DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH
His Majesty Sir S.P.U. Ogan was born on Monday October 27, 1919 at Ogan Ama, Okrika. The same year that parts of the world were drawn closer by the formation of the League of Nations, to promote world peace and prosperity. The League of Nations is the fore runner of today’s United Nations.
PARENTAGE
His father was Paul Kalaiyo, a merchant in the palm produce trade along the Imo River from the 1890s to 1918. His mother by name Hannah was granddaughter of a wealthy woman from Obiohia Umuakpale in Eberi District of the present Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State.
AN ORPHAN AT CHILHOOD
King Ogan grew up in a fishing environment at Ogan Ama, Okrika. His mother gave birth to a second child in 1922 and lost her husband in 1923, when he was only four years old. The younger sister was named Rhoda Danemika because she did not know her father before he died. Both were baptized in St. Peter’s Church, Okrika on the same day in 1926. From then on, he was taken to fishing ports very close to the Atlantic Ocean in dugout canoes and was thus exposed to the roaring waves of the Atlantic Ocean at the tender age of seven.
CAPTAIN OF JUNIOR FOOT BALL TEAM
King Ogan was taken to St. Michael’s School, Aba by his uncle, the late Headmaster E.A.U. Ogan, where he schooled from Infant 1A to Standard five from 1929 to 1936. In 1935, he was nominated to captain the school’s team, during a junior football competition among the four famous primary schools in Aba at the time and led the team to success. He was also a member of the School’s Choir and a Soloist in St. Michael’s Church, Choir, Aba.
OKRIKA GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Okrika Grammar School was one of the famous earliest secondary schools, established by the Missionaries in these parts. King Ogan was one of the pioneer students. Notable among his class mates, was the late Hon. Justice J.A. Fiberesima, who was the first Senior Prefect.
CAREER IN THE BRITISH ARMY
His Majesty, King S.P.U. Ogan was a gallant World War II Army Veteran. He was recruited into the British Army in July 1944 during the Second World War and was in the Royal signals where he acquired extensive experience in electronics engineering technology. As Principal Radio Mechanic Instructor in the Royal West African Frontier force, Sir Ogan was the first West African to become an Instructor in the British Army.
AN indigenous technologist
His Majesty Sir S.P.U. Ogan was a radio and wireless pioneer in Nigeria. The popular music playing equipment in the country in 1949 was the gramophone. But by the middle of that year, King Ogan had designed and constructed Nigeria’s first Electronic Public-Address System with a microphone, amplifier and loudspeakers. This Public-Address System was first hired for trial by the then colonial government Department of Statistics and was used at a public function at Ikoyi in July 1949. After this, the famous Lagos musician, Bobby Benson used the equipment to thrill Lagos metropolis at the Glover Memorial Hall and it was the second time such electronic equipment was ever used in Nigeria. Apart from this remarkable achievement, he had been distinguished as the only technician capable of converting radio sets originally designed for only battery use into electric mains or both ways. This made King Ogan very popular among many Europeans and wealthy Nigerians who needed the dual capacity system for picnics in the countryside.
Making himself relevant to his community
In 1951, King Ogan returned home to his little Ogan Ama, Okrika community with five canoe loads of electronic equipment and materials. Not long he moved to Port Harcourt where he established and equipped a radio and electrical service workshop on Aggrey Road. He also rented a two-bedroom accommodation on Bishop Johnson Street, Port Harcourt. His electronic workshop was well equipped and was the first building to be illuminated with fluorescent lights of many colours in the whole of Eastern Nigeria and the British Cameroun. Patronage was overwhelming as customers came as far as from Kaduna to either repair or buy electronics equipment. Besides his public-address system was hired regularly by different political parties for campaigns and travelled to far places like Jos, Kano, Kaduna, and Tiko in the Cameroun. At his native Okrika, he was popularly known as the Radio Master.
