The famous Amaseikumor Festival has ended in Oporoza, headquarters of Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta climaxed on Saturday with the public outing of the sacred Amaseikumor masquerade.
The grand finale attracted a huge crowd of people from all walks of like to the riverside community, as the people exhibited their hospitality attributes.
Events started at about noon when the spokesman and Fiyewei of Gbaramatu Kingdom, Chief Godspower Gbenekama, delivered the welcome address, which he attributed the recent positive development of the Gbaramatu Kingdom to Tantita Security Services Limited, a company engaged in the security of oil and gas pipelines in the Niger Delta.
He berated people who had made it a point of duty to undermine Tantita despite being material benefits of the company. He however expressed delight that the National Assembly a few days ago gave the company a clean bill of health.
Saturday’s ceremony was dominated by cultural dances and displays with the arrival of the Amaseikumor masquerade as the highpoint of the event.
Goodwill messages came from Delta State Government, the National Assembly and other organisations, which hailed the sustenance of the Amaseikumor Festival as one way of promoting the culture and tradition of the people.
The Deputy Governor of Delta State, Hon. Monday Onyeme, who said Amaseikumor Festival was a display of culture, unity and resilience. “I am happy to be part of this. I am proud to be Gbaramatu by association. We will work together to sustain this,” he said.
The representative of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, said 40 members of the House of Representatives were at the ceremony to identify with the people, and expressed the regrets of the Speaker for his inability to attend the festival.
A former President of Ijaw Youth Congress, Mr. Udengs Eradiri, said he was happy to identify with Amaseikumor Festival because it validates the culture of Ijaw people.
He said the festival can add to the economic value of Gbaramatu community, and urged the world to come and support the festival. Eradiri praised one of the promoters of the festival, High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, for his commitment to the festival and development of Gbaramatu Kingdom, Ijaw nation and the entire Niger Delta.
About 70 traditional rulers from the Niger Delta, the Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programmes, Dr. Dennis Otuaro, speakers of Edo, Ondo and Delta States were among celebrities and dignitaries that attended the event.
A highpoint of Saturday’s event was an award presented to Tantita Security Services Limited by the Delta State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists for its outstanding performance in safeguarding critical national infrastructure in oil and gas .
Amaseikumor Festival was a long week of activities beginning from Monday, April 6 with celebrations of the deities of Ijaw nation like Gbaraun Egbesu, Ibolomobo-ere and Izonibe.
The festival which was presided over by the Pere of Gbaramatu HRM Akatepe Agadagba, was a traditional cleansing festival, which involved all members of Gbaramatu Clan. Indigenes and visitors alike wore white apparels during the ceremonies and celebrations to signify the purity that the festival represented.
There were also sports competitions and medical outreaches during the one week period. It is an annual festival.
