By Douglas Ogbankwa Esq @douglasogbankwa@gmail
Growing as a boy around Isemwenro Street, Off Sokponba Road, the first Benin aphorism I understood was Aiguaobasimwin – You do not contend with the Oba of Benin.
That aphorism has survived over a thousand years, depicting the inviolability of the person, authority and stool of the Oba of Benin.
It is therefore a thing of surprise and it is unheard of, what is going on with the Legacy Restoration Trust and Benin Royal Museum or Museum of West African Arts. For proper perspective, it is important to note that all the issues revolves around the the return and custody of the Benin artefacts, which were looted by the British during the February, 1897 Benin Massacre, that left many dead and many houses destroyed in Benin City.
The origin of the return of the artefacts have always been traced to the cultural diplomacy of the Palace of the Oba of Benin. As a matter of fact, during the reign of Oba Akenzua 11 – the grandfather of the current Oba of Benin, His Royal Majesty, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare 11, the Oba of Benin, some artefacts were returned to the Palace of the Oba of Benin and there was clamour for more to be returned.
During the reign of Oba Erediauwa, the father of His Royal Majesty – the current Oba of Benin, there were a lot of cultural diplomacy carried out by the institution of the Oba of Benin’s Palace. Oba Erediauwa himself was a Permanent Secretary in the Federal Civil Service, before becoming the Oba of Benin.
As you may be aware, at the time of the reign of Oba Erediauwa, the current Oba of Benin was Ambassador Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to Sweden, Denmark and Finland. He was also Nigeria’s Ambassador to Italy, Nigeria’s Ambassador to Albania and Nigeria’s Ambassador to Angola. During these periods, His Royal Majesty engaged with stakeholders and foreign governments for the purposes of the return of the artefacts , which have authoctonous connection to the Kingdom of Benin.
When His Royal Majesty became the Oba of Benin in 2016, he did alot of transnational engagements through his Chiefs – most times led by Chief Charles Uwensuyi Edosomwan(SAN), to the United Kingdom, Germany and other countries.
His Royal Majesty met with both the former and current President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for safe passage of the artefacts to Benin and also for diplomatic assistance at the national level to give fillip to the process.
The engagements got results and those who were illegally in custody of the artefacts agreed to return same with some millions in Euro to follow. That was when suddenly Edo State Government under Godwin Obaseki showed interest. Suddenly, Godwin Obaseki started receiving awards as a cultural supporter and cultural icon. He then went to the Palace of the Oba of Benin and pronounced that he has been meeting with the stakeholders and that he was going to build the Benin Royal Museum. Things took an interesting turn.
When the monies eventually started coming he has took a detour. He had conceived a state project called Edo Museum of West African Arts -EMOWAA, for which he demolished the century old Central Hospital. In a sudden twist and turn unheard of in Governance in Nigeria, Obaseki suddenly turned the name to MOWAA – Museum of West African Arts, removing Edo from the name, which has suddenly become a private trust.
He set up a Private Trust called Legacy Restoration, being a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for him to take away from Edo State and Palace what rightly belongs to us.
The land that MOWAA is situate is Edo State Government land, the monies were collected in the name of the Palace and Edo State Government and same is now being used to fund a Private Trust with digital images. Meanwhile, the artefacts that are the subject of all the millions of Euro are in the Palace of the Oba of Benin.
This was what accounted for the protests by some well meaning Benin sons and daughters some few days ago, calling on the Edo State Government to take action on this matter to protect the honour and majesty of His Royal Majesty, Omo N’Oba N’Edo, Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare 11, the Oba of Benin.
In ending this treatise I close with another Benin aphorism Aiguobareghian – You do not do a case with the Oba of Benin.
When you get to Benin , Benin is still far.
Douglas Ogbankwa Esq is the founder of Benin Writers Society(BWS).
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