Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, has urged the people of the state to renew efforts to revive the positive aspects of their traditions and culture in order to prevent them from going into extinction.
Diri, represented by the Deputy Governor, Pastor Peter Pereotubo Akpe, made the call on Saturday at the grand finale of the Ekpetiama Okolede New Yam Festival in Gbarantoru, Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state.
He expressed concern over the fast-declining Ijaw language and traditional farming, which form an integral part of the Izon cultural heritage, due to a preference for foreign ways of life.
The Bayelsa governor listed the training of Ijaw language teachers and compulsory learning of the language in public primary schools across the state as part of deliberate efforts by his administration to prevent the Izon language and culture from going into extinction.
He commended the Ekpetiama people for sustaining the age-long yam festival and urged them to promote farming and other agricultural activities in order to contribute meaningfully to the realisation of his administration’s policy objective of ensuring food security in the state.
He also urged communities contending with chieftaincy crises, particularly Agudama-Ekpetiama, Tombia, and Akaibiri, to embrace peace and unity for the common good of the people.
He said, “Our people are unique and wonderful. Our culture is also unique. Even our dance and several aspects of our lives are unique. But unfortunately, many aspects of our culture are going extinct.
“Most of us cannot even speak our Ijaw language very well. Some of us see this as a great challenge. That is why, as members of the State House of Assembly some years back, we made efforts to enact a law to ensure that the Ijaw language is taught in all our public primary schools.
“But the effort of the government will be wasted if we don’t start from our homes and villages. If a language is not spoken, you will forget it. So let us all make deliberate efforts to keep our language alive because language is powerful.
“On behalf of the governor, I want to appreciate the king and people of Ekpetiama for sustaining this Okolede Festival over the years, which is a celebration of farming and harvest.
“I also use this opportunity to encourage you to remain united and live as brothers and sisters. Let all the communities in this kingdom, where we have chieftaincy crises like Agudama, Tombia, and Akaibiri sink their differences for the sake of peace and progress.”
In his remarks, the Speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly and Chairman of the occasion, Abraham Ingobere, described the Okolede Festival as a celebration of identity and encouraged the Ekpetiama people to sustain their cultural heritage to ensure stability and sustainable development.
In their separate goodwill messages, the member representing Yenagoa/Kolokuma-Opokuma Federal Constituency, Hon. Oforji Oboku, and the Pere of Kabowei Kingdom, His Royal Majesty King Shadrach Erebulu, extolled the leadership and people of Ekpetiama for maintaining Okolede as a unifying factor.
In his remarks, the Ibenanaowei of Ekpetiama Kingdom and Chairman of the Bayelsa State Traditional Rulers Council, His Royal Majesty King Bubaraye Dakolo, noted that the festival provides a platform for his people to collectively appreciate God for blessing them with bountiful harvest every year.
King Dakolo used the occasion to thank Governor Diri for the construction of infrastructural projects and the appointment of Ekpetiama sons and daughters to positions of trust in his administration, saying the measures were impacting positively on the lives of the people. He also appealed for the construction of a befitting auditorium for the Gbarantoru community.
On his part, the Amananaowei of Gbarantoru, His Royal Highness Chief Igonia Dakolo, expressed joy over the impressive attendance and thanked everyone for finding time to grace the festival.
A high point of the event was the breaking and eating of new yams by the Ekpetiama monarch shortly after its presentation by women of the kingdom, led by his wife, Her Royal Majesty Queen Timinipre Dakolo.