Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, led his friends and associates to his maternal home at Ekeremor, where he spoke about how he changed his mind about sponsoring a bill to quash an age-long Ijaw tradition of burying married women in their paternal homes, instead of their husband’s place.
The governor was there for the 12th memorial thanksgiving of his late mother, Madam Rose Diri, who died on her 74th birthday, on May 15, 2013. Diri said it was painful that the mother who groomed and made him the man he has become today, did not live long enough to enjoy the fruits of her labour.
Diri said he had always been uncomfortable that married women were not buried in their husband’s homes when they die, but was soon to realise that the practice in Ijaw land also had some positive sides.
To him, taking the mother’s remains to her maternal home was the reason for his regular visit to Ekeremor, to interact with her family members. He said if the reverse were the case, he may not have been going to see her mother’s family people.
His words: “I can see my mother in the mould of the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31. My mother had the fear of God and raised all of us up that way. Whatever we manifest today were virtues she inculcated in us.
“Today marked 12 years we lost our beloved mother on May 15, 2013. Every of my friend was a son to her as she opened her hands to everybody that she came across. She exuded goodwill and love to anyone.
“That was why even among us as children, you could not distinguish who was a direct son or daughter of my mother among us. All my father’s children grew under her and she treated everyone as her children. So the family was united from then till date. She taught us how to love one another.
“My only regret, sadness and pain are that she did not live long enough to reap the fruits of her labour.”
He also stated that he now had a better understanding of the wisdom behind the Ijaw custom of burying women in their maiden homes, adding that the practice had made him to visit and interact with his maternal home after her demise.
“Before I became governor, I did not understand why in Ijawland, after a married woman’s demise, her remains were brought back to her maiden community instead of her husband’s place. I was against it and I thought that if God gave me the opportunity like I am today, I would present a bill to the assembly to reverse that custom of our people.
“But today, I know better because the tradition made me now come to my mother’s home. It has made me continue to interact with my mother’s people. I have come to see the wisdom in that custom of the old Ijaw people. I have no regrets that we are in Ayamasa to remember our beloved mother.”
In his sermon, Bishop of the Northern Izon Diocese of the Anglican Church, Funkuro Amgbare, who represented the Bishop of the Western Izon Diocese of the Anglican Church, the Rt Rev Ebipadei Okporu, said there was life after death and admonished all to live righteously in order to inherit the new heaven and earth.
The bishop said the late mother of the governor was a committed member of the Anglican Church, who ensured that her children were brought up in the tenets of the church. According to him, she was hospitable and loved those who served God.
