Monarch Gets Kudos For Upholding Okrika Culture

A one time Chairman of Okrika Divisional Council of Chiefs and former Chairman of Ogu/Bolo Council of Chiefs, Chief Marshall Daminabo Ockiya, has been applauded by his sibling and others for performing the traditional marriage rites of Bu-Yaa which automatically qualifies him to be his father’s heir apparent and by so doing giving him the leeway to succeed his late father as the head of the Oforibokakaka’s family in Ogu/Bolo Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Commending him for the feat, his younger brother, Joe Ockiya said in an interview with newsmen in Ogu, that he came all the way from United States of America to be part of the occasion due to the high regard he has for the Okrika culture.
He commended his elder brother for fulfilling his marital obligation as customs demanded, and expressed satisfaction and excitement over the development. He advised young people to always uphold the culture passed unto them by their forebears.
The monarch’s children, Sepriye Emmanuel Ockiya, Belema Okujagu and Vicky Jackson, while also commending their father for performing the traditional marriage rites said their excitement knew no bounds as they had worked together to ensure that he performed the Okrika tradition.
They said that they hold their father in high esteem, describing him as a loving and philanthropic ruler who positively touches the lives of those who come in contact with him.
Speaking with newsmen shortly after the event, Chief Marshll Daminabo Ockiya said he was elated that the marriage rites which he had planned for a few years ago had finally been fulfilled through his children, and thanked them for their benevolence.
He explained that the decision to marry from his mother’s family was borne out of the love he had for his father, late Oforibokakaka and equally because it was an obligation to do so based on the Okrika tradition.
“We have three types of marriage in our tradition: Lekria; Igwa and Bu-Yaa. Lekria and Igwa are smaller types of marriage while Bu-Yaa or Okuru Kaka is the highest kind, where the woman fully belongs to her husband even in death. And the one I did today was Bu-Yaa. I did this because my father was not married to my mother due to some circumstances that are not for public consumption. I will add here that I have wonderful children and I pray God to continue to bless and keep them,” he said.
Highpoint of the event was the handing over of the ‘Okuru’ and the elephant tusk to Chief Ockiya, signifying that he had fully become a bonafide son and Chief of the Oforibokakaka’s War Canoe House of Bolo.
Among dignitaries who graced the occasion included Chairman of Ogu/Bolo Local Government Area, Mr Erasmus Victor; former council chairman, Mr. Victor Alabo; and one time Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Sir Morrson Tamuno; among others.