Bara J. A. Tobin, a labour unionist, an activist, entrepreneur, and social enterprise enthusiast, is the Chairman of the Konibo-ye-Awanta (Tobin) House Opu-Asawo Youth Association.

He spoke to Kristina Reports Correspondent, Emmanuel Nwafor on some controversies around the ownership and leadership of Finima community in Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State, traced the origins of his chieftaincy house, debunked certain claims by some persons about Finima, as well as charted the path to full restoration of peace in the community. It promises to be a nice read.

In a recent interview by the former Asawo Chairman of Buoye Omuso Brown Major House, Tammy Martins Brown, he referred to the Chairman of your House as not actually being a Chairman, claiming that there’s a court restraint on him bearing the title of Wariopusenibo or being the Chairman of the House. Can you respond to this?

Thank you very much. First of all, I want to say is Tammy, the court to ascertain whether somebody has court issues with somebody or not? If there’s anything like that, he should refer back to the court that has the power to take action and to tell you that there is nothing like that, that was why his making those noises. If there’s any ruling, judgement or verdict that says that our chairman, chairman of our elders’ council has been removed or should not go by that title, then, of course, by law you know it’s contempt. So, maybe he should call the court for that and not for him to say you cannot address him as such. So far, as we know and as far as we are concerned, he is the Chairman of Tobin House Elders Council.

Also, he was properly installed as the Wariopusenibo and representative of the Jonathan Burusu in the Tobin House, as far back as 2009, by Se-Alabo Young Sunday Tobin. of course, you know that the only person that has the right, according to the custom and tradition of Bonny to investiture a Warisenibo is a Se-Alabo, a Chief that is recognized by the King. So, he was properly installed, since 2009 by late Se-Alabo Young Ijumangibo Sunday Tobin and since then till date nobody has opposed or disagreed with that installation. So, he remains a legitimate representative of that Burusu and he was recently elected by all the Council members as the Chairman of the Council. So, Tammy and his faction of the Brown House does not have the mouth to come and tell us who is our Chairman and who is not our Chairman. Thank you.

Now, in the course of that interview, he made it clear that the restructuring of the leadership equation in Finima, you know, setting up of the Finima Council of Chiefs, upgrading of some families from units to burusu and from burusu to chieftaincy houses was about fine-tuning the leadership structure of Finima, not necessarily that Finima or the Brown House is pulling out of Bonny Kingdom. Do you agree with this position?

Tammy or his faction of the Brown House cannot fine-tune the leadership of Finima Community for us. I think his faction of the Brown House, if they are looking for community to fine-tune its leadership, it should be George Pepple. I want to also add my voice to that of the Chairman of the Elders Council and that of King Opuada Secondus, that where the Brown House have right is in George Pepple, and Tammy should please go and fine-tune George Pepple leadership. You can’t fine-tune Finima because it belongs to the Tobin House. I will not allow you fine-tune our leadership. Allow us to do our thing. You belong to George Pepplego there and fine-tune their leadership. That’s all.

So, are you saying that the Chief and Head of the Brown House, Aseme Alabo Dagogo Lambert Brown does not have the right or the legitimacy to structure the leadership of Finima?

Who made him a chief? The question is, who made Dagogo Lambert a chief? Look, if you are a legislator, you must go to the legislative house. If you are a councillor, you must be at the legislative council. If you are a senator, you must go to the senate. Dagogo Lambert should not be deceiving people. Who made him a chief. Look Brown House has a Chief, well recognized, and properly installed. Do you know one thing about the Chief, the present Chief of Brown House? He was properly installed according to the custom and tradition of the Brown House. The same way Omuso was installed by Captain Hart in Captain Hart House, and taken to the Palace before he was brought to Finima, that’s the same way the present Chief, who is a great grandson by blood of Omuso. The person they are talking about, Chief Evans Clement Brown is of Omuso’s blood, and his father’s slaves or servants are coming to challenge him. He is there already as the Chief of the House. So, we should be talking about him and not Dagogo Lambert. So, Dagogo Lambert, to start with, is not even a Chief, talk less of coming to restructure Finima that does not belong to them.