Preference to Develop Young Nigerians Rather than Enrich himself
It was in his best interest to have the sole knowledge of servicing electronic equipment at the time. As a monopoly, his workshop would have made all the money. But King Ogan reasoned that it would be in the interest of posterity, if he imparted that knowledge to generations coming behind To this end, in July 1951 he applied to the Department of Education, Port Harcourt for permit to open and run a Vocational Training Institute, but received a reply one month later that the “Department of Education had no knowledge of the type of Institution you have applied to found, there is nothing in the education code for or against your intended institution. You can apply to the P.R.O. Enugu or the Divisional Officer (D.O) Port Harcourt for permit.” The Permit was later granted by the D.O. and thus was how the first ever technical college East of the Niger river –the Ogan’s Radio and Electrical Engineering Institute was established in 1952. In 1953, the most brilliant student of the school, Master Sunday Alatoru (now a Chief) of Okrika, sat for the City and Guild Examination of London and passed. The Institute was later called New Era Technical College, when he allowed other Nigerian investors to join the Board of Directors on Government advice. The Board was set up in 1959 with Sir Ogan as Managing Director. The other members were:
• Mr. W.K. Anuforo, Chairman of the N.C.N.C. Port Harcourt Division who was also the first African Principle of Stella Maris College, Port Harcourt
• Chief G.N.C. Akomas, Deputy Mayor of Port Harcourt, who was also a Manager of the U.A.C, an international company.
• Mr. Z.O. Dibiaezue, Legal Adviser of N.C.N.C. and
• Mr. J.U. Mbonu, N.C.N.C. Campaign Chief who was also a Sub-Manager in U.T.C., Port Harcourt Branch. (The N.C.N.C, National Council of Nigeria and Cameroun was the dominant political party in Eastern Nigeria at the time)
Acquisition of permanent site of his Technical College.
In 1960, Sir Ogan received information that the Port Harcourt Town Planning Authority had set aside a part of the bushy areas of Ogbunabali West for siting of Secondary schools. He quickly summoned a meeting of the Board of Directors of the school. The meeting resolved to travel to Enugu where they met the Honourable Minister of Land and Survey, Barrister Emola, who described the delegation as the “crème of Port Harcourt. “The meeting took place in his official residence and their request for a parcel of land for the permanent site of New Era Technical College, at Ogbunabali West (today’s Aba Road) was granted instantly. The first three blocks of class rooms, designed by the Ministry of Education were completed before the end of June 1961.
The School was compulsorily acquired by the Rivers State Government in 1970 and renamed Government Crafts Development Centre. Today, products of this college are engineers, directors, professors, educationists and professionals in various fields of human endeavour, making positive contributions to the growth and development of the country. King Ogan was also instrumental to Port Harcourt becoming a center for the London City and Guild Examinations, following his personal request to the West African Examinations Council, under whose auspices the examination was conducted in Nigeria as well as the performance of students of his Technical College. He was a visionary leader.
An Environmentalist and Successful Farmer
King Ogan was a raiser of animals and plants and was passionate about the environment. He was noted for establishing the first and biggest piggery farm in the then old Rivers State, (today’s Rivers and Bayelsa States). In addition to piggery, Sir Ogan cultivated exotic crops like cashew fruits and traded in unprocessed cashew nuts. Through grafting he introduced Tangelo (a fruit mixture of grape and tangerine0 into his large plantation of oranges, tangerine, guava and pineapples. He also cultivated food crops like cassava, avocado pear, yam, plantain and banana, among others. He presented distinguished lectures to the Association of Deans of Agriculture in Nigerian Universities and also at Shell and the National Fertilizer Company of Nigeria (NAFCON) during their annual farmers days. In recognition of his contribution to food security in Nigeria, he was appointed by the Federal Government into the Board of the National Veterinary Research Institute at Vom, Plateau State as a Non-Executive Director for five years consecutively.
