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Naiwu Osahon Biography Papers &
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The Bini cosmological account of the
universe draws significantly from the Egyptian one. The Egyptian version, which later formed
the basis of Genesis in the Bible, is that the universe was created from
chaos and primaeval (or ancient) ocean.
After a hill (called ta-tjenen) arose from the bottom of the ocean, a
son-god (God’s child or baby god) called Atom, (which is the Sun without
which life on earth is impossible), appeared on the land created by the
hill. The son-god or Atom then created
eight other gods, which together with himself made nine gods. These nine gods are presumed by modern
science to be symbolized by the nine major planets of the universe. The Bini version is that, in the
beginning, Osanobua (God, Oghene-Osa, Tu-SoS), decided to populate the world
so He asked His four sons in Erinmwin (Heaven), to choose whatever gift of
nature each fancied. The oldest chose
wealth, the next in age chose wisdom, the third chose mysticism (spiritual
energy), and as the youngest was about to announce his choice, Owonwon (the
Toucan) cried out to him to settle for a snail shell. This did not make sense to him but he
settled for it all the same. The
brothers laughed at his stupid choice but Osanobua said it was a wise
choice. That when they get to the middle
of the water where He was sending them, the youngest son should turn his
snail shell facing the water. There was no land only water every
where and the four sons were in a canoe, sailing, drifting, propelled by the
power of eziza (wind). In the middle of the water stood a tree on top of
which lived (Owonwon) the toucan. The
importance of the emergence of the tree before man on earth is not lost on
modern science, which recognizes that without the tree manufacturing oxygen,
life on earth would have been impossible.
Modern science has also confirmed the Bini cosmology that birds,
insects etc preceded When the children got to the middle of
the water, the youngest son turned his snail shell upside down resulting in
an explosion from the bottom of the water that forced volumes and volumes of
sand to gush out of the water and fill up space around them for as far as the
eyes could see. With the explosion,
the four elements of creation, amen (water), eziza (air), arhen (fire) and
oto (sand or land) were in place. Land
was every where but the kids did not know what it was. They were afraid to climb out of the canoe
to step on the land, so they sent the Chameleon to test its firmness. That is why the Chameleon walks with
hesitation. The youngest son of Osanobua was the
only spirit out of the four sons who could have the physical human body
attribute on stepping on the land, because that was the advantage of the
physical or material choice he made.
It was put in his hand from heaven.
The other sons were deities.
The youngest son, the ruler of the earth, represents innocence and so
is susceptible to the powers of the deities, his brothers. These same weak and strong, good and evil,
physical and spiritual, influences form the basic elements of all modern
religions, with man endowed with the power to make choices. Junior wanted his older spirit
brothers to remain with him on his land.
The oldest brother chose to take his spirit gift and live in what was
left of the water. The other two
brothers accepted junior’s invitation and deposited their spirit selves and
gifts on the land as soon as they stepped on it from the canoe. Junior stepped on his land gingerly at
first, then vigorously, stamping hard and repeatedly on it, running and
rolling over it. He looked around and
felt good and happy with his enormous gift.
He called his land agbon (earth), and himself, Idu, meaning the first
human on earth. He decided to walk
around and explore the extent and nature of his gift. It had trees, shrubs, birds, animals,
insects, which all came out of water with the land, and the land sprawled
endlessly. After walking for a while
pushing through shrubs; almost stepping on insects, ants and crawlers;
talking to birds that appeared to be serenading him and animals that came
close or ran from him, he was tired.
He sat on the stump of a tree to rest, later lying on the ground to
sleep. While asleep, Osanobua came down with
a chain from heaven, looked around to ensure that everything was in place,
including the Sun and the Moon that were to regulate day and night and the
seasons. When Idu woke up, he was
excited to find himself in the presence of a huge, soothing illumination,
surrounded by darkness. The earth was
dark. He knew he was in the presence
of the ‘Almighty’ and did not want to look directly at the illumination. He
went down humbly and quickly on his knees to thank Osanobua for the immense earth
gift bestowed on him. “You are happy then?” Osanobua asked Idu. “Very, very,” Idu said, adding humbly, “but
I am hungry. I have not eaten since I
arrived here? What do I do for
food?” Osanobua said, “Stretch your
hand up above your head; the sky would respond by coming close to your
hand. Pluck what ever you need from
the sky. Don’t pluck more than you
need to eat to satisfy your hunger at any one time though.” ”I won’t, I won’t,” Idu said eagerly,
stretching his right hand right away to pluck a mouthful of food from the
sky. As he munched away happily, eyes
and head rolling to show joy and satisfaction, he managed to mumble, “it
tastes very nice, I love it.” “What else do you need?” Osanobua asked Idu. “Dad, I could do with a human companion. I am lonely. My brothers are spirits and I can no longer
relate with them,” Idu said. Osanobua
said, “You are not flesh and blood alone.
You are part spirit too. Your
spirit brothers are not far away.
Experience would teach you how to harness wisdom, one of your spirit
brothers, which would teach you how to combine your physical and spiritual
energies to cultivate wealth and spiritual fulfillment, your other two spirit
brothers.” Osanobua gave the oldest son control
of the waters. The Bini call this son,
Olokun (meaning the god of the waters). Olokun represents aspects of life
such as good health, long life, good luck, prosperity and happiness, to which
man may appeal through ritual purity. The other spirit sons were allowed the
freedom to use their magical powers to balance out the negative and positive
forces of nature. To shorten the process of acquiring spiritual wisdom,
Osanobua strengthened the mystical energy with three new forces: Oguega,
Ominigbon and Iha, to provide humans with spiritual guidance to differentiate
rights from wrongs. Osanobua then told Idu to take sand
with both palms from the ground and stretch his hands close together in front
of him. As soon as Idu did as he was
told, Osanobua called forth a female person, pointing His staff where she
appeared in front of Idu. “Whao,” Idu
exclaimed on beholding the beautiful female person standing in front of
him. She smiled happily and went down
on her knees to greet Osanobua, looking at Idu who she also greeted. Idu held
her hands in response and hugged her.
Osanobua said, “She is Eteghohi (a woman) and you are Etebite, (a
man). In marriage you would multiply
to ensure there is no shortage of hands in the management of the earth’s
resources.” As Osanobua was making to leave, Idu
politely asked: “what if we have other problems and want to reach our creator
quickly?” Osanobua said, “you can
individually live for up to five hundred years, but you can come to me at
will through your individual spirit self, ehi, whose double is permanently
with me in heaven. All you would need
to do is climb the Alubode hill and you are with ehi in heaven, who would
bring you to me.” As Osanobua left to his abode where
the earth, water, and the sky meet, darkness was lifted from the earth. Life was sweet and easy and before
long, Idu and his wife, Eteghohi, were making babies. As the years rolled by, generations of
extended Idu’s family began to spread out in all directions, setting up
communities, villages and towns. The
different communities farthest from base spoke variations of Idu language and
knew that they came from one common ancestor, Papa Idu, the ancestor of all
mankind. Everything went well for
thousands of years until one day when Emose, a pregnant woman, out of greed,
cut more food than she needed to eat at once, from the sky. There was an immediate explosion and the
sky began receding from human reach.
Direct interaction with Osanobua from then on became difficult because
humans could no longer walk in and out of heaven at will. Emose’s greed destroyed the age of
innocence and brought into human affairs, two new spirits, Esun and Idodo,
both representing obstacles humans must now overcome to reach heaven. Idodo is the spirit ‘police’ that ensures
that natural or divine laws are obeyed.
Idodo seeks to ensure we repent and atone for our sins. Esun is the ‘servant’ spirit or angel that
takes genuine human pleas, performed in the purity of heart, before Osanobua. Emose’s greed also brought a lot of
suffering and pains to humans. Forests
were soon depleted of their natural food supply, so humans began to toil hard
clearing forests, burning bushes, tilling the land, planting, weeding,
nurturing, threshing and harvesting.
It was not easy. Before long,
the lazy began to die like fowls in the desert. Farming activities began to take their toll
on the ecological balance of the earth too, causing droughts, unpredictable
seasons, and environmental degradation.
The soil began to suffer and die from over use, yielding less and less
food despite the use of excrement as manure, which in turn caused its
peculiar illness, pains and deaths. Two new spiritual forces of nature
were now evident and critical to human survival. They were Uwu (death), the harbinger of
death, and Ogi’uwu (the spirit of death), representing mourning, evil omen,
and diseases. Ogi’uwu owns the blood
of all living things. Uwu and Ogi’uwu
were causing havoc among humans.
Humans who could live before for ukpo iyisen-iyisen vb’ iyisen (five
hundred years) at a stretch, were now dying prematurely. Death was ready to take life at any time,
and Ogi’uwu was sending every one who disobeyed Osanobua (or nodiyi-Osa) to
death, regardless of age. To convince Idodo to prevail on Uwu
and Ogi’uwu to temper justice with mercy and get Esun to take our pleas to
Osanobua to control the forces, required the services of our own individual
spirit called ‘ehi.’ Ehi could no
longer go directly to Osanobua because of Emose’s sin, except at the point
before our birth. The Bini say there
are two aspects of man. One half is
ehi, which is the spirit essence, and the other half is the okpa, which is
the physical person. Before birth,
ehi, (the spirit essence) of the individual, humbly goes before Osanobua to
request endorsement of the kind of life the individual would wish to live on
earth (agbon). The request is
obviously made with a baby’s sense of innocence about rights and wrongs, and
the weight of the karmic debt and credit baggage of the individual from
previous life cycles and styles.
However, the choice of the new life style is patently and entirely the
individual’s, and could be any of one or a combination of scenarios. The individual may want to be a powerful
spiritualist, a rich business man or farmer, a great warrior or soldier, a
happy or unhappy family man, a wimp or beggar, a revered medicine man, a
famous chief, politician, or popular king, and even a notorious or very
successful thief. The request process is called ‘hi’
and leads to Osanobua stamping his sacred staff on the floor to seal the
wish. The approved secret wish is only
known to ehi, who is entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring that his
second half, okpa, (the physical human self), keeps to the promises made before
Osanobua. Ehi is the spiritual counterpart
of okpa in heaven. Half of ehi comes
with okpa to earth to ensure permanent link with ehi in heaven. That half is called orhion. When okpa dies, orhion stays close to okpa
until okpa is properly buried and all rites are completed. Orhion, cleansed of sins, returns to heaven
to be one with ehi. Ehi and okpa may
come back 7 times each, making a total of fourteen times in all. Each return,
known as reincarnation, provides the opportunity to atone for the sins
committed in previous life times. When
cleansing is complete, ehi takes its proper place in Eguae Osanobua vb’
Erinmwin (heavenly paradise). Edo Mysteries Every thing discussed so far is
encapsulated in the Idu (Edo) Mysteries.
Idu mystics are known as Oboihoi abbreviated generally as Obo. They say, ‘emwin agbon nat ’ole okhiokhi,’
meaning, events on earth move in cycles.
They insist that ‘one should live for the benefit of other things.’ Idu Mystery priests or Oboihoi, are
vast in miracles and magic. Initiation
ceremonies still retain some of the ancient Egyptian enigma, such as the
shaving of the head, and peculiarly include spending some days alone in the
forest. No one returns from the
sojourn and not be a changed personality.
Initiates study several means of divination, the main ones being: Iha, Oguega and Ominigbon. All three divinities are repositories of
the history, philosophy, culture and traditions of the Idu (Bini). The central figures, like in other
mysteries with their saints, deities, and spiritual icons, include: Okhuaihe,
Oravan, Ogun, Olokun, etc, who are intermediaries and can be imaged, unlike
Osanobua who is imageless. The divinities are oral, secretive
and thrive on the words of wisdom from the obvious to the proverbial, the
mystical to the esoteric. Both the Idu
(Edo) and Egyptian Mysteries use myths, parables, proverbs, symbols; magic
and numbers to conceal truth and knowledge from the non-initiate. Iha, for instance, is a gigantic
memory bank of words, ideas, anecdotes on all sorts of events on earth and
under the heavens. No issue is too
trivial to preserve, and the information bank’s subjects range from births to
deaths of the lowly and the kings, wars, evolutions of great and small
empires, nations, journeys, marriages, quarrels etc. Every incidence imaginable is carefully
catalogued, itemized, and stored away, ready to be accessed by the trained
mind at will. The knowledge bank is constantly being replenished and updated
to make it ever fresh, relevant contemporary and comprehensive.
Initiates go through long, tedious
periods of training where teaching is memorized rather than written
down. Progress between grades is slow
and laborious, subjecting initiates to memory and bodily ordeals and tests. Only the physically fit, tough, and
determined, can last that long, complete the training and graduate. Many fall by the way side. Those who qualify, become Oboihoi,
abbreviated as Obo. The mavens among
them are gods in their own rights and can do anything. The Idu people, like other Africans,
have only one Osanobua and several intermediaries in form of saints, gods,
deities, because Osanobua became remote to humans as a result of Emose’s
sin. With pains and suffering on earth
refusing to abate after Emose’s sin and Osanobua’s anger by taking the sky
(therefore food), too far out of human reach, Idu people started praying for
abundant rainfall and sunshine all year round to replace the droughts they
were experiencing. The intermediary gods and deities
were expected to intercede on their behalf before Osanobua over the
relentless suffering on earth, and Ogi‘uwu’s merciless execution of the
mandate of death. At their individual, family, and community shrines, Idu
people plead their cases through their individual ehi to the deities to take
their pleas to Osanobua. After a while they began to feel that the response
to their pleas was too slow or inadequate and began yearning for the
opportunity to continue to visit heaven at will and plead directly before
Osanobua as it was in the beginning.
They felt they could maximize their chances by combining their efforts
to reach Osanobua through their ehi and deities, with direct plea. This
happened thousands of years before the Christian era. In fact, the Christian creation ideas
about Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden, and the Son-of-God, appear to have
been taken verbatim from the Idu (Edo) corpus. But the Idu (direct interaction concept) is
superior to the Christian one because, while Christians rely on an
intermediary or a Messiah to reach the Supreme God, Idu people go directly,
collectively. They have a human saint
too who died for their collective well-being, but they believe every human
must account individually for his or her deeds. No Messiah can cleanse your sins for you
because we each have our individual covenant with Osanobua through our ehi,
on the day before our birth on earth. The Aruosa Leaders and priests of all the Idu
deities agreed that while they should continue with their various individual
efforts to reach Osanobua, they should also come together regularly to plead
and pray with one voice for Osanobua’s direct intervention and blessings in
their lives. They each first went
through self purification processes such as fasting and spiritual cleansing,
and collectively cleansed the place chosen for the prayer gathering. The prayer sessions at the gathering point,
went on regularly for a long while without any noticeable change in their
plight, so one day, one of them, a powerful spiritual leader and priest by
the name Okhuaihe, offered to take the people’s prayers and pleas to Osanobua
in heaven. That meant dying for the
uplift of his people, of course. The
Idu people reluctantly agreed with him and promised to continue to pray at
the chosen spot until he returned, or forever if he failed to return. They continued praying at the same
spot regularly for years and still Okhuaihe did not return and there was no
visible change in their circumstance.
Droughts were still ravaging the earth and many were dying helplessly
from hunger and diseases. To mark the
prayer spot, they planted the Uwerhien ‘otan tree, and heaped earth at its
base to create a shrine to Osanobua.
This was the only spot where direct prayers were offered to God in Idu
land. At every other shrine, whether
at home or in communal settings, they prayed through their ehi and
deities. Still, Okhuaihe did not come
back but one day, darkness fell on earth at noon. A huge ball of fire descended from the sky
and with it came a thunderous voice confirming the presence of Osanobua and
suggesting that Okhuaihe’s mission had not been in vain. The voice said: “Okhuaihe delivered your
message to me, but your wishes are against my creative will and I will not
grant them.” A while after the voice spoke,
another ball of fire descended from the sky through the darkness and fell on
earth to lift the darkness. Idu people
were expecting Okhuaihe to return with the lifting of darkness but he didn’t,
so they declared that: Aimi ‘ose no ye ‘rinmwin.” Meaning life after death is beyond
understanding. Idu people, however, consoled themselves with the thought that
the new ball of fire from the sky must have brought a message from
Osanobua. They organized a search
party to locate where it fell and what it was. At the spot where the ball of fire fell, at
the junction of Igbesanwman and today’s Aruosa Street, they found a strange
huge black stone. The unique black
stone, which looks alien to our world, is one of the relics the British took
away during their sacking and burning of Benin City in 1897. Idu people named
the stone ‘Aruosa,’ meaning the Eye of Osanobua (God) watching over His
creation. It is a symbol of Idu
people’s direct experience of God.
They built a proper house of worship at the spot where they had always
gone to pray to Osanobua. This
happened over 3000 years ago. The
ancient site is at a place known today as Akpakpava Road. Therefore, nobody can teach Idu (Edo)
people anything about how to worship God.
They knew and heard directly from God, thousands of years before the
Christian era. Aruosa doctrine is described as
Godianism, meaning, direct one-on-one interaction with God. It requires no
intermediaries, Messiahs or Redeemers.
Aruosa’s body of beliefs, teaching and practices have not changed in thousands
of years. Their preaching is
pre-occupied with what they describe as the saga of creation by
Osanobua. In worship, they invoke the
presence of God with songs and by cleansing and sanctifying themselves. Ihonmwen ‘egbe n’ Osa mwen, meaning, “I
purify myself for my God.” They pray
and dance to their songs, using traditional musical instruments, including
drums and the ukuse, to produce their music.
