The Benin State, History and Art.

As early as January 1897 a name was already being suggested in England for what the British hoped would be their final take over what they termed the ‘Oil Rivers’. The name was ‘Nigeria’ and the Oil Rivers Protectorate was after the palm oil laden lands of Niger Delta belonging principally to the Benin Kingdom. The Oba of Benin held great influence and prevented the British ‘Royal Niger Company’ from forming a monopoly in the region. Since the so-called ‘scramble for Africa’ of 1884, Benin was a target for the colonial efforts of Britain.

By the following February the British would invade the administrative center of the kingdom, Benin City, on the pretext of retaliation over the ambush of an ‘unarmed and friendly’ visit, and on February 18 1897 set the city on fire, burning as much as they could and looting works of arts and sacred documents and courtly objects directly from the palace of the Oba of Benin in the ancient city Benin City. Shortly after, colonial rule commenced when the ‘Oil Rivers’, now free of its kingdom with its ruler exiled, was merged with lands previously and bogusly claimed by the trading company, the Royal Niger Company. This was how on January 1st 1900 ‘Southern Nigeria Protectorate’ was declared by the British. The invasion of Benin Kingdom was necessary for foreign colonization of what became ‘Nigeria’. In the next few decades, following the print and publications propaganda started shortly after the war on Benin in 1897, the British colonialists would embark on similar ‘rule of thumb’ anti-Benin propaganda in any number of ways, from stating the still surviving race and nation was ancient and therefore no longer in existence, to their distortion of Benin as ‘Yoruba’ — a distortion tacitly applied to legitimize the colonial creation of ‘Nigeria’ since “yoruba”, an amalgamation created by colonialism and one of the main part of the colonially created “3 main tribes”, could then be said to be the natural replacement of the ancient kingdom of Benin.

The other lasting and perniciously effective propaganda created by Britain was that Benin kingdom was the force behind the European Slave Trade AND was so through the juju power that the kingdom welded over vast areas. This propaganda was readily accepted by the southern ‘main tribes’ (ie the very amalgamation tribes created by British colonialism) for obvious reasons and, all through the colonial era to independence, used as a discriminatory weapon against Edo-speaking people, aka founders of Benin. 

To date none have really questioned the colonial era lies that Benin Empire’s might came from ‘juju’. Both the European Slave Trade and the British colonialism introduced the religion of Christianity which was further used to disparage the religion practiced by the Edo and in effect continue the incurious attitude towards the question of juju and its use as state and power. We all now know that the ‘juju’ moniker to which the Europeans were referring is an aspect of the religious practices of the Edo-speaking people, which they call ‘Ebo’. Eboolokun. EboOrunmilla. The Ebo as a site for ancestral worship. Ebo is both spatial, of actual site as shrine as it is homage to the ancestors. Meanwhile, the question of how, before and after the arrival of the Europeans, an ancient race was able to preserve itself as language and people while administering vast areas of linguistic and ethnic diversity remains unanswered. 

We now know that Benin was not the force behind the European Slave Trade nor played an active role in it, that in fact it was Britain itself that was the active player. We now know that Benin foresaw the intention of the Europeans and was very early on against the obnoxious trade and that its king, Oba Esigie, placed the first ban ever known in the history of humankind, against the sale of people. 

What we should also know about the power of Benin is that it was a culmination of military history, foundational monarchic rule over a good millennia, which produced and maintained institutions, and art. Indeed ‘Art’. The fame of Benin sculptures across the hinterland villages and settlements. It is hard for many to consider that ‘art’ could have carried such courtly power in an African setting. The stolen “artefacts” as they are now called, meaning the very Benin ivories and brass and bronzes that today are spread all over European and USA museums directly from the 1897 looting of the palace in Benin City helped spread the fame of ‘Benin’ as ‘mysterious’ and ‘powerful’. The Benins have used artificed objects as retainer of memory, and the making of these objects in question was kept strictly within ancient guilds to serve exactly the purpose of memory and reknown. The members of the guilds served not only the courts and everyday needs but as well as licensed memory keepers of the Edo speaking people. Esigie’s reign became the culmination of a more intentional ‘endowing’ with history.