A Nationalist
King Ogan was a nationalist and strong supporter of the struggles for minority rights. He was an active member of the Rivers Chiefs and Peoples Conference led by Chief Harold Dappa Biriye and hosted meetings of the group in his Port Harcourt residence. During the various conferences in Nigeria and London for the political independence of Nigeria, this movement demanded for the creation of a separate state for the minority people of the Niger Delta.
King Ogan fought colonial rule on two fronts – the Ex-service Men’s Association (today’s Nigerian Legion) and the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroun (NCNC) which he joined in 1952. In 1959, King Ogan was elected Deputy President-General of the Nigerian Federation of Ex-Service Men’s Association and in 1959 led the Nigerian delegation to the Eighth Conference of the World Veteran’s Federation (W.V.F) in Rome, Italy, where he and other colleagues from Ghana and Sierra Leone presented a formidable front and spoke against the ills of colonialism. The W.V.F. was affiliated to the United Nations Organization.
Journey into Destiny
By 1964, Sir Ogan had become a popular young man among prominent Chiefs and people of Okrika Clan (Wakirike). He had, using his connections in commerce and politics, spearheaded a number of positive actions for Okrika and was instrumental to the election of Chief Kalada Kiri into the Eastern Nigeria House of Assembly on N.C.N.C. platform, against stiff opposition by Bonny and Kalabari who wanted Barrister R.T. Wilcox to represent Bonny and Okrika Constituency, He was also active in the Okrika Progress Union, Port Harcourt Branch. The dynamic roles he played singularly and jointly, especially to install Kalada Kiri as Okrika’s first Legislator, made lasting impressions on Okrika people. Thus, when a big vacuum was created, not only in Ogan War Canoe House, but also in Ado Royal family, following the death of Chief Christopher Ogan in December 1961, he became the natural choice to fill the vacuum. He was unanimously selected and accepted by both Ogan House and the entire Ado Royal Family (consisting of five Houses namely Abam, Dokube, Fibika, Ibanichuka and Ogan) and was installed on March 23, 1964 as Chief and Head of Ogan War Canoe House in succession of Chief Christopher. Chief Christopher Ogan was a shrewd administrator, an Interpreter, a Natural Diplomat and an Outspoken Traditional Chief of Okrika Kingdom (Se Alabo).
Simon Ogan As Amanyanabo Designate of Okrika
From 1876 to 1896, King Ibanichuka of blessed memory reigned as Ado VI, Amanyanabo of Okrika. He was abducted by British Colonial forces on June 4, 1896 for defending the territorial integrity of Okrika and sent to Degema on exile, where he died under mysterious circumstances. Consequently, there were long periods of interregna. Under the first Monarchical Hiatus Chief Oju Danial Kalio was appointed by the British as Paramount Chief. After his death in 1928, the next Hiatus was led by Chief Sampson Igobo Adoki and Chief John Apiafi George in that order in the administration of the Kingdom. Persistent calls for the restoration of Kingship along the Ado Dynasty were realized in 1959. King Ibanichuka was thus succeeded by King Zedekiah Fibika, as Ado VII, Amanyanabo of Okrika. King Fibika however died in 1960 after a short reign. Soon after King Zedekiah’s death, His Highness Simon Edward Ogan (First cousin of Sir S.P.U. Ogan) was chosen to fill the vacant stool. Simon Ogan, who was Okrika’s first university graduate, a Senior Statistician in the Federal Civil Service and Broadcaster, had been screened and passed by the Egweme King makers as suitable for the throne. In accordance with custom, the Okrika Clan Council of Chiefs had also endorsed him to Government for recognition after his coronation, as the Amanyanabo of Okrika is also the Clan Head of the entire Okrika nationality (Wakirike se) By 1963, Sir S.P.U. Ogan had been elected a Councilor in the Okrika County Council. As Chief of Ogan War Canoe House, he was also to play key roles along with other Chiefs of Ado Royal Family, during the coronation ceremonies of Simon Ogan. First, he had to prepare a place for the new king to become the President of Okrika County Council. He was also to facilitate his membership of the Eastern Nigeria House of Chiefs. Sir Ogan was knee deep into these patriotic assignments when the unexpected happened., His Highness, Simon Edward Ogan had suddenly died on April 9, 1964, barely two weeks to his official inauguration as Amanyanabo of Okrika Clan.
