The Greek word ‘chronologia’ pertains to the order, sequence and time
line in which historical events are appreciated. Indeed, from the cradle
of human society, all events and measures of human reckoning are better
appreciated in the order in which they occur thereby giving them proper
significance in time and space. It is in this context that the 20th day
of the tenth month of the 16th year of the second century, anno domini,
(20 October, 2016)
will be remembered throughout history as one in
which a new dawn birthed in the history of the Benin people, Nigeria and
indeed the world. On that date, erstwhile Crown Prince Eheneden
Erediauwa, the Edaiken of Uselu, after completion of the various
time-tested rites, prescribed customs and ritualistic dictates, was
formally crowned and invested as the 40th Oba of Benin under the Eweka
dynasty. He now reigns as Oba Ewuare O’Ngidigan the Second.
The significance of the day and date lie
primarily in the fact that another ruler has emerged to preserve and
actuate one of the world’s richest cultural traditions sustained from
900s AD. This was when the first of the ancestral primogenitors of the
new monarch laid the foundation of what has become the Benin (Bini) or
Edo civilisation encompassing the royalty, the people, culture and
language; and the greatly inspiring historical legacies. But the greater
significance of that historical date of ascension, lie in the fact that
the entire pomp, protocol and pageantry were symbolised in the
personality of one man.
A man who is not only meaningfully-bent
towards the preservation of the Edo culture, but also, a urbane global
citizen, a consummate diplomat, and an intrepid entrepreneur. In all, he
is a very urbane and cosmopolitan personality with modernist outlook to
life. The new monarch, therefore, enters the firmament of Nigeria and
indeed the world’s monarchical circles shoulders high with alluring
panache, etiquette and prompting.
What is again spectacularly important
about the events of 20th of October, 2016 and the new monarch, is the
fact that of all Benin kings before him, he represents a portentous
watershed. A crossroad between the past cladded in resplendence of
mystery with many high points of personal accomplishments by ancestral
lineage on the one hand, on the other, a new world of the triumph of the
nation-state, multi-level pluralism, and the immediacy of modern
technology leading the force of globalism.
So many things could be said about the
Benin people and the history which the person of the new Oba represents.
Some may assume the Benin story with the modern-day nation of the
Republique du Benin (Dahomey), Nigeria’s immediate western neighbor.
However, the actual Benin Empire, the epicenter of which is the world
famous Benin city, is located in the upper hinterland of the Niger Delta
of Nigeria, and home to many other kingdoms and peoples of Nigeria.
Although the word Bini refers to the people, it could and is also used
interchangeably, with regards to the political structure, which is
history emerged from there.
Oral tradition as particularly recorded
by the leading authority Chief Jacob Egharevba (1893-1980,) has it that
as far back as the 900s AD, a kingdom with the awe-stuck name,
Igodomigodo, emerged deriving its name from its first king, Igodo. The
Ogiso (King of the Sky) dynasty which Igodo formed had an unbroken
succession of at least thirty-one monarchs. One of the outstanding
legacies of the founders and rulers of the Ogiso dynasty was the
foresight and strategic acumen in building the wall (moat) around the
ancient capital city. This was a feat not seen before in this part of
the world. Much later in history, about the 16th century, the Benin wall
(moat) had become one of the most reckoned with of its type around the
world and its relics are today listed as a UNESCO world heritage site.
From about the 12th century AD, a new
kingdom emerged with the reign of one Eweka I. But Eweka is believed to
have been the child of Oramiyan, who himself was the son of the epical
and venerated founder of the Yoruba race, Oduduwa. History records that
Oramiyan had come to Benin from Ile-Ife at his father’s behest for an
artful diplomatic move to restore normalcy to a neighbouring sister
state which had some level of internal political upheaval at the time.
Oramiyan came to Benin at about 1170, and was able to establish his
authority and laid the foundations of this new kingdom, which in the
process of time became an empire.
