{"id":1624,"date":"2026-07-15T14:05:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T13:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=1624"},"modified":"2026-07-15T14:05:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T13:05:13","slug":"oruarivie-kingdom-celebrates-ovwuvwe-festival-to-mark-founders-legacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=1624","title":{"rendered":"Oruarivie Kingdom Celebrates Ovwuvwe Festival to Mark Founder&#8217;s Legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>By Oghenefejiro Joseph<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Residents of Oruarivie Kingdom in Abraka, Delta State, on Tuesday, May 19, celebrated the annual Ovwuvwe Festival, a cultural event marking the founding of the kingdom and commemorating the historic achievements of its founder, Prince Avwaeke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The festival, which attracted indigenes and visitors from within and outside the kingdom, featured traditional processions, cultural displays, prayers, and rites performed by priests and community leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Activities began at about 9:00 a.m. as participants marched through major roads in Abraka carrying traditional symbols and cultural artefacts. The celebrations continued throughout the day and concluded at the palace of the Ovie of Oruarivie Kingdom, <strong>HRM Apkomeyoma Majoroh, Ojeta II<\/strong>, where prayers were offered for peace, good health, and a bountiful harvest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To ensure public safety and effective crowd control during the event, traders at Abraka Main Market were directed not to open their shops until noon on Wednesday, May 20. Some schools, business premises, and other public places in the community also suspended activities for the duration of the festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Security personnel were deployed across the community to monitor activities and maintain law and order throughout the celebrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Residents who attended the festival described it as an important symbol of unity, cultural identity, and the preservation of the kingdom&#8217;s rich heritage. However, some also expressed concern over reports of casualties during the celebration and called for improved safety measures at future editions of the festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Ovwuvwe Festival is regarded as one of the most significant cultural celebrations in Oruarivie Kingdom. According to oral tradition, the kingdom was founded by Prince Avwaeke, a son of Oba Ohen of the ancient Benin Kingdom, around 1370 AD following a succession dispute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Historical accounts state that Prince Avwaeke and his followers crossed the Ethiope River before establishing a settlement in present-day Abraka. One popular legend associated with the migration tells of a squirrel that miraculously aided their crossing, leading to its reverence as a sacred animal among the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The festival also commemorates the struggles, resilience, and survival of the kingdom&#8217;s early settlers. Traditional hunting activities and cultural rites performed during the celebration are believed to reflect the experiences of the founding generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Abraka is made up of two traditional kingdoms\u2014Umiaghwa and Oruarivie\u2014and oral history holds that the division originated from Prince Avwaeke&#8217;s two sons, Aghwa and Ivie, from whom the two kingdoms trace their ancestry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Oghenefejiro Joseph Residents of Oruarivie Kingdom in Abraka, Delta State, on Tuesday, May 19, celebrated the annual Ovwuvwe Festival, a cultural event marking the founding of the kingdom and commemorating the historic achievements of its founder, Prince Avwaeke. The festival, which attracted indigenes and visitors from within and outside the kingdom, featured traditional processions, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1625,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"iawp_total_views":8,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,14],"tags":[31,443,143,230],"class_list":["post-1624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abrakametro","category-trendingnews","tag-abraka","tag-culure","tag-delta-state","tag-festival"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1624"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1626,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1624\/revisions\/1626"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}