Let’s also ask, part of what he said was that in the last interview by your House Chairman, what he narrated was a distorted history and that the real history is that the founder of Tobin House was an Andoni man, a fisherman; he was captured and then brought to Finima and he was doing his fishing and eventually had children, a family, and which eventually metamorphosed to what is now known to be the Tobin House. Do you agree with him?

I cannot agree with those lies. You know we are Bonny people. We are reading everything he is saying and most of them are laughable; that the Tobin House was founded by an Andoni man that his own child or grandson or great grandson became the chief priest of the Ibani national deity? A stranger coming to be the chief priest of the national deity of the Ibani people? He didn’t tell us who actually captured the Andoni man, anyway. Like in our own case, we stated it, the Chairman of my House stated it, made it very clear. We started from Opu Ipuo, who left Bonny. Opu Ipuo got Agogo, Agogo got Kala Ipuo, had Kala Ipuo or begat Kala Ipuo. Kala Ipuo begat Sonu. Sonu now bought a slave by name Onyeasolam, and Onyeasolam was sent on an errand to Okrika where he went and brought Nwaolu, an Igbo man and Ukwu his son, an Igbo man. Ukwu was later in the 80s renamed Buo. We made it very clear. In our own case, he should tell us who actually captured the said Otunte and how come he mentioned that Otunte grew in Opubo House. We all know Opubo was a man of late 17th century and early 18th century, was a contemporary of Omuso. He was a contemporary of Awanta, and so on. How come that same Opubo was the person Awanta’s great grandfather, according to him, lived with. He must be joking.

So, obviously, he does not know what he is talking about. Like I said, Awanta is the son of Konibo. Another question I want to ask, and put to him is how come, according to him, Otunte begat Diri, Diri begat Konibo; Diri and Konibo are Ibani names, isn’t it? Konibo now begat who he called Owonte, an Andoni name. His grandfather’s name, Diri is an Ibani name. Then his own name is Owonte. He is talking nonsense. I don’t know if you are getting me. There is no how Diri, who is bearing an Ibani name, begat Konibo, an ibani name; and Konibo now begot his son, and instead of giving him an Ibani name, now gave him Owonte, an Andoni name. So, Tammy is talking rubbish.

Like I said, let me put the record straight again. Let me add my voice to that of the Chairman of our House. He made it very clear that Awanta was the son of Konibo. Konibo was the son of Diri. Diri was the great grandson of Torukubo, the founder of old Finima. Torukubo in return was the great grandson of Alaowi, the founder of the present Finima. Alaowi was the son of Kongo. So, if Kongo is the progenitor of Tobin House and the Chairman of our House asked in his interview that what has Omuso or Opu Ipuo got to do with Kongo? And they are answering Kongo did this, Kongo did that, and I expect him to answer because the facts are there. Like the Wariopusenibo said, if you go to Chronicles of Grand Bonny, you will see the fact by Adadonye Fombo, even in the family tree of King Kumalu, the facts are there. They should talk about it, tell us how they came about Kongo. Kongo is the originator of the Tobins and has nothing to do with Omuso or Brown House.

Now in that interview, your Chairman asked a question and somehow we didn’t get an answer from the Brown House Asawo Chairman about the gap between 1959 when Chief Henry Buowari Brown transmigrated and when they had the next Chief in 1962 because the Amadabo of Finima had claimed that Tobin House was created in 1961. Is it something you want to throw more light on? 

First of all, there is no Amadabo of Finima. We have said that before and the Chairman of my House made it very clear that Finima is part of Bonny and in Bonny we don’t deal with Ama, we deal with Wari. As far back as 17th century when Perekule took over, the issue of Ama is far gone. Now, we are talking of wari. So, that is one. Two, I don’t know why Tammy who happens to be the spokesman of the Brown House is dodging that question. Maybe, he should go and ask his elders if at all they know anything about that. Henry Buowari Brown died in 1959, Max Allwell Brown was made Chief in 1962. How come, who created the Tobin House in 1961? He did not mention. And when houses are created, they are always created in the name of the first Chief. How come if they want to create house, they didn’t create house with the first chief, the present chief they are creating the house with and they are creating the house? It is obvious that Tobin House has been in existence because the owner and the founder of the House is Awanta. In all the documents Chief Henry Buowari Brown addressed to Chief Abraham Sunday Tobin, why did he not address him as Chief Abraham Sunday Tobin Brown? He addressed him as Chief of Tobin House, meaning there was a House. The memorandum Chief Omoni Jack Brown signed alongside Ijumangibo, it was clearly stated, Captain Tobin land. It means the Tobin House was there. Nobody can bear a surname that does not exist. All the surnames in Finima and in Bonny Kingdom are Houses that have been created.

