WS Chronicle

Photo by Timothy Ramsey

Dr. Robert Brown receives ceremonial head wear from King Oba Kabiru Adewale Shotobi.

By Timothy Ramsey

For The Chronicle

GREENSBORO – Helping others has been instilled in Dr. Robert “Bob” Brown since he was child.  His grandmother, who raised him, taught him to help any and everyone whenever he could.

That helped lead him to become royalty on Friday, Jan. 29, when he was installed a chief of the Ikorodu kingdom.

Brown has helped many individuals from the country of Nigeria come to the United States to further their education as well as many philanthropic works throughout the country.

One of those individuals whom Brown has helped is Oba Kabiru Adewale Shotobi, the King of the Nigerian city of Ikorodu. As a way to show Brown his gratitude in all he has done, Shotobi and the citizens of Ikorodu came to Greensboro to install Brown as a Chief of the Ikorodu kingdom.

The ceremony was filled with individuals from the nation of Nigeria, as well as native Nigerians who have made the United States their home.

The national anthems of both the United States and Nigeria were played to start the evening off, followed by a brief introduction of the ceremony’s distinguished guests.  A routine by the dance troop “Spirit of David” from Bennett College set the tone of joy and celebration for the night’s event.  Dr. Brown accompanied by his wife then entered the room to a standing ovation and roaring cheer from the audience in attendance.

A history of Dr. Brown’s career was given  and many of the charitable deeds he has performed over the years were chronicled. Shotobi then took the microphone and gave a heartfelt account of the help he received from Brown and how he assisted him and his family throughout his life and that he would not be where he is in life without Brown.

“Dr. Brown is now chief of the Ikorodu kingdom. He found me and brought me to this country where I could put my feet on the ground and have a sense of belonging.  I am thankful for the help that he provided for me to become a learned person and engineer from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University in Greensboro North Carolina. I am so glad he brought me here,” said Shotobi of his feelings of Dr. Brown.

The ceremonial hat, bracelets, and necklace were blessed by the various Chiefs and honored guests in the crowd and then were bestowed unto Brown by Shotobi followed by a sharing of a glass of water that symbolizes peace and sharing of food that symbolizes good tidings to Brown as well.

According to Brown, this achievement is very high on his list because  something that came to him because of God’s blessing and that it wasn’t because he was the greatest or the smartest, it was just simply because God blessed him with it.

A member of the audience said, “This is not an honor that can be bought or purchased but something that has to be earned. There have not been too many westerners bestowed with this honor but for what Dr. Brown has done over the years for us this honor is well deserved.”

Brown stated that this honor means a great deal to him because he has been to Nigeria many times. He has lived there, worked there, and he has been in every state of the Nation and knows the people very well.  He went on to say that he has brought back a number of young people to the states to study at our universities because of their brilliant intellect.

“I think that it’s a blessing that I received from my grandmother who raised me in High Point. We were poor and didn’t have many material things but we were rich with incentives to do well and to help others and this is what it’s all about.

When asked why he decided to help as much as he has over the years he said, “My grandmother, because I saw her help everyone even though we were poor she would share our food and our home to those down in the dumps and say the 23rd  Psalm and I’m just trying to give back.”

He closed by saying that his grandmother always told him, “It doesn’t belong to you, it all belongs to God and he gave it to you so you could bless others.”