“Aru bilem, Aru bilem oh! Aru bilem, Aru bilem, Aru bilem oh! Meme, Kala Foru, Aru bilem oh!” “The boat has sunk, the boat has sunk! Just a little wind, and the boat has sunk)…so echoed the dirge across streets of Bonny Island conveying the sorrow, pain and distress of a bereaved kingdom.

Interpreted in Ibani, the language of the people of Bonny Kingdom in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region, the elegy symbolically summarizes that the late Princess Genevieve Kamba William Dappa Pepple’s life and times as a boat that accommodated all but has now sank; and the ‘little wind’ signifying the brief illness that befell her before her passing.

It was a chant of grief by a gender that metaphorically has been defaced by the passing of her Princess, one so beloved, so endearing to many and lovingly acclimatized with living among her people without the debilitating burden of class or status.

Princess Genevieve Kamba William Dappa Pepple, was the younger and only sister of the Amanyanabo and Natural Ruler of Grand Bonny Kingdom, His Majesty, King Edward Asimini William Dappa Pepple III, CON, Perekule XI, a onetime Chairman of the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers (RSCTR).   

During her earthly sojourn, Princess Kamba, as she was fondly called, was that one woman who always shed the toga of royalty when it came to interacting with her kinsmen and women. It took extraordinary circumstances to know she was born royalty.

From street to street, from compound to compound, from quarter to quarter, the women of Bonny Kingdom under the aegis of the Bonny Women Forum led by their Leader, Helen Jack-Wilson Pepple, during the Ama Boro (citywide parade) voiced the grief of the women whose sister, cousin, aunt, mother, friend and confidant has just passed on to the great beyond.

To these women and the people of Bonny Kingdom, this was one loss that shook the foundation of their existence as the deceased was well-beknown to all and sundry as humane, empathetic, graceful, and accommodating; an social rendezvous to all. Everyone found cozy comfort in her company. 

In chat with Kristina Reports, Vice Chairman of Bonny Local Government Area, Anengi Barasua described the late Princess as “a darling sister, a darling princess, a humble soul, a friend to all, and a mother to all,” saying her death was “big loss to the entire kingdom”.

An engineer with the Nigeria LNG, Edith Hart opined that the late Princess lived a memorable life, impacted many lives and left an unforgettable legacy of compassion behind for others to emulate.

For Belema Bristol, Chief Executive Officer of Girly Spice, a restaurant and event centre based in Bonny, the late Princess Kamba was an amazing woman who cannot be forgotten in a hurry, noting that her inspiring life was one that endeared her to many.

For several other women who spoke to Kristina Reports the outpouring of encomiums was endless given the wide spectrum of individual lives and families her philanthropy impacted during her lifetime.

For a community that has become legendary for the expression of elegance, poise, carriage, and goodness, the loss of one that exemplifies all of these, and then some, can be best be imagined.

This was the consensus amongst the Chiefs and Heads of the various chieftaincy houses where the women took their wailings to. Chief Hanniel Jack-Wilson Pepple, Chief Jamaica, Chief Allison, Chief Arthur Willie-Pepple, among others while receiving the women at their various doorsteps, lamented the loss of Princess Kamba, extolling her sterling virtues and expressing confidence in God to comfort the people of Bonny Kingdom.  

The service of songs in her honour will hold at the King Perekule Palace on Friday evening. The Funeral Service will take place at the St. Stephen Cathedral, Bonny on Saturday by 10AM while she will be interred thereafter in Bonny.