They believe the sounds of drums, songs and dance help to invoke the
spirit of God. Prayers are rendered in
songs and a typical one goes like this: “We
believe in God and
we serve Him because
we abhor quarrels bitterness,
sickness, death
and poverty.” A popular closing song goes like
this: “God,
we have made time to serve you, Give
us the time and blessing to
achieve our goals.” Worship is on Sundays (the African
veneration day), from 10 am to 12 noon.
Aruosa is ruled by a Council of Elders under a Chairman who is the
‘Ohen Osa Nokhua,’ (Chief priest/ Pope).
The current Ohen Osa is Col. Paul Osakpamwen Ogbebor (Rt.). The patron of the Aruosa is the Oba of
Benin. The Aruosa’s Ohen Osa led a
delegation of Aruosa priests to Portugal in 1462, during the reign of Oba
Ewuare. The Aruosa priests picked up a
few ideas about mode of dressing which they adapted. They were surprised that baptism and
confirmation in the Catholic Church played similar roles as the Aruosa
initiation rites into the lower and upper sanctum of the Aruosa faith. Initiation at the level of baptism in
Aruosa is not with water as in the Catholic faith, but with the white chalk
(orhue), which is the symbol of cleanliness, purity, joy, and success. The equivalence to confirmation initiation
rites in Aruosa, use palm fronds (igborhe), which is the symbol of renewal of
life, multiplicity and endlessness.
Christians use palm fronds in their Palm Sunday rituals as a symbol of
renewal of life but deride Africans they copied from, as primitive and savage
for using them. The British, after conquering and
burning Benin City, banned the worship of the Supreme God at Aruosa,
describing the practice, which is not only superior to their concept and mode
of worship, but older by thousands of years, and from which they took their
religious bearing, as barbaric. Oba
Akenzua II, defied the British ban in 1945, by building the first Aruosa
Cathedral on the ancient Aruosa site at Akpakpava Road, which the Roman
Catholic Church had usurped before that time to erect their Cathedral. Akenzua II set up 12 Aruosa schools in
Benin City, Urora and other places, to spread the teaching of the faith. Through his influence Aruosa houses of
worship were built in Onitsha, Umuahia, and Port-Harcourt, as well as in
Cotonou in Benin Republic. The
Nigerian civil war truncated the gains made by Aruosa during Akenzua’s
reign. The military regime seized all
mission schools, including the Aruosa’s, and ran them aground. Ethos and Social Engineering The success of Idu society may have
been due in part to their belief that the sin of one of them affects the
fortunes of every one else in the society. Every member of the society pays
for Emose’s greed and must attempt to atone for it and cleanse it by working
together with others as one family. I
don’t know if this was unique to Idu society but it ensured that everyone was
everyone else’s keeper. They looked
out for the welfare of the others and so created a large family of achievers
and an extended family that worked like one mind. To the Idu people, Obo (hand) is
human’s principal means of fulfillment, achievement and power. It symbolizes his ability and willingness
to tame his environment, and supports the notion of reciprocity. A clenched fist, the Bini say, cannot take
more than it is holding. To reap
profit and abundance, one must be prepared to give or let go. They believed that events on earth move in
cycles and that one should live for the benefit of other things. These are the critical concepts that helped
Idu society to achieve the tremendous level of social sophistication,
civilization and excellence in the arts, administration, conquests and social
engineering envied today by modern society. Man in Idu society was not perceived
as a loner but as a member of a vibrant group with his or her individual
uniqueness in skills and expertise recognized and encouraged to
flourish. The Idu person was expected
to contribute his or her individual uniqueness in talents, knowledge and
skills to help build, sustain, and enhance the quality of life of the family,
community and society. Obligations and
activities were performed generally through age grade groups and guilds. Solidarity to the whole was emphasized
above individual rights and loyalties, thereby encouraging the individual
involved to develop a sense of duty and obligation to live, work, and if
necessary die for the group or community. Broadly, while the junior age
grades performed basic or elementary tasks such as clearing paths, caring for
public buildings, middle grades adult males handled the more difficult tasks
of roofing houses and administrative and executive functions for the
community councils. Even the Idu nuclear family was not
restricted to the husband, wife and child notion. It embraced an expanding cycle of cousins,
uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews, grand parents, grand uncles, grand aunts and
so on. There was usually a head or
father figure or ultimate authority known as Okaegbee, recognized by all, and
whose words were final in family matters.
He was not a dictator, but arrived at decisions through exhaustive
consultation, counseling and when necessary, divination. Most times, he was the oldest on the
extended family tree and old age was generally considered to be synonymous
with wisdom. In the same way that each extended
family had an Okaegbee, or leader, each ward, community, village, town,
dukedom, had an Odionwere, who more often than not was the oldest person in
the society. The community, village,
town, or dukedom, organized itself into Otu (age) groups and guilds. Each Otu had seven divisions. The idea of seven started when a group of
seven, known as the ‘Ominigie,’ was set up during the Ogiso era. Ominigie was a militant or warrior group
that went to war for the society.
According to myths, the group accompanied their war activities with
music and dance and when they were eventually vanquished, it was said that
they danced their way to heaven.
Another group of seven was promptly set up after their demise and the
rhythm of seven has prevailed since. Each of the seven divisions of the
Otu (age groups) represents special ethos translating roughly as follows: (a)
(b)
Oba’s tax collectors (c)
Community publicity officers (d)
Task masters or enforcers (e)
Self help gurus (f)
Pacifiers/judges (g)
Enforcers of loyalty and patriotism
to the land and kingdom. Otu age groups divide as follows: 5 –
15 (Emwin-rhoba-evbo); 16 – 30 (Eroghae); 30 – 50 (Eghele); 50+ (Odion). The
oldest male in the community was on his own and was known as the
Odionwere. Membership of each group
was for life and group members moved into new age groups together. Elevation into the 50+ age group was only
by merit, based on a measurable quality of character, achievement, and
demonstrable level of wisdom. Therefore,
a child who is hard working and precautious could move through the ranks to
meet his father. Only one person moves
from Odion to Odionwere (leader of the society or community), when the
Odionwere’s position is vacant. Such newly promoted Odionwere, who
usually is the oldest person in the community, appoints two new Odions on
merit to do the administration and running around for him because of his old
age. The same scenario is repeated in
the Otu groups that bring neighbouring villages, towns, dukedoms and
communities together. Their special
responsibilities at the inter community level include military and security
services, administering spiritual needs, serving as think tanks and as apex groups known as the Elders
Council. Beyond the Elders council is
the Enogie, who principally is the head Chief of the group of communities,
and is appointed by the Oba who he represents. The title of Enogie entitles the holder to
wear coral beads. Parallel with the Otu groups, which
are largely concerned with administrative and security matters, are the
guilds. The guilds are set up around
professions, and are more or less like modern day trade unions, with a leader
or head who is a chief and is appointed by the Oba. The guilds represent all facets of human
endeavours. The Iwowa guild, for
instance, is led by Chief Ogua and is responsible specifically for the
digging of the underground burial chambers of a transited Oba. The Iwowa group is a branch of the Ihogbe,
the monarch’s family group that takes care of his ancestral shrine, which
includes the original Idu deity, and represents the ancestors of the kings. Other guilds included the goldsmiths,
brass smiths and black smiths; olopa (police); public health workers
(including medical personnel, and nurses); warriors and peace maintenance or
security; market men and women; sewers (fashion designers/producers,
weavers); variety of sporting and games groups (such as wrestlers, chess
players); farmers; wood carvers, ivory carvers; town criers; barbers;
spiritual leaders (such as ‘Obo,’ oguega, (diviners); artistes (drummers,
theatrical groups, singers, dancers, clowns, jesters, story tellers);
builders, interior decorators etc;
Each group lived largely in a specially designated section of town and
had its own chiefs appointed by the Oba, and its festivals. Idu people had days for work, play
and rest. They observed a four day
week, the fourth day, called ‘eken,’ was the rest day, and was reserved for
sporting activities, games and all sorts of community programmes. They adopted the lunar calendar of 13
months in a year and 28 days in the month.
The thirteenth month of every year was reserved for rest of humans and
tools of work. Festivals and
ceremonies were devoted to the period to propitiate and bless the tools and
workers, and prepare them for another year.
There were festivals such as Igue and Ague to celebrate the blessings
of the out going year and to usher in the New Year. Other festivals included
ones for elders, ancestors, facilities of trade or market days, single
deities (such as Eho, Enorho) and Ikpoleki, for sweeping the market, which
was more regular. Their primary food
stuff consists of yam, cocoyam, plantain, cassava, corn, beans, peppers,
okro, mellon tomatoes and other vegetables. Fish and rice came from
neighbouring communities. Hunting bush
meat is an industry, so they have plenty of antelopes, foxes, hares and
snails. They rare cows, goats, sheep,
fowls…. Industry thrived and involved brass
casting, wood carving, leather working, cloth weaving, including ceremonial
ones and traditional craft. Idu civilization was involved in the smelting of
iron, or what is today known as metallurgy, hundreds of years before the
advent of whites in their midst. The
Idu guild of iron-workers got their raw materials from Ineme territory in Akoko
Edo, an iron bearing area extending to Itakpa hills in Kogi state from where
the modern Ajaokuta steel complex is expecting to get a portion of its raw
materials. Idu people called the raw
steel from Ineme, Akpadan urigho, meaning two hundred cowries worth of
precious metal. This was to emphasize
the value Idu people attached to the material which they melted by separating
the pure metal from the slag to produce works of art, jewelry, ornaments,
pots and pans, knives, cutlasses, blades, hoes, chains, hundreds of years
before they began receiving 100% pure metal from Europe some 500 years
ago. While Portugal and England traded
largely in tinsel with Benin as recently as some 500 years ago, Holland
brought in large quantities of iron bars, flint-lock guns, dane guns and
ovbiosegba (or pistols). The Idu guild of iron-workers copied and produced
the guns, and this industry is still very strong today in Benin. But Idu (Bini) people could not make gun
powder, which in the end contributed to their conquest by the British. Bini people relied on the West for their
supply of gun powder. The West only
needed to dry the source and the guns became useless. Idu people weaved their clothes,
created world class masterpieces in art; built beautiful homes with
intricately decorated red mud, eighteen inches or more thick, finished with
neat thatched roofs. The palaces of
the monarchs, nobles and chiefs, consisted of a series of atriums (ikuns),
linked internally by corridors, with rooms surrounding each of the trapped
rectangular space (oteghodo or impluvium), open to the sky. Their streets in the capital were wide,
straight, with the principal ones radiating from a circular or ring road
around the Oba’s palace, like a spider’s web.
The streets were swept daily, as was every compound in the city. Every
citizen who could work, had a job, there was no room for unemployment. Idu people have some of the most
engaging, elaborate, colourful, exciting, ennobling, courtship, engagement,
wedding, pregnancy, successful delivery, naming the child, burial, memorial
or anniversary, honouring etc,
ceremonies in the world, incorporating singing, dancing, feasting, and
lavishly making merry. They wean a
child for two to three years and insist on breast-feeding to bond the child
to the mother and ensure discipline and good behaviour in the child. Their mode of salutation in the early
morning hours, is based on traditions of family trees. Although marriages
across family groups have broadened the family tree structure, every Idu
person can generally use their family mode of salutation or greetings in the
morning to trace their family trees, hundreds if not thousands of years
back. This author’s family, for
instance, principally came from the lagiesa, lamogun and lavhieze family trees. Idu inheritance laws favour the oldest son,
unless there is a will. Myths put the The Idu people evolved a very
complex, elaborate, detailed and efficient machinery of government based upon
a monarchical type of administration with spiritual and temporal authority.
The head of government, who is like a modern day prime minister, is Chief
Iyase, a hereditary title passed from father to the eldest son. To speak for the king or on behalf of the
people to the king, are the Ekhaemwen.
Each Ekhaemwen is like a modern day minister of government with
specifically assigned duties in the palace and the land. Benin chiefs are distinctly decked
out in rich flowing white garbs with precious (ivie) coral beads around the
necks and wrists; special hair cut that stands them out uniquely and with
dignity, and are heralded always with their sword of honour. In fact, the hair style of Bini chiefs is
similar to Pharaoh Ramses II’s famous helmet, while the small circles on the
helmet appear also on many Bini bronzes. Bini Queens wear the world famous
‘okuku’ hairstyle resembling a packed high Afro, embellished with expensive
(ivie) coral beads. Bini Queens’
hairstyles are identical to that of Pharaoh Mycerinus (Fourth-Dynasty), and
Pharaoh Sesostris I (Twelfth Dynasty).
Bini kings had immense political
powers, as ultimate judges in court matters, the deliverers of death penalty,
the receivers of taxes and tributes, the regulators of trade, the nominal owners
of the land of the kingdom, chief executives and lawmakers, and principal
custodians of customs and traditions.
Their powers were, however, hedged with checks and balances to prevent
excesses. A retinue of advisers,
Elders’ councils and taboos guide their utterances and actions. Their powers are held in trust for the
entire community and cannot be exercised without consultation with other
levels of authority, such as the kingmakers. Bini monarchs demonstrate strong
affinity with ancient Egyptian Gods and Pharaohs, with which they share
identical authority, grandeur and a great deal of reverence from their
subjects. Like the Pharaohs, Idu (Edo)
monarchs are God-kings. Because they
are God-kings and God-sons, they are considered divine and worshipped by
their subjects, who speak to them always with great reverence, at a distance,
and on bended knees. Great ceremonies
surround every action of the Bini king.
The kings of Benin (Bini) also adopt grand Osirian titles of the ‘Open
Eye,’ signifying omniscience and omnipotence.
Edo monarchs, when they transit to the beyond, are, like the Egyptian
Pharaohs, set up in state, in a linked series of underground chambers,
surrounded with their paraphernalia of power, and all of the items they would
require for their comfortable sojourn in the ethereal world. The Ada, another evidence of link
with the Pharaohs of Egypt, is a scimitar or sword with a single cutting
edge, like a machete curved at its broadest tip, used in desert battles. Edo use the Ada along with the Eben,
another sword of battle, with double cutting edge, native to them, as
conjoined emblem of state authority, in the manner the Egyptian Pharaohs used
the ‘Double Crown,’ as symbol of authority and the unification of Upper and
Lower Egypt. The Ogiso Dynasty What is today known as Edo or Benin
City was originally known as Idu. It
started out with one man who sired the human race. His family initially grew into groups of
small farm settlements linked with footpaths.
Over time, the settlements grew bigger, turning into villages and
towns hundreds and perhaps thousands of years later. As each settlement got bigger and farms
moved further away, new settlements sprang up around the new farms until the
Idu family spread all over the earth.
The immediate Idu family that could trace their ancestry to Pa Idu,
grew after hundreds and thousands of years, into large communities and towns
such as Udo, Abudu, Iguobazuwa, Urhonigbe and so on. Each of the Pa Idu’s immediate
extended family communities, villages and towns, had its own Edionwere. The Idus initially, naturally, married each
other from within close family ties, then across their communities, villages
and towns. They had quality family
get-togethers; skirmishes, of course, particularly over farm land boundaries;
and fought some wars with distant neighbours together. At some point, deep in the BCE era, all the
Edionweres of Idu communities, villages and towns, decided to come together
and set up a Council of Edionweres, to take decisions on their behalf and
settle differences between communities.
The first inter community Council they set up was called Ik’edionwere
and it brought together the Edionweres of all the different communities,
towns and villages of Idu people who recognized themselves as coming from the
one original Pa Idu ancestry and speaking the same Idu language. They were related to one another as
brothers, sisters, cousins, nephews, nieces, uncles, aunts etc, who happened
to have set up settlements near or far from one another. The Ik’edionwere members selected one
from among their members, usually the oldest in age, to lead them. Often he was very old, so he nominated a
much younger member of the council as his Oka’iko, a helping hand. This was how what became known as the Edo
kingdom evolved. It was by no means a
perfect arrangement from day one, but it worked for hundreds and perhaps
thousands of years, solving some problems, creating others, with occasional
damaging fights for supremacy among the council members. Ogiso
Igodo (40 BCE – 16 CE). In 40 BCE, ‘Igodo,’ an ambitious, young, smart,
Edionwere, from Idunmwun Ivbioto district, emerged as the Oka’iko. Igodo staged a coup, by abolishing the
Ik’edionwere and declaring himself the Ogiso.
He set up the Odibo-Ogiso group to help him consolidate his authority.
Ogiso means ruler from the sky. By
calling himself Ogiso, he was implying direct lineage to Pa Idu, the youngest
son of Osanobua from the sky. He named his combined territories or sprawling
nation state, Igodomigodo, and set up his capital at Ugbekun. The people of
Igodomigodo enthusiastically accepted him as their ruler. They saw him as the
reincarnation of Pa Idu and accorded him divine qualities. They transferred
to him, all the myths associated with Pa Idu, including the God-son creation
myth. All Ogisos and Obas of Benin
naturally try to strengthen these myths in a variety of ways, including not
allowing themselves to be seen eating in public and so suggesting that they can
live without food. They are in myth,
not mortal but god-kings, with celestial mystique attached to them. Ogiso Igodo, after consolidating his
hold on power, set up a Royal Council which included members of the disbanded
Ik’edionwere Council and the Odibo-Ogiso group. He toyed with the idea of his succession by
heredity and recommended in the alternative, succession by a close relative,
who is mature, wise, and acceptable to the Royal Council. Ogiso Igodo died in 16 CE. None of his sons was able to succeed him to
the throne. Ogiso
Ere (16 - 66 CE). Ogiso Ere, who was
Ogiso Igodo’s kinsman, succeeded Igodo to the throne in 16 CE. Ogiso Ere
transferred the capital of Igodomigodo from Ugbekun to Uhudumwunrun. This
implies that Igodomigodo was a sprawling kingdom with more than a few large gathering
points rather than a series of small hamlets.
