The Fiyewei of the ancient Gbaramatu Kingdom in the Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State, High Chief Dr. Amb. Godspower T.D.A Gbenekama (JP), is well known for his vocal activism and as a traditional leader with a broad knowledge of his ancestral kingdom. In this subtle interview at the grand finale of the recent celebrated Amaseikumor Festival in Oporoza Town, headquarters of the kingdom, the High Chief bare his mind on the significance of the festival that is now on the global stage, dissuading the erroneous notion of it being fetish, and what the festival represents for the Gbaramatu people. Excerpts:

◼️A Festival of Grace

Amaseikumor, as the name connotes in our language, "Let there be peace, Let there be glory in the communities." That is what it connotes in our dialect. Now, Amaseikumor Festival is a festival of appeasement. It's a festival of youth. It's a festival of women. It's also a festival of grace. It's a festival of grace because only God is infallible. As humans, we could do some things that may not be culturally right, may not be right with our own self-being, may not be right universally, especially when it has to do with voodoo, witchcraft. 

There are things that are forbidden in this land. And once you do something that is forbidden in this land, we experience unnecessary sicknesses. If it's a corporate problem or a corporate fault, you'll see pestilence, diseases, and so on in the land. So, once such things have been identified individually or corporately, the corporates will come for prayers of appeasement. And once you have confessed to what you have done, the chief priest, the king of the land will now appease the gods for you. And once that is done, those sicknesses, especially that Western medicine couldn't solve, you will see that in a few days the person will be healthy. That is why I said it is also a celebration of grace.

◼️A Call to Service, Back to Base

Amaseikumor is significant to us because it is a call to service, a call back to base. As you can see.. there are some Gbaramatu [indigenes] that are living in Abuja, overseas and all that. Everybody has to participate—Christian, Muslim, every other religion—you come and participate. It is our culture. 

◼️Amaseikumor is not 'Voodooism'

Amaseikumor has nothing to do with Voodooism. Everybody participates. For instance, I'm a Christian, but I participate. I'm the spokesman of all the witches. I'm the spokesman of all the Christians. I'm the spokesman of all the Muslims and otherwise. I'm the spokesman of all the women, the girls, the boys and so on. So, Amaseikumor has nothing to do with secrets where some people cannot view or you cannot participate. It's like a church where everybody is allowed to enter in. In the church there are altars. So when the pastor sits in the altar, the uninitiated cannot approach the altar, but you are in the congregation because there is no secret. The only secret is that once you are not initiated, you cannot be in the altar, just like the extended religion.

◼️Mode of Transition and Sustenance

I was 23 [years] when I became a chief and I was introduced to the secrets, little secrets (every culture has its own secrets—the do's and don'ts). And I'm 62 now. So, I am an example of a young man that was groomed to take over from the elders. I'm now getting old too. Sometimes I say I'm 72 because my experience in this palace has been enormous. The younger generations are also following. 

For instance, this is my younger brother (points at Chief Matthew Pudie, the Woniwei of Gbaramatu Kingdom). He's been here close to 20 years too. You can't see him coming out openly. There are rules we give them while they understudy the older generation. Very soon, I will exit. Exiting doesn't mean I will die, but sometimes, when you are not agile enough to participate. For instance, I was supposed to go out with the king. I can't because I have a foot pain. So I can't. The younger generation will go with them. 

I was talking to them recently, how do you organize? The guy in the amnesty [Chief Dr. Dennis Otuaro] now said, "We have already taken care of that, all the kings have their seats and all that." We groom people to take over from them. In the podium, you will see me once in a while, maybe two minutes, and I'm off. He would take over and give direction to a younger person. That younger person would take over and then give direction to somebody else. That is the way the grooming is.

◼️No Vacuum in our Transition

As the Fiyewei, I'm not supposed to be the Fiyewei forever. I didn't start as a Fiyewei. I started as a community chief, from community chief to Benemowei. Right now, a younger man is now the Benemowei (Chief Engr. Kestin Pondi) while the Fiyewei (the spokesman) who was an elder, passed away. Three years before I took over, maybe three or four years before I took over (If an elder passes away, you don't just take over immediately. You are given some time for people to study you and see if you are good enough for the role).

So, our transition is such that there is no gap. There is no vacuum. We train the little ones. As you can see, people who can take over as a Fiyewei are among the younger generation. You saw someone who was just installed as the Pere Gbolu which means somebody who assists the king, like a deputy governor, ceremonial. But you need to have that kind of position. But it's an older person that is taking that role, older, by all ramifications. Nobody is senior to the king, but chronologically he's senior to the king, yet he is performing the role of a deputy to the king because it is ceremonial.

◼️Women Participation

Amaseikumor is not just a male-male thing, it is three festivals in one. You have the Amaseikumor, you have the Ibolomobo-ere (that is purely a women festival). The men will participate but women take the lead and they have a leader. So, if you look at our banners, even the wrappers, you'll see the Ibolomobo-ere, Amaseikumor, and then you also have Gbaraun Egbesu. These three festivals, Amaseikumor is at the head at the Pantheon. The second one is Gbaran Egbesu. The third one is the Ibolomobo-ere. So, women are also participants of both the Ibolomobo-ere, Amaseikumor, and Gbaran Egbesu. It's just that in Amaseikumor, men take the lead; in Gbaran Egbesu, men take the lead, but in the Ibolomobo-ere, women take the lead.

◼️Amaseikumor and Security 

A lot of people see us as different people. We are cannibals, we are difficult people. Some people will tell you, if you go there you won't return, we are not civilized. People that are not civilized will put up this kind of thing? This is not government structure. Most of the things you see here are self-help... So don't think that it is government that is doing all this. And let me also tell you, the mere fact that you are coming to Gbaramatu from Warri has guaranteed your security. If you get to the Warri waterfront and you say you're coming to Gbaramatu, everybody will maintain and make sure that your security is guaranteed. Should anything otherwise happen, we will go to any length to fish the culprit. So, everybody wants to maintain when it is a stranger that is coming to Gbaramatu.

◼️Amaseikumor is Private Sponsorship

If you are a government official and you are in politics, you should know that by every April you have a duty to Gbaramatu and that is the Amaseikumor Festival. Billions (of naira) go into this festival. And we can make bold to say that government does not assist. Every young man, young woman, chief, title, untitled, contributes. Some contributions could be as small as N5,000k (Five Thousand Naira) but you must contribute. Some contributions can run as much as a billion, you must contribute.

◼️Amaseikumor is our Culture

Everybody takes part. If you are not taking part, it is your business. I am a Christian. If I tell you my background, you will be surprised. I was a church teacher in the Anglican church for eight years and I was an ordinance, a trained priest in the college of Theology before I came back. Here am I, being the spokesman of this kingdom and also participating in this festival. If it is fetish, I won't participate because I have my belief system. It's not fetish, it's our culture, it's our cultural heritage. If you don't participate, it's your business. I believe that if I leave here, I will leave here with blessings—spiritually and physically, economically and academically, and otherwise.

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