For a long time, like the Wariopusenibo said in his interview, that after Ijumangibo died in 1884 till 1936, the stool of the Tobin House in the Perekule Palace was vacant and during this time, it was almost about 50 years, if I’m not mistaken, the House was without a chief. I want you to ask Tammy a question if he actually knows what he is talking about that how come before Opobo left Bonny there were no 14 major houses. He should tell us. Opobo that left in 1880s, how come there were no major houses in Bonny? Within this period too that I am talking about. That was when in the early 1914. 1912, 1914, the powerful chiefs constituted themselves to the major houses and most of these houses are servant houses to the Perekule including the Brown House. Like my Chairman said that the Brown House is like the personal property of Perekule. I thank God that in his interview he has accepted the fact that Omuso was actually redeemed and today, they are doing things to challenge the authority of the man that redeemed and made them.

The Wariopusenibo also asked the question, what was Omuso’s elder ones before Omuso came. If at all their father, Buo was something, how come the first didn’t take over, the second did not take over, the third did not, the fourth did not. Omuso is the fifth. It means that they were nobody. The only thing they are today is that Perekule made them and so they cannot challenge Perekule; and I want to re-emphasize that in Bonny Kingdom we don’t deal with Ama, what we deal with is Wari. And like my Wariopusenibo made it very clear that as far back as 1870 Brown House leaders, their chiefs have been applying and collecting land from Tobin House. I want him to debunk that. These are the things that he should tell the public that it’s not true. We also made it very clear that they don’t even have where to bury, that from their Chief Omoni; the second Chief of Brown House, Abebo; the third Chief of Brown House, Buowari, the fourth chief, these are descendants of Omuso, all were buried on Tobin House land. So, if they have land how come they are coming – the Wariopusenibo asked a question, if at all Brown House has land, how come they are coming to beg? after now we will make public the judgment, the judgement Tobin House got concerning Finima where the judge makes it very clear that if Brown House owns any land then how come they are coming to the beg for the crumbs that are falling from the Tobin House.

Talking of the ownership of, the Brown House claims and they actually made available a copy of the res judicata obtained from the Rivers State High Court to Kristina Reports. Now you are saying that Tobin House owns the land and Brown House was applying to and there is this story that has been making the rounds that there was a time in a particular case when the Brown House dragged your House to court and later pulled out from the same case. Is it something that is true or it is just mere speculation?

That is why when they talk I don’t know if they know that the public that they are writing and saying most of the things that they talk about are not enlightened and are not reading in-between the lines. He is claiming that they have won a case and own all land in Finima how come in 2014, they took Tobin House to court for the ownership of Finima land and Tobin House actually counter-claimed in that case and when they noticed that it was not favouring them because we have more than enough substantial documents to back whatever claim we are making they had to pull out from that case. They withdrew from that case. How come? You understand me? So, the truth is that, obviously, if you have already won a case, you wouldn’t have gone to court again for another case. They are just deceiving who they can. Look, my House will call you for an interview, they will bring the two judgements. The one the Brown House is claiming they have and the latest one which the Tobin House have and they will make the two public through you too. Yes, my Chairman has promised he’s going to do that. They will make it public through you so that you will let the public read in between the two judgements, and know who owns Finima.

Now, one of the claims that Tammy Brown made in that interview was that Tobin House makes claims without backing them up with facts and then on the issue of Chief Idamieibi Brown and Chief Yibo Brown, the circumstances in which they left the Bonny Chiefs’ Council and all of that. We want to believe that the Tobin house was aware of what actually led to the ouster of the two Chiefs from the Bonny Chiefs Council.

Chief Israel Idamieibi Brown was suspended from the Council.

Not that he left…?

