Rivers: Fubara presents staff of office to new Amanyanabo of Opobo

The governor of Rivers state, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has formally presented the Certificate of Recognition and Staff of Office to the new Amanyanabo of Opobo Kingdom, King Charles Douglas Mac-Pepple Jaja, Jeki VI, urging the new monarch to promote peace, unity and inclusiveness in the kingdom.

The governor, while congratulating the new monarch for successfully scaling the hurdles of selection and coronation,    urged  the royal father  to see contenders who lost out of the selection process, not as victims but as comrades who must be carried along for the kingdom to move forward.

Speaking during the presentation ceremony at Government House, Port Harcourt, Governor Fubara apologised for his absence at the coronation, stating that it was due to a call to higher national service, but that his spirit and soul were fully with the kingdom throughout the process.

He declared that history will remember his administration for peacefully laying to rest the late King, Douglas Dandeson Jaja, and for the emergence of a new monarch without litigation.

The governor said he remains one of the proudest persons on earth for the success of the transition, adding  that the late king’s stool was enmeshed in a legal battle that lasted over 27 years, and that it took the wisdom and deliberate intervention of his administration to manage the selection process to avoid another round of court cases.

He stated that contrary to insinuations by mischief makers who tried to politicise his absence, his government was fully responsible for the entire process from burial of the late king to the coronation and recognition.