How the Mantle and Yoke of Kingship fell on Sir S.P.U. Ogan
At the death of His Highness Simon Ogan, Sir. S.P.U. Ogan was Head of Ogan War Canoe House and also his first cousin. Consequently, Okrika people entrusted the arrangements for the burial of the Amanyanabo designate on his shoulders. At about 10.00am on April 10, 1964, Sir Ogan was on his way to the Catechist at St. Agnes Church, Ogan Ama to pay for the Christian funeral of late Simon Ogan, when Mr. Thompson N. Oriaku, then Chief Clerk at the Public Works Department (P.W.D.) beckoned on him to wait a while. As he walked up to him in the Church Compound, the following dialogue ensued:
Oriaku: “Sammy, (as he was fondly called), I have just come out of a meeting of the Chiefs and People of Okrika. We have been meeting in Chief (Dr.) Fiberesima’s Compound since 5.00 am. And Okrika has decided that on the 24th of April, 1964, which is the date we had given to Government, Okrika would have an Amanyanabo that day.”
Sir Ogan: “Go to George (Dokube) House, for the next turn is theirs”
Oriaku: “You are our next choice”
Sir Ogan: “You are foolish, have you found out what killed my brother?
Before interment strong rumors have begun to confirm what Thompson Oriaku had whispered to him. Soon after the burial, Chiefs of Ado Royal Family, led by the Head, Chief John Apiafi George came to his Ogan Ama residence, ostensibly for a condolence visit or so it seemed.
Ado House Chiefs Reject Customary Drink For burying the Dead.
As the Chiefs sat down Sir Ogan produced a bottle of native gin as required by tradition, to welcome and thank the people for their support in burying his cousin. The Chiefs refused to accept his gesture. He was still wondering what was amiss, when he was told that he had been seen as above that custom. By that declaration, great fear gripped him. Chief John George, Head of the Royal Family, immediately stood, held his hands and said, “You are our choice.” As Sir Ogan wanted to reply, an elder of Ogan House and Special Adviser to the Chief, Sub-Chief Amakiri Sobo Ogan, held his mouth and exclaimed: “don’t talk for it is forbidden to reply.” Almost immediately Chief John George poured libation over his proclamation. Tears ran down his cheeks as he himself put it, “I saw no justification in my choice, more especially under the circumstances in which my first cousin died.”
His Majesty, Sir S.P.U. Ogan was installed Amanyanabo of Okrika Clan (Wakirike se) on April 25, 1964. An Oath of Allegiance written and signed by Head Chiefs/Elders representing the nine ancient towns of Okrika clan, namely Kirike (Okrika), Ogu, Ogoloma, Bolo, Ibaka, Ogbogbo, Abuloma, Isaka and Ele, was read and handed over to him on their behalf by the then Chairman of Okrika Clan Council of Chiefs, late Chief Ebenezer Ali Opudere of Ogu Town. All recognized War Canoe House Chiefs in Okrika Clan (Wakirike se), then filed past one after the other pledging their support and loyalty, as the “Omu-Aru Ekere” war drums called their traditional praise names. Today Okrika Clan (Wakirike se) consists of about twelve or more traditional towns (kingdoms) including Koni Ama, Okochiri, Kala Ogoloma and others in Port Harcourt City Local Government Area. He was crowned Amanyanabo (king) of Okrika on Sunday April 26, 1964 by the first indigenous Bishop of the Niger Delta Diocese, Rt Rev. E.T. Dimieari at St Peter’s (Anglican) Church, Okrika. He was given the regnant title ADO VIII in succession to King Zedekiah Fibika, ADO VII. It was the first time an Amanyanabo of Okrika was ever crowned in a Church. Thereafter King Ogan was recognized by Eastern Nigeria Government and became the third recognized traditional ruler in the then Degema Province. The other two were the Amanyanabo of Bonny and Amanyanabo of Kalabari.