Needless here labour on the
intellectually interesting and unsettled claims and counterclaims
between the Binis and the kindred Yorubas on the actual origin of the
great epochponous progenitor, Oduduwa. Neither need we get involved in
weighing the worth of all the mythologies and inherited oral history
about the rather shrewd and dexterous figure, Oramiyan. No, it suffices
to note as a historical realism, that Oramiyan, the genius which he was,
shuttled between Ile-Ife, Oyo and Benin and left his mark in
punctilious political designing in all these places. He enthroned his
mild-mannered, insightful, and perspective son, Eweka, to found a
dynasty which has maintained unbroken succession following a primo
genitive tradition (that is from father to son), now for at least 1000
years. It will therefore just be enough for now to quote Oba Ewuare11
himself during his coronation inter alia “Historians all agreed that
Oduduwa sent his son Oranmiyan as requested by the elders of Benin, to
return with them as ruler of their realm….”
In the course of time and history, a
total of thirty-nine predecessors, who were all not only greatly revered
potentates, but considered to a large extent as absolute and divine by
their subjects and all other surrounding people. The deference and
plenipotentiary worth of the Benin Oba are encapsulated in the official
titles and accoladal appellations, Omo N’Oba Nedu Uku Akpolokpolo, which
literally means a mighty and unassailable principal.
With the advent of the Eweka dynasty came
the title “Oba” which adumbrates the cross-cousin relationship with the
Yorubas. Gradually, what had been a city-state and later a forest
kingdom, became a wieldy and sophisticated empire. Its influence
spreading up to the outer borders with Central Africa and on the
westward direction, going into the heart of modern-day Benin Republic,
Togo and even the Ga of Ghana. Far northwards the empire’s influence,
attracted forms of allegiance and collaboration with the diverse Kwa
language-speaking people, spread towards the Ibo, Igala and Nupe
peoples.
Southwards for example, among the Ijaws,
the concept of “Oba-ama” (Oba’s town) as the setting in all folklores,
signals to social anthropologists the recognition of the existence of a
great king in a big city where all manners of wonderful feats and events
happen. For them, it was a kind of Lagos, London or New York of the
time.
The 15th and 16th centuries, in
particular, were times of great ascendency for the Bini people and some
of its most outstanding monarchs held sway. For example, under Oba
Ewuare the Great (1440-1473), Ozolua (1480-1504) and his son Esigie
(1504-1547), remarkable territorial expansion took place. By 1472, the
first sets of European explorers led by Ruy de Sequeira, the Portuguese,
were navigating the Benin River and by 1485, they physically landed in
Benin City in search of commerce and to spread the gospel of Christ. The
period therefore also became a golden era and moment of massive
economic prosperity of Ancient Benin. This, in turn, made Benin City
center of regional and global activities. By the time contact with
Europe came, the Benin Empire was best positioned to deal with them in
trading, diplomacy and cultural exchanges.
Indeed when the Portuguese first came to
Africa at the end of the 15th century, they interacted with two main
African empires which they met on ground. One of them was the Benin
Empire and the other was the Congo Empire of Bantu speaking led by the
supreme ruler (Manikongo). The Congo Empire covered most of Central
Africa and extended even down to Angola. In both places, the rulers
romanticised with a form of syncretic Roman Catholicism. From that time,
they also established full-fledged political and diplomatic relations
with Lisbon. Both royal houses in Benin and Congo ensured that their
children and those of their nobles, nearly one thousand years ago, went
to elite schools with European privilege classes in the courts of
Lisbon.
In the case of Congo, its ruler
(Manikongo) Nzingaa Nkuwu, (became baptised as a catholic and took the
name Joao I) succeeded by his son, Mvemba a Nzinga who took the name
Nfonso I. On the Benin side, a young prince who later became Oba
Orhogbua, was not only educated in Portugal as far back as 1604 but
returned back a converted catholic. The catholic religion, the bastion
of Christianity, from that time took a strong hold on the Empire and its
impact till today can be noticed from the official dressing, regalia,
paraphernalia and appearance of Benin rulers and nobility.
