Culture

GOODWILL ADDRESS BY
ASEME ALABO, HRH, ENGR DAGOGO LAMBERT BROWN
TO MEMBERS OF BUOYE OMUSO BROWN MAJOR HOUSE OF FINIMA DURING HIS FORMAL INSTALLATION AS
CHIEF & HEAD OF BUOYE OMUSO BROWN MAJOR HOUSE &
AMADABO OF FINIMA Kongo XVII, Omoni-ye-Sughu I on Wednesday 12 January 2022

I am indeed very grateful and still remain indebted to God Almighty for the undeniable demonstration of His mercy and love towards us in Buoye Omuso Brown Major House and Finima in general; considering the turbulent journey of life we have experienced, since the exodus from our revered ancient Community in 1991. It is highly desirable to always appreciate God’s timely interventions in the affairs of the House, in rescuing and preserving her from total collapse and disintegration.

I still acknowledge the grace of God that has preserved and secured us as a family to this point in life where we can still breathe to sustain, as well as enable us to organize and provide for ourselves an all-embracing Constitution to properly direct and prudently manage the affairs of the House. It is by the provisions of this Constitution that the exercise of producing the Aseme Alabo for the House was duly conducted and emerged with Amadabo-elect, fully backed by preponderant majority support, including well-meaning and prominent members of the House.

Let me pause here and look at the much matured faces of all the accredited members of Council of Warialapu and applaud their courage and resilience in executing this assiduous exercise of producing the Aseme Alabo for the House through an obvious stormy weather of obnoxious and futile litigation missiles. Yet you are able to surmount and silence all the opposing voices of error; for the will of God to prevail.

Today is a memorable milestone in our history as one of the aboriginal and founding Houses of Bonny Kingdom in the Ibani nation; being honoured to address this great ancestral founding House and the entire Community in the capacity as Chief and Head of the Buoye Omuso Brown Major House and Amadabo Of Finima; I am indeed most humbled as a chief servant to administer the will of Almighty God for my people.

My emergence as Chief and Head of the Buoye Omuso Brown Major House and Amadabo of Finima is not and can never be a personal achievement; BUT a huge victory for the House over age long satanic manipulations and oppressions. It is a way forward Victory for the Buoye Omuso Brown House. It is a Victory with Axes and Swords to cut off and terminate all forms and fashions of resistances and repressiveness for the total recovery and restoration of every broken wall in the House.

I strongly believe that my divine emergence as a Chief servant; is the outcome of my over 40 years of consistent service and close interaction with all our past and recently demised leadership of the House and from which affinity I imbibed certain basic norms and values of the House; that had groomed me to become emotionally attached and sensitive to the yearnings and sentiments of the average Buoye Omuso Brown House element. As a chief servant to this great House, the application of servant-leadership principles shall be my best fit to actualize the beneficial deliverables for our people.

I will continue to serve my people with selfless zeal, unalloyed loyalty and genuine passion for the stability and peaceful coexistence of the House, as well as ensure the prudent management of her resources.
Over 30 years of my meaningful engagements with the oil and gas business in Nigeria, has afforded me huge work life experiences, as well as exposed me with the necessary global tour and relevance. Apt with our Community and the Buoye Omuso Brown House in particular, being the landlord to all the oil and gas outfits in Bonny Island; I have the experience relevant with their modus operandi, which is key to us as a family and Finima people.
My constant key outlook for the Buoye Omuso Brown House is to evolve sustainable stability of the House, through the deployment of administrative systems that will run all the existing structures and leadership strata in the House, such that no single Head, including my humble self can have the freedom to run any personal agenda to the detriment of the House and the Community.

I cannot claim to be able to do all these alone without ensuring relative harmonious working relationship amongst us as brethren that dwell from one family pot. I also do not know it all, nor claim to have solution to all the issues in the House; but the evident grace of God upon my life, has built in me the capacity of harnessing the enormous human and material resources in the House for her benefit.

Let me also humbly appeal for the genuine support and collaboration of all members of the House both at home and abroad as brethren of one family; in joining forces together to consolidate our unified stand on whom we are, where we are and what we have in our God given space on this Earth in the continent of Africa, in Rivers State of Nigeria and in Bonny Island.

