Architecture of Unforgetting

REGARDING THIS IMAGE here, Humans of Edoland is absolutely correct: They started with Great Benin Obaship title and moved to Benin royal sword of Authority (Ada and Eben) and now going for the Great Benin red beaded crown.   With this beaded crown that this current ooni is today wearing, tomorrow they’ll start carrying new lies about how it’s all theirs, how it’s simply ‘yoruba’; just like how they took the word ‘Oba’ ie the original Edo word and title for ‘emperor’ to mean a Yoruba word ‘king’. Today we hear of all sorts of ‘kings’ attaching ‘oba’ to their already existing particular title. The first creation of the title of ooni as ‘king’ was the election of Aderemi, a  charismatic politician by the British who made him ‘ooni king of the yoruba’ in 1930 when Ademiluyi the priestly holder of the title passed on that same year. Before Aderemi, there was no ‘oni, king of Ife’. Rather ‘ooni’ a priesthood title of Ife. The previous guy, Ademiluyi, was merely a ‘priest’. When ...

  THE DESTRUCTION OF GWATO, THE BENIN PORT Although it housed the first factory ever built on this side of the West African coastline, Ughoton (Gwato) wasn’t a big or busy port. As early as 1516, Oba Esigie closed down the factory, which was built by the Potoki as part of his ban on the European trade in humans.   Ughoton nonetheless was a critical port for Benin kingdom in its inter-nations trade in palm oil in particular, including palm kernels, pepper and non perishables like cloth. For this reason, Ughoton was one of the key places the British were keen to destroy in their 1897 invasion of the kingdom of Benin.                                              According to oral history, Ughoton was founded by Prince Ekaladerhan, the only child of Ogiso Owodo, the last Ogiso of the Ogiso dynasty of the Benin Kingdom (Oronsaye, 1995). From its rudimentary stage, Ugho...

  A Public Letter. The statement below is quoted in current news media as coming directly from Mr. Abba Isa Tijani of National Commission for Museums and Monuments:   “One of the NCMM's concerns is that President Buhari has, inadvertently, undermined the rationale for any national collection. If the Oba's ownership of the Bronzes moves beyond the theoretical to the practical, does this not mean that every Nigerian traditional ruler or community is in charge of the treasures made by their ancestors?” 05/10/23 The above statement has to be the most illiterate conclusion from Mr. Tijani. Mr Tijani appears to be deliberately playing the fool for reasons best known to himself.  The fact is the Benin situation is unique history of direct, open warfare looting by the British. The British did not go with their best weapons by declaration of ‘expedition’ to loot the traditional works of any other place in Nigeria. Rather, unlike Benin, most of the works from other groups acr...

  “It is because of our fellow man that one carves properly. There is no piece of wood carved well that even an ignorant man will not appreciate.“ - Edo proverb  This was an interpretation I gave to a proverb in Edo, "Nu dẹ owina ne iwọmwan ai na k’erhan se. Ai miẹ erhan na kae n’Ogbe ne ghi yọ re." Something wasn't quite right, So, on our social media page , I asked if anyone knows the above proverb in Edo, whether different from the one provided here. Here is the result we got from comments:  From Paul Osa Igbineweka, a lecturer and Historian:  "....(The correct phrasing of the proverb) in the Edo language is: "Rhunmwuda owina ne ihuọmwa ẹrẹ ana ka’erhan ẹse. Ai miẹ erhan na kae n’Ogboi ne ghi yọ re."  Meaning: It is because of another skilled carver as yourself that you carved so well. Otherwise, there is no carving done for a novice that he will not appreciate. This is an idiomatic expression to say: Better do your work well you never can tell who would...

  Call for submissions We are interested in publishing history writing from budding historians living in Africa, from serious research in history to experimental oddities .  Submissions with pictures, photographs, images of any source and in particular drawings greatly encouraged. Let’s help you publish such a manuscript. All copyrights to author. Subject / history from any group in West Africa. All we ask is that all editing or drafts fully completed. Contact

  On the recent FGN gazette, BENIN ROYAL MUSEUM and moving forward. This part of the matter regarding the repatriation of our looted artefacts has been unnecessarily prolonged because the British Museum attempted to co-opt the process by using the governor of the state,  Governor Godwin Obaseki , as tool to serve the advantage of very same hoarders of stolen artefacts, the British Museum. Mr Obaseki in turn was, sadly, eager to comply with the ex-colonizers in their fabricated notion that the works “belong to NGN govt” and should be “loaned“ ‘govt to govt’ through a museum to be called ‘emowaa’.  Blinded with foolishness, Mr Obaseki began actively seeking all kinds of means to undermine the palace over the initially agreed on BENIN ROYAL MUSEUM, all in absurd attempts to broker his sham agreement with the Brits of ‘no return, just loan from govt to govt’ for presentation in a ‘British Museum funded’ ‘emowaa’”. In doing, Mr Obaseki put the palace of the Oba under unwanted ...