His last hours; Isiokpo mounts Achian, symbolic flag
•Mourners from USA, France, UK for burial.
Isiokpo residents besiege airport to receive visitors
•Mothers in three-day prayers; Ikwere LG to immortalize him
•Massive Police Deployment
By Daniel Abia in Isiokpo, P/Harcourt
“T o everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die;……….A time to weep, and a time laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance”.
For the immediate family of Herbert Wigwe, loved ones, friends and colleagues nothing could underscore this verse in the bible than today’s (Saturday, march 9, 2024) gathering at Isiokpo in Ikwerre local government area of Rivers state.
After 58 years of earthly sojourn, Dr. Herbert Wigwe takes his final rest today.
“But death came too late”, according to the Ikwerre Council chairman, Dr. Samuel Nwanosike, because “he had achieved all that most people of his age could not achieve”.
To millions of his admirers, Wigwe died too young. This is premised on the fact that the Holy Book gives 70 years as the youngest period a devote Christian should live on earth. It is on this understanding that the world converges on Isiokpo to mourn one of its best in all human endeavours.
The signs were well pronounced as local mourners gathered in clusters discussing in low tones. Perhaps, on the death and today’s burial of their beloved son, Wigwe.
By Friday afternoon, every venue scheduled for this burial was set: the school, the church and the university premises. The roads are clean as pot holes have disappeared. Isiokpo is ready to host the world, though in sorrow.
Mothers Pray Against Untimely Death
For three days they gathered at the major roundabout which is their city center. They called themselves ‘Married Women Of Isiokpo”. They spotted red wrapper and white blouse. Some had white handkerchiefs on their heads as scarf while others made do with whatever was available.
Some of them sat on the green grass, others squatted and some more prostrated. They were praying fervently for God’s intervention in the affairs of the kingdom and for an end to untimely deaths in Isiokpo. Mrs. Beatrice Echeonwu, 68, said the prayer was necessary to end the scourge of untimely deaths in the area.
“We received a revelation from God to embark on a 3-day prayer to take away untimely deaths from our children. God has already answered us. Such disaster will never happen in isiokpo again. Our children will never die untimely again because God has assured us”.
For three days, the isiokpo mothers have assemble at the center of the city from 6am and prayed until 9am with a symbol of water sprinkling on members as a number of them fell under “anointing”. Mrs. Echeonwu said the prayer has been a monthly ritual which comes up on every first Wednesday of a new month.
“Our son’s (Wigwe’s) death forced us to engage the more in prayer until God revealed to us to undergo three days of intensive prayer for His divine intervention. That is the assurance we got that premature death will be a thing of the past in Isiokpo”, she assured.
“ACHIAN” Flag And Its Significant
One of the important symbols of today’s burial ceremony is the erection of a long flowing piece of cloth from the Isiokpo borderline to the private cemetery of Dr. Wigwe. Erected on both sides of the major road, the ACHIAN is a traditional way of honouring the passage of an important personality like the late toast of Rivers state.
Giving insight into the essence of ACHIAN, Chief Edmund Opurum, 72, revealed that “in our tradition when Achian is erected on the road, it signifies either the burial of an important personality like Dr. Wigwe or the coronation of a king.
“The ones you see erected on the road also help to give direction to the visitors to the venue of the event. The ones erected on the road sides may be removed on Monday after the burial. But those at the private cemetery may likely be there for two or three weeks depending on the decision of the bereaved family”, he said.
Chief Opurum regretted that it would take many years if not generations to have somebody like the late Herbert Wigwe again. “Every Christmas, he used to give each community 500 bags of rice with rams while the chiefs were always given N50,000. I benefitted from all of these. That is why I said it would take a long time to have somebody like him”, Opurum said as he was busy clearing the gutter to add some sense of decency to the burial arrangement.
Ikwerre LGA To Immortalize Wigwe
“The bible tells us that we don’t have the right to question the actions of God. But if I were allowed, I wiould ask why would Wigwe die now? He was a beckon of hope for the entire ikwerre local government area and beyond. If you were lucky to have him speak to you, your entire life was made.
“His vision was so big that it contained everybody. There was space in his life to accommodate everybody. My son called me from his school and asked me the same question: why should he die now? The death of Wigwe is such a big disaster to us and those who knew him in one way or another. Our candle, our light has dimmed. This is sad and I don’t know how to describe this”, said Dr. Nwanosike, Ikwerre Council boss.
He assured that the Ikwerre ethnic nationality would immortalize the late philanthropist extraordinaire. “Yes, we will immortalize him. This is not because I am the council chairman of his local government area. It has to do with the importance the Ikwerre ethnic nationality placed on him.
“I am happy that his business friends from all over the country and overseas have promised that the Wigwe International University will certainly go ahead with inaugural academic session in September which was his vision. I am happy for that. We will also do all within our reach to keep his dreams alive”.
Over 50 Jets Expected.
As envisaged, the Port Harcourt International Airport is expected to be busy, at least for today. A credible source at the airport confided in Saturday Vanguard that more than fifty private and commercial jets were expected to land at the airport for today’s burial.
The source disclosed further that if the capacity of the local wing could not contain the visiting jets, some of them would be directed to the international wing. “There is a standing instruction from the minister that everything should be done to avoid possible chaos throughout the burial. We expect more than 50 private and commercial jets tomorrow (today).
“We are expecting a massive crowd from within and outside the country to attend the burial. He was a popular man. That is why we are doing everything possible to ensure a smooth event devoid of stampede or any form of security risk”, the source said.
A Dose Of Politics
In the early hours of Friday, a crowd of sympathizers had gathered at the airport junction to receive the remains of their son, Dr. Wigwe, his wife, Chizoba and son. They all wore black T-Shirts with the description: “Dead or alive, don’t touch a lion”. On the reversed side of the shirt was “Elele Elders and Youths: On Wike’s Structure We stand”.
It presupposes that in a gathering of this magnitude, politicians would definitely want to leverage on such opportunities to showcase their political prowess and the stuff they are made of in their trade.
Rivers state, no doubt is a boiling political cauldron. A fight that has refused to simmer down for whatever reason despite several interventions by prominent Nigerians including the President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
But there will be no room for politicking in today’s event. The world gathers here to mourn the passage of a great personality. The world is here to mourn. The world is here to weep. The world is here to grieve over the untimely death of a man who was too generous as a philanthropist. No room for local politics today. Not now.
Led by the ikwerre Council chairman, Dr. Nwanosike, a close ally of the Minister of federal capital territory, FCT, Chief Nyesom Wike, the group received the remains of the Wigwes straight from the airport at exactly 1:33pm and drove in a long motorcade to the deceased father’s compound at isiokpo.
One striking feature of today’s burial ceremony is the watertight security provided particularly by the Rivers State Police command. Saturday Vanguard was told that the Commissioner of Police, Rivers State, is the chief security officer, COS, of this historic moment.
Massive security officers and men were deployed to Isiokpo to wade off anything that would constitute a nuisance to the security of life and property in the course of the burial.
The ceremony is billed to be streamed live by Team 33 Production, a reputable event expert based in Lagos. The company streams the Nigerian Professional Football League, NPFL for Startimes.
Isiokpo would be a melting pot for who is who in the business world from within and outside Nigeria. A credible source said Dr. Wigwe’s friends from America, England, France and other parts of the world have been in Nigeria since the burial program started a week ago.
No doubt, a federal government powerful delegation will also be at Isiokpo to pay its last respect to the deceased. Politicians of note, clerics of high repute and members of “One Love” family, University Dons among others are expected to be on ground to grace the burial. It will be a gathering of who is who in the real sense of it.
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