The last surviving Ijaw nation revolutionists and fighter, late Captain Samuel Timinipre Owonaro (Rtd) have been laid to rest at Kaiama, Kolokuma/Opokuma local government area of Bayelsa State over the weekend.
Owonaro, is fondly remembered for his heroic role in the 12-day Revolution’ alongside two other late Ijaw icons, Major Isaac Boro and Nottingham Dick, when they declared the Niger Delta Republic in 1966.
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He died on June 2020 at the age of 76, after he dedicated his life for the struggle of the well-being of Ijaw nation and Niger Delta region.
Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, who attended the funeral, recounted his encounter with the late Captain Owonaro (Rtd) before he passed on.
Diri said on his assumption of office as governor, he visited the departed activist, and he expressed joy that he lived to see the creation of Bayelsa, a homogenous Ijaw state and also, somebody from his local government, Kolokuma/Opokuma had became governor in his lifetime.
The governor also announced the renaming of the Ijaw National Academy after the late Owonaro.
Diri said, “Immediately after my inauguration as governor, the late Captain Owonaro was one of the first persons I visited. During that visit, he told me that you came here with the convoy of a governor, I’m satisfied.
“Today, I have seen a governor from my own extraction of Kolokuma/Opokuma. Now I can go back satisfied with what I have seen to tell my compatriots, in particular Isaac Boro, that our struggle was not in vain.
“That I have seen a Bayelsa State created; I have seen a son of Kolokuma/Opokuma as governor.
“Owonaro led an impactful life and left the legacy of a role model to the younger generation, that is why the government of Bayelsa state immortalise him by naming a state edifice after him as a monument.
“As a young man, part of how the imprint of late Isaac Adaka Boro impacted on me and very many of us in the old Rivers State, that is why Adaka Boro Park named after our Ijaw hero.
“And so, today, may I also pronounce that the Ijaw National Academy henceforth be named as Captain Sam Owonaro Academy. In the same vein, I hereby direct the Commissioner for Works and other relevant commissioners to look out for a street worthy to be named after Nottingham Dick, one of the three heroes.” He said
The only surviving son of the late Ijaw icon, Mr. Lloyd Owonaro, in his remarks, thanked Governor Diri and the state government for immortalising his father and expressed the optimism that the struggle his father lived for would last forever.