Putting GOD in Charge with Absolute Confidence
After his coronation, four idol gods as demanded by custom and tradition were placed in the palace to guide him. He was aware that a good percentage of Okrika people had faith in those deities and he too had been groomed to believe in the efficacy of the four gods. He was also aware that his adversaries had become more vicious in their bid after his life, than those who sought to protect him with the four idols. In the light of this, the choice to accept to live with these devilish gods or put the ALMIGHTY GOD in charge remained his and his alone. King Ogan comes from a strong Christian home. So, he brushed tradition aside and chose to put God first. Two months after he moved into the palace, he summoned courage one night and asked the palace servant to dig a hole in the palace back yard. He then collected the four gods (jujus) in the palace, dumped and buried them in the hole. Thereafter, he worked into the palace, picked up his Bible and proclaimed: “GOD I AM ALIVE AGAIN IN THEE. BE MY PROTECTOR.” He became more determined to carry the yoke of Okrika people and “lead them through thick and thin, in life and in death.”
Challenges
His Majesty King Ogan ascended the throne of Okrika at a time of great uncertainty in this country. There had been a military coup in January 1966 culminating in the Nigerian Civil War from 1967 to 1970. The Eastern Region led by Lt. Col. Odimegwu Ojukwu had declared itself the Republic of Biafra, against the wishes of the rest of Nigeria led by Major General Yakubu Gowon, resulting in a political stalemate and a full-scale military confrontation. Such a situation called for tact and diplomacy because as King, his loyalty was significant. To save his kingdom, King Ogan had to play along with the Government in power in the East, even if he was not in support of the rebellion.
During the war, Okrika, the whole of Okrika (including Ogu and other major towns) was under siege and the people suffered untold persecution. Okrika had been clearly marked out for total annihilation by Biafra but was saved by God using King Ogan as vessel. For example, a riot at Okrika in January 1967 was seen by the Biafran Government, as “sabotage against the good works done by Ojukwu at Aburi in Ghana few days ago by exposing the East as disunited.” An ill-fated accord had been signed between Gowon and Ojukwu with the aim of resolving the impasse. King Ogan was consequently put in a police land rover and driven straight to the State House, Enugu. The next morning, he was put in the dock inside the State House. He was then put on trial by two eminent lawyers and was asked to show cause why Okrika should continue to exist. He rose to the occasion and showed cause why Okrika should and would continue to exist. During the war, Okrika was united under him. There was no Koniju or Tuboniju Council of Chiefs. All the Chiefs rallied round him and looked up to him for leadership as their king. Between January and May 1968, Okrika was under subjugation by retreating Biafran soldiers from the war front at Bonny, which had then fallen to Nigerian troops. A dusk to dawn curfew was imposed and no one was allowed to leave Okrika Island either by day or night, except King Ogan, who must do so with prior notice to the police. Through his efforts soldiers later allowed only one hundred women to go out and purchase food to feed more than one hundred thousand people on the Island each day. Fisher men were allowed to fish within one-mile radius of Okrika by day only. There were no vehicles to transport the food. So, the one hundred Okrika women only purchased what they could carry on their heads trekking from Eleme market to Okrika. By this design, Okrika was marked out for extermination by starvation. But God never allowed it.
Again, through the Amanyanabo’s diplomacy with Biafran officers, more Okrika women were allowed to the markets to purchase more food. The radius allowed for fishing was also increased from one to three miles away from Okrika Island. Okrika’s agile young men seized the opportunity to escape in large numbers to Bonny. King Ogan had every opportunity and Government protection to escape the ordeal and defect to Biafra like the Kings of Bonny and Kalabari. But he remained at Okrika and suffered with his people until the civil war ended on January 15, 1970. He was also the only recognized traditional ruler who was on hand to receive the first military Governor of Rivers State, Lt. Commander Alfred Diete-Spiff on assumption of office in Port Harcourt.
