The Chief Press Secretary to the Tor Tiv, Mr Godwin Ber (royal press secretary), has announced November 29 as the burial date for his father, Pa William Kwaghve Ber, deceased.
Pa Ber was pronounced dead on September 25, aged 83.
He will be laid to rest at Tse-Dyu, Mbalam, Mbachohon, Gwer West Local Government Area (LGA), Benue North West.
Likened to the proverbial cat with nine lives, Pa Ber survived many battles from his birth to the ripe old age of 83, when he finally took a bow and exited this world, Royal Press Secretary, Mr Godwin, told TNT.
He was born in 1942 to the family of Ber Ajira of Tse-Dyu, Mbalam kindred, Mbachohon District, Gwer-West LGA and was the second child of his mother, Mama Kwaghkuma Ber, nee Tyokyaa Igba of Tse Yugh Ugende, Mbakondo Gwer-West LGA. He lost his father, Ber Ajila, when he was five months in his mother’s womb and his mother, a few minutes after his birth.
Popularly known as “Ortyoshin the textile merchant,” as an orphan, Pa Ber was at first breastfed by nursing mothers in the village before his grandmother, the visually impaired Mbakese, gave him into the care of one of her younger sisters named Uzamber, the mother of Hon Anta Igbaato, Acting General Manager BENSASA.
For want of education sponsorship, Pa Ber was in the 1950s identified by Timve Gyuse, a popular merchant from Shangev-Tiev, because of his “humility, hard work and physical appearance, who took him along to Awajir and handed him over to one of the most wealthy traders in Awajir and Tivland at that time, the late Tachia Hon from Gaav.
“Tacia trained William and the likes of Ulugh Kor Gyom, Tyoyange Koko, and many others in the sale of textile materials. They all became his popular trader-servants in the Aliade, Gungul, Akpagher, and Agberagba markets, riding bicycles with their goods.
“In the year 1967, the Nigerian Civil War broke out, and William Ber left the comfort zone of Tachia Hon’s business empire to join the Army and fight for the unity of Nigeria,” Mr Godwin explained.
He retired from service in 1979 and settled in Kadarko, the present-day Keana LGA, Nasarawa State. According to his son, the retired soldier ventured into the textile business, having acquired the skills over many years under the tutelage of the late Pa Tachia Hon at Awajir before joining the Nigerian Army.
“He gradually became a popular trader in textile materials in Adudu, Keana, Giza and his base Kadarko markets in Nasarawa State and also in the border markets of Udei, Yelewata and Daudu, where he was popularly known as “Ortyoshin” the textile merchant.
“In 2021, he returned to his original home, Naka, in Gwer-West LGA following the Ajai crises that brought businesses and other social activities to a standstill for over a year,” his son explained.
Pa Ber continued with his textile business in Naka market but later switched to Agro Sacks at the Naka Rice mill till his sickness and death on September 25, 2025.
Mr Godwin says his father would be missed for the things he stood for.