He did not leave; he was actually suspended. Himself and four other Chiefs – I wouldn’t want to mention their names – because of insubordination in the late 80s. They were suspended from the Council and that was how he left and that was what led to him being deposed in 1991.

That is Chief Idamieibi Brown?

Yes, he was deposed by the Brown House. In the case of Chief Yibo Brown, he was asked to go and do the proper thing because he came into the Council through the back door. I remember in 1996, during the proclamation of the present King, His Majesty, King Edward Asimini William Dappa Pepple III, CON, JP. He made it very clear during his proclamation that he doesn’t know how Yibo got into his Council, and after which he told him to leave the Council and go and do the proper thing. Chief Yibo Brown was installed in Banigo House Opuwari, dressed and installed in Banigo House Opuwari and from there was taken to the palace through the back door, and he (the King) asked him to go and do the proper thing – they should paddle you from your House, you should come and pass through Ikuba and then we’ll accept you in the palace and in the Council, and that was how Chief Yibo Brown left the Bonny Chiefs’ Council. So, he should not mislead the public that he left because he wants to come and become anything, no, it’s not truth. Idamieibi was suspended.

Let’s backtrack to the Adam’s Intelligence Report. Is it a document that you believe in?

How can I believe in Adam’s Intelligence Report? Every chieftaincy house has their history, their documents, the origin and how they were created. Just look through the Adam’s Intelligence Report. At first they stated 13 major houses including Perekule. Is Perekule House, the royal house one of the major houses? That’s the royal house yet they listed it. They even listed Willie-Pepple as a major house and later in another place they said Willie-Pepple was later removed. Let me also inform you, like my Wariopusenibo said, that Chief Okpe of Brown House cannot mention Tobin House. As at the time when Adams came for this report, there was nobody representing the Tobin House in the Bonny Chiefs Council, and what Adams wrote was what he was given by the Chiefs, that does not mean Bonny. Okay, let give you an example, Chief Okpe mentioned Adum House to Adams Intelligence Report, you as a Bonny man, is Adum House a chieftaincy house in Bonny?

My Chairman asked a question and we expected Tammy, being the spokesman of the Brown House, to answer that question. The question is who was the first Chief of Adum House? Because the day a House is created, it goes along with a Chief. Who was the first Chief of the House? Who created the House? As at the time Adam came to the House, when he came to make that report, was there a King in the palace? There was no king, look at, go and check the records. So, the powerful Chiefs then gave the report according to how they feel and Chief Okpe decided to say Adum House, that does not mean Adum House is a chieftaincy house. So, we cannot rely on such report. We can’t rely on such report and if you look at the report, the houses there are not even complete. So, we cannot depend on such report.

Before we let you go, there has been this discussion around the statement reportedly made by King Perekule X, King Captain Secondus in 1982, that Brown House is his father’s property, and your Chairman referenced it. Is it something you are aware of?

We were all young then ooo but it was everywhere. The truth is just like my Chairman said, we expect them to deny that the King made that kind of statement. They didn’t deny that he made it and he didn’t make it from his throne in Bonny, he came down to Finima made it very clear. He was even acting as if he wants to take them to George Pepple so that they will leave the owners of the place. In fact, what was remaining was for the King to tell them, ‘please pack your things, let’s go back, we have come to collect you people, you know you are my father’s property’. He did not even stop there, there was also this statement he made in 1982, a written statement where he stated his status. Of course, the King is the chief custodian of the custom and tradition of the and he made it clear.

One thing I keep asking the Brown House as I’m discussing with them is that when the King made this statement in 1982, Chief Israel Idamieibi Amabara Brown was in Council, and the King made this statement that this is the status of the Brown House and these three houses are independent houses, none is under the other. That if there is any house at all that is subservient to the other it should be the Brown House, that they don’t come directly to be recognized by him, they always came through Hart House, and Idamieibi was there. The question is what was Idamieibi’ s statement? Chief Idamieibi wouldn’t have made any statement because he knew how he got there. If he made any statement, the other chiefs there will ask him, ‘were we not here when Hart House brought you? So, that was Chief Idamieibi why he couldn’t say anything.

