A Legend of Our Time: Chief Dr. Mustafa Yaro Lecky Paid Tribute In Honour Of Chief Ishmael Delta Braimah Kaisaraki Ikhelovha Ikharo Ikelebe

A Legend of Our Time!

By: Chief, Dr. Mustafa Yaro Lecky

Galadima of Auchi Sacred Kingdom

A tribute in honour of Chief Ishmael Delta Braimah Kaisaraki Ikhelovha Ikharo Ikelebe - The Seriki Samali of Auchi Kingdom!

The passing of Chief Ishmael Delta Braimah Ikharo my brother and friend has been painful, tragic, and shattering; more so, as we were all looking forward to December 2020 for his final return home after 44 years sojourn in America. But Allah, as always, is the master planner.

 

Chief Ishmael was born into Royalty; no more no less. But not all so born rise to the challenges, expectations, actions that go with such God-given status. In a fitting tribute we were reminded that Chief Prince Ishmael Delta Braimah Ikharo was born into two illustrious Royal Families in Etsako (Afenmailand) on August 19, 1952. His Father, Late High Chief Prince Braimah Kaisaraki Ikhelovha Ikharo (a powerful mystical man who was my maternal grandfather) was a direct Son of Otaru Abubakar Ikharo Ikelebe who occupied the throne of his forefathers as the Otaru of Auchi from 1904 to 1919. Chief Delta’s mother, Meremu Ofako Ikharo (who was my maternal grandmother) was a direct daughter of King Afegbua of Afegbua Royal Dynasty of Okpella also in Afenmailand. Chief Delta was the last child and last son of late Chief Braimah Kaisaraki Ikhelovha Ikharo Ikelebe, the then Daudu of Utsogun Village Auchi.

Reflecting on the life of Chief Ishmael Delta Braimah Kaisaraki Ikhelobva Ikharo Ikelebe, we have found in one man, who by all standards totally and universally acknowledged as royalty par excellence. He was an Iroko and an Icon, towering above many in character and carriage. You never fail to acknowledge his presence and personality when he was present. A natural magnet he was. In 1997, he was fittingly turbaned by His Royal Highness Alhaji Highbred Aliru Momoh, Ikelebe the III, the Otaru of Auch Sacred Kingdom as the Seriki Samali of Auchi Kingdom. The title was bestowed on him as a result of his significant and positive impact on the Auchi Youths at that tender Age. He ascended to the very revered title after 12 years of the demise of the last occupant of the title, Seriki Samali, Late  Chief Alhaji Nasiru Dodo Sanata of the Yaro-Lecky-Elamah Family of Afenikhapke Kindreds of Auch Sacred Kingdom. Never has there been a more revered Seriki Samali of Auchi Kingdom than Chief Ishmael Delta Ibrahim Ikharo.

 

By Allah’s calling Chief Ishmael’s life was cut short on Monday December 21, 2020 @ 12.00 noon when he was pronounced dead by doctors at Kaiser Foundation Hospital in faraway Oakland California, USA. And just like that the very revered High Prince of the Auchi Kingdom was gone: Inna Lillahi Wa Inna Ilaihin Rajihu’un. Kullu Nafsil Za’ikatul Maut. His demise is as colossal as is irreplaceable. We all members of Auchi Sacred Kingdom are bereaved and deserved to be collectively condoled, for the late Seriki Samali served the whole of Auchi Kingdom; his magnanimity was as unequalled as was felt by all the villages of the Kingdom.

 

Chief Ishmael rose by all standards and met all the challenges and expectations of a worthy High Prince of Auchi Kingdom. He was born into greatness and achieved further greatness like a warrior gladiator never shying from leading from the front not weighed down by concerns of his own personal risks, fears and safety. His greatest weapon was fairness and sacrifice in support to all and sundry, irrespective of ancestry relations. No ONE in the Auchi Kingdom can claim to have risen to such heights by any measures; nor can be claimed to have transformed so many indigens from various villages and quarters of Auchi Kingdom, yet he was never a holder of high Government position. He was a Man for All and for All Seasons; exhibiting the well know axiom that where there is a will there is a way. He demonstrated numerous wills and creative ways to achieve lofty objectives for self and others in Auchi Kingdom and beyond. He was uniquely unique, incomparable; set apart from all, both far and near.