It was a very sophisticated kingdom too from that far back in
history. Ogiso Ere, a lover of peace,
was also a very resourceful king. He
brought his kingdom several innovations. He was the first to wear a Cowry
Crown. He introduced the guild system of carpenters and wood carvers, which
eventually developed into the world’s celebrated wood works and bronze
casting factories of today’s Igun Street in Benin City. Ogiso Ere built the first ever Igodomigodo
market, known then as Ogiso market and in modern times as Agbado market. Ogiso Ere, invented the famous African
kingship paraphernalia which includes the Ada (a sword of honour), Eben (a
sword for dancing), Ekete (a royal stool), Agba (a rectangular stool), and
Epoki (a leather box). These still
serve today as the symbols of Obaship authority in many West African
countries that experienced Bini control and or influence. The Ada with one cutting edge is
sometimes described as the senior sword of state, and the Ebe, with its
double cutting edge, is the thrusting sword, (or the sword for dancing),
trilled four times in thanksgiving and in self-identification, to the spirits
of the ancestors. It must not fall
when being trilled. While the Ada is
believed to link the Edo with Egypt where a similar sword was used in
battles, the Eben is linked with the Bronze Age, which the Bini may have used
to fight their way through the desert and bush path to reach their present
location. All Benin chiefs have the authority to use the Eben but only a few
among them are allowed to possess the Ada.
The Ada chiefs include, Enogies, the Ovies in Urhobo land, who can
pronounce death sentence on citizens, and the Uzama nobles (Oliha, Edohen,
Ero, Eholorn’ire etc), during the Ogiso era.
None of these chiefs is allowed, however, to carry the Ada into palace
grounds. Only their Eben can go in
with them. Ogiso
Orire (66 – 100 CE). Ogiso Ere died in 66 CE and was succeeded
by his son, Ogiso Erire, introducing the primogeniture (son succeeding his
father) principle. He is credited with
greatly expanding the kingdom. He had no male child so Igodomigodo was thrown
into a long and devastating succession battles that lasted for 285 years. During that time 19 Odionweres attempted to
usurp the position of Ogiso without receiving recognition from the people,
and the consensus of the Elders’ Council.
The issue was finally resolved with the compromise choice of Ogiso
Odia in 385 CE. Ogiso
Odia (385 – 400 CE), was an Odionwere with
ocultic gift of prophesy and prediction. His ascension introduced the system
of gerontocracy (i.e. the oldest person in the community rules), until the
death of the twenty-second Ogiso when the primogeniture system was restored. Ogiso
Ighido (400 CE – 414 CE), succeeded Ogiso
Odia. Ighido was a successful
blacksmith producing knives, chains, hoes and cutlasses when he was
oracularly chosen to be the Ogiso. He
was the oldest citizen around at the time anyway, an Odionwere. Ogiso Evbuobo (414 -432 CE), was very
old when he was chosen to be the Ogiso.
He died at the age of 110 years.
Ogiso Ogbeide (432 – 447
CE), was from Ugbague quarters. A
proud king. He died on Ugie Day. Ogiso
Emehe (447 – 466 CE), was one of Edo’s
greatest diviners. He was an oguega oraclist
from the Emehe quarters. Ogiso Ekpigho (466 – 482 CE), was a
money lender before he became king. He
was heartless and merciless in the business of managing money. Even his name suggests his trade, ‘bag of
money.’ Ogiso Akhuankhuan (482 –
494 CE), was an economist and trader who specialized in the textile trade
before he was chosen king. Ogiso Efeseke (494– 508 CE), was very
wealthy before becoming Ogiso. He came
from the Urubi quarters. He had large
herds of cows and goats. Ogiso
Irudia (508– 522 CE). His period was not considered eventful in
anyway. Ogiso Orria (522– 537 CE), was a great hunter who specialized in
killing or capturing and training elephants.
He hailed from Oregbeni quarters.
Ogiso Imarhan (537– 548 CE)
had a thriving business in terracotta, making pots before becoming king. He was from Oka quarters. Ogiso Etebowe (548– 567 CE), was a
powerful boxer and wrestler from Oroghotodin quarters. He wasn’t a giant in size but had the
reputation of ‘destroyer of leopards.’
Ogiso Odion (567– 584 CE),
was a renowned hunter, fairy and folktales teller, intelligent singer, dancer
and a moralist. Ogiso Emose (584–
600 CE), was a posthumous child. He
inherited the mother’s wealth. He
loved beautiful things. At his
coronation, he took the mother’s name ‘Emose,’ and so earned the reputation
of being regarded as a woman Ogiso. Ogiso
Ororo (600– 618 CE), was brought up as a
blacksmith at Eyanugie. He travelled
far and wide as a trader in Ogisodom before becoming Ogiso. Ogiso
Erebo (618– 632 CE), was a fisherman and canoe carver, chosen from
Okhorho quarters. He had a repertoire
of stories about sea animals such as mermaids, sharks, crocodiles etc. Ogiso
Ogbomo (632 –647 CE), was chosen from Ugbowo quarters. He was a nurse or doctor, treating venereal
diseases, arthritis, epilepsy and pregnant women. Ogiso
Agbonzeke (647–665 CE), was a philosopher, historian and a great poet
with a rich range of songs and proverbs.
He interpreted native laws and customs well and had the reputation of
telling truth from lies. Ogiso Ediae (665– 685 CE), was the
last Odionwere Ogiso. A great carver
and sculptor. He died at the age of
115 years. Ogiso
Orriagba (685– 712 CE) ascended the throne of
his father, Ogiso Ediae, under the primogeniture system, and was determined
to introduce stability to the succession process. He was not happy with the
gerontocratic system that tended to produce very old Ogisos counting their
days to the grave. He felt that the
son taking over from his father system, would bring young blood to the
throne, so he canvassed seriously for the process and backed it with the
Oba’s next of kin taking over in a situation where the Oba left no son. He invoked the spirit of Erinmwindu, and
the ancestors of the land, to support his efforts and positively influence
members of the Royal Council. The
Edion‘isen, (Royal Council, later known as the Seven Uzama, and which
included chiefs Oliha, Edohen, Ero, Ezomo and Eholo-Nire), after long
deliberations adopted the system of primogeniture and swore on the shrine of
Erinmwindu to uphold it at all times both for the monarch and
themselves. The rule was extended to
their properties, duties, and debts, when they die. Ogiso
Odoligie (712– 767 CE), was a soldier. He defeated Udo, Iguabode, and Urhonigbe
towns; united and enlarged his kingdom.
He used tamed elephants to prosecute his wars. Ogiso
Uwa (767– 821 CE) inherited a rich kingdom. A luxury lover, extravagant and a gambler,
he introduced brass work to Igodomigodo.
Ogiso Eheneden (821–871
CE), like his father, inherited an expanded kingdom and wealth. He introduced innovations that improved the
arts and crafts and the practice of agriculture. Ogiso
Ohuede (871– 917 CE), introduced the UKO (or ministerial system of
government), and developed the guild system.
He was considered a weak king. Ogiso Oduwa (917– 967 CE),
experienced serious rebellion during his reign. He could not control the
large kingdom. Ogiso
Obioye (967– 1012 CE), was a resourceful
king. He introduced the use of cowry
as currency to Igodomigodo. His reign
witnessed fire outbreak, severe inflation, food scarcity and
immigration. Ogiso Arigho (1012– 1059 CE), was a great merchant. He introduced the double payments system, a
bank, and the slave labour culture to Igodomigodo. Ogiso
Owodo (1059-1100 CE), was the thirty-first
and last Ogiso of Igodomigodo. He
freed the slaves. He was considered a
weak king because he could not handle Osogan who was a thorn in his flesh
during his reign. Ogiso Owodo had only
one son, called Ekaladerhan, despite having many wives. In attempt to unravel the cause of his
wives not being able to bear children, he sent his first wife Esagho and
three male messengers, namely Osaghae, Osagiede and a fourth person to
consult an oracle. Details of what happened have been
preserved for centuries in palace folklore and practice and who better to
provide this than an illustrious Edo prince soaked in the tradition. According to the book, Ekaladerhan, written by His Royal
Highness, Ovbia Oba Edun Agharese Akenzua, the Ogie-Obazuwa, published by
Ukhege Heights, Benin City, 2008, Odionmwan and his aids, Omokpaomwan and
Osifo were summoned to appear at noon before Ogiso Owodo, because there was a
job for the executioners. The prison
cells were empty, so they did not know who was going to be executed. They brought out their whetstone,
some lime and ash and began to sharpen and polish their swords. A stranger in
his mid 50s approached them and said he wanted to share something with them
but that they had to take an oath with him before he could reveal it. They wondered why they should take an oath
with the stranger and tried to dismiss him.
He insisted that he would not leave until they took the oath and heard
him out. With the swords put together,
the intruder untied an edge of his cloth to bring out a kolanut and some
ehien-edo (alligator pepper). He
incised his arm with the tip of the sword and asked the others to do
likewise. He plucked a cocoyam leaf to
collect the blood from the four of them, broke the kolanut, dipped the pieces
in the blood and placed them on the sword.
Then, he added three ehien-edo seeds. The three men placed their hands on
the sword and swore not to divulge the information they were about to
receive. Each of them took a piece of
the kolanut and one seed of the ehien-edo and chewed them with a sip of
water. Then the intruder began to
speak: “I was one of the four persons
sent by the Ogiso to the oracle to find out why his wives could not bear
children. Esagho was one of us. The Obiro revealed that a sorceress had
cast the spell on Ogiso’s wives to prevent them from bearing children. The sorceress must be destroyed and her
blood sprinkled on the shrine of Olode.
She is an evil woman, I can see her face. She is trying to hide but can’t. Her name is Esagho, Ogiso’s wife. “On the way home, in stormy whether,
Esagho ripped off cloth from her waist.” Seeing
the nakedness of an Ogiso’s wife carried the death penalty. “We lowered
our gaze and screamed, what is this? She accused us of removing her cloth to
rape her. Rape you, we screamed. One of us tried to strangle her for lying
but the rest of us restrained him. We
fell on our bellies, buried our faces in the mud and pleaded with her but she
would not bulge. She insisted we agree to say that the oracle fingered
Ekaladerhan and not her. We knew that
no one would believe our story against hers so, to save our necks, we gave
in. On arrival at the palace, Esagho
told Ogiso that the oracle declared Ekaladerhan as the Alagbode. That the
Alagbode passed over the bridge and burnt it, so he must be sacrificed to the
gods for Owodo’s wives to bear him children.
This is the genesis of what you are about to do now.” The executioners could not believe
their ears. They asked for the names
of the other messengers and the stranger said they were Osaghae and Osagiede
and that “they could not live with the treachery so, they drank poison one
after the other these last two years.
“I have waited for this day to tell what I know. Now that I have done so, I am ready to
die,” he said. The executioners
debated the issue and decided they would save the life of the prince. They would not want to soil their hands
with the blood of the innocent. They
would tell the prince what happened and let him escape. The messenger was happy with their decision
and asked them to tell the prince the truth at the time of the
execution. They took oath again,
swearing not to divulge their decision not to execute Ekaladerhan. “If I do, may I become victim of the sword;
my body food for the birds; my branches obliterated from the surface of the
earth.” Ekaladerhan had just finished his
meal and his best friend and play mate, Okpomwan, was clearing the
plates. “Hurry,” Ekaladerhan said,
“let’s continue our hunting. The sun
has already climbed high. We have to
get more lizards for the cats.” There
was a knock on the door. Okpomwan
answered it. “Greetings from your
father,” the leader of the three visitors said. “It is his wish that you accompany us on a
journey. He sent you this agba as
proof that we act on his authority.
Wear it on your right arm.” It
was too large for his young slim arm so they cut it and pressed its ends
together. Okpomwan wanted to go with
the prince but they would not let him.
It was a journey for the prince alone.
The kids sensed something sinister but were helpless and too young to
resist. It was the first time
Ekaladerhan was going anywhere without his friend. They walked and walked. The sun was at the centre of the sky,
scorching the earth. The prince was
extremely tired. He threatened several
times that he could not continue.
Eventually at Igo forest, they came face to face with the man who took
the oath with the executioners. The
executioners and the prince were surprised and the executioners exchanged
greetings with the man. He appeared to
have materialized by magic and they joked about his mysterious powers. “Who is this man?” The prince asked. The messenger said: “the sun is there but
it has no heat. This is the day of the
sun without sunshine; the clouds that bear no rain. A strange phenomenon! No wonder, the glory of the land is about
to depart.” Odionmwan, leader of the
executioners said, “this is the end of the journey.” Then he began slowly to tell Ekaladerhan
the reason for the journey, but that they didn’t want the blood of an
innocent person on their hands. “What would you do to me then?” The prince asked. “Leave you here to find your way. Do not return because you will be executed,”
Odionmwan said. “Find my way? To
where?” The prince said with tears rolling down his cheeks. As the executioners were leaving, he begged
them not to leave and asked to be killed instead. He clung to one of them. Odionmwan said to him, “Ekaladerhan, the
son of Ogiso, your father ordered that you be executed. We will not spill the blood of the
innocent. So wander into the jungles
beyond. Do not look back; do not
return. Fate may layout pain and
sorrow for you, but we layout hope and prayers.” They gave him a hunter’s knife, a bag with
some survival items, a cross-bow and arrows, and told him these were all they
had to give him along with their hope and prayers. “Go now with Osanobua. Go, good spirits will go with you and guide
you.” Odionmwan brought out a cock from his
bag, cut its neck and smeared their swords with its blood. “It would be the evidence that the deed has
been done,” he said. The messenger said,
“this place shall henceforth be known as Urhu Okhokho or Aghi de ere yi.” He brought out a short stem of Ikhinmwin
from his bag and planted it at the spot to commemorate the event. Then, they freed the man from Ekaladerhan’s
grip and headed for home. He ran after
them for a while, sobbing, pleading, but it was of no use. He flung himself to the ground,
sobbing. Exhausted from sobbing, he
did not know when he drifted into sleep.
He slept for a long time and woke up refreshed. He realised he was alone in the bowel of the
jungle and it was getting dark. He lifted himself slowly from the ground and
emboldened by despair, began his journey into the unknown, with the
Odionmwan’s parting words ringing in his ears: “do not look back, do not
return,” as he kept walking, running and trotting. Light was failing, his legs got tangled in
ropes and shrubs now and again. He
thought he was being followed. He
looked back; saw no one, as he continued running. When it got too dark, he took shelter under
a large tree but was too frightened to shut his eyes. He took off the next day, trotting. He had turned his back on the land of his
birth, forever. He had been running
for three days. He got to a brook and stopped. The
clear water rippled slowly southwards. According to Edun Akenzua’s book, Ekaladerhan: “the bank was full of
brightly coloured flowers, some red, others yellow, blue and green. The grass was luscious and equal in height,
rising in even progression from the river bank towards the bush. All was neatly arranged as if by a
horticulturist, but then, nature is the greatest horticulturist of all. He went down to the brook, stretched his
legs out into it and let them bathe in the cool water. It felt good. He scooped some of the water to wash face
and drink. Finally, he put his clothes
aside and plunged into the shallow water and bathed his entire body. With the birds singing, the butterflies
dancing, oblivious of his presence, the trees, the animals for companion and
the beautiful brook all to himself, he felt a special bond and decided to
settle there. After taking his bath he
stretched out on his back on dried leaves for a nap.” In those days, groups of hunters
would go on safaris in the jungle, sometimes for several weeks at a
time. Their wives would accompany
them. They would pitch camp and from
there the men would hunt at night. In
the morning, the women would disembowel the game brought from the hunt, clean
and stack them up on racks above fire to dehydrate the animals and prevent
them from rot. At the end of the
expedition, they would take large quantities of dehydrated animal home for
family needs and the rest to trade by barter.
One day, a band of hunters on a safari got to a piece of land slopping
gently into a slow-running brook. The
brook was clear and a bush of bamboo trees was near-by. They liked the topography and decided to
set up camp there. They cleared the
ground and used the bamboo sticks to build their tents while the women cooked
yams brought from home. They spent
that first night in the camp hoping to start their hunt the following
evening. That night one of the men needed to
ease himself and asked the man sleeping next to him to accompany him. He too needed to answer the call of
nature. “They picked up their akare
and walked some distance away from their camp to squat and empty their bowels
a few meters from each other. One
suddenly thought he was hearing heavy breathing from under a near-by
shrub. He listened attentively and was
convinced his ears were not deceiving him.
He could trace a form under the shrub in the moonless night. The form moved slightly. He whispered to his colleague that there
was something near-by. He raised his
hand to train his akare at the form but his friend exclaimed that he should hold
it, that it was a man not an animal. A
man here in the jungle? What the hell
is he doing here by himself?
