As the global football community turns its eyes to the opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the people of ancient Grand Bonny Kingdom and sports enthusiasts across Rivers State will be celebrating a double portion of excitement.
They will be celebrating His Majesty, King Edward Asimini William Dappa Pepple III, CON, DSSRS, JP, Edward 1, Perekule XI, the Natural Ruler and Amanyanabo of Grand Bonny Kingdom, tomorrow, being Thursday, June 11, 2026 as he clocks 61.
For a monarch whose heartbeat resonates deeply with the beautiful game, sharing a date with football’s biggest kickoff is a poetic alignment of royalty and passion.
His lifetime and reign since 1996, has been a testament of how the revered monarch has been transforming grassroots football not just by investing in it but by being an active participant in the beautiful game.
His Majesty, King Edward I of Grand Bonny Kingdom is not just a royal spectator; he is an active, technical sportsman who frequently displays skills on the pitches of the Yakubu Gowon Stadium, Elekahia, and the football section of the Port Harcourt Club, both in Port Harcourt.
This deep personal love for the sport inspired the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) and Grafton Entertainment to conceptualize and establish the annual Amanyanabo Football Tournament, a premier grassroots championship that has become a vital pipeline for discovering raw Niger Delta talents.
Over the years, the tournament has served as a bustling hub for international exposure, successfully producing gifted players who have been discovered by foreign football scouts and launched into professional careers abroad.
Driven by a vision to institutionalise sports development, the Amanyanabo has consistently pushed for world-class infrastructure on Bonny Island.
He successfully ensured that the NLNG, the tournament’s official sponsor, completely repackaged and upgraded the iconic pitch at Government School, Bonny, where the thrilling yearly competition takes place.
He has also been pushing for the Bonny Mini Stadium and elite Football Academy, which the NLNG has adopted as one of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects for its Train 7 project.
Not content with temporary structures, the forward-thinking monarch is currently mounting pressure on NLNG to deliver the highly anticipated Bonny Mini Stadium and elite Football Academy.
This landmark project is designed to provide sustainable, professional training facilities to transition local youth into international sports icons.
By tying his 61st birthday celebrations to the global buzz of the 2026 World Cup kickoff, the Amanyanabo continues to prove that his throne remains a powerful catalyst for youth empowerment, peace-building, and sports excellence in Rivers State.