But the end of the war marked the beginning of another set of ordeals for the King of Okrika who never abandoned his people. King Ogan suffered personal loss economically and physically in order that Okrika would survive. He was harassed, humiliated, stripped and brutally tortured like a common criminal on trumped up accusations. He was falsely accused of giving “juju” to Okrika people to fight Nigeria. It was also falsely alleged that he possessed wireless telephone in his private home with which he communicated with Ojukwu and Biafran soldiers to sabotage Nigeria’s war efforts. He was thus branded a “security risk” by the soldiers, for which he had to be chained like a robber, stripped naked and given 36 strokes of the cane at a Nigerian army concentration camp in Port Harcourt. King Ogan at this point demanded to be shut, but they would not. The military high command later found he was innocent. The Sector Commander, Lt. Col. Ariyo declared that looking through the files and documents ceased from his home, it was clear that he was the King of Okrika and that there was nothing he did, anybody in his position would not do at the time, given the circumstances of the war.” They realized he was being framed by his enemies in Okrika, who wanted him dead at all costs, using soldiers who liberated Okrika Island at the time.
Consequently, King Ogan was taken to Lagos on “protective custody” of the Federal Military Government of Nigeria which again found him innocent after thorough investigations. He was about to be released and returned to Port Harcourt, but an Okrika son, Captain Kaizer (formerly Kamalu), of Fiberesima House. signed the warrant to detain the Amanyanabo of Okrika in a Lagos prison on Christmas eve without any charge. Captain Kaizer told Major Rafuka, who was to effect the release on behalf of the Army Provost Marshall that “this is the man who sent my brother, Dr. Fiberesima to detention in Biafra.” Major Rafuka then asked him, “where is your charge written on this paper? Besides the order to detain him is not signed.” Captain Kaizer volunteered to sign the order paper which sent the Amanyanabo of Okrika and three other people to the Maximum-Security Prisons, Kirikiri, Lagos. King Ogan did not send Dr. Fiberesima or any Okrika person to detention in Biafra. Rather, he mortgaged his life for the survival of Okrika kingdom during the war. Three months later, the very hand with which Captain Kaizer signed King Ogan into detention was paralyzed. He was taken to hospitals within and outside Nigeria as well as to traditional healers and spiritualists to no avail. Captain Kaizer belatedly confessed his “sin” against his own native land to the Egweme King Makers at Okrika in the presence of King Ogan after his release and return to Okrika. But it was too late. Captain Kaizer died a paralyzed man.
King Ogan had a bumpy road back to the throne of his ancestors, with too many other challenges including a divided kingdom. His recognition was purportedly withdrawn without any record in the official gazette. The illegal withdrawal of his recognition as Amanyanabo of Okrika was however set aside by a successive military government which also elevated the stool owned by Ado, as a First-Class Chieftaincy Stool in 1978.
His Legacy
• A World War 11 Army Veteran. Became the first West African Instructor in the British Army.
• A Radio and Wireless pioneer. He designed the first electronic Public-Address System with microphone and loudspeakers ever used in Nigeria and Southern Cameroun.
• A visionary leader. King Ogan Introduced Technical Education in these parts in preparation for the future development of Nigeria.
• An Environmentalist. He was committed to the environment through his innovations in Agriculture – piggery, fishing and farming.
• Saved thousands of lives during the Nigerian civil war including the rescue of 83 Northerners destined for death. King Ogan defied the orders of Biafran Government to hand over all Northerners leaving and doing business in and around Okrika to the police, but rather arranged sea transport that ferried them by night to Warri and they were saved.
