By Jimitota Onoyume 

A cultural  Journalist with GbaramatuVoice, Asiayei Enaibo has lauded High Chief Government Ekpemupolo aka Tompolo and Ijaw monarchs for their celebration of this year’s African Liberation Day. 

A statement made available to newsmen reads : “‎As the world gathers together to celebrate African Liberation Day, one thing that has remained vital in the African world is the African identity — the language, the culture, the food, the dance, songs, performativity, orality and all the values that define African Liberation Day.

‎”‎Africans all over the world showcase their diversity of culture, beautiful activities, and colours that depict their ancestral homes and values. It is on this note that the Pere of the ancient Gbaramatu Kingdom, alongside other revered monarchs, travelled to Grenada to celebrate African Liberation Day — a day when Africans in their various kingdoms, communities, and diverse cultural roots celebrate oneness, pride, values, and the true essence of Africa.

‎”‎Yes, the reflected words of David Diop the African Poet comes to mind:

‎‎”Africa my Africa

‎Africa of proud warriors in ancestral Savannahs

‎Africa of whom my grandmother sings

‎On the banks of the distant river…”

‎”‎The unending strength and courage of African values and identity cannot be suppressed.

‎”‎Yes, Africans need a Liberation Day – a liberation where Africans will stand firm in practicing their beliefs, worship; a liberation where Africans will boldly pour libations to their ancestors in appreciation and reverence.

‎‎”These are the laws that shaped the existence of Aziza, Father Igologolo, the principles of Biniebi Amadinor, and the creed of Egbesu. Tompolo carried this as a divine message to his generation. The fundamentals of law are the natural laws that govern the seen and the unseen forces of nature within the auspices of the human circles of birth and death, ethics, values and customs of our belief, and the laws that define the uprightness of the development chain of human operation as universal elements. The birth of Tompolo is a divine law written in the book of Aziza to be in the human form of his current incarnation..” Enaibo.

‎”‎African Day celebration is beyond dance, it is a practical belief and faith. Our root must first be identified with the meaning of our consciousness, dignity and pride that Africa cannot be downgraded by social commentary of authors of white Supremacy. Our oral tradition is a systematic culture in our stages of evolution.

‎”African Liberation Day is a day of Tompolo, because Tompolo and the Agadagbas are the moving trains of African Liberation Day. They are the carriers of the footprints of our ancestors – our original roots. They talk about the African Day.

‎” ‎It is on this note that they have all travelled to Grenada to celebrate moments of value, heritage, identity, the voices of the Gods, the dances, the languages, and the food – all of which represent the true essence of African Liberation Day. Telling stories of the root we once lost but regained with full consciousness to reconnect with other Africans retracing their steps back home. Africans must come back home to their heritage and forget the borrowed and introduced culture of the western people.

‎”‎What stops us from doing our thanksgivings in our ancestral shrines? Only few are proud; others in shame move at night to the shrines that bless them and hide in the daytime. Africans must be proud of their roots and promote what they have.

‎”‎Yes, the Agadagbas are custodians of the great Egbesu deity joining others in faith while learning and promoting the ways of Africa. It is the trust, hope, self-awareness, and consciousness of a new Africa that continues to move African beliefs to the world. As one deep in African Oral literature and Osobor origin in Gbaramatu kingdom where the gods have blessed the land, Amaseikumor has blessed the people. The Pere is therefore a clear example to celebrate African day and my cultural chronicle in GbaramatuVoice is a testament to this tour.

“Amaseikumor, bears the Face of African identity in Ijaw land.

“The people of Gbaramatu Kingdom celebrate Amaseikumor, Gbaraun Egbesu Ibolomoboere, a sacred festival where people from different parts of the world gather every April to reflect on the spiritual and cultural union of their lives, the peace within the land, and the new development that comes through the worship of Amaseikumor.

“Yes, Amaseikumor is the face of African identity in Ijaw land. The festival attracts tourists, cultural enthusiasts, and worshippers who gather yearly to count their blessings after every celebration.

“Seek ye Amaseikumor, for good things should not go bad in our land. Let your lips testify to the purity of the heart you carry.

“Amaseikumor miebi-ama.”

‎”‎Agadagba the paramount ruler of the  ancient Gbaramatu Kingdom! Oboro Gbaraun 11! Aketekpe Agadagba Amatekpokiritegha! For he is the custodian of the pristine tradition of the Ijaw people in Gbaramatu Kingdom. Over the years, Agadagba and his subjects have demonstrated the African identity to the global world. 

‎”‎Agadagba represents the true image of the Ijaw beliefs in the collective preservation of our heritage lost and regained.

‎”‎Tompolo  and other ancient Agadagbas from the Ijaw kingdoms have stood firm preserving the African identity, culture and faith.  This year, 2026, Agadaba and others travelled to Grenada in identifying, preserving, and promoting the values passed from one generation to another.

‎”‎The theme, “African Identity,” in Grenada reflects the values that have long been preserved by the ancient Gbaramatu Kingdom, Tompolo,  Aketekpe, and other kings.

‎”‎The dancers and the drummers, who have preserved the talking sounds that amplify our traditional oral voices, have stood firm in protecting our heritage. Today, their tour is a clear dramatisation of the African heritage presented by these people. From time immemorial, the Ijaws are a true portrayal of JP Clark’s  Ozidi Saga, a story that tells the epic journey of the Ijaw people in preserving their identity.

‎”‎Today, it is a clear fact that they travelled with Precilia, a remarkable female masquerade dancer. She has taken the Ijaw cultural heritage to a new dimension through the phenomenon of female masquerade performances unmasked as a unique culture of men and women.  A dance challenge where she uses legs to tell stories.

“‎Yes, these men and women have travelled to Grenada with a unique purpose that defines our heritage.

‎”‎As the talking drum of the Niger Delta, I celebrate  them in preserving this cultural heritage through the ringing bell of Father Igologolo, the custodians that opened our eyes to the lost and regained glory of African identity.

“‎As a writer, poet, and storyteller, I join in the celebration and wish them well as they continue to preserve the African identity, the cultural heritage, the values, the ethics, the dos and don’ts of our enclaves that identify us as African people through our drums and traditions and ancestral worship that have protected and blessed us beyond words.

“His Royal Majesty, Oboro Gbaraun II, Aketekpe, Agadagba, Pere of the Ancient Gbaramatu Kingdom, led the African Liberation Day tour  into Grenada 2026, the presence of esteemed monarchs from Bayelsa, Ondo, Edo, and Delta.

“Among the monarchs present were the Pere of Olodiama Kingdom, Edo state, the Pere of Gbanraun Kingdom, Egbesuwei X Southern Ijaw, Bayelsa state,  the Perekere of Oporomor Kingdom, Bayelsa state, the Pere of Furupagha Kingdom, and the Pere of Tubutoru Kingdom, Ondo State,  the Pere of Kabowei Kingdom, Delta State, aslo the founder of Esther Matthew Tonlagha, EMT. Amb. Dr. Esther  MatthewTonlagha and chiefs in the royal entourage all of whom joined hands in the African liberation day to celebrate the African Identity and heritage

“‎Agadagba is the high priest of Egbesu supreme deity. He has travelled with the drums. Agadagba  travelled with the dancers. Agadagba travelled with the high priests and the high priestess to tell the world that Africans are people deeply committed to preserving their heritage as Ijaw and the world belief of our faith as we stood on the ancestral ground of undiluted faith with peace and development of our communities in the Niger Delta region and Nigeria at large.”