Ekaladerhan recognized them at once as people from Igodomigodo. He joined their camp, told his story and
impressed the hunters with his agility and hunting prowess. It was his first human contact since his
banishment.” They called him a man, so
he must have been there by him self for three or more years because he could
not have been much more than 15 years of age when he was taken from
home. They thoroughly enjoyed each
others company. After they had packed
their things and left for home, he too packed his kits and left. “He was sure that the hunters would take
the news of their encounter home and his father would send troops after
him. He resumed his running to get as
far away from the area as possible.
The news quickly spread in Igodomigodo that Ekaladerha was alive. The hunters were brought before Ogiso
Owodo. “You saw Ekaladerhan?” He
asked. “Yes my Lord,” they said. “You saw the dead among the living?’ “He is not dead. We saw him.” “Shut up! Do you mean you saw a ghost? Can’t you tell the living from the
dead? We gave Ekaladerhan to the
gods. Does anyone ever return from the
great beyond? Answer fools!” The king was in rage. The hunters were subjected to rigorous
interrogation. They stood by their
story. Finally, they were made to take
an oath to attest to the veracity of their story. In Igodo, statements made on oath were held
to be true because perjurers died within three years. Owodo sent for the Okaokuo. Get your men, go with these men and bring
Ekaladerhan back home. Go at
once. You have three moons in which
you must bring him back. Turning to
another aid, he said: “You go and bring the Okao-Odionmwan here to explain
how the man he executed came alive again.
Keep him in the dungeon until they bring Ekaladerhan back.” They trooped out of Ogiso’s
presence. They had reached the end of
the road. They were in a
quandary. If they failed to bring
Ekaladerhan back they would die and if they succeeded, they would still die
because they would not want his death on their conscience. On their way out of the palace arguing and
blaming each other for the mess they had put themselves into by reporting
their find, one of the hunters suggested that when they leave, he would not
come back. He would find a settlement
elsewhere. They all agreed, including members of the king’s troops assigned
to go with them, that that was what they would all do. Okpomwan now in his late teenage, was
coming from his farm when he came upon a crowd of people moving down the
road, talking loudly, some giggling excitedly, some quarrelling. Okpomwan
recognized an elder among them and asked what the commotion was about. “So you haven’t heard that Ekaladerhan has
been found?” “Ekaladerhan? Where?”
Okpomwan screamed, unable to contain himself.
They told him how they found him in the forest and that Ogiso had
ordered them to go and bring him. They
are going home to get ready for the journey.
“I will go with you sir. I’ll
run to the palace to seek Ogiso’s permission and meet you at home,” Okpomwan
said. Ogiso read Okpomwan’s mind and
asked him if he had heard that they found his friend in the forest and
whether he believed them? “I have
asked them to go and bring him even if it is a ghost,” Ogiso said. Okpomwan said “I ran into Okaokuo on the
way, he told me the story. May I go
with them?” “He will be glad to see
you. Go,” the Ogiso said. “Thank you
my Lord.” Soon as Okpomwan arrived at Okaokuo’s home, the other members of
the team began arriving with their belongings, wives and children. He soon
learnt that the team was going for good and would not return to Igodomigodo.
He too said he was prepared to go with them for good. Okaokuo’s wife prepared
one last major meal of pounded yam for the entire team before they left. When they eventually reached where
the hunters had camped and encountered Ekaladerhan, it was deserted and the
huts had been taken over by shrubs.
For three days, they searched far and wide, calling out Ekaladerhan’s
name; the only response they got was the echo of their voices. The leader of the party then assembled them
and said: “we are far from home, yet we have found a home. A home free from fear, uncertainty and
treachery. God protect us here. This settlement besides this brook shall be
known henceforth as Iguekaladerhan in memory of the prince. Through here, the glory of Igodomigodo
departed; by the same route shall it return.”
He planted the ikhinmwin stem.
“It is the first tree on earth; it was planted by God as the
forerunner of all trees. Wherever man
has established a settlement, Ikhinmwin is planted to sanctify the land. I plant it here now. It shall consecrate this land and bear
testimony that man has chosen this place as home.” After that ceremony, the men began to build
their homes and prepare the ground for farming. A new settlement had begun. Ekaladerhan in the meantime had been
running for several days, crossing rivers after rivers, to get as far away
from Igodo as he possibly could. He
did not want the troops he expected his father to send after him, to catch
him. One afternoon, tired of running,
he sat under a tree to rest and soon slept off. When he woke up, he saw two Eghodin birds in the air. Eghodin
birds fly where there is smoke and fire.
He wondered if he had run all this far only to be back to Igodo. The bush was clean around the near-by pond
and cocoyam plants littered the place.
He tried to pull one out of the ground but the stem broke so he got a
piece of stick to dig the yam out of the ground. As he was doing that, a man came out of the
bush, holding a bow in his left hand and a bag was slung across his shoulder.
He was very dark in complexion, unlike the men of Igodomigodo. The man moved with caution towards him and
it suddenly dawned on Ekaladerhan that there were other humans on earth. The intruder too was puzzled. He had never seen a man as huge and
muscular. Was the giant a god or a
spirit? He thought. Ekaladerhan sensed his confusion and
decided to take advantage of it. He
spoke to him but he did not understand.
The man too spoke and Ekaladerhan did not understand. He began to move away but Ekaladerhan
beckoned that he should follow him. After walking a short distance,
Ekaladerhan stopped suddenly; placed a finger to his lips, to suggest that
the man should be quiet and indicated that the man should wait; then he moved
stealthily alone into the woods. The
stranger was afraid of happenings and even more scared to run away. Ekaladerhan soon returned with a live
antelope slung on his shoulders, to the hunter’s surprise. Ekaladerhan presented the animal he
apparently caught with bare hands to the man and motioned to him to take it
home. The man gratefully carried his
gift and hurried away but soon returned with another man. They both prostrated, muttering words,
which seemed to be of gratitude for the antelope. Back home, the hunters recounted their
encounter in the forest. News spread
that the god of the forest had arrived as was predicted long time ago by
their oracles. People began to visit
the forest to catch a glimpse of the friendly god. One day, a young lad accompanying his
father to hunt gave a piglet a chase not knowing that the mother was near-by
and watching. The mother pig charged
at him and dug its teeth into his calf.
The lad’s father chased away the pig.
His son’s leg was bleeding profusely so he carried him on his back and
as he was heading home, Ekaladerhan stopped them, plucked some leaves, chewed
them into a pulp to paste on the wound.
The bleeding stopped immediately, then he peeled the skin of cocoyam
to bandage the wound. When the bandage
was removed a week later, the wound, as if by magic, had completely healed.
They concluded that the forest god was not only a master-hunter, he was an
herbalist too. From then on, they
brought their sick to him for treatment.
Their friendship blossomed.
They brought him food, clothing and other gifts and as the moons
rolled by Ekaladerhan began to pick a few words of their language. Three harvests later, the people
gathered at their village square to discuss their relationship with their
god-friend. Agbonmiregun, the priest,
said at the gathering: “Dear citizens, I welcome you. We are here to jointly express our thanks
to God for hearing our prayers. For a
long time we prayed to Him to send us a leader. The oracles foretold that God would send
the leader from the land of the Rising Sun.
I thought it would not happen in my life-time. Now the leader has come. He has come down to teach our young ones
the technique of hunting. Since his
advent, our sons have become brave and accomplished hunters; farmers now have
plentiful harvest. The barns are full;
no more hunger. Disease and sickness
have been reduced. With a single leaf,
he cures yaws, guinea worm and scabies; just one leaf and mortality rate has
been reduced. Should a personage of
that statue continue to live there, in the forest? I say no!
And I know I speak for all of you.
I propose that we invite him to live among us. We should build a house for him, and give
him our daughters to marry to beget his kind and perpetuate his line in our
country. I call on you to give me the
mandate to send a delegation to invite him down.” “Go on, Agbonmiregun; send a
delegation to him,” the people shouted unanimously.” Agbonmiregun then turned to Ilowa, “take
with you as many persons as you consider necessary and go to him. Come over and collect wearing apparels and
a staff for him. Ogun, Eshindale and
Obameri will go with you. Go and tell
him it is our wish that he comes and lives among us. Go and prepare. You set out on the seventh day from today.” Ilowa and his delegation meet
Ekaladerhan in the forest. “Greetings,
god of the forest. My name is Ilowa. I
am the custodian of records for our people.
This is Ogun, Eshindale, Obameri….. They are elders in our
country. We bring you greetings from
our people. The oracles foretold your
coming a long time ago. We did not
know it would be in our life-time. We
are happy that our eyes have seen you.
Glory be to Olodumare. Your coming has liberated us from hunger and
from diseases. We thank you for the
wonderful things you have done in our lives.
We have been mandated to bring you these gifts and to invite you to
come and live with us. We will build a
home for you on the highest peak in town and give our daughters to you in
marriage.” Ekaladerhan after thanking them
profusely said among other things, “…..I am overwhelmed by your warmth,
friendship and generosity…..but I cannot accept this kindness. I pray, friends, do not be offended.” “Son of the forest, do not turn down
our invitation, we beg of you.
Olodumare himself sent you to us; otherwise you would not have been
here. We thank Him. For His sake, do not turn your back on
us. The trees and the animals and
birds are always here. You can visit
them whenever you wish,” Ilowa pleaded, but to no avail. Ekaladerhan was tempted to explain that he
was not a spirit, but decided it was more beneficial to let them think he was
one. Disappointed, the delegation
returned home. Three harvests passed
before they tried again. This time,
their friendship with Ekaladerhan had grown tremendously and Ekaladerhan had
performed several more of what seemed to them like miracles in their
lives. Ekaladerhan accepted their
invitation and gifts, then asked for permission and disappeared into the
forest. Moments later, he was back
with a bush pig. “Let us celebrate
with this,” he said. The men excitedly lit a fire and soon
they were feasting. After they had left,
Ekaladerhan could not sleep that night.
Tears rolled down his cheeks as he ruminated on his life. He knelt down and thanked Osanobua. Then he told him self that from that day
on: “my name shall be Ize-Odo’uwa.”
Meaning I have chosen the path of glory. The following morning, town criers
took to the streets before the first light, beating the drums, summoning
citizens to the village square. A
large crowd assembled including all the leaders: Agbonmiregun, Ilowa, Obameri,
Eshindale, Ogun….. Agbonmiregun mounted the rostrum and welcomed everyone to
the gathering. “I will not waste time,” he said. “I have good news, but a song is sweeter in
the mouth of the minstrel. The minstrel
today in Ilowa. I shall now invite him
to step forward and sing the song.” Ilowa on the rostrum, after greeting
formalities, said: “it is now over six harvests since a man appeared in our
forest and has been living there. The
oracle had foretold of his coming and we have been expecting his
arrival. Since he came, our land now
yields great harvests. Our hunters no
longer come home without a game. Our
sons are now accomplished hunters and sharp-shooters. Generally, we are now used to a better
life. Olodumare sent him to bring
bounty to our land. You are witnesses
to the miracles this great teacher, hunter and physician has performed. Lest we become like the blind man who does
not see the beauty of day and the glory of the sun, the elders and your good
selves decided that the Forest-god be persuaded to come and live amongst us. “A delegation led by this speaker and
including Ogun, Eshindale and Obameri, was sent to invite him. It took 39 moons (three harvests), to
persuade him to accept the invitation.
It is now my joy and privilege to break the good news that he has agreed
to come and live with us.” A
thunderous ovation greeted the announcement.
The people burst into spontaneous songs of joy, promising to build a
house for the Forest-god at the highest peak of town and reveling in the
prospect of the god ushering in the cradle of their New World. When they asked him, “Baba, we do not
know what to call you,” he said “my name is IZE-OD’UWA n’ovbie Ogiso. It is a long name. You may simply call me Ize’oduwa. My father’s name is Ogiso.” He looked skywards as he called his
father’s name. Ogiso Owodo, apart from the domestic
problem of his wives not being able to bare children, was not a very popular
king and his execution of a pregnant woman for some minor misdemeanor, proved
to be one offence too many for his subjects and his frontline chiefs, who
banished Owodo from his throne. Owodo
took refuge at a place called Uhinwinirin. During the period of Owodo’s
banishment, a monster snake that appeared to be coming out of the Ikpoba
River, (although the Igodomigodos believed it was coming from the sky), bit
people now and again at the Ogiso market and many died from the attack. The
Igodomigodos as a result, nicknamed the Ogiso market, “Agbado Aigbare,”
(meaning we go there together we never return together), which is how Ogiso
market acquired its current name of Agbado market. Every effort to tackle the monster snake,
including spiritual means failed until Evian, kindred of the Ogiso royal
family, succeeded in throwing a fire-hot iron rod into the mouth of the
monster snake. The feat appeared to
have sent the monster snake to its eventual death. It endeared Evian to his people, because
the monster snake never bothered the people of Igodomigodo again. The death of Ogiso Owodo at that same
time, created leadership vacuum for the first time since the re-introduction
of the son succeeding his father to the throne in Igodomigodo’s history.
There was confusion and anarchy in the land with powerful chiefs jostling for
the throne. The Edion’isen, after long
deliberations, installed a temporary administrator, the hero, Evian, an old
man at the time, to oversee the affairs of Igodomigodo. He turned out to be a very popular
administrator. He invented the
acrobatic dance called Amufi and the traditional dance called Emeghute. He ruled until very old age and before his
death, nominated his oldest son, Irebor, to succeed him. Many of the people of Igodomigodo and the
Edion’isen would not have this. They
rejected Irebor on the ground that his father, Evian, was not an Ogiso and, therefore,
lacked the divine authority to bequeath kingship (Ogisoship), to his
heir. Leadership vacuum was again created
in Igodomigodo. The Edion’isen (Royal
Council, made up of Chiefs Oliha, Edohen and Eholo-Nire), whose ancestors had
sworn during the reign of Ogiso Orriagba (685– 712 CE), on the shrine of
Erinmwindu to uphold the primogeniture system for the monarch and themselves,
was in a fix. Apart from the fear of
the ‘Erinmwindu curse,’ the Chiefs were not prepared to countenance a mere
mortal from a non-Ogiso lineage ruling them. It had to be the God-son’s first
son or nothing. It was during this
period of bewilderment and uncertainty that the Edion’isen, decided to send a
delegation into the forest to look for their son, Prince Ekaladerhan. Oliha assembled a team of six men and
two maids. Edohen, Eholo and two other
nobles volunteered to join the party and also assembled their own teams.
Oliha, as leader of the search group, invited four experienced hunters to
join them making thirty-one persons in all who set out from Urhu-Okhokho the
next day, heading westwards in the bush. They camped early on that first day
and kept moving deeper and deeper into the forest as the days mounted. It was not an easy assignment, and before
long, they had lost two members, one to a snake bite and the other through
drowning. After four moons in the
woods without trace of Ekaladerhan, they were running out of food and
frustration had begun to set in. They
sat down to discuss terminating the mission and decided to sleep over it and
let Oliha decide the following day, when before evening to pack and begin to
head back home. In the meantime, Izoduwa whose name was initially corrupted to Ijoduwa, called his new community Uhe (re-birth) and his new home ‘Ilefé,’ (successful escape), which
his subjects corrupted to Ile-Ife. He had acquired the Yoruba title of Ooni, and his subjects were according him great reverence as
their ancestor because they believed he was a deity and the direct descendant
of Olodumare. This notion was strengthened because Izoduwa looked skywards on
the rare occasions when he had to mention his father’s name, Ogiso.
They assumed he came directly from the sky, so, his banishment
link with his God-son Igodomigodo lineage never had to be raised or revealed
to his Yoruba subjects. As his fame
spread among the Yoruba communities far and wide as the spiritual leader of
the Ifa divinity, his name was corrupted to Oduduwa. Izoduwa had
eight children and his first was a son by a Yoruba woman called Okanbi. This
son was called Omonoyan (meaning
precious child),’ which the Yoruba corrupted to ‘Oronmiyan.’ The Ifa myth of creation draws
significantly from the Bini and Egyptian corpus. It claims that Olodumare
sent his son, Orunmila, (another name for Oduduwa), from heaven on a chain,
carrying a five-legged cockerel, a palm-nut and a handful of earth. Before then, the entire earth surface was
covered with water. Oduduwa scattered
the earth on water; the cockerel scattered it with its claws so that it
became dry land. The palm-nut grew
into a tree representing the eight crowned rulers of Yoruba land. Oduduwa had eight children who later
dispersed to found and rule other Yoruba communities. The Yoruba myth of
creation is community based, confirming lineal relationship with it’s (earth
based Bini, and universe based Egyptian), mother sources. In
the morning after the Oliha search party
had decided to terminate their mission, two young females in the camp, Osayi
and Emoze, talked two young males in the camp, Sokpunwu and Idiaghe to go
a-hunting for the youths to prepare a lavish returning home party for the
elders. The young men were arrested in the
forest by a crowd of hunters who did not understand their language and assumed
they were enemies planning evil. The
captives’ hands were tied as they were being led to the place the youths were
gesturing they came from in the woods.
Oliha, Eholo and Edohen were surprised when the hunters descended on
them and arrested every one in the camp. They were taken to meet Oduduwa, the
Ooni of the community. Oduduwa
suspected they were Igodo people but he did not know any of them. The leaders of the captives too, felt that
there was something familiar about Oduduwa.
He looked like his father, huge, fair in complexion and
masculine. Oduduwa instructed Ilowa
and the others to treat their captives well.