• King Ogan also saved the Kalabari Kingdom from starvation immediately after the war. After the liberation of Kalabari Kingdom, the people were faced with starvation. To ameliorate the situation, a delegation of Buguma Chiefs, led by Chief Barrister Inko-Tariah was directed by Colonel Ayo Ariyo to him. The delegation which consisted of more than twenty Chiefs and men including Chief A.B. Batubo, former Principal of Baptist High School and Rtd Justice Inko-Tariah, came in two large boats. Within three days, the two boats had been loaded with food items supplied by Okrika men and women. King Ogan took personal custody of the surplus food items until the Kalabari boats returned to take them away.
• A Foremost Traditional Ruler. He helped enhance the position of the Chieftaincy Institution in the former Eastern Region .At a National Conference of Traditional Rulers held in Kaduna in 1983 to reposition the Chieftaincy Institution in Nigeria, the Northern Emirs, speaking through the then Emir of Kano, put up a criterion that for any chieftaincy stool to be given prominence in Nigeria such a stool must have been in existence and recognized by the British Colonial Administration in Nigeria before 1910. It was a design to sideline the Chieftaincy stools of the former Eastern States from being accorded equivalent status with those of Northern and Western States. But King Ogan took the floor and narrated the experiences of Southern Nigeria Kings like Jaja of Opobo, Pepple of Bonny, Amachree of Kalabari, Ibanichuka of Okrika and Bouy of Nembe with British Consular Agents. His speech was corroborated by the Oba of Benin and his submission upheld by all. This was how King Ogan put the Chieftaincy Institution of the East on equal status with those of the Emirs of the North and Obas of the West. And when the Conference resolved to send a five-man delegation to relate with the Head of State in Lagos, King Ogan was put on the delegation as sole Representative of the Traditional Rulers of the former Eastern Region (the present South East and South- South Zones) of Nigeria.
• A Leader of the Niger Delta. King Ogan was a Patron of the Ijaw National Congress (INC) and President of the Ijaw National Council of Traditional Rulers – the umbrella organization of Niger Delta Ijaw ethnic nationalities in Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Edo, Lagos and Ondo States. He was also the first Chairman of Traditional Rulers Council of the Oil Mineral Producing Areas covering Abia, Imo, Edo, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Rivers States. He fought to keep the country united, peaceful and prosperous on these platforms.
• A Peace maker. As Amanyanabo (King) of Okrika for over 33 years (1964-1997), he took a strategic position for peace as catalyst for development. Okrika people did not kill themselves, despite our differences. His reign brought tremendous and positive landmarks in education, economic, health and social development of Okrika Kingdom. During his reign, the first modern hospital – the Okrika Joint Hospital was commissioned by the Premier of the defunct Eastern Nigeria Dr. Michael Okpara. This hospital is today a General Hospital. Other land marks of his reign include, first telephone service, connection of Okrika to the national electricity grid, Sand filling and protection of Okrika shores, construction of bridges, paving the way for cars to drive into Okrika Island, George Ama, Kalio Ama, Ogan Ama and several Okrika towns and communities, pipe born water, jetties, health centers, more primary and post primary schools among other social amenities.
• Chairman Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council. As Chairman, Rivers State Council of Chiefs, he made remarkable contributions to the growth and development of the Old Rivers State comprising the present Rivers and Bayelsa States. He was chairman from 1992-1994 with dignity and decorum.
King Ogan was contented, courageous, honest, humble and a man of integrity. He lived a simple life in the fear of God. Not for him greed, avarice or ostentation. A great communicator, he was a raiser of animals, plants and hope, and a friend to nature We thank God for his uprightness, forthrightness, faithfulness and for his forgiving spirit. He was the longest reigning Government recognized traditional ruler in the State. He was king for 33 years and 7 months. He died peacefully, painlessly on his birthday, on October 27, 1997. He was 78. Born 1919, died 1997.
May His Gentle Soul continue to rest in the Lord.
By Charles OGAN, December 24, 2019
(In commemoration of 100 years of his birth and 22 years of his death)
