ogbaland to take heart and bear the irreparable loss, the NUJ Chairman prayed for the success of the new Oba and enjoined him to take solace in the fact that Oba Chukumela Nnam Obi II left his footprint in gold.
He assured the royal family that he would communicate NUJ National to join the State Council during the burial of the Oba.
