Traditional diplomat and spokesman (Otota) of Oghareki Kingdom, Pa Charles Atakere, was on Saturday, June 22, 2013, committed to Mother Earth in Ajagbodudu, Ethiope West Local Government Area of Delta State, in an elaborate burial ceremony, a celebration of an outstanding achiever.
History will remember Late Pa Atakere, aged 82, as he made numerous contributions to his community, and being the father of Barrister Clifford Atakere, a retired staffer of National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO) and currently a part-time lecturer with the Institute’s Training School, Lagos.
The large crowd of well-wishers came from far and near, many of them friends and relations, community leaders, administrators and government officials, who had been affected one way or the other by the generousity of the amiable, hardworking Otota of Oghareki, attest to the life and times of late Pa Atakere.
Born an Edo/Urhobo man from the border communities of Oghara/Ajagbodudu, Pa Atakere, a detribalised Nigerian, was a cultural diplomat and multi-linguist, who learnt other indigenous languages and even adopted Itsekiri indigeneship in his quest to deepen understanding and build bridges of ethnic harmony.
As a community leader, Pa Atakere served as a founding member of the Koko-based Itsekiri Social Club, Otun Olu, and was Chairman of the Itsekiri community in Cross River State at a time.
According to his biography, as an Urhobo man of Oghara extraction, Pa Atakere was the Chairman of Urhobo Elders Forum in Ajagbodudu and became the Otota of Oghareki in the 1960’s; and he was until his death the most senior Otota in the Oghareki Oguedion due to the long years of his meritorious service.
Pa Atakere bequeathed true Nigerian cultural values of honesty, generousity, hardwork, courage and selflessness to his children, while leaving an impeccable track record as a Manager with PAMOL Ltd, a palm oil and rubber producing firm he worked with in Ajagbodudu and Ogharefe, both in Delta State, Calabar in Cross River State, and Sakponba in Edo State.
The National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO) was represented at the occasion by a team led by the Director, Lagos Liaison Office, Mr. Louis Eriomala, which included Alhaji Bashir Mohammed, Miss Vicky Overo, Mr. Tony Okafor, Miss Joy Onyeakolam, and Miss Harriet Azu.
Anthony Okafor
NICO Corporate Affairs