Now I Know What Uneasy Lies the Head That Wears the Crown Means-Lord Destiny Ebatamaehi Usifoh Ogienefoh II

On Saturday, 30 March, 2024, Ewohimi, a very boisterous town in Esan South East Local Government Area, Edo state, was agog as it played host to an unprecedented throng of people who were on ground to witness one rare traditional event-the crowning of a new king, HRH Lord Destiny Ebatamaehi Usifoh Ogienefoh II. 

The event has come and gone, the town is back to its normal life. However, FreshNews, your soar-away multi-media online news platform, received the nod to speak with the new king, the day after.

It was the first ever media interview granted by the new king, a highly cerebral, knowledgeable, dynamic and urbane young man.

He spoke with Ernest Omoarelojie on sundry issues.

Happy reading.

Let me first of all, congratulate you on the success of your coronation. Your Royal Highness. Beautiful scene it was. What is your take on what took place on the coronation proper?

As I always said, I don’t want to sound like someone who is sad or something. This should be my first and last coronation I will ever attend in Ewohimi. My father didn’t have me before his coronation. So this is the first time I’m seeing what a coronation looks like. I didn’t know what to expect but I was overwhelmed and I believe that with the way it went yesterday, Ewohimi had set a standard and I believe as time goes on, it is worthy of being emulated. You’ve seen the people who came in to celebrate the kingdom, most especially, because Ewohimi is a kingdom that is revered, respected, for obvious reasons, our culture and many more. So having people come around to celebrate speaks positively of this community, speaks positively of the celebrant. So yesterday was a day to remember in a lifetime and a day for any Ewohimi person to be highly elated.

While the coronation was on, there were people from all walks of life, Ewohimi people at home and from abroad, gathered so enthusiastically here to celebrate you. How would that reflect on your reign?

You know, if the scenery was contrary to what we saw yesterday, you will be able to deduct or deduce that the people don’t really hold you or the kingdom in that high esteem. But looking at how it went yesterday, you know how much the people hold you and love the kingdom. And now you know what the task is all about. I see myself as eh, should I say, starting from yesterday, seeing the kind of people, I started seeing myself in a new light, more than an Enojie, someone who someone would cry to and expect, you know, a solution, someone you would come to, meet and say what your problems are and expect a solution, basically a father to all. Seeing everybody coming to say, congratulations, Zaiki this, Zaiki that, you know, puts me on that high pedestal and now I have to climb to assume that responsibility just so that everyone is pleased.

There is going to be so much expectations on the part of the people. You are so very young, thank God for that, but now you are a father to all. How are you going to be able to deliver on all such expectations?

While education plays a vital role in one’s sense of articulation, wisdom also comes from God. You know, I wasn’t opportune to watch my father for a decade but the few years I stayed around him, I knew how he always resorted to God for guidance, for direction and I am not going to fall short of that. I saw who he consulted to be who he was, so I know who to consult too. It is God. You are culture and tradition personified. Incidentally, we have much of our culture and tradition eroded by the infusion of western culture and tradition.

Obviously, you are going to have a herculean task trying to marry the two cultures in such a way that we don’t lose one at the expense of the other. How do you hope to do that?

You know, I am not going to lie. This could be a very daunting task. And I don’t know if you are aware, way back then, Heir Aparents, they don’t take them to school, why, because they believe once they get acclimated to the western culture, they don’t want to come back home and rule a bunch of, they termed it a bunch of village people, that they are too good for that, you know. But my father took that risk knowing tomorrow what might happen. But he took that risk, went to school twice, B.Sc and a Masters. But one thing I watched my dad do is that I watched my dad be an ordinary man and a king at the same time. You know, a traditionalist and he was faithful to God. He knew the ultimate. He knew that when he calls on him, he answers.

I mean I am quite young, I haven’t had that much experiences in my life. The ones I have are the ones I got from my dad. I saw my dad trying to adjust to the new clime, I mean if somebody could take a risk and train his child, B.Sc and Masters, Heir Apparent, he has broken that path where Heir Apparent doesn’t go to school anymore. That tradition now is cut short. So speaking of tradition, yes I am a new generation. Some would say we are Gen Zee, we don’t take nonsense, we don’t take no for an answer, which is true.but at the same time, not everyone fits into the generalization of the Gen Zee.

I am the kind not to take no for an answer but I won’t insult you. I won’t shun you, I respect your age because I want to get there one day. But there is the fraction of Gen Zee that will insult you, real deep and they will hide under the umbrella of, ‘We Are Gen Zee, We Don’t Take Nonsense. No Gree For Anybody’.

I am like a bridge between two worlds-traditional and the new generation. The ones we can continue to practice, I know that when it is time to pass it on, it will be a mantle that can be collected from me, I will keep them. But the ones I see and feel will be a burden.

Tradition, by the way, is something that someone introduced that got practiced by generations. If I start something today and the next generation, 200 years, it is still being practised, 200 years from now, it will be called tradition. But then in our time, they will say it is a new generational thing. But 200 years from now when you and I will obviously not be here, the people then will be saying, ‘na so dem dey do am, time in-memoriam’. That’s the word they will be using. Who knows maybe the tradition we are practising now was introduced maybe a hundred years ago. But then we can’t leave it because they would say ‘e don tay wen dem don dey do am.’ tradition comes to play because it was introduced by someone.

Unity, peace, progress and development of Ewohimi, I’m sure those are going to be topmost on your agenda, so to speak. Can you speak to them?

And lastly, we talked about the people’s expectations of your era. There should also be what you expect from the people. What are your expectations in that regard?

This office is not one that I contested for. You know. But it is an office one would do anything to assume. I never contested to be here, I inherited it. It will now make you think and know that you are not a politician. So you can’t go about making promises like the average politician. My job now is to be a spokesperson, the one that listens to the people and relates it with the dignitaries or the elites that come here and ask what are the things that are bothering your people. I am basically a spokesperson, what my people are lacking, what is disturbing in terms of what is disturbing their peace, which is insecurity, what is not making their daily lives better, which is, may be bad roads and no light, no water and the rest.

So like I said, my job is like a spokesperson . If someone comes today, a politician comes today and wants to hear my own side of the story, my own side of the story is my people’s side of the story.

Let me ask this, perhaps as an aside. Yesterday, the whole place was filled up but a little more than 24 hours later, the place is empty. It could be lonely sometime. Isn't it?

I looked to my right and left yesterday, the whole place was filled up. But it is quiet today. Come a month from now, if you drop a needle, you will hear it when it drops. Before I used to hear people say ‘uneasy lies the head that wears the crown’. I felt it literally the day that crown was on my head. I felt it. It is a proverb but the word was literally inscribed on me. I just felt it when it was on my head. It was aching, it was heavy.

May God grant the wisdom and strength, Your Royal Highness, to carry the mantle. Thank you very much for granting us audience.