“Let them have their bath, give them food and let them rest for the
night. I want to see their leaders
again in the morning. I want to
interrogate them.” In the morning, the village elders
were surprised that Oduduwa could converse with the captives and concluded
that gods are capable of anything.
“Men of Igodo,” Oduduwa said presently in Igodo language, “we meet again
but at a strange place and in a strange circumstance. Welcome to our sanctuary. Now who are you? What do you want? How did you get here?” His manner of address and the mention of
Igodo convinced the captives that they were indeed in the presence of
Ekaladerhan. Thus persuaded, Oliha
felt at ease to speak. “Hail, noble
One, you are right. We are men of
Igodo. I am Oliha. This here is Edohen and the next is
Eholo. We left home some four moons
ago in search of Ekaladerhan n’ovbie Ogiso.
Now our eyes behold him that we seek.”
“Why do you seek him,” Oduduwa interjected rather sternly. Oliha took his time to explain what
had happened in Igodo since Ekaladerhan’s father died and said that they had
been in search of him to invite him to his father’s vacant throne. That since the father died, anarchy, hunger
and diseases had become the order of the day in Igodo, with powerful chiefs
fighting each other to occupy the throne.
That an old man, Evian, took over but he died and his son wants to
succeed him. That Evian was not of
royal blood; only the son of Ogiso succeeds Ogiso. Oduduwa, after listening attentively
said: “I will not dwell too long on contemplation before responding to your
request. My age and this new situation
prevent me from going back with you. But
I will not desert Igodo in her hour of need.
I will give my son to you, if you wish. After all, he is my blood. He is, therefore, of the royal line of
Owodo, your last Ogiso. But before I
release my son to you, you will have to submit yourselves to a test. If you pass, it will be proof that you will
be able to look after him. I will
present your matter to my people tomorrow and after that you will take the
test.” For the test, he gave the three
leaders, a louse each to nurture for three moons. If they bring them back healthy, “I will be
convinced that you will take care of my son,” Oduduwa said and turned to
Ilowa, Eshindale and Obameri, “separate them into three groups and each of
you take a group home for the three moons they would be with us for the
test. Give them good accommodation and
hospitality. None of their groups is
to meet with the other until they come back here in three moons’ time.” Oliha’s group went with Ilowa to his
house and one of Oliha’s boys wrapped the louse in a cocoyam leaf and put it
under a water pot. Eholo’s group
followed Eshindale home and after racking brains with his men, decided to
keep the louse in a gourd. Oliha, who
followed Obameri home, decided that his Odemwigie would keep the louse in his
bushy hair. “Do not have a bath or a
hair-cut until further notice,” he told him. In the meantime, Oranmiyan was
protesting against being sent to the strange land with the strange
people. “Why not send someone else
dad?” The father decided to tell him
his secret and insisted he kept it to him self. “It is not a strange land, it is our
ancestral land, he concluded.”
Oranmiyan was pleased to be taken into confidence by his father and
promised to do honour to the family name in Igodo. After three moons, Izoduwa, surprised
at the level of preservation and development of the lice, concluded that if
the Edion’isen could so adequately take care of the lice, his son was likely
to be in good hands. In the meantime, many ordinary people in Igodomigodo
were not excited about the prospect of an Ife prince ruling them and also did
not consider the Igodomigodo’s stool vacant.
Irebor was on the throne and he was warning the people of Igodomigodo
against what he described as (Ogie a mie, aimie Oba, meaning it is an Ogie
that rules Igodomigodo and not an Oba), in protest against the intrusion of
the Ife prince. The word Ogieamie then
became the nickname of Irebor and subsequently the hereditary title of the
ruler of Irebor’s Igodomigodo. Oronmiyan’s intervention in
Igodomigodo was around 1170 CE.
Ogieamie Irebor prevented Prince Oronmiyan from entering the heart of
Igodomigodo kingdom. The Edion’isen built a palace for Prince Oronmiyan at
Usama. The Yoruba prince refused to fight Ogieamie. Unable to bear the animosity for too long,
Oronmiyan renounced his office and called Igodomigodo, Ile Ibinu, (meaning a
land of annoyance and vexation). He declared that only a child of the soil,
educated in the culture and traditions of Igodomigodo could rule the kingdom. Prince Oronmiyan, on his way home to
Ife, stopped briefly at Egor, where he pregnated Princess Erimwinde, the
daughter of the Enogie of Egor. Enogieship was created by the Ogiso dynasty.
Egor was a dukedom and the Enogies of dukedoms were usually relatives and
siblings of Igodomigodo monarchs. Many
members of the guild of royal drummers whose ancestral home was at Ikpema
quarters in Benin City, where allowed to settle in Ovia territory of Egor by
the Enogie on the instructions of the Igodomigodo monarch at the time.
Therefore, Oronmiyan’s choice of the Enogie of Egor’s daughter, on his way
out of Igodomigodo, could not have been a casual decision and may have been
arrived at through divination, and with the connivance of the
Edion’isen. There was a strong link
with the Igodomigodo royal family. Oronmiyan left three of his chiefs
behind to take care of the pregnant princess.
The three chiefs were Ihama, Letema and Legema. Judging by Oronmiyan’s understanding of the
intricacies of Igodomigodo traditions and culture, it is very likely that the
ancestors of the three chiefs, like his own, were soaked in Igodomigodo
mores. Ihama, the leader of the chiefs
was definitely an Edo chieftaincy title. Oronmiyan, after his Igodomigodo
experience, went on to establish the first Alaafin dynasty in Oyo. Apart from the seed he sowed in Benin, he
eventually fathered two younger sons, Ajaka and Shango, who succeeded him in
turn as the Alaafins of Oyo. Ihama and
the two other Oronmiyan chiefs in Ile-Ibinu, successfully supervised Princess
Erimwinde’s pregnancy and her eventual delivery of a baby boy who was
speechless at birth, but who from early years loved playing the game of
marble. When the Alaafin was informed
by his chiefs in Ile-Ibinu about his son’s predicament, he sent seven ‘akhue’
seeds to the boy through Chief Ehendiwo.
Children throw the seeds against targets on the ground in the marble
game. While playing the marble game
with other children, one of Oronmiyan son’s throws hit the target and in the
excitement he screamed: ‘Owomika,’ (meaning I have hit the target). This is how his title of Oba Eweka was
derived. Oba Dynasty Oba
Eweka I (1200 CE), ruled over Usama, renamed
Ile-Ibinu, outside Igodomigodo. In the
meantime, Ogieamie Irebor who ruled Igodomigodo had been succeeded by
Ogieamie Ubi, by the time of Oba Eweka’s reign in Ile-Ibinu. Oba Eweka’s reign was not particularly
eventful. He was succeeded by his two
sons, Oba Ewakhuahen and Oba Ehenmihen in quick succession. Neither of them made any impact on
Ile-Ibinu as well. Oba
Ewedo (1255-1280 CE), succeeded Oba
Ehenmihe. He changed the name
Ile-Ibinu to Ubini and moved his palace from Usama to its original Ogiso site
in the heart of Igodomigodo. The relocation
of the palace site from Usama to the urban heart of the kingdom caused a
bitter war between Oba Ewedo of Ubini and the Ogieamie Ode who was the ruler
of Igodomigodo at the time. The fight
was considered purely a family matter by the people of Igodomigodo and the
Edion’isen. To prevent it leading to the loss of too many innocent lives, the
Edion’isen prevailed on the adversaries to settle their quarrel
amicably. Oba Ewedo requested Ogieamie
Ode to sell Igodomigodo land to him. A
treaty was struck requiring Ogieamie, as the traditional landlord of
Igodomigodo kingdom, to sell Igodomigodo land to the Oba at the coronation of
every successive Oba. The Oba elect
first had to present gifts to the Ogieamie, which include two male and two
female servants, a royal stool, a wooden staff, a rectangular stool and a
round leather box. The Oba-in-waiting and the Ogieamie
would then meet at their common boundary called ‘Ekiokpagha,’ where the
Ogieamie would take sand from the ground and put it in the hand of the Oba
and say: “I have sold this part of Benin
land to you but not to your son and when you pass away your son will buy the
land from me as you have done.” The
Ogieamie’s dormain in Benin kingdom is known as Utantan where he has chiefs
assisting him in his traditional duties.
The present Ogieamie of Utantan-Benin is Ogieamie Osarobo Okuonghae, a
graduate of history from the University of Benin. The relocation by Oba Ewedo to the
heart of his kingdom, Ubini, also created immense difficulties for the
Ihogbe. The three chiefs, who supervised the birth of Eweka, became known as
the Ihogbe (meaning relatives of the Oba).
Ihama and Letema titles became hereditary because the two chiefs had
male heirs. Legema did not have a male
child, so his title became non-hereditary.
In the Ihogbe, the idea that the oldest man becomes the leader does
not apply. Leadership is determined by the rule of who has served the longest
as an Ihogbe, regardless of age. Such
a person becomes the Enila before the title becomes vacant through death of
the occupier when the Enila takes over as the new Owere Enila or Odionwere or
Okaegbee of the Ihogbe. The Ihogbe, as
the official family of Eweka and, therefore, of the Oba dynasty generally,
has the responsibility of taking care of the ancestral or royal shrine at
Usama. The Okaegbee of Ihogbe, in particular, performs sanctification and
purification rites frequently at the palace and officiates during the Oba’s
propitiation ceremonies. The Okaegbee
Ihogbe, who usually was not a young man, could handle palace responsibilities
when the Oba’s palace at Usama Ubini was within a walking distance of less
than 500 meters from the Ihogbe’ s ‘Ukhurhe’ ancestral shrine. The journey to the new palace site
was perilous, long and messy, even for a young man. It traversed a walk during the dry season,
through an extensive marshland created by the crossing of each other of
rivers Omi and Oteghele at Isekherhe.
The rivers are now extinct.
During the rains at the time, Ediagbonya, the second son of Okaegbee
Ihama of the Ihogbe, made a living ferrying people and goods across the river
in his canoe. Okaegbee, Ihama’s first son, could not be relocated to the
heart of Ubini because he was the custodian heir of the Ukhurhe, the totem
representing the royal ancestral spirits at Usama. Ediagbonya, the second son, was relocated
to Ubini, to take over palace ancestral responsibilities, with the title of
Isekhurhe. He built his house at
Utantan High Street not far from Ewedo’s new palace. Isekhurhe is a hereditary title, and the
current holder is a graduate of American Universities. He succeeded to his father’s title in 1981
at the age of 30 years. The Esogban title, created by Oba Ewedo, may have been derived from the
Yoruba word, Asogbon, meaning the source of wise counsel. Oba Ewedo spent some time in the Yoruba
riverine area of Ugbo/Ilaje as a young man.
Esogban ranks second in hierarchy to the Iyase who is the prime
minister of the kingdom. Esogban heads
the ‘Think Tank’ that weighs options for the Oba, so he is usually a man of
sound and reliable judgment and often a blood relative of the Oba. As the premier mystic or warlock of
the kingdom, the Esogban monitors activities in the mystical realm, and
people accused of sorcery are regulated and punished by him. He is also the priest of the Orhie day, the
second week-day of the kingdom after the Eken rest day. He tends the day to ensure it brings peace
and prosperity to the Oba and the land. Oba
Oguola (1280–1295 CE), succeeded Oba Ewedo
as the fifth Oba of Ubini. He dug the protective moat around Ubini during his
reign. The city of Benin, like ancient
Egyptian cities walled against predators, has a giant protective moat dug
around it without using mechanical equipment.
The engineering feet still marvels in modern times. The Benin moat is described
in the Guinness Book of Records as second in magnitude only to the Great
China wall. Oba Oguola was succeeded
in turn by his three sons. Oba
Edoni (1295-1299 CE), and Oba Udagbedo (1299-1334 CE), made no
impact on Ubini. Oba Ohen (1334-1370 CE), whose murder of his Iyase, the
traditional prime minister of Ubini land, led to a rebellion that brought his
reign to an end with his stoning to death.
Oba Ohen was succeeded in turn by four of his sons. Oba Egbeka 1370 CE, Oba Orobiru, Oba Uwaifioku and Oba Ewuare
the Great who consolidated, developed, and expanded the kingdom through
innovative leadership ideas, closely knit, disciplined community
organization, warfare, and conquests.
He ushered in the period of warrior kings, which lasted into the 16th
century CE, traversing the reigns of Obas Ozolua, Esigie, Orhogbua and
Ehengbuda. Oba
Ewuare the Great (1440-1473 CE), was himself forced
into exile and nearly would not have ascended to the throne. When Oba Orobiru died, members of the
Edion’isen where uncomfortable with Oba Ohen’s third son’s strong and
independent streak and did not want him (Prince Ogun), to become the Oba.
When the hostilities building against him over his right to the throne was
getting unbearable, with death penalty hanging on his head, he fled into the
woods to save his life, taking his junior brother, Uwaifiokun, along with
him. He did not know at the time that
the Edion’isen favoured Uwaifiokun over him to rule. After three years of living wild and
aimlessly, with the toll beginning to tell on him, he decided to send
Uwaifiokun to the city to discreetly find out what the feelings were about
the Ubini throne that had been vacant since he and his brother escaped into
the forest. When Uwaifiokun arrived at Chief Ihama of Ihogbe’s home, the
chief excitedly rushed him to meet with the Edion’isen who enthusiastically
received him. Asked about his elder
brother, Prince Ogun, Uwaifiokun lied that he had not seen him for a long
while. The king makers then offered
him the throne which he quickly accepted, thus betraying his brother’s trust. Prince Ogun was upset by the betrayal
and started plotting to take the throne from his junior brother. Ogun’s
relative, Azuwa, living in Uhunmwun Idumwun in the eastern outskirts of
Benin, using the Iha divination, told Prince Ogun that he would win his
throne. He listed what Prince Ogun had
to do to reverse the animosity of the Edion’isen because ordinary Ubini
people were routing for him, although thinking he was already dead. Royal ancestors and the gods of the land
were angry over the injustice done to him, and many people had begun to leave
the city in fear of the wrath of the gods. Prince Ogun was told that he would
meet a pregnant woman, a hunter, and finally an old woman living opposite the
market place, who would each influence the process of his gaining the
throne. He promised Azuwa great reward
if Iha’s predictions came through.
News of his visit to Uhunmwun Idunmwun soon reached the Ubini monarch
who quickly dispatched troops to the area to try to capture him. Prince Ogun escaped through Ikpe
territory, deep into the hinterland.
At Igogogin bush, where he retired to spend the night, he heard the
moaning of someone that appeared to be in pains. Obviously, he was dreaming, but it was very
vivid. He was shocked that he was not
alone in the forest. On investigation,
he found that the moaning person (a tree), required help to relieve it of
worms ravaging its trunk. Ogun wasted
no time in doing just that and as reward, the tree asked him to make a
request because he, the tree, was the spirit of Ase that could grant
anything. The spirit placed an object at Ogun’s
feet and asked him to pick it up and make a demand of it. Ogun, unbelieving, playfully asked the
object to make the tree bothering him, to shed its leaves and die. The tree promptly shed its leaves and
died. Ogun woke up and found the
object by his feet, and that he had reclined against a tree that had shed its
leaves and died. The tree was full of
life when he chose to recline on it for the night, he thought. He picked up the object and asked another
tree near-by to shed its leaves and die.
The tree promptly did. He went to Ekae village where he
lived for a while and gave birth to the Evbo Aigbogun people, then he moved
on. In the meantime, the monarch’s
troops, acting on reports of sightings, were raiding villages around
him. They almost caught him when they
trooped past him in a forest were he was hiding. He plucked a large green leaf and put it in
his mouth, and in demand of his ‘Ase charm,’ the leaf rendered him invisible,
(or looking like a shrub), to the troops.
Hours later, when the danger had subsided, he called the leaf that
saved his life, Ebe Ewere. At the base of the tree where he had
spent the night, blood had dropped all over him. When he carefully looked up, a leopard was
snoozing up a branch of the tree after eating its prey. He killed the leopard with one arrow shot. On the ground by the tree where he had
slept, he found he had laid his head on a snake coiled up neatly as his
pillow through out the night. He
killed the snake too. A little while
later, at a blind corner along the bush path near where he had slept, a
pregnant woman was approaching him, going to her farm, not knowing someone was
there. She struck her toe against a
stump and screamed in lamentation, “what bad omen is this? The spirits are angry, ancestors are taking
lives. Ogun the rightful heir to the
throne must be found to ascend the throne before peace can return to the land.” The sudden manifestation of Prince Ogun on
the bush path startled the woman who did not recognize the prince. After Ogun
had introduced himself, she was happy to repeat herself, thus re-assuring
Ogun that he was loved by the ordinary people of Ubini who were hoping he was
not dead yet. Ogun was delighted with
what he heard and promised to declare the area where the woman farmed at
Ugbekun, Royal farm land in her honour, with all the labour she would need
provided by the state from season to season. Ogun then decided to head for
Ubini. Close to Umelu junction, he
heard a hunter who was resting under a tree shade, talking aloud to himself:
“I am going home with these killings, but with no one to share them with. O! Ihama and the five Edion, you have put
our land in great peril. The ancestors
visit the sins of your hatred of Prince Ogun on our people. What shall we do?” Ogun surprised the hunter with his
presence, introduced himself, and thanked the hunter for his comments. He named the tree the hunter was sheltering
under, the Okha n’Ohue. Source of good
omen. Remembering Iha’s predictions
about his encounters on the way to the throne, which appeared to be coming
true, Ogun decided to head through stealthy paths for the market place in the
city. At Unueru quarters, the Royal army
almost caught up with him. He hid and
resisted using his ‘Ase charm’ to destroy the army because he reasoned they
were his people, his future subjects.