In the world of inter-state relations,
ambassadors are only exchanged between royal courts of equal competence.
Hence Iberian Kings of the States of Portugal, which at the time were
the world’s super powers, saw their counterparts in Benin and Kongo as
rulers of equal reckoning and had no problems to deploy full diplomatic
retinue to these African kingdoms. Interestingly, by the time the
British arrived in 1552, Benin town was described by explorers as a
metropolis by all ways comparable to British towns of the time such as
Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and London.
One of the most intriguing aspects of the
Bini civilisation which was noticed from the first contact with Europe
was the complex and intricate political and social structure of the
Empire. The institutions of administration and delineation of functions
were intricate but were clear and functional. Another distinct feature
was the role which the Obas played as patrons and masters of the arts,
craft and literature. The entire historical traditions and cultural
assuetudes were elaborated in oral poetry, dance, drama or the more,
expressed in craft and sculpture.
Even prior to the British conquest of
1897, Benin sculptures on bronze, ivory and coral beads had become
highly priced pieces in private collections and leading galleries all
over Europe. In 2009, the new Oba Ewuare II, then Nigerian Ambassador in
Italy, visited this author, as Special Guest of Honour at an Exhibition
at the Swedish Ethnographic Museum, where never-seen pieces of arts
from the 1600s from private collectors were on display.
The new Oba therefore, comes from the
background of origins of warrior kings to empire builders, merchant
kings, global players, and ultranationalists such as Oba Ovanramwen. In
1897, Oba Ovanramwen, the great-great-grandfather of Oba Ewuare II did
not yield to summary British conquests without putting up an able fight,
even if it meant losing the throne. Gladly, the new Oba has very rich
education from the University of Wales, following the footsteps of his
father Oba Erediauwa I who was schooled at the prestigious Cambridge
University in the United Kingdom. He later on proceeded to the Rutgers
University, New Jersey in the United States of America. In the current
unipolar world where Pax Americana holds sway, this is an added balance
to the conservatism of British education.
It needs added that Rutgers is one of
America’s top listed Ivy league schools and a home to some of the most
outstanding Nobel Prize winners including the famous economists, Milton
Friedman and physicist and inventor Selman Abraham Waksman. Oba Ewuare
II worked severally as an entrepreneur particularly in oil and gas which
is the mainstay of the Nigerian national economy. As part of his
self-actualisation, he also had some work experience with some
international organisations dealing with issues of economic and social
development.
It needs be noted though, that the
greatest asset which Oba Ewuare II brings to the throne is his wide
experience in international politics, diplomacy, administration and
strategy. He served for several years in some of Nigeria’s key
diplomatic outposts as the country’s principal envoy. Appointed in 1996
by the intriguing military ruler, Gen. Sani Abacha, he was, at a time,
Nigerian Ambassador to Angola. A fellow oil-producing country and an
African state with which Nigeria shares great parallelism in dealing
with the onerous challenge of state-building and national integration.
This outing was therefore particularly important.
But shortly after that, under the watch
of President Olusegun Obasanjo who ushered in Nigerian’s new democratic
dawn, the new monarch in 1999 found himself deployed to head Nigeria’s
diplomatic mission to the Scandinavia(Nordic countries), with a base in
the picturesque town of Stockholm. There, he was able to relate at first
hand with some of Europe’s finest remaining monarchs, that is, the
Royal families of Sweden, Denmark and Norway with whom he shares the
gift of blue blood.