But the Brown House has continued to deny that Chief Israel Amabara Idamieibi Brown was capped by Hart House Chief and they were even challenging the public that if anybody has any picture or information…

He was capped by Chief Josiah Ikoli Hart, in the early 70s. but my question is – I want you to ask Tammy, he’s learned – when this statement was made in 1982, Chief Idamieibi was the Attorney General of Rivers State and he was not outside the palace; he was not like what Gogo is doing here. He was in the palace with the King and such a statement was made, such a document came up and was taken to court, did he refute it? The answer is what? No. He did not refute it because he knows that the content of that document is correct. If they had refuted it then questions will be asked, and that was why if not you can’t tell me that as educated as Idamieibi was, that kind of statement if it not correct, will be made public and he will keep quiet. They are just making noise here, they know, their forbearers know.

Okay, now let’s before we let you go, Tammy Brown has been like the most vociferous person, the voice of the Brown House, and he seems to be on top of the issues, you have made efforts to counter many of the positions he took, what is your assessment of him?

The question I keep asking is who is Tammy Brown and what is his position in Brown House? How come their elders are not talking? How come their leaders are not talking? Of course, I know he’s talking for a particular faction. Like I said earlier, Brown House has a Chief that is properly installed according to the customs – you know that each House has their custom and tradition like Tobin House. We have our own custom and tradition that is peculiar to the House. It is not done by other houses. This particular Chief, Evans Clement Buoye Brown was installed according to the custom and tradition of the Brown House, of Omuso himself, and so this other faction Tammy is talking for, like he would always say, in his interview, saying they are all Bonny people. Tammy, I want to tell him that his faction of the Brown House are not Bonny people. I want to make him clear about that that we as Bonny people have our way of doing things. Bonny people don’t call Asawo Ogbobiri Asawo, and call Ogbobiri Asawo Asawo. We don’t do that. As Bonny people, we don’t call our Wariseniapu and Wariopusenibo Warialapu. We don’t do that. As Bonny people we don’t we don’t call our Chiefs Amadabo, we don’t do that. As Bonny people we respect the King Perekule throne because any child that doesn’t respect his father is a bastard.

So, I will completely disagree with Tammy that this faction, his own faction of the Brown House are Bonny people. They are not Bonny people. Maybe they have started taking, as my Wariopusenibo said that Onyeasolam, who was a slave of Sonu was sent on an errand to Okrika and he went and brought Nwaolu and his son, Ukwu. Maybe, this side of the Brown have started practicing what they do where Ukwu came from. You know, if you go to those areas like in Okrika and Kalabari, what they do is more or less Ama. You see Koni Amadabo, Koni Amanyanabo, Suku Amadabo, Okochiri Amanyanabo. They still practice Ama. But we Bonny people don’t practice Ama. What Bonny does is what? Wari. Like my Wariopuseniapu said, as far back as 17th century, since Perekule took over, the issue of Ama stopped, and Wari has been in existence till date. So, them coming to talk about Ama and moreso, even if we want to talk about Ama, there’s no how the leadership of this Ama can come from the Brown House. How now? Is it Onyeasolam, an Igbo man? Nwaolu, an Igbo man? Or Ukwu, an Igbo man that will come and lead Finima Community? Moreso, the person they are bearing his name who is Omuso is a servant of the throne and their master came here and told them that they are supposed, they should be taking them to George Pepple. Is it the person that will come and lead the Ama?

First, we are not doing Ama in Bonny and we will not allow them do that in Bonny. If they like, make them turn, move their houses to state, like you know, they have made their burusu houses. If he likes, let him talk and go up or down, he cannot be the Amadabo of Finima. One, by birth, he does not even come near it. His father’s name is Lambert, like my Chairman said, people who applied for land. Lambert’s father’s name is Gilbert. Gilbert’s father’s name is Apakawari. Apakawari is a servant to Suu. Suu is one of the sons of Omoni. Omoni is the son of Omuso. So, you can see that he, as a person does not even have anything related to Omuso’s blood, because his father, Lambert is the son of Gilbert, Gilbert the son of Apakawari, Apakawari is a slave of Suu. So, does he have Omuso’s blood in him. He doesn’t, so, how come he’s coming to claim Amadabo. They should just go and rest. They have failed and will continue to fail.