Later that night, he retired to Chief Ogieva Nomuekpo’s home, hoping
to find respite there from the troops haunting him. The chief expressed fear of the troops and
hid Ogun in a dry well in his compound.
The chief covered the mouth of the well with leaves and in betrayal
left to alert the Royal army about his catch.
While Ogieva was on his way to invite the Royal army to come and
arrest Prince Ogun, Edo, the head servant of Ogieva’s household, alerted
Prince Ogun about his master’s diabolical plan and helped the prince to
escape from the well with a ladder.
Ogieva returned with the Royal troops to find that Edo had helped Ogun
escape. The troops killed Edo on the
spot. Prince Ogun in the meantime, had
found his way to the hut of the old woman opposite the market place in the
city. She was a powerful mystic, poor,
old and childless. She hailed from
Eyaen village in the present day Oduwawa cattle market area on the
Benin-Auchi Road. The name her
parents gave her was Uwaraye. As a
young woman, during the reign of Oba Ohen, Prince Ogun’s father, she married
Chief Azama of Ihogbe district, as his second wife. Uwaraye was considered indolent by her
husband because she could not cook.
She could not get pregnant either.
Azama’s first wife, Arabe, handled the domestic chores and gave birth
to all the children of the household. Azama soon nicknamed Uwaraye,
Eke’Emitan, corrupted to Emotan, meaning lazy bones. She had a redeeming feature, though. She was good at helping to (nurse) or take
care of the brood of the household. As the children of the household
reached the age when they no longer required close supervision by adults,
Emotan who could make ‘evbarie’ (a soup seasoning condiment made from
fermented melon seeds), and spin threads from cotton bolls, began taking
these plus some herbal products to sell at a stall opposite the city
market. When her husband died and she
could not return to her parent’s home because they too had died in old age
earlier on, she set up a hut to live in at her trading post opposite the
market place. Her hut soon became a
popular make-shift nursery for the children of families patronizing the
market. She attended to the children’s
health and other needs flawlessly without charging fees and the kids’ parents
soon could not have enough of her services. It was in her nature, therefore, to
agree to have Prince Ogun as her guest and to help him take his throne. During Prince Ogun’s first night at the
hut, the Royal army raided the market neighbourhood, searching possible
hideouts, including Emotan’s hut. He
was invisible again. As soon as the
army moved their search from the hut to other areas in the vicinity, Ogun
sneaked out, avoiding the path of the army, and headed straight for the
palace where he killed his brother, Oba Uwaifiokun. The news of his action soon spread around
the city. Ordinary citizens were
supportive of his action, insisting that it was Ogun’s right to do what he
did and expressing joy and hope that the tragedies of the recent past would
soon end because justice had prevailed.
Emotan sent word to Ogun to stay put
in the palace and consolidate his hold while she continued spiritual work
outside to win empathy and love for Ogun.
Within a few days, the Edion’isen had come round in support of Ogun,
eventually crowning him as the Omo N’ Oba Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare. Iha divination’s title choice of
‘Oworuare,’ alias Ewuare, could not have been more apt because it means,
after the heat, the cooling effect of rain. Oba Ewuare appointed Emotan as the
Iyeki (that is the leader of the authorized Ekpate guild), tasked with
security matters in the market and with enforcing market rules. Emotan died not too long after Ewuare’s
ascension, so the Oba decreed that she should be buried in her hut. Later the grave was marked with an Uruhe
tree and her deification as the conscience of justice was ordered by the
king. Every celebratory procession in
Benin pays homage to the burial site.
The first Uruhe tree (marker) survived for some three hundred years
before it fell. The replacement Uruhe
tree survived for about one hundred and fifty years before an Iroko tree was
planted to support it. A severe storm
fell both trees on their, around one hundred years’ anniversary together. Oba Akenzua II, in cooperation with the
British Colonial authorities commissioned in 1954, a life size bronze statue
of Emotan as a young woman, sculpted by Mr. John A. Danford, in his Chelsea,
London, studio in 1951, from a miniature model cast by Igun Street artists. Oba Ewuare, in continuation of the
fulfillment of the promises he made to reward those who helped him win the
throne, installed Azuwa as the ‘Iha man mwen’ of Igun, meaning the Ihama of
Igun. Oba Ewuare bought the corpse of
Edo from Ogieva and had it exhumed. He
gave the servant posthumous freedom and ordered his reburial underneath the
altar of Ukhurhe Edion at the Aro Edun, the entrance to the palace’s inner
tower, an ultimate place of honour.
Then he invited the people of Ubini to join him in honouring a
bondsman who gave his life for him to live.
He changed the name of the city, language and kingdom, to Edo. This was later expanded to Edo O’Evbo
Ahire, meaning Edo the city of love, in appreciation of Edo’s love that saved
young Prince Ogun’s life and gave Edo kingdom her greatest king. The present day elegant ceremonial
costumes of the kings and chiefs of Benin originated from Ewuare’s
reign. Ewuare restored the annual
cycle of royal ceremonies, the most important ones being Ugie Erha Oba, in
honour of royal ancestors and Igue, to strengthen the mystical powers of the
king. Oba Ewuare’s vow to propitiate his
head and give thanks to his ancestors with a major spiritual event if he
gained the throne, is the genesis of the Igue festival, which started three
years into his reign. The Igue festival
is the leading spiritual festival of the Edo. It is a two week long
thanksgiving festival to the head, as the focal point of anointing and the
centre of the human person. The head symbolizes both the sacredness of
creation and of the spirit entity in man. To quote the Isekhurhe, “it is to
the head you raise your hands, in respect and adoration.” The Oba goes into seclusion for spiritual
purification during the period. Igue
activities include Igue ivbioba, Igue
edohia, Ugie ewere, Otue igue Oba (chiefs paying homage to the Oba), Igue Oba and Ugie emobo (when the
Oba comes out of seclusion). The incantations used at the Igue festival were
developed by the Ihogbe family. During
the festival, Oba Ewuare the great, was the most
dynamic, innovative and successful Oba in the history of Edo kingdom. Under him, Edo was completely transformed
religiously, politically, socially, physically and militarily. Ewuare re-organized the government of Edo
by centralizing it and he set up three powerful palace associations of
chiefs. The political elite of the
kingdom was made up of titled chiefs and members of the royal family. The seven highest-ranking chiefs, who were,
in fact, descendants of original elders of Edo, were constituted into Uzama
with leadership authority next to the king.
The brothers of the king who tended to be potential rivals were sent
as hereditary rulers (Enogies) of administrative districts. The mother of the king was given the title
of Queen mother and set up in her own palace in the town of Uselu just
outside the city. The palace, which did not have a
permanent site in previous reigns, was constructed on a massive scale
covering several acres of land at its present location and turned into a
beehive of activities as the political and spiritual nerve centre of the vast
kingdom. The Edo have a saying that in
the Oba’s palace there is never silence.
The complex includes shrine areas, meeting chambers for a variety of
groups of chiefs, work spaces for ritual professionals, royal artists and
craftsmen, storehouses, a large wing
called Ogbe Ewuare, residential sections for the Oba’s numerous wives,
children and servants. While the
expansion activities in the palace was going on, the civil engineering work
to dig the City’s inner moat was embarked upon. Oba Oguola’s outer moat, hugging the Ogbe
river valley, kilometers away from Okoo village, left the palace rear
exposed. Ewuare’s moat was less than a
kilometer from the palace’s rear and so provided additional security for the
palace. A seventeenth century Dutch engraving
from Olfert Dapper’s Nauwkeurige
Beschrijvinge der Afrikaansche Gewesten, published in Amsterdam in 1668,
described the palace thus: “The king’s
palace or court is a square, and is as large as the town of Haarlem and
entirely surrounded by a special wall, like that which encircles the town. It is divided into many magnificent
palaces, houses, and apartments of the courtiers, and comprises beautiful and
long square galleries, about as large as the Exchange at Amsterdam, but one
larger than another, resting on wooden pillars, from top to bottom covered
with cast copper, on which are engraved the pictures of their war exploits
and battles, and are kept very clean.
Most palaces and houses of the king are covered with palm leaves
instead of square pieces of wood, and every roof is decorated with a small turret
ending in a point, on which birds are standing, birds cast in copper with
outspread wings, cleverly made after living models.” The city’s houses originally built
with poles or palm ribs and padded with mud were rebuilt with packed
mud. The city was re-planned and
neatly laid out, with roads radiating from the center. It was divided into two distinct segments
with Ore ne Okhua, constituting the public sector, and the Oba’s sector
(Ogbe), the other. The population of
Ore ne Okhua was organized into wards with each specializing in a peculiar
craft or ritual services in allegiance to the king. My grandfather’s home shared fence with the
palace at a point in ogbe. He must
have had a significant role in the palace to warrant his living so close. I
have not investigated this. I am his
reincarnation The arts, particularly brass casting,
flourished during Oba Ewuare’s reign.
He set up a war machine that extended Edo notion of kingship, objects,
aesthetic, ideas and power, across the West Coast of Africa and through dominance
lent their name to the Bight of Benin.
At its height, the Edo controlled vast Yoruba land with populations
several times larger than that of Edo.
The kingdom extended in the West to Lagos, where the Edo set up a
military camp of occupation which they called Eko; in the North-east to
Ekiti, Owo, Ondo, most of Delta state and all of the North-west to the River
Niger . It also exerted considerable
influence on eastern Yorubaland and maintained trading connection with
Oyo. The kingdom’s dominance reached
all the way to Togo and present day Ghana.
The The Edo spread their culture and
traditions, particularly their Obaship ideology and system, by sending royal
brothers to rule over tributaries, or holding hostage, sons of conquered
chiefs to be trained in Edo, or by sponsoring candidates for thrones of
conquered territories. Objects such as
Ada and brass masks, were introduced to vassal lords as emblems of their
authority, and these symbols have endured in virtually all the territories
that experienced Edo control. Even in places outside direct Edo
influence, such as parts of the Niger Delta area, the reputation of the Oba
of Edo was such that leadership disputes were brought to him for arbitration
and the winners took back home, Edo regalia to form part of their leadership
traditions. However, the frontiers of
the Edo Empire were constantly expanding and contrasting as new conquests
were made and as vassals on the borders, rebelled only to be re-conquered. It was towards the tail end of Oba
Ewuare’s reign that the Portuguese first made their visit to West Africa in
1472. Oba Ewuare the great died in
1473. At the actuaries on the bank of
what is today known as the Bight of Benin, the local people the Portuguese
met there, when asked about the kingdom in the interior, told the Portuguese
it was called Ubini. The Portuguese
abbreviated this to Benin/Bini because they could not properly pronounce
Ubini. When the Portuguese arrived in
the kingdom of Benin, they were stunned by what they found on the ground in
terms of level of administrative sophistication, social engineering and
military activities. They found a monarchy dating back many centuries, with
complex structure of chiefs and palace officials presiding over a kingdom
that was expanding in all directions and a highly developed kingdom with
unique and very sophisticated political, artistic, linguistic, economic,
cultural and military traditions in the process of territorial
conquests. Edo kingdom was in the throes of
great conquests and had healthy, disciplined citizens; well planned and laid
out streets, a palace extending over kilometers of territory and a king and
his nobles, civilized to their bones.
The Portuguese felt honoured to be accepted by the Bini and quickly
entered into treaties of cooperation with Oba Ewuare, exchanging emissaries and
trying to trade. There is a hint that
they tried to preach Christianity to the monarch but were not rewarded with
favourable response. It was taboo to
talk about alien Gods in a civilization ruled by vibrant African Gods. It was during Oba Ewuare’s reign, however,
that an Aruosa delegation visited Portugal in 1472. A British adventurer called Ling
Roth, was the first to refer to Benin as great, a tribute not only to the
extent of the Benin Empire but also to the elaborate, detailed and efficient
administrative machinery the people had evolved. One of the military commanders who
made strong impact in Ewuare’s expansion conquests and maintenance of vassal
territories to the West and across the Niger to the East was a formidable
personage by the name Ezuku. He was probably Ibo, judging by his praise-name:
Ogogobiaga. He was merciless, fearless
and impartial in dishing out punishment and miseries to opponents. He was set up in camp at Ogan, the village
across Orhionmwon River from Abudu town, facing Ika vassal territories. From there he monitored activities
including possible rebellion and commercial traffic from eastern flanks and
beyond, of the Edo Empire. When Ezuku
died, he was deified. Another very successful military
commander of the Edo army at the time was Iken. He was probably more successful than Ezuku,
but was never acknowledged, honoured, or rewarded for his valor by the
monarch. His problem at that early
stage of Edo’s conquest of foreign lands was probably because he was a son of
the soil. Here was a native son vanquishing and beheading alien kings,
signing treaties, and turning kingdoms into vassal territories of his
monarch. His feats were enough to
propel him to the top of leadership in his native land, if not immediately as
king, at least, as an alternative voice or a strong contender, challenger,
aspirant to the throne, in the eyes of the people. His feats were definitely enough to make
him the Iyase, (i.e. leader of all the chiefs, second in command to the Oba)
and prime minister of Edo land. His spiritual prowess, intimidating
aura of success, abundant confidence, pride and bravado, were too strong for
the chiefs, scared that he would not only be too powerful if made the leading
chief or even just a chief, both of which he had earned in war exploits and
trophies, but that his influence would almost totally eclipse theirs. The chiefs did not have this problem with
Ezuku because Edo people do not give their chieftaincy titles to
non-indigenes. Shoving Ezuku to the
outskirts of the kingdom with dignity and respect was enough to keep Ezuku
happy and in check. Iken was not only deprived of honour
and respect for his military victories for Edo people, he was relatively poor
compared to the chiefs, and he had only one wife who unfortunately could not
give him a child. The Oba, who
routinely dished out lavish gifts, titles, and his daughters in marriage to
lesser achievers in the society, appeared not to reckon with Iken, perhaps
because no one, not any of the chiefs, would put in a good word for him in
such matters in the palace. If
anything, they played the devil’s advocate at every opportunity against Iken. Iken gradually began to worry more
and more about how he was being treated by the society he had served so well
and was ready to die for. One day, he
decided he had had enough. He would no
longer go to war for Edo people, socialize with them and their chiefs, or
even visit the palace for whatever reason. He began rebuffing invitations
from the palace, ignoring entreaties and visits by emissaries, regardless of
the quarters from which they came. This was happening at a time when the
vassal kings of Akure and Ekiti were refusing to continue to pay due tributes
to the Edo monarch, and were even threatening war. The palace needed Iken to deal with
the two rebelling vassal kings so the palace began pestering Iken with
messages, invitations, and visits by respectable emissaries, until he
succumbed, visited the palace, and agreed to take on the rebelling vassal
monarchs. By the time he was ready to
go to war, Ekiti Oba had withdrawn his threat and returned to being a loyal
vassal to the Edo monarch. As soon as
he left Edo with his troops for Akure, Edo chiefs immersed themselves in
extensive wizardry, intended to prevent Iken from returning to Edo alive,
even if he succeeded in the war against Akure. Akure battle, laced copiously with
witchcraft, was tough. Several lives
were lost before Iken could subdue the Akure army. After beheading their king and sending
trophies of his triumph to the Edo monarch, he embarked on an inspection tour
of his conquered territory, Akure. At
the Akure palace, a pretty daughter of the Akure king played on his libido,
offering him favours right there and then, and pretending to want to serve as
war booty and the nucleus of a new harem.
He fell for the bait but had to remove his clothes, including his
spiritual war regalia responsible for his invincibility in war, to be able to
get down with the princess. As he was
about to climb on the bed naked with the princess, her accomplices pounced on
him to machete him to death. When the news reached the Edo
monarch, and he found out the role his chiefs had played in the matter, he
was sorry. He then created the title
of Edaiken (Eda-iken) (meaning holding forth for Iken, or looking after Iken’s
household, affairs, and interests), until he returns, as the title for the
Crown Prince and Oba in-waiting of Edo kingdom. Oba Ewuare initially considered
adopting the Ogiso succession format of first son inheriting the throne so,
he made his first son, Prince Kuoboyuwa, the Edaiken, and appointed his
second son, Prince Ezuwarha, the Duke (Enogie) of Iyowa. Ezuwarha was not happy about not being
allowed to aspire to rule after his senior brother’s turn. After all, that was how his father became
king, he reasoned. In a quarrel over
the issue, the two brothers died on the same day. After a prolonged mourning period,
accompanied with elaborate rites for the two dead sons were called off, Oba
Ewuare consulted the oracle and was advised to blend the bloodlines of the
Obas with that of the Ogisos, to ensure stability in the succession issue. The search for a maiden of
marriageable age and descending directly from the last Ogiso, produced Omuwa
from Udo town in Ovia. She gave Oba Ewuare,
two sons, Ezoti and Okpame. Oba Ewuare
had another son, Olua, by a different mother from Omuwa’s children. Oba Ewuare asked his chiefs to do a
personality assessment of who would make the best Oba from among his three
sons. The chiefs could not recommend
any of the children for the throne.
