The birthday celebration of Comrade Pedro Tuwayerin Bekenawei, the former chairman of Kokodiagbene community in Gbaramatu Kingdom, started much earlier than he had anticipated at his Effurun residence on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. Infact, Don Pedro, as he is fondly called, went to bed the previous night in the absence of any expectations of a surprise early morning birthday visit from his folks.

However, as early as 6am, members of the Richard Bekenawei Dynasty along with some of the in-laws of the family throng the residence of the celebrant with a trumpeter, humming the evergreen "Happy Birthday to you" classic song, guiding the singers as they sang the duet.

The celebrant, still in his night gown, wandered from his bedroom as the surprised visitors made their way through the gate to the sitting room. He wondered in excitement who they were as he had not been pre-informed about this current development.

As the celebrant appeared in the sitting room, he was taken aback by the familiar faces he saw, faces of his own family members. His heart melted in that instance and erupted with joy. If anything, they had succeeded in pulling a surprise stint at him. He had marked several birthdays but it was nothing like this, he thought to himself.

The surprised visitors unpacked their gifts including a framed photo and a throw-pillow among others. They then sealed their presentation with a beautiful Birthday cake which they unwrapped and placed on the table before the celebrant, their beloved brother who they also referred to as "leader."

They hugged him and danced before him in company of his beautiful wife, Mrs. Christy Bekenawei as well as his children. They took photos with him, the star of the moment, and offered their Birthday wishes to him.

Speaking to PENGlobal Social, a sister of the celebrant, Mrs Ebiere Samtebe, in company of her husband, Mr. Peter Samtebe, said the surprised Birthday showers is to demonstrate their love and to express their appreciation for the celebrant.

"If you fail to celebrate your own, people will not celebrate with you. We decided to surprise him in the sense that he has been a good brother to us his sisters and to his in-laws. And also because of the love we have for him and because God has kept him to complete another year with no bad news, but in good health, strength, and with his family intact," she said.

On their wishes for the celebrant, she said, "The message we have for him is that he's from our family, he's from the community. Let him continue to do the good work as a leader; let him stand by his word; his 'Yes' should be 'Yes', his 'No' should be 'No'. Then let him be straightforward, paying attention to people."

For the celebrant, he could not help but imagined what a way to begin his day in celebration of his birthday. The expression on his face was one of joy and at the same time unspoken appreciation. There is no telling that he was enjoying the fanfare.

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