He is survived by a lavish smile and a firm grip on the sceptre that he held from the day he was chosen to be king over his people. He walked with the dignified swagger of a royal potentate who knew he was making history with every stride he took down the hallowed corridors of time.
In more ways than one, His Royal Majesty Ralph Michael Iwowari, Mein VII, Amanyanabo of Nembe-Bassambiri, fought a royal battle and won. He attached Bassambiri as a suffix to Nembe, rather than the prefix it had always been, and he was ready to explain why that had become necessary. There was a story behind that conscious reversal, and he was ready to tell it.
More than that, he elevated the royal stool into a first class reality. It did not happen in the time of his predecessor, His Royal Highness Collins Amaegbe Eremienyo, Ogbodo VII, Amanyanabo of Bassambiri, Nembe. It happened under the Mein dynasty, and Iwowari’s popularity was assured as it was from the first day of his ascendancy. He was the rightful choice of his people. He did not have to lock up any contender to the throne.
Mein VII, Amanyanabo of Nembe-Bassambiri, otherwise known as Opu Nembe, was a fatherly king. He was large-hearted and accommodating. He was tolerant of dissenting opinion. He was responsive to the promptings of his subjects. He did not work with rumour or hear-say. He was not vindictive. He had a complete understanding of what the good people of Nembe mean in the cryptic saying which goes as follows: “Amanyanabo sara.” In other words, the king is a dust bin, another way of putting the famous Shakespearan dictum: “uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.”
He was willing to bear the burden of the community, and the last thing on his mind was how to intimidate his subjects. He never took any of his subjects to court, and he never harassed anybody with an evacuation drama. On the contrary, he was a king who knew his moral boundaries. In short, King Ralph Michael Iwowari, Mein VII, was a complete gentleman.
In a letter dated October 30, 2014, and addressed to the chairman Opu Nembe Chiefs Council, former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, described the late king as “an accomplished monarch, a notable patriot, a distinguished leader of men, and a successful entrepreneur.” He charged the council to uphold the ideals that stood the king out during his life time.
On his part, former Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, described the demise of the king as grievous. He went on to qualify him as “a fine and gentle police officer, a shrewd entrepreneur, a traditional leader and philanthropist who was an examplar of sterling qualities we all need at the level of political leadership.”
A condolence message from the First Baptist Church, Nembe, acknowledged that the death of the king came as a shock to a church who knew him to be a passionate and regular tithe payer. “He never missed it,” said Reverend Emmanuel Abah, pastor of the church. “He was a God-fearing man who never wanted to default on God’s commandment, especially with regard to giving one tenth of his income.”
King Joshua Igbugburu, Ibenanaowei of Boma Kingdom and pioneer Chairman of the Bayelsa State Council of Traditional Rulers took the news of the loss with a heavy heart and a total surrender to the will of God. He called upon his family to be comforted by the good works of Ralph Iwowari, “a man who lived for four scores with a high profile track record. What we should do is not to mourn him, but to celebrate his good works.”
It was a sentiment that was shared by many. Barrister David Serena Dokubo-Spiff, Ada IX, paramount ruler of Spiff Town in Twon-Brass, and Secretary to the Bayelsa State Government at the time, was effusive about the memory of King Ralph Iwowari. The learned gentlemen described the late royal father as “a king of the people.” In a tribute dated November 1, 2014, Serena Dokubo-Spiff said Iwowari was a giant in more ways than one.
“Physically, he stood head and shoulders above his peers. By birth, he had the blue blood of regency flowing through his veins. In royalty, he sat on a velvet stool and was adorned with a golden crown. As a family man, he was a model of the husband and father everyone wished for.
“As a Christian, he ran the good race, and ended victorious. He brought to bear his exceptional intellect, training as a distinguished police officer, immense experience in the corporate world and board rooms, as well as his pragmatic experience in human relations and conflict management. He bequeathed to the people of his beloved Nembe-Bassambiri and Nembe-Ibe at large a season of peace, mutual co-existence and brotherly love.”
In the opinion of King Iyerite Awululu, Ibenyanaowei of Oluasiri Clan, the memory of Mein VII will be evergreen. He described the late king as an indefatigable leader, a mentor and worthy monarch who lived and served his subjects honourably well. “He was a man of destiny,” said he, “and this showed quite early in his life.” Awululu spoke with candour of Iwowari’s diligence, his warm humanity and the deep compassion which defined his life and character. “These were the hallmarks of his prominence and acceptability by the people,” he said.
Awululu declared that the late monarch had played vital roles in the affairs of the kingdom even before his ascension to the throne. “He made his vast resources available to the people even before he became king. He was a man of destiny. He contributed immensely to the growth and development of the kingdom and when eventually he became king, he drew up a road map which uplifted the socio-political and economic development of Opu-Nembe kingdom. During his reign, many chieftaincy stools were recognized and ushered into the Opu Nembe Council of Chiefs.”
Perhaps one of the most memorable tributes to King Ralph Iwowari may well be the message from the ancient Bille Kingdom Chiefs Council in the Degema local government area of Rivers State. The Kalabari and Okrika, more than any other ethnic group in the Niger Delta, have strong historical and cultural ties with the Nembe over time.
The Secretary General Opu Angula XVIII, Bille Kingdom spoke in superlative terms about the exploits of the late king and his ability to reinforce age-long ties not only in Nembe clan, but across borders. “Traditional rulers do not die,” he said with self-assured dignity. “They join their ancestors.”
According to Numoipre Wills, an engineer and Executive Secretary of the Border Communities Development Agency, Abuja, the revered king personified a vast reservoir of knowledge and working experience spanning colonial times, through independent Nigeria, to the creation of Rivers and Bayelsa States in subsequent order.
“He uplifted the status and dignity of the average Nembe-Bassambiri citizen with a high sense of self-esteem while vigorously pursuing peace during his reign,” said Wills. “We will miss his wise counsel, his oratory and his golden voice.”
In a condolence message to the family signed by Chief Dr I.E. Igoma, chairman, Opu-Nembe Chiefs’ Council, and Chief Ayebaesin Edoghotu-Omoh, Secretary, the decision making body confessed that the demise of their monarch came as a rude shock. “It came at a time when the rejuvenated Executive Council had started, in earnest, a renewed fence-mending exercise to have an all-inclusive government in the community. In our discussions a few weeks to his passing, he admonished that, in all we do, we should put the peace, unity and togetherness of the kingdom as our topmost priority and he promised to stand by us at all times and in all circumstance.”
To his wife, Doris, he was a great life-time companion. He was close to each one of his daughters in a personal way. To each of them, he was a hero and friend. But if he had a choice as to which of his five daughters he wished were male, it would be his second daughter, Ingo. In her, he could recognize his own irrepressible energy and faith, to say nothing of his abiding ambition to be of help to helpless neighbours.
Thirty years before she vied to become the first female member of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly representing Nembe Constituency II, her father had contested for the same exalted office and very nearly lost his life in the process. He lost interest in politics after being hospitalized at the Military Hospital in Port Harcourt with a hole close to his heart.
As Princess Ingo Iwowari-Gold put it in a personal tribute: “I am doing my best to pursue his legacy. He was a father, mother and friend all rolled into one. He was my first teacher. He made me develop the habit of reading widely. He never allowed me to speak or write a sentence without stopping me to point out an error on my part, and to correct me. He didn’t get a chance to dance with me at my wedding. He won’t get the chance to see my children, and I won’t get a chance to say to him one more time, I love you.”
