By GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE

IT was singing, dancing and rejoicing at the Palace ground of the Oba of Benin, Omo Oba Erediauwa on Tuesday when the people of Utese community in Uhen Ward, Ovia North- East local government area of Edo state went to the Palace of the revered Monarch to present before him their newly crowned Enogie (Duke) in consonance with the culture, mores and tradition of the Benin people.

According to the culture of the Benin people, a newly crowned Enogie (Duke) who oversees a dukedom on behalf of the Oba has to be presented to him by his people for his royal blessings and advise on how he should administer the dukedom and the people.

*Idahosa Agidigbi, the Enogie of Utese

“By our tradition, we are at the Palace of the Oba of Benin because we now have a new Enogie. It is our tradition that after crowning the Enogie, we bring him to the Oba of Benin and present him as the Enogie of Utese. That is what we have come to do here today”, says Mr. Michael Asemota, Utese community Secretary.

It was against this backdrop that His Royal Highness, Idahosa Agidigbi, the Enogie of Utese visited the Palace of the Oba of Benin.  HRH Agidigbi was crowned as the 35th Enogie (Duke) of Utese on 20th May 2012 to succeed his father, HRH Eghianruwa who joined his ancestors in 1986.

At his presentation before the Benin Monarch, the Iyase of Benin, Chief Sam Igbe who spoke on the occasion for the Oba, congratulated him for successfully ascending to the throne of his fathers without any dispute.

He also appealed to the elders, leaders and people of Utese to cooperate with the Enogie to make his task of administering his people easier.

The new monarch, after his primary and secondary education, attended the University of Benin where he had Diploma in Law before proceeding to the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma for a Degree in History and International Studies and graduated in 2011.

The Utese person, according to Mr. Michael Asemota, the Community Secretary are relations to the Palace of Benin and was founded in the Eleventh Century when Irado, the younger brother to Oronmiyan stopped over there on their way to Benin and was made the first Enogie. He disclosed that since then, the Enogieship of the community is primogeniture, from father to son, has never witnessed any dispute as to who succeeds a departing Enogie.

It would be recalled that Prince Oronmiyan who the Benin people called Omonoyan was sent by  Oduduwa to Benin where there was problem in the Kingdom following the exile of a Bini Prince, Ekaladeran.

Vanguard learnt that Utese, which is the boundary town between Edo and Ondo state, speaks Bini dialect and Yoruba and is only separated by Ogbese River from their neigbour, Okelusen,who history had it also accompanied the young Prince from Ife, Oronmiyan, but decided to settle on the other side of the River.