They described Ezoti, the oldest of the three sons, as stingy and
likely to plunge the kingdom into prolonged hunger if he became Oba. Olua, the second in line, was described as
a spend thrift (okpetu kporozo), who would take less than three lunar months
to squander the Oba’s wealth, built up over a number of centuries, on silly
and irrelevant programmes just to look good in the eye of the public. As for Okpame, they believed he would
plunge the kingdom into endless warfare because his only passion, and things
that gave him happiness, had to do with the sword. Oba Ewuare, perplexed that
none of his sons would make a good Oba, decided to stop bothering with
innovations and return the kingdom to the “equality of siblings” process,
which would guarantee the three sons, ruling in turn. Oba
Ezoti (1473 CE), succeeded his father to
the throne in 1473 and reigned for only 14 days when he died from injuries
inflicted on him in attempted regicide on coronation day. Oba
Olua (1473-1481CE), ascended the throne
after the assassination of his brother, Oba Ezoti, who had a son, Prince
Owere, claiming legitimacy to the throne at the time. Prince Okpame quietly murdered his
nephew, Prince Owere, in defense of Oba Ewuare’s injunction that first
generation princes had first claim to the throne. Okpame escaped into northern Edo
territories as a fugitive on the run, to avoid punishment when the murder was
discovered. There in the wilds, he
acquired a knight’s amour of Byzantine origin from North Africa, thus making
himself look fearsome and unassailable.
His bizarre adventure led him to some battles in the jungle. He fathered the Ora people of today. The death of Prince Owere, coupled
with the continuing war like antics of Prince Okpame, obviously influenced
Oba Olua to keep his son, Prince Iginua, out of possible harms’ way. Oba Olua
arranged for his son, Prince Iginua, to travel south to the riverine area,
bedecked in the appurtenance of kingly power and authority, with a large
retinue of officers and servants at his beck and call. Iginua became the Olu of the Itsekiris. Oba
Ozolua (1481-1504 CE). After the death of Oba Olua, Okpame was
invited to ascend the throne and he took the title of Oba Ozolua. Two of Ozolua’s sons were kidnapped
(oduomomu, meaning thieves of children) during that period of the slave
trade. Oba Ozolua reintroduced the
process of first son succeeding to the throne, with Dukedoms carved out for
the other princes. The older of his
two remaining sons, after he had lost two sons to the slave trade, was Osawe,
who was named the Edaiken (Oba-in-waiting).
Idubor, the junior to Osawe, was appointed the Duke of Udo, the home
town of Oba Ozolua’s mother, and the second largest and most important town
in the kingdom at the time. Idubor,
known as Arhuanran n’Udo (the giant of Udo), was not happy about playing
second fiddle to his senior brother, Prince Osawe. Ozolua, as predicted by the king
makers before he became king, was aggressive and war-like. In a feud between him and a powerful mystic
called Elekighidi of Ogbelaka quarters, he enticed Elekighidi’s wife, Eyowo,
to betray her husband and then married her after his triumph over
Elekighidi. Then Oba Ozolua beheaded
Eyowo out of fear that she could betray him too in future. The Portuguese made strong efforts to
convert Oba Ozolua to Christianity with preachments. He had no respect for white gods and
deities and even for the Portuguese items of trade, which were being offered
to build close links between the kingdom and Portugal. He was, however, impressed with their guns,
a weapon strange to warfare in the West African region at that time. Oba Ozolua introduced bronze casting
to Benin. He did it through Iguehae, a
great bronze caster, whose descendants have continued the tradition through
the guild of bronze casters at the present day Igun Street in Benin City. Oba
Esigie (1504-1550 CE). Oba Ozolua’s first son, Prince Osawe
succeeded him to the throne and took the title of Oba Esigie. The feud between Idubor, while growing up was very
bitter about his treatment. He more
than on one occasion asked his mother if his father was his true father to be
so callous as to take away his birthright in such a mean fashion. As the Duke (Enogie) of Udo, Idubor refused
to accept subordinate role to his brother, Oba Esigie, and at first tried to
make Udo the capital of Benin kingdom with himself as king. It didn’t take
too long before the two brothers went to war.
The war was difficult, bitter, and long drawn out. It was not until the third campaign that
Udo was defeated. The third campaign
was timed to coincide with the planting season when Udo citizen-soldiers, who
were mainly farmers, would be busy on their farms. The Enogie’s only son, Oni-Oni, died in the
battles. Even after that defeat, Udo’s
Iyase and commander of their troops, returned to the offensive and after his
defeat, the people of Udo escaped to found Ondo town deep in Yoruba
territory. The Enogie of Udo committed suicide
by drowning at the Udo lake after his defeat.
He did not want to be captured prisoner and taken back to Benin. Before jumping into the lake, he left his
‘Ivie necklace,’ the precious bead necklace symbol of authority in Benin
land, dangling from a tree branch were it could be easily found. Only the Oba could inherit such trophies of
dead or conquered leaders and nobles, so, out of excitement over his victory,
he tried on his neck for size, his brother’s humble surrender necklace
symbol. He became mentally disoriented immediately he put the necklace on his
neck. Removing the necklace from his
neck did not make any difference, so he was rushed back to Benin City in that
hopeless state. His mother, Idia, immediately located
a Yoruba Babalawo (mystic) at Ugbo/Ilaje, in the riverine area, and brought
him to Benin to work on the king’s spiritual ailment. He cured the Oba of his ailment, and the
Queen after rewarding him generously, prevailed on him, (the Yoruba Awo), to
settle permanently in Benin to continue to render his services. He set up home at Ogbelaka quarters where
his descendants have thrived until this day. Idia, the Queen mother of Oba Esigie,
commands a special place of honour in Benin history. She was a noted administrator and a great
Amazon and influence on her son, Oba Esigie.
She was personally involved in many of the wars of conquest by the Oba
and even led some of them herself. Her
image is eloquently captured in the famous Ivory mask, which served as the
logo of the 2nd World Black and African Festival of Arts and
Culture (FESTAC), held in 1977 in Lagos, Nigeria. The exquisite craftsmanship of the mask
bears testimony to the quality of life and superlative level of civilization
of the Benin people prior to their colonization. Three hundred and ninety-three years later,
when the British invaded Benin kingdom
and carted away their Ivory and bronze works before burning the city down,
they described Edo works of art as symbols of barbarism and human
sacrifice. The Portuguese, a major European
power at the time, happily negotiated and established diplomatic and trade
relations with Oba Esigie and his kingdom, Benin. One of the numerous elite
palace associations was assigned the responsibility of conducting affairs
with the Portuguese. Until this day, a
secret language, which some claim is derived from a mixture of Portuguese and
Edo languages, is spoken by members of the association. Portuguese mercenaries fought along
side the Bini in many territorial wars after the treaty. Trade between the Portuguese and Benin was
mainly in coral beads, cloths for ceremonial attire, and great quantities of
brass manilas, which Bini craftsmen melted for casting. In exchange for Portuguese goods, the Bini
offered tobacco, spices, colanuts, ivory, earthenware, jewelry, artifacts,
woven cotton materials, etc. Benin City is where Christianity was
first preached in Nigeria. The
Portuguese failed to persuade Oba Ewuare and Oba Ozolua but made their first
break through with Oba Esigie, to the shock and disbelief of the Uzama nobles
and Benin people generally. With the Oba’s determination to have his way and
replace Benin practices and faith with Christian ones, the Uzama nobles
ostracized him. He retaliated by
creating a parallel Uzama, headed by chief Inneh of Igun Street. His new Uzama was called Uzama N’ Ibie and
had, apart from their leader, Chiefs Ogieamien, Elema, Ogiehor and three
others. The original Uzama mocked the new one
to no end for breaking with tradition by living with the monarch in inner
Benin. The new Uzama tried to gloss
over the inconsistencies with ineffective symbolic projects and gestures
until the conflict escalated into war between the two Uzama groups. Oba’s army took side with their Uzama, of
course, and they eventually defeated the original Uzama nobles. The battle is
commemorated at the palace yearly as the Igie Iron. The original Uzama, led by Oliha,
decided that a change of Oba was necessary, and recruited the Atta of Igalla
for the job. According to Samuel Ajayi
Crowther’s River Niger Exploratory
report 1854, “The first Atta of Idah was an Ado (Edo) man, a tribe which
the Aboh people call Idu. He was a
hunter who settled on Idah in Igarra.
A quarrel arose and he drove Igarra king of Idah away and became the
king of the place. Oyingbo, who was the Atta during
Esigie’s time, assured of fifth columnists’ support inside Benin, welcomed
the opportunity to invade and subdue the almighty Benin. He left his capital, Idah, with a large
army and after crossing the River Niger, began merciless pillaging of
communities on his way to Benin and meeting with no resistance of any sort on
the way. At Ahor town with a large
population and ten Dukedoms, on the opposite side of Ikpoba River, which he
had to cross to enter Benin City, Atta sacked and destroyed nine of the
principalities. The one that miraculously escaped his archers and swordsmen
is the Abor community, and the only one in existence today. After Ahor, he swept furiously
through Oregbeni village to begin his descend of Ikpoba hill still meeting
with no resistance so far in his campaign, trailed with a great deal of
wreckage and deaths. As he prepared to
ascend Ikpoba slope to enter Benin City, guns concealed in the lush forest
around the valley, manned by Portuguese missionaries and traders, opened fire
on Atta’s army from all sides. Such
fire power was strange at the time to the Igallas and the Edo people. In the twinkling of an eye, hundreds of the
invading army had fallen, so what was left of them fled back up the valley,
pursued by Benin army, all the way to Idah across the River Niger. The defeated Atta then became a vassal of
Benin. Encouraged by the victory, Oba Esigie
turned his full attention and energy on promoting Christianity. He built a Cathedral on the Aruosa site at
Akpakpava Road and a chapel each, perhaps intended to serve as schools, at
Erie, Ugbague and Ogbelaka quarters.
Christian rituals, including morning mass, were introduced into palace
usage, and Christian motifs, such as the cross of four equal arms, which was
the form of cross the Portuguese first introduced to Benin, were reproduced
on the Ada, Eben, and the regalia of the Oba and his chiefs. Oba Esigie’s first son and Oba-in-waiting,
Edaiken Prince Orhogbua, was given to the Portuguese to train as a Catholic
priest. He became the most highly
educated in western education, of the Benin princes until Oba Akenzua II in
1933 CE. The Portuguese appeared to
have first trained Orhogbua at the Bishopric of Sao Tome before transferring
him to Lisbon to continue his education.
When his father died in 1550 CE, he was still overseas. He was seen by Edo people as a Portuguese,
and of course, he spoke perfect Portuguese. European slave trade in West Africa
started with the acquisition of domestic servants in 1522, and warrior
kingdoms like Benin had plenty of them captured as war booties, but would not
sell them. The slave trade was very
unpopular with the Edo people. They
thought it was silly to sell fellow human beings. Their Obas and nobles were vehemently
opposed to the business of slave trade and to the export of the productive
fighting male. The Edo, of course,
could not control the day to day happenings of the slave merchants, who
apparently largely acted under cover at first in the vast territories under
Edo hegemony. However, it was
forbidden to sell or take a native Bini into slavery and so elaborate
identification marks on faces and chests were eventually contrived. The Bini, therefore, were hardly ever
captured by Arabs or Europeans into slavery. Alan Ryder, writing on this in his
book: Benin and the European, narrated the experience of the Portuguese
merchant, Machin Fernandes in Benin as early as 1522: That was during the reign of Oba Esigie. “Of the whole cargo of 83 slaves
bought by Machin Fernandes, only two were males
– and it is quite possible that these
were acquired outside the Oba’s territory
– despite a whole month (at Ughoton)
spent in vain attempts to have a market opened for male slaves. The 81 females, mostly between ten and twenty years of age, were purchased in Benin City between 25 June and 8 August at the rate of one, two or three a day.” None of the 83 slaves was an Edo
person, according to Ryder, and no Edo person could have been involved in the
sales. It was taboo in Edo
culture. Edo Empire was vast, with a
great concentration of people from different ethnic backgrounds, Yoruba, Ibo,
Itsekiri, Ijaw, Urhobo, Igalla etc, making a living in the lucrative Ughoton
route that was the main centre of commercial activities in the southern area
at the time, of what later became Nigeria. Alan Ryder, recording the experiences
of yet another European merchant, the French trader and Captain called
Landolphe, in Benin in February 1778, said, “the Ezomo was the richest man in
Benin, owning more than 10,000 slaves, none of whom was ever sold.” The author then commented: “His (the
Ezomo’s) refusal to sell any of his slaves is also noteworthy for the light
it sheds upon the attitude of powerful Edo chiefs towards the slave trade:
however numerous they might be, a great man did not sell his slaves.” Says Edo
people: “vbo ghi da Oba no na mu
ovionren khien?” Meaning,
“what need does the Oba want to satisfy by putting out his slave for sale?” Oba Esigie contrived his own death as
an atonement or sacrifice for his spiritual shortcomings. He allowed himself to be mistakenly killed
by his own security guards while feigning to be an intruder into the palace
grounds, with his head covered with calico hood, and thrusting it through a
hole he made in the security fence.
The intruder had played the trick two times earlier and was third time
unlucky. It all happened within a
couple of days and security guards where at full alert and prepared for the
intruder that third time, almost severing the head off, only to discover they
had killed their king. Oba
Orhogbua (1550-1578 CE). When his father, Oba
Esigie died, Orhogbua was in Europe.
On arrival from Europe, the Bini insisted that he choose between being
a Catholic priest and an Oba because he can not be both. The popular saying in Benin at the time
was: “Ai wo Oba, wo ebo,” meaning you cannot be king and be priest to a
deity. Orhogbua chose to become Oba. The Bini had always considered their
riverine territories the Iyekowa (backyard) of Benin land and for hundreds of
years they controlled the entire area.
It was the route through Ughoton water side that the land locked
kingdom reached out or was reached from abroad, and increasingly so from Oba
Ewuare’s era. The Bini called the
route: “ode ame (the riverine route, and would sometimes add: “emwin n’omo
yaru omo ode ame erokerhe,” (meaning: the underpinnings of the authority and
prestige of the Oba of Benin, came through the riverine route). It was the revenue route from the
outside world to Benin. Active trading
with the Portuguese started in 1553, with the Edo offering ivory, palm oil,
pepper, cloth, beads directly and slaves brought into her Ughoton port from surrounding territories under Edo
Empire. The first guns came into Benin
through this route, as did iron bars from Holland for the five blacksmith
guilds, and the manila currency melted into raw materials for the exquisite
Benin bronze masterpieces in all the leading museums of the world today. The cowry currency also came through the
route to facilitate Edo’s economic buoyancy.
The Ijebu towns all the way to Ikorodu, on the route, provided Benin
with woven cloth, which became the major item of trading on the route with
European traders, who re-traded the cloth at ports on the West African coast
and the Congo, in exchange for slaves and gold. Of course, the Roman Catholic fathers
brought the Bible with one hand and enslaved the natives with the other
through the route. Oba Orhogbua enforced tribute
payments from all parts of his Empire and in the 1550s conquered all the
coastal lands, up to Lagos where he left a permanent garrison. The Benin
maritime army was borne on river-craft flotillas. Orhogbua’s conquering
expedition recognized the importance of Lagos Island, both as a military
defense point, and a look-out post for traffic from around the world,
intending to explore the interior of Africa from the West African coastline
break that allows water to flow from the Benin River into the Atlantic
Ocean. Ships from the outside world
could penetrate into the bowels of Africa from there so the Island entry
point was considered the perfect place to monitor and control the trade.
Orhogbua occupied the Island, which he called Eko (meaning camp), by setting
up the first human settlement there.
Oba Orhogbua’s son was the first Eleko (Oba) of Lagos. From Lagos, Orhogbua explored the lagoon system to its farthest
points through Dahomey, Togo, to the Volta River and Basin in today’s
Ghana. Until the Biafran Civil War, it was
believed even by opponents in war, that the Benin person was immune from
drowning in the River Niger because of a covenant the Spirit of the river,
(known by the Bini as Ohinmwin, and by the western Ibos, as Oshimili), had
with Oba Ewuare. The Spirit always
threw the drowning Edo person out of the water. Not servicing the covenant for hundreds of
years, may have got the Spirit angry in modern times. The lagoon expedition introduced common
salt (umwen) for the first time to Benin, displacing eventually, odoo, which
was the Benin traditional salt. The
sample salt acquired the name ‘umwen’ because an Ishan servant of Chief
Osague, asked to taste the salt, said in tasting it, that it was “Obhen,”
meaning, all right. Ekenika played a prominent role in
Oba Orhogbua’s military campaigns that brought the Lagoon lands all the way
to the Atlantic Ocean where it is known as the Bight of Benin, under the
control of Benin. He was a commander in Orhogbua’s maritime army, and the
first person to step on the uninhabited Island of Lagos. He beat back Aworis’ counter attacks from
the mainland. The Aworis had noticed
some discarded ebieba leaves, (used in wrapping food by the Benin soldiers),
floating on the water. They were tropical forest leaves strange to the
brackish mangrove swamplands of the lagoon so, they knew they had strangers
in their midst and attacked from the direction the leaves were coming. Ekenika was rewarded with the title
of Ezomo of Benin. The first person in
Benin history to bear the title.
Ekenika was set up at Uzebu quarters in Benin City by Oba Orhogbua, to
closely monitor Benin’s most important route, territories and population, and
to provide regular backing for the Lagos camp. Both Lagos and Uzebu habitations,
therefore, came on stream at the same time.
