Olu of Warri inaugurates first Warri Unity Games to promote peace

The Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III, has inaugurated the maiden edition of the Warri Unity Games as part of efforts to promote peace and unity among the various ethnic groups in the kingdom.

The monarch inaugurated the games at the Federal Government College, Warri, on Monday, saying the event would be held annually on the first Saturday of the week marking his coronation anniversary.

He said the initiative was designed to bring people together and help the community overcome past hurts, suspicions, trauma and differences.

“It is our hope, and indeed our firm conviction, that these Games will reveal a simple truth: that far more unites us than divides us,” Atuwatse said.

The monarch recalled that at his coronation in August 2021, he had declared that he did not intend to prosper in isolation, saying the Unity Games had now given that commitment a permanent place on the kingdom’s calendar.

He also reflected on a painful period in Warri’s history, recalling that a proposed land carnival to mark the coronation anniversary of his father, the late Ogiame Atuwatse II, degenerated into violence in the early 1990s.

According to him, the incident resulted in violence and devastation from which Warri has yet to fully recover more than three decades later.

The monarch said the crisis was fuelled by pride and what he described as negative and destructive energies.

He noted that Warri had previously hosted a carnival that attracted national attention before the emergence of the Calabar Carnival in Cross River State.

He lamented that the crisis caused the city to lose its pioneering position in that regard.

Atuwatse, however, expressed optimism that Warri would regain its prominence, saying his administration would take deliberate steps to promote unity, peace, progress and prosperity.

“This time, however, we will not sit and wait for an unfortunate reaction to a beautiful and inspirational innovation. We are taking the bull by the horns,” he said.

The Warri Unity Games are expected to become a permanent feature of the kingdom’s calendar, bringing residents from different communities and ethnic backgrounds together through sporting activities.

The initiative forms part of the monarch’s broader agenda of strengthening peaceful coexistence and collective development across Warri.