{"id":356644,"date":"2026-07-03T02:51:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T01:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/?p=356644"},"modified":"2026-07-02T16:54:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T15:54:41","slug":"ogbolo-26-bayelsa-community-revives-heritage-strengthens-unity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/?p=356644","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Ogbolo &#8217;26&#8217;: Bayelsa Community Revives Heritage, Strengthens Unity\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<div dir=\"auto\">The Ogu Community in Otubo-Atissa, Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, has stated its commitment to preserving its culture, peace and community development through the celebration of the annual &#8220;Uge Adiafa&#8221; New Yam Festival, tagged &#8220;Ogbolo &#8217;26.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Held at St. John&#8217;s Primary School Field, Ogu, the colourful festival served not only as the traditional commencement of the yam harvest season, but also as a tribute to the community&#8217;s illustrious son and founder of the Uge Adiafa Festival, His Majesty, Late King Fedrick Aduku Simangi Ogbotom-Edede IV.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">The celebration brought together sons and daughters of the community, traditional rulers, academics, youths and other guests in a display of thanksgiving, cultural performances and renewed communal solidarity.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Addressing the gathering, the traditional head of the community, HRH Bishop Akuegbe Paul, expressed delight at the massive turnout, describing the festival as a symbol of thanksgiving to God, cultural identity and unity among the people.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">He noted that beyond celebrating a successful farming season, the festival honours the enduring legacy of the late monarch, whose vision established the Uge Adiafa Festival as a platform for preserving the community&#8217;s rich cultural heritage and promoting peaceful coexistence.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Guest of Honour, Professor Nedie Patience Akani, of Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, commended the community for embracing reconciliation and unity.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Professor Akani, who is of the Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, of the university and a daughter of the soil, said, &#8220;This is my first time attending this New Yam Festival. I came because of the good things happening in this community.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">&#8220;Before now, there were quarrels in the community, with court cases here and there, brother fighting against brother. But today, God has united us. It is a wonderful thing to be united because where there is no unity, there can be no progress in the home, family or community.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">&#8220;I thank the head of Ogu Community, HRH, Bishop Akuege Paul, for making today&#8217;s celebration a reality&#8221;, she stated.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">The event also featured inter-compound cultural competitions, with Yenikabu II Compound emerging overall winner, while Bongata Compound and Abrima Compound finished first d second runners-up respectively.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Also, eleven Compound Chiefs alongside their respective Head Compound Women Chiefs were coronated. The Woman Chief of Ogu Community, HH, Dare Tiebiri and her Deputy, Chief Stella Jordan Mark, were also coronated.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Dignitaries that graced the occasion included the Ebenanawei of Akamabubu Kingdom, Southern Ijaw LGA, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, HRM, King J. Olotu Erepamo; the Paramount Ruler, Ikibiri Community, Yenagoa LGA, Bayelsa State, HRH, Barrister Morris Lagos; and the Ebeni-Isisibo of Atissa Kingdom, HRH, God&#8217;swill Arab Simeon.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Other are: the Ebeni-Otubo, Atissa Kingdom, HRH, Sir Anderson J. Olumo, and his wife, Mrs. Tarila Anderson Olumo; the Deputy Head of Ogu Community, HH, Mission Obugu, and wife of the Ebeni-Ibe of Atissa Kingdom, Mrs. Diemeze Victor Awala.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">For the people of Ogu, the festival was more than a celebration of the first harvest, it underscored the importance of preserving cultural traditions, strengthening communal bonds, promoting reconciliation and passing cherished values from one generation to another, while also ensuring that the legacy of their forebears continue to inspire future generations.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Ogu Community in Otubo-Atissa, Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, has stated its commitment to preserving its culture, peace and community development through the celebration of the annual &#8220;Uge Adiafa&#8221; New Yam Festival, tagged &#8220;Ogbolo &#8217;26.&#8221; Held at St. John&#8217;s Primary School Field, Ogu, the colourful festival served not only as the traditional [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67315,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-356644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-niger-delta"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/67315"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=356644"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":356649,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356644\/revisions\/356649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=356644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=356644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=356644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}