The Organisation For the Advancement of Anioma Culture (OFAAC), the umbrella body of Anioma Culture mourns the passage of a Monarch par excellence, His Royal Majesty, Obi (Prof.) Chike Edozien, expressing the grief that the Anioma Nation may never have a resounding, famous and brilliant Traditional Ruler like the Asagba of Asaba again.
In a press statement issued by Arc. Kester Ifeadi as the President of OFAAC, he itemised a number of qualities that distinguished Asagba Prof. Chike Edozien as a rare gem among the personalities that ever occupied various Thrones within the Traditional Institution in Nigeria and beyond.
Asagba Prof. Chike Edozien was a foremost Professor of Medicine with a renowned and viable career in the academia before ascending the Throne of his forebears in 1990.
Since that eventful ascension, he had remained committed to the ideals that bound the people of Asaba and Anioma Nation, nay Delta State and Nigeria together.
Part of that dedicated agenda for communal cohesion was the undiluted crave for a people rooted in and identified by their culture, and of course, his struggles and pursuits for an Anioma State, which as at today, remains a realisable dream.
Asagba Prof. Chike Edozien was a frontline member of the Board of Trustees that stood for the Organisation For the Advancement of Anioma Culture since inception, and he continued to contribute in no small measure, his ideas, suggestions and experiences towards its sustainability for the advancement of Anioma Culture and traditions. He had the inclination that Anioma Culture is foremost and should occupy a centre-stage in the world’s cultural landscape.
Arc. Kester Ifeadi on behalf of OFAAC, stated that “We will indeed miss the royal steam and traditional vibes in terms of advice by the Asagba who truly acted as a father, a guide and a protector to us. He was roundly supportive of all our efforts and never allowed anything untoward came near us.
“He was one in a billion – a resounding world class academic and traditional cynosure whose footprints would remain on the sand of time for generations to reckon with. He was a legend whose life and times can never end by his transition.
“We in OFAAC will miss him dearly. Anioma Nation will miss his fatherly and protective role as a Traditional Ruler. Delta State, Nigeria and Africa will miss his unquantifiable experiences, anchored on peace, unity and development of his people”, OFAAC’s statement read in part.