The Weeping Julius Takeme and the Retirement of Mitin Takeme Alice Oruetari to the Sleeping Forest - Ekanpou

By: Enewaridideke Ekanpou

Something psychologically destabilising has just swept the earth in Obotebe , Ngbilebiri, Isaba and Gbaramatu Kingdoms in Burutu Local Government Area and Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State . So  Chief Dr. Julius Takeme, the Executive Chairman of Burutu Local Government in Delta State, wept, mind swept off the  cautionary traditional code that that men do not break down in tears. Here he appears to be inspiringly stuck to Abraham Lincolm's teaching in his letter to his son's teacher that says: ' Teach him how to laugh when he's sad. Teach him there is no shame in tears'.Takeme is still weeping because tears have forcibly broken open a communication channel with him when his emotional  weir could no longer resist the rushing waters.

Jesus saw the lifeless body of Lazarus and wept. Similarly, Takeme saw the calm, uncommunicative and lifeless body of his own beloved mother, Mrs Alice Oruetari Mitin Takeme, in Oghara Teaching Hospital and wept like Jesus Christ, though unable to authorise her, as he would council files, to rise from where she lay without protest.

Alice Oruetari, who later had her name changed to Tamarauetari in tune with her renewed faith-based relationship with God, is the mother of Dr. Takeme. Tamarauetari whose roots of origin spread to Obotebe in Obotebe Kingdom, Ayakoromo in Ngbilebiri Kingdom and Okerenkoko in   Gbaramatu Kingdom left this world and retired to the sleeping forest like Mark the Otobo 1 of Dr. (h.c.) Izonebi Alfred's creation. She retired to the sleeping forest on 3 March 2026 at the age of 84, leaving behind eight children. Before her retirement, she was a hardworking fisherwoman who later became a celebrated  'fish-trader' (fishmonger) , devotedly engaged in buying and selling of fish in commercial quantities from fishermen and fisherwomen in Obotebe and its environs in Burutu Local Government Area.

Everybody in Obotebe knows  that Tamarauetari's life was driven by a radiant philosophy that planted smiles on the faces of people around her. As a devotee of God, in all her religious, social, cultural and business dealings with people, her philosophical guardrail often planted and deposited in the DNA of her children was :' touch not what does not belong to you'. 

Always allergic to being specifically captured photographically because, to her conviction,  it echoed nearness to death, she was congenitally viewed as the treasurer of all treasurers in the universe in Obotebe Kingdom. Tamarauetari was visibly situated as the treasurer of all treasurers because she was seen as a dependable vault for money-keeping. People around her saw her as a bank where they flocked to and  kept money because she was willing to accept  any amount of money deposited in her unlicensed bank however long it was deposited. 

One notable thing about Tamarauetari over which she was always applauded was that no matter the long length of time money deposited lived in her bank whose minimum or maximum  capitalisation base nobody could attest to, the exact denominations of money deposited were released to the depositor without note-substitution. She was fondly seen as the incarnation of 'garbage in and garbage' when it bordered specifically on deposition and withdrawal of money from her unlicensed bank   -  an unlicensed bank she operated like Islamic banks without interest from depositors while she lived. 

Integrity in business transactions and social  interactions was her watchword and philosophy in life. Religiously, socially, culturally and culturally, Tamarauetari was referentially healthy in her dealings with the world.The world left behind by her can always attest to her integrity in business transactions.

Alice Tamarauetari died on 3 March 2026. Dr. Takeme broke down in tears when the news was broken to him. Uncontrollably, he broke down in tears again when he saw the calm and uncommunicative body of his own mother in the hospital. It seemed it was a continuum of tears for Takeme because he broke down again in tears on 4 March 2026 in his own house right before the very eyes of the public.

 A comforting crowd stormed the residence of Takeme on 4 March 2026 to steer him away from the river of tears he is irresistibly drawn to because of his own treasured mother who has journeyed to the sleeping forest for an undisturbed sleep. Among the comforting crowd were Ijaw musicians who were there to comfort him and wipe his tears. King  Pius Alabeni  Fezena mounted the stage and sang a dirge  he had  produced on late Chief Mitin Takeme some years ago. This dirge was chiefly designed to comfort Takeme  but it ironically harked back to the treasured memories of late Alice Tamarauetari. Immediately, Takeme broke down in loud tears and refused to be comforted. To barricade Takeme's sail to the treasured memories of his own mother, King Fezena had to stop singing until Takeme was eventually brought back from the land of tears. The musician had to play a different song when Takeme became eventually  calm after the comforting interventions of the comforting crowd.

In Mrs Alice Tamarauetari Mitin Takeme of Obotebe, Ngbilebiri, Isaba and Gbaramatu Kingdoms the world has lost a treasure. The unlicensed bank of Obotebe Kingdom has been frozen by death. - not because of failure to meet the capitalisation base of 250 billion required as a bank with national authorisation.  The teachings of Tamarauetari have been missed by her great children. Takeme and his siblings have become tearful because they have lost their only mother. It is a moment of mourning that will traditionally last for days until Saturday (7 March 2026) this week when the 'canopy-dropping' ceremony shall be held in Warri awaiting the final funeral likely to be made public later.

It is interesting to note that for a council boss driven by vision and mission in his development plans in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State, Dr. Takeme should be comforted by the world so that he will be psychologically strong and equipped to confront the developmental challenges of Burutu Council. The retirement of Tamarauetari to the sleeping forest has left a vacuum in the world of Takeme. Only a comforting crowd can dismantle this vacuum and stabilise him in psychological, social, cultural and developmental dimensions.

Dr. Ekanpou writes from Akparemogbene, Delta State.