Though a sobriquet that has gained traction among Bonny elites and socialites, almost becoming a household name, but who the GAARELS are and what they represent has been enmeshed in ambiguity in the past years.

Somehow, the passing on to the great beyond of the famous proprietor of the popular Mercy Inn Hotel, Bonny, Dame Mercy Adata Green, seems to have unveiled their true identities as it happened that one of the sons of the deceased Nonagenarian, Maxwell Akwe is one of them.  

GAARELS is a socio-cultural organization founded in 1981 by six teenage friends, Grant Dublin-Green, Alfred Adonye Allison, Akwe Maxwell, Richard Fanye Hart, Emmanuel Opuada Banigo (deceased), and Larry Macaulay Pepple, all indigenes of Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State, during their secondary school days, who used the initials of either their first or surnames to form the acronym ‘GAARELS’.

The letter ‘S’ was added to incorporate their friends and well-wishers from Bonny Kingdom and beyond such as Michael Roberts, Preye Eneyi, also known as ‘Parry Pee’, Alpheus Abaku, Charlie Hart, Dagogo Mina Jumbo, Aritogha Banigo, Dienye Natasha Oguebie, Joe Brown, Lilian Igoni Banigo, Igoniwari Benstowe, among several others.

This weekend, the GAARELS would be converging on Bonny Island, in solidarity with one of theirs, to pay their last respects to a great woman of many parts, who left footprints on the sands of time, and who according to knowledgeable sources redefined entertainment and hospitality in Bonny Island in her hey days as entrepreneur of repute.

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Already billboards mounted by the GAARELS and Friends announcing the glorious exit of the nonagenarian are already adorning strategic spots in the Bonny Island. 

Borne out of the desire by these youngsters, as they then were, to mirror what an already existing sister group made of young men in their early 20s called the WADOLS was doing, they sought to change the narrative of costumes for the famous Bonny Nwaotam Carnival, which holds on December 25 every year, by introducing clean, modernised, and urbane outfits instead of the usual traditional wrapper and tops, most times ragged, that other groups and gangs were known for.

Their entrance into the Nwaotam Ikpo dance fiesta changed the scenario as other groups started to clean up their outing outfits attempting to outdo each other in terms of decorative dressing. Such later groups were the FEVINABS, and BREEDS, among others.

As the young men grew in their various fields of endeavour and the status, the enthusiasm and being available to participate in the annual event began wane in the late 90s to the extent that most them, now in their 50s, were no longer able to participate actively in the carnival.

With the death of a mother figure to the group, the mother of a former Secretary of the Bonny Local Government Council and onetime Councillor representing Ward 3 in the Bonny Legislative Assembly, Hon. Maxwell Akwe, the sentiment was mutual about the necessity to revive the brotherliness that once bound them together.

Irrespective of diversity in strata, political and other inclinations, one of the them, Amasenibo Lawrence Macaulay Pepple, otherwise known in the group as GAARELS 6, is of the opinion that the death of this 91 years old matriarch, community and church leader, the indefatigable Dame Mercy Adata Green was a clarion call for a reunion of members of the group and their friends.

The group has now been bolstered by reputable individuals such as a former management staff of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Amaopuorubo (Lady) Alabota Carol Allison, a former lawmaker representing Bonny Constituency in the Rivers State House of Assembly, Amasenibo Aye Atamah Pepple, a former Executive Chairman of Bonny Local Government Area, Amasenibo Edward Ebenezer Pepple, business mogul, Hon. Michael Roberts, and a senior officer of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Preye Eneyi, amongst others.

Pepple announced that all members of the group would be in Bonny from Friday, January 17, 2020 to honour the departed dearly beloved mother to all with their esteemed presence as well as celebrate her glorious exit while mourning with the bereaved group member and his siblings, promising their active participation in all aspects of the funeral obsequies scheduled for January 17 and 18, 2020.