Aiguobasinmwin Movement, a socio-political group based in Benin, has expressed its displeasure at what it tagged the “provocative response” of the Executive Director of Museum of West African Arts(MOWAA), Philip Iheanacho, to its call for “the revocation of C-of-O of MOWAA and it’s conversion to Peoples Hospital.”
In a Press Statement by Mr. Iyamu Osaro Culture(President) and Mr. Osayuki-Osa Benson(Secretary General), the Aiguobasinmwin Movement said: “In his criminally minded response, Philip Ihenacho, who is the Executive Director of MOWAA, excluded Obaseki as the initiator and sole owner of MOWAA whereas Philip Ihenacho failed to realize that even the blind and deaf can attest to the fact that Obaseki is the owner of MOWAA which he used to swindled and diverted the money meant to build Benin Royal Museum.”
According to the group, “Obaseki never had any plans to build museum in Edo State until he got and stole the idea from Omo N’ Oba N’ Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare II.”
Going down memory lane, the group recalled that “it is interesting to note that around 2019, Omo N’ Oba N’ Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare II, inaugurated a group known as Benin Dialogue Group that was made up of leaders of diverse backgrounds including Obaseki who was a governor as at that time whose mandate was collective engagements of foreign countries/organizations/museums who are in possession of our stolen artefacts in view to fast tracking the safe return of our looted artefacts and ensuring the mobilization of resources for the construction of Benin Royal Museum.
“As usual, Obaseki whose intention abinitio is to betray whosoever he does business with, ran to Germany and other European countries to attend art exhibition programmes without carrying the other members of Benin Dialogue Group along. While in Germany and other European countries for the art exhibition programmes, the organizers of the programmes made financial commitment towards the construction of Benin Royal Museum.”
Aiguobasinmwin Movement stressed that instead of briefing the Benin monarch about the outcome of his meetings in Europe as regards the stolen artefacts, Obaseki “assembled his cohorts like the Philip Ihenacho and others to register a dubious company known as Legacy Restoration Trust Ltd which they were using to engage and negotiate with the foreign countries and organizations that made financial commitment towards the construction of Benin Royal Museum.”
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