I deliberately would like to express few basic facts for the benefit of our fast growing youths, to avoid being misled.

• Finima was founded by the ancestors of the Buoye Omuso Brown Major House, being the first arrivals on the island far before Bonny came to stay. (See G I Jones pg. 105)

• Finima is owned by the Buoye Omuso Brown Major House and has remained so from genesis. (See Suit No. PHC/174/72)

• Finima is not a three Chieftaincy Community.

• The Buoye Omuso Brown Major House has three Minor Chieftaincy Houses namely; Adum (Tamunobere), Attoni (Doughubo) and Tobin (Konibo) Chieftaincy Houses.

• The Chief and Head of the Buoye Omuso Brown Major House is the Paramount Chief of Finima, otherwise known as the Amadabo Of Finima.

• There are currently thirteen sub-family units in the Buoye Omuso Brown Major House, whose headships constitute the Council of Warialapu of the House.

• These sub-family units include; Akpa, Cross, Dupuyo, Eli, Goro, Goni, Hart-Brown, Iyariari, Owari, Owupele, Papanye, Sughu and Tamunobere.

This information must be fundamental as key basic facts for all sons and daughters of the Buoye Omuso Brown Major House of Finima.

Let me use the opportunity of this maiden address in my capacity as the Chief and Head of the Buoye Omuso Brown Major House to formally reaffirm the use of the tittle of Warialabo and or Warialapu for all subsisting members of my Council in line with the provisions of our Constitution. Accordingly, I hereby direct all Warialapu to constitute their Burusu Wariseniapu as soon as possible for subsequent presentation to the Amadabo-in-Council. This is aimed at closing out the squabbling in this direction.

Indeed, the stable governance of the House calls for an all-inclusive collaboration from all well-meaning members of the House both at home and abroad. I will provide the enabling environment of cross-pollinating resourceful initiatives /ideas, as well as sieving them and translating such outcomes into beneficial realities for the House and the entire Community.

May I sincerely appeal to our brothers that are currently in court against the House to please sheath their swords and return home for harmonious resolution. Our continuous contentions in courts have not in real terms resolved issues for us, rather than continuously drain the resources of the House. I personally see every financial drain to court litigation as a limiting radical to the number of our secondary, university and post graduate students that the House is presently supporting. It is preferable to exhaust all options of dialogue and arbitration within the reach of the family before entering the lane of court litigation. No two or three persons can be Chief and Head the House at the same time. It is only God Almighty that divinely chooses one through people, just as He assigned us to our parents; because no child is given the opportunity to choose parent. Leaders are ordained by God at every point in life. We necessarily do not have to like them. They are placed to fulfil God’s purpose. I hereby beseech us as brethren of this great House to eschew all manner of bitterness and rancour detrimental to our betterment and peaceful coexistence as one indivisible entity

In same vain above, I also extend genuine hand of fellowship to our Doughubo and Konibo brotherhood, as Minor Chieftaincy Houses that sprang from the Buoye Omuso Brown Major House; to avail themselves for progressive dialogue and collaboration that will benefit us all as Finima people. The essence of equity amongst brethren is better comprehended with a sincere pursuit of purpose. Otherwise when equity is misconstrued for equality amongst brethren, then rebellion is inevitable. It therefore means that continuous engagements amongst brethren are key to a better understanding of their individual differences. May I state here that my Warialapu and I are available and open to such healthy engagements that will progress us a Community.

My dear brethren of Buoye Omuso Brown House, the vision of ‘‘Simini famam Finima’’ (meaning poverty has ended in Finima) in the midst of the giant hydrocarbon industries on our land can only be actualize by our collective resolve and determination to strengthen the development institutions being set up to represent Finima’s interest on developmental issues, such as Finima Development Committee and Finima Capacity Development Committee. As owners of Finima lands and landlord to all the multi-national outfits on the Island, it is therefore incumbent on us that we take ownership of Finima development matters, including the much heralded local content issue of ‘‘Finima NLNG Host Community’’ matter. All hands are therefore expected to be committed on deck for the realization of this vision.

Finally, I wish you all the best as I look forward to your positive response and cooperation now and always.

God bless us all
Long live BOBH
Long live Finima
Long live Bonny Kingdom