This remarkable exposure provided him
with no finer opportunity for acculturalisation with the dictates of
modern monarchy as Europe in contemporary times is preoccupied with the
debate as to properly balancing old monarchical order and modern
industrialised statehood and republicanist predilection. To crown it
all, similar to his forebears who had engaged in such world-class
diplomacy, in 2008, Oba Ewuare II got appointed by President Umaru
Yar’Adua to Italy as Nigeria’s Ambassador. Due to long standing
concordance between the Vatican and the State of Italy, Ambassadors to
the later cannot be accredited to the Holy See. However, Rome, Oba
Ewuare diplomatic station, provided him with ample knowledge and insight
into the effusive discourse on state and religion, inter-faith dialogue
and the global worth of the Roman Catholic faith, once adopted by his
forefathers.
Coming with such broad diplomatic
experience is the benefit of working with three Presidents, several
Foreign Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and dozens of intrepid Nigerian
career diplomats. Some of these persons within the Nigerian Foreign
Service apparatus are amongst the finest public servants the country has
ever produced. This would unarguably have left very positive imprints
on the administrative temperance and instincts of the new monarch.
It need mention that this cognate public
service and bureaucratic experience is a familiar path, trodden by his
departed father, Oba Erediauwa, who rose in the Federal Civil Service to
attain the rank of Permanent Secretary. Back in the royal palace, he
had amply fed from the great foundation of knowledge of both his
grandfather, Oba Akenzua II and father Oba Erediauwa, both whose names
he had born at various times in his life and at whose feet he had sat,
as much as custom permitted.
It is against this backdrop of a
kaleidoscope of academic, professional, personal experiences and
established tradition coming down from many centuries; Oba Ewuare faces
the certainty of a modern Nigeria which is diverse, heterogeneous and
complex. Even within the relatively micro level of Edo State,
South-South and other nearby neighbours, the fact that he is central
puts him under the burden of ensuring that his royal swagger is used in a
rather delicate and cautious manner to ensure that the bandwagon of
respect and esteem for the throne remains enduring and unassailed.
At the larger Nigerian level,
particularly at a time when our nation’s democratic consolidation and
state building is undergoing moments of anxiety and demand for effective
consolidation, the Oba’s experience will be needed to play the roles
expected within the constitutional and established norms.
Of particular interest would be his role
along with others of like calling to build a peaceful and stable
country. No wonder, some of his peers of no less regal bloodlines whose
forebears had also greatly impacted their times, were at hand to
welcome, cheer and usher him into the vaunted club, one of their own.
These include Sultan Muhammadu Abubakar III of Sokoto, Emir Sanusi
Lamido II of Kano, Dr. Yahaya Muhammed, Etsu Nupe, King Godfrey Emiko,
Olu of Warri, King Daneson Jaja V of Opobo, Oba Adeyeye Ogunusi – Ooni
of Ife, King Edmund Daukoru – Mingi XIII of Nembe, Dr. Alfred Achebe
-Agbogidi – Obi of Onitsha, and several others. Interestingly, some of
these monarchs are also of about same age and of no less public service
pedigree and professional reference. It should be easier, therefore, for
them to as it were, speak the same language.
At a wider global level, would be a need
for the new Oba to find relevance and appreciation for the preservation
of the rich Benin culture which has been bequeathed to him. As alluded
earlier, great amounts of Benin historic and cultural artefacts and
appreciation still lie in private homes and public galleries all over
the world especially in Europe. This could form the basis for renewed
cultural revival and deepening of relations between Nigeria and those
countries.
Gladly, Oba Ewuare II’s inaugural speech
has left none in doubt as to his direction of activism and proactive
engagement in various pursuits which will greatly impact the Bini
people, Nigeria and the wider world.
What remains is to wish him a great, long and successful reign in peace and progress to the Benin people and Nigerians under his watch.
What remains is to wish him a great, long and successful reign in peace and progress to the Benin people and Nigerians under his watch.
Ambassador Igali, Ph.D, is
a fellow of
the Historical Society of Nigeria, administrator and award-winning
author. Email igalibuea@yahoo.com
by Godknows Boladei Igali
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