Being a witness to the nature and dance steps of untainted royal grand is a rarified grace.
Amidst prodigious feast and splendor of a living heritage, the royal palace of His Royal Majesty, Omo N’ Oba N’ Edo Uku Akpolokpolo Ewuare 11, Oba of Benin, played host to definitive epochs of the historic customary IZOMO, The naming ceremony of infant Prince, who was recently born to the Benin Monarch, Oba Ewuare 11 by Her Royal Highness, Oloi Iyayota Ewuare.
Significantly, the infant Prince is the first birth to the Omo N’Oba since his ascension to the throne on 20th October, 2016.
On a path fashioned for sanity and befitting garments of royal grandeur, the rites connected with the naming ceremony meticulously flits through established custom as it relates to the giving of name to newly born Prince of royal realm of Oba of Benin.
The event watched by members of the royal family, chiefs and several guests, notably, Captain Hosa Okunbo, a prominent son of Benin, there were performances by different cultural and traditional dance groups to spice the event.
The ceremony commenced with the handing over of the Prince to his father, Omo N’Oba Ewuare 11 by his mother, Oloi Iyayota Ewuare, inside one of the ultra-modern royal reception halls.
Thereafter, Oloi Iyayota rendered a special song rendition to underscore her emotions of joy.
Symbolically, inside one of the royal harem, a member of the royal chamber of Ibiwe, Chief Izuwako formally unveiled the name given to the infant Prince by his royal majesty Oba Ewuare 11 as “IDUGBOWA” , meaning the spirit of ancestors has established prosperity or wealth.
Among the Benins, name is not an identifying medium or label, naming ceremony is regarded as serous affair, especially within the royal realm.
They have cause to believe in the psychological reasoning that the of a child bears a veritable pointer to what a child eventually becomes in life.
Recognizing that the Almighty God and his great royal ancestors have boundless role in the affairs of every beings, the Oba personally prayed at the altar of his forebears to dedicate infant Prince IDUGBOWA to the spiritual care and protection of the royal ancestors, at the Ugha-Erhoba, ancestral hall.
With enlivening melodious song renditions by the palace traditional women groups interspersing with singing and dancing, the Omo N’ Oba exhibited the grandness of royal dance steps, at the altar platform of the Ugha-Erhoba, as he carries the infant Prince in his arms to climax the series of rites of naming ceremony.
Conventionally, in the heart and soul of life, what we are, Who we are and what we become, oftentimes are measured by the intrinsic meaning of our names.
