August 25, 2026
R-L: Chief Dr Godwin Ebosa, Dr. ‘Bosun Tijani, Honourable Minister of Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy, Olu of Warri, His Majesty Ògíamẹ̀ Atúwàtse III, and Honourable Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Barr. Hannatu Musa Musawa and others at the Bini Riva Festival at Oboghoro, Delta State, yesterday
By Paul Olayemi
OBOGHORO—THE Benin River came alive on August 16, 2026 not just with fishing boats and trading canoes, but with royalty, federal ministers, dignitaries, fishermen, performers, and communities from across the Niger Delta converging for the closing day of Bini Riva Life, woven into the fifth coronation anniversary of the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III.
His Majesty sat in quiet excitement watching the boat races unfold before him. Around him, residents and visitors had gathered not merely to observe a festival, but to step into a way of life rarely glimpsed beyond the creeks and winding waterways of the Niger Delta. It was, in every sense, a homecoming, not of people, but of a people to their own story.