Uzebu was at the western outskirt of Benin, straddling the city’s
gateway to the sea through Ughoton, the lagoon territories and people, under
the control of Benin from that area, and opened Edo to Europe and the
world. The Uzebu quarters served as
training ground and store of weapons for the soldiers of the lagoon
campaigns. The Portuguese would have lent a hand, particularly in the
training and use of fire arms and cannons.
Oba Orhogbua was virtually a Portuguese anyway. A very close relationship existed between
Benin and Portugal at his time. Ezomo’s permanent residence or palace
was at the heart of Uzebu quarters, as the commander of the Uzebu military
camp. Ekenika’s Uzebu activities and
campaigns triggered and influenced the development, origin and background of
the controlling elite and names, of towns and cities along the Benin riverine
route: Ijebu Ode, Ijebu-Mushin,
Ijebu-Ife, Ijebu-Ugbo, Ijebu-Remo, Ijebu-Oro, Ijebu-Ijesha in Ijesha land,
Ijebu-Owo in Owo land. There are
strong family links between Ekenika and the nobles in all the territories of
the Benin riverine route. The
traditional head of Owo town for instance, bears the name Ojomo, the full
title being Ojomo-Olude. The Obazuaye
family in Benin descends from Ekenika and the Lagos branch of the family are
the Bajulaiyes. The prominent Olisa
clan in Ikorodu and Ijebu Ode are related to the Oliha, the head of the Uzama
group in Benin. There are many more of
such links with Benin around West Africa. The Ijaw kingdom of Ogba in Bayelsa
state has a concentration of the descendants of the Ekenika's, particularly
in the village of Akabuka. The title, Alare Ezomo, was conferred
on a prominent son of Uzebu quarters in Benin, in the 1930s, by Oba Akenzua
II, emphasizing the strong family ties of Bini people with the Ijebus. All Ijebu Ode natives, describe themselves
as Omo Alare. That is, the descendants
of Alare. Alare is the ancestral deity
of the Ijebu race and it is claimed that every thing an Ijebu person owns,
money, land, property, belongs to Alare.
This is the secret of the Ijebus’ relative ease at accumulating
wealth. He can accumulate wealth but
has no right to part with what belongs, in totality, to Alare. Oba
Ehengbuda (1578 – 1604 CE). Ehengbuda ascended his father’s throne in
1578 CE. While his father, Oba Orhogbua, might be considered a water warrior
who made his greatest impact in the lagoon territories, Oba Ehengbuda campaigned
mainly on land in the Yoruba areas. All the warrior Obas, most times,
personally led their troops to war.
Oba Ehengbuda, while prosecuting his military activities in the Akure
area, sustained burns which healed to leave scars on his body. This was systematized in the Iwu body marks
which every Edo adult had to acquire to be able to participate in royal and
court activities of the land. The markings also served to identify the Edo
person for protection during the slave trade.
Strong efforts were made to prevent Edo people from being sold into
slavery. Edo people openly and
actively encouraged and facilitated the escape of slaves from the holding
centres in the kingdom and particularly from the Ughoton port. As a result of Oba Ehengbuda’s accident,
the responsibility for leading the army in war was delegated to the
Iyase. Chief Ekpenede, who was the
Iyase at the time, became the number one commandant of the Edo army. He prosecuted several successful campaigns
in Yoruba territories and concluded many treaties, including a major one with
the Onakakanfo (the commandant) of Oyo, which demarcated the boundary in
Yoruba territories at Otun town in northern Ekiti between the Edo and Oyo
powers. At the ceremony marking the
boundary, the two commanders stood at the boundary with backs turned by each,
to their respective homeland directions, Benin and Oyo. The Edo General planted an ikhinmwin tree,
and the Oyo General planted a palm tree of the spirit world, a high savannah
date palm, unfamiliar to the Edo at the time. Because of the military feats of
Iyase Ekpenede, and particularly with the conclusion of the Edo/Oyo treaty,
which carried significant value, it was thought that Iyase could begin to
habour ideas of his own, and could stage a coup against the monarch if
allowed to return and live in the city with the Oba. The Iyase was, therefore, instructed to
move to any town of his choice and not to return to Benin City. In the town he moved into, the Iyase
enjoyed untrammeled power. Even tributes
earmarked for the monarch ended up being hijacked by the Iyase, and as long
as he was alive, no other Iyase was appointed in his place. Agban was the second Ezomo to be
appointed after the demise of the first one, Ekenika. Agban’s reign straddled that of Oba
Orhogbua and his son Oba Ehengbuda.
His exploits were mainly in western Ibo land. The area was brought under Edo suzerainty
from Oba Ewuare’s expansion of Edo kingdom’s era. Ezomo Agban’s military campaigns ran into
difficulties at Ika town of Ogidi but he triumphed in the end and named the
town ‘Agbor,’ a corruption of Agban.
His success and pacification efforts in the western Ibo territories
were so impressive, he was almost being treated as the Emperor of the area by
the Edo. He did not participate in the successful Ubulu-Uku war,
however. That was left to Chief
Imasan, the Enogie of Emokpaogbe to prosecute because it was triggered by the
killing of Imasan’s daughter by the Oboros.
On one occasion, while verbally
presenting a war report to Oba Ehengbuda, thunder claps interrupted Chief
Agban. Offended by the temerity, he
decided to teach thunder a lesson. He
arranged for a tall scaffold with a wide base, and reaching far into the sky,
to be erected. He tied hundreds of
calabashes filled with palm oil on the rungs of the scaffold from the base to
the far flung tip and set the scaffold on fire with the intention of smoking
the thunder deity out of hiding.
Before the scaffold crumbled and fell, Benin City was visited by a
hail of showers, followed by rain of large frozen ice blocks, and the
mournful sounds, like the wailing of thunderstorm in distress, in the
sky. Whatever was responsible, it was
some consolation for a people that believe nothing is impossible to
achieve. That in a nutshell propelled
the stupendous height that Edo people reached in almost every field of human
endeavour. In the Epe/Lekki waterways, while Oba
Ehengbuda was two days away from an eight days journey through the lagoon to
visit his Dukedom and military camp, Eko (Lagos), a freak storm hit the
lagoon and capsized many of the river-craft in the royal float, including
that bearing the monarch, and he died. Oba
Ohuan (1604 1641 CE), was Oba Ehengbuda’s
son. He ended the Eweka dynastic
lineage. Powerful rebel chiefs
established private power bases and selected Obas from among themselves. The
selection process took the format of the Ihogbe picking an Oba from among
their ranks and presenting him to the Uzama for crowning. This process produced a series of Obas, seven
of them, with doubtful claims to legitimacy, thus seriously weakening the Edo
monarchy. By the mid 17th
century and extending well over the period of confusion about who reigns in
Benin, the Portuguese, Dutch, English, French and other Europeans, had expanded
the slave trade in the area so much that they were calling it the Slave
Coast. The slave trade remained high
in the area until 1840. The slaves
were mainly war captives and were drawn from the entire area controlled by
Benin all the way to the communities near the coast and to northern peoples
such as the Bariba. The Atlantic slave
trade had a destructive impact in Benin area, causing devastating
depopulation around Benin and greatly militarizing the area. Oba
Ohenzae (1641 -1661 CE), was the first of
the seven Obas with doubtful legitimacy.
His Ezomo was called Ezomo N’Ogun.
Ezomo N’Ogun was the first person in the history of Benin to
propitiate his own head, (that is to give thanks to the spirit of good
fortune), with a live elephant. The
incidence helps to demonstrate the demoralizing effect the slave trade had on
African communities through deaths, kidnappings, sacking and disappearance of
towns and villages, and the truncation of African progress and civilization. Only two other Edo personages have achieved
Ezomo N’ Ogun’s feat of using live elephant in rites. Iyase Ohenmwen achieved it some 170 years
ago and Oba Akenzua II pulled it off in February 1936. Servants sent by Ezomo N’Ogun to capture a
live elephant, took 14 days to come home with one. While the richly garlanded elephant,
restrained with strong ropes to the legs, arms and body, was being led in
procession through the streets to the ritual site, an elderly man, watching
from the safety of the verandah of his home remarked rather loudly: “What is the cause of the rejoicing
of these people over the fragment called
life?” Dragged before the Ezomo for his
impertinence, he pleaded to be allowed to explain himself and when allowed
said: “My Lord, what I mean is, what is the
cause of the rejoicing of these people over the fragment
called life when it is possible to capture an elephant
within 14 days in the jungle between Benin City and
the bank of River Ovia? A feat that would have been
impossible within such a short time during the time of Ezomo Agban.” The slave trade had gone on for about
two hundred years at the time and had taken its toll on the populations and
communities around the city of Benin, turning once lively and sprawling towns
and villages during Ezomo Agban’s time, into a long stretch of thick
jungle. The jungle was in fact, so
close, it was within 14 days return journey from the Ezomo N’Ogun’s backyard
in Edo kingdom. Elephants and wild lives were now the close neighbours of the
Edo people who were not allowing themselves to be enslaved. Instead of punishing the old man as his
persecutors had hoped, Ezomo N’Ogun thanked and rewarded him generously for
his wisdom. The other six colourless Obas with
questionable claims to the throne were Oba
Ekenzae (1661 -1669 CE); Oba
Akengboi (1669 -1675 CE); Oba
Akenkpaye (1675 – 1684 CE); Oba
Akengbedo (1684 -1689 CE); Oba
Ore-Oghene (1689 – 1700 CE), and Oba
Ewuakpe. Oba
Ewuakpe (1700 – 1712 CE), was thrust into
office by his father, Akenuzama, who had declined the offer to be king on the
grounds of old age. The offer had been
made to Akenuzam by the Ihogbe, after the death of his cousin, Oba
Ore-Oghene, who had no heir. Oba Ewuakpe, whose birth name was
Idova, but was hurriedly re-named Ehennegha by oracular directive before the
Ihogbe presented him to the Uzama nobles for crowning, was too young,
inexperienced and impatient. These led
to a series of problems for him. His
first problem was that he could not offer propitiatory rites at the Oba’s ancestral
shrine as required by tradition because his father was still alive and not an
ancestor yet. Then his mother,
Ewebonoya, died at her Uselu palace, soon into his reign. To provide her with the level of
comfort she had become accustomed to as Queen mother, he sacrificed humans, a
great number of them, to continue to attend to her needs in the ethereal
world. Edo people, appalled by the
human sacrifice and blood letting, rebelled and laid siege on the palace,
flinging its gates open. The palace staff
and his hundreds of wives took flight excepting Iden, one of his wives, who
refused to return to her parent's home at Oka village. When the siege became too unbearable, the
Oba escaped with Iden to his mother’s village, Ugolo quarters at Ikoka, by the
side of Ovia River. His mother’s relatives spawned him and didn’t want him in
their midst. The humiliation was so much, he cursed the people of Ikoka
village and returned to his palace.
The palace was leaking badly from neglect, and weeds and crawlers had
taken residence. He cleared some space for his wife
and himself to stay to think of what to do next and lay their heads for the
night. The following morning, Iden
took the few articles of vanity she had, and sold them at the near-by Oba’s
market. She used the money she raised,
to travel to Agbor to recruit a reputable seer. The oracle recommended a make-believe
ceremony and human sacrifice. Since they were not in a state to capture any
human for the sacrifice, Iden talked her husband into allowing her to give
her life to save the throne, as long as her grave would not be jeered at by
passers-by and market women. Iden went to the market after closing
hours, to collect discarded broken calabashes that had been used in selling
oil, and thrown away leaves’ head pads.
She collected dried shrubbery from the bush near-by. In the mean time, the husband was stripping
the palace garden’s palm trees bare of dry husks and fronds, which with
faggots, he tied into torches. The
following night a huge scaffold of the palm fronds, torches and calabashes,
soaring into the sky, was assembled and set on fire, with its embers and
arches allowed to litter the palace grounds.
The leaves’ head pads were strewed from the palace gates deep into the
palace grounds, to give the impression that a lot of people had come to make
deliveries at the palace. The
aftermath of the ceremony was that it left the setting looking like a big
event and merry making had taken place involving many people. The fireworks would have been noticed from
far and near. For the final ritual, Iden wore what
was left of her finery, and hand-in-hand with her husband, they walked
quietly down Iwebo Street to the spot she had chosen as her final resting
place. After Ewuakpe had tearfully and
painfully dug the grave, she climbed gracefully into it helped by her
husband, and laid down facing the direction of the palace. All along, he was crying and trying to talk
her out of the project. She was
adamant. To fill the chasm with sand,
as he was asked to do by his wife, was the hardest task he had ever faced in
his life. He started filling it slowly
from the feet side, saving her asphyxiation till the very end when he would
cover her face with sand. After the
did was done, he crashed on the grave, crying bitterly like a child, over
what he had done. Esogban had noticed the fireworks in
the night and in the early morning hours, sneaked around the palace grounds
to see what had happened. He found the
palace compound littered with head pads etc, and felt betrayed that the king
had won back favour, and people were providing services to the palace behind
his back. He rushed home, threw his
wealth chess open and assembled choice items that would please his king, and
with servants included, he headed for the palace with his peace offering. In response to his solicitous voice
at the entrance to the palace’s first vestibule, a lone voice from behind a
slightly opened door reassured him that he was in good standing with the
palace and that he was not an enemy of the Oba. Esogban left his offering where he was told
to, and returned home happy with himself. When the Iyase heard about
Esogban’s visit to the palace, he too rushed to make peace with the Oba. That was how Oba Ewuakpe regained his
throne and the trust of Edo people.
Iden’s grave is one of the stations procession ceremonies in Benin
City pay homage to today. To ensure that what happened to him
would not happen again to another Oba, he decided to put in place a sound
succession process. He felt that a period
of tutelage was necessary before one becomes an Oba, and that the best way to
guarantee this was the principle of first son succeeding his father to the
throne. His chiefs’ bargaining chip,
was that the principle should be extended to their own first sons and that
the Oba should surrender his traditional inheritance right to their estate,
to their own first sons. Ewuakpe
agreed, and the principle has held again since, with minor skirmishes. Iyase N’Ode was Oba Ewuakpe’s
Iyase. His military campaigns outside
the kingdom were all successful. Iyase
N’Ode is remembered in Benin oral history as a threatening foe and a very
powerful magician, who could transform himself into an elephant in war or at
will. He conquered many kings in
Yoruba land to achieve for himself the status of ‘Okhuen.’ There have been only two Iyase’s in the
history of Edo kingdom who attained the status of ‘Okhuen,’ (meaning
conqueror of many kings). The other
was Ekpenede during the reign of Oba Ehenghuda. With that status, they could no longer live
in the city of Benin with the Oba for fear of their nursing the idea of
coup. Both these Iyases who could no
longer live in Benin City, chose to spend the rest of their lives in
Uhunmwode district, close to Ode Ekhuarha, the gateway to the territories
they had conquered and or were monitoring.
It included Etsakor, through to Yoruba land of Ado Ekiti, Akure,
Idanre, to Idah and Idoma, and Nupe-land in the north and Ukpilla and Ineme,
where raw iron-ore materials were coming from. After Oba Ewuakpe’s death, a strong
dispute broke out over whom was the senior of his two sons, Prince Ozuere and
Prince Akenzua, born of different mothers. The Iyase N’Ode backed Prince
Akenzua for the throne, but Prince Ozuere succeeded in gaining it. Oba
Ozuere (1712 – 1713 CE), was only able to
serve for about a year because Iyase’ N’Ode’s candidate, Prince Akenzua,
became Oba Oba
Akenzua I
(1713 - 1735 CE). Ehenua played a
crucial role along side Iyase N’Ode in the fight to install Prince Akenzua as
king. Oba Akenzua I, rewarded Ehenua
with the title of Ezomo and made the title hereditary for the first
time. He also for the first time
promoted Ezomo to the rank of Uzama, the seven kingmakers of the kingdom,
whose most junior member is the Edaiken.
Other members of the Uzama are the Iyase, Oliha, Ero, Eholor N’ire and
Edohen. Ezomo was the last title to
join the group of nobles; most of the others had been members since the Ogiso
era. Oba
Eresoyen (1735 – 1750 CE), had only just
ascended to his father’s throne when trouble came calling. Commandant Willem
Hogg, the resident Manager of the Dutch Trading Station in Ughoton, had for
nearly a year been pleading with Eresoyen’s father, Oba Akenzua I, to prevail
on the Benin Chiefs owing the Ughoton Dutch Trading Station, unsupplied goods
on which they had received credit lines.
Also, Holland wanted to be allowed to participate in the Ivory trade
and break the monopoly the monarch had granted the British and Portuguese
ships calling at Ughoton. Traders of
the two countries were offering better prices for the commodity. The palace
had seemed to Willem Hogg, unwilling to help the Dutch company recapture
slaves who had escaped from the Dutch company’s dungeons at Ughoton while
awaiting their evacuation ship from Elmina Castle on the Gold Coast, to
arrive. Half-hearted promises had been
extracted from the palace over the issue of the runaway slaves, against the
overriding feeling at the palace that it was the responsibility of the Dutch
to secure their purchases after taking delivery. These were the problems weighing on
Willem Hogg’s mind when he decided to visit the palace to once more seek the
help of Oba Oresoyen. In the presence of the Oba and chiefs, while discussing
the issues that brought him to the palace, argument developed, leading to the
loss of temper. The Dutchman got up
from his seat, pulled out his pistol and shot at the monarch who was quickly
shielded by his omada (sword bearer).
The omada took the bullet intended for the monarch and died on the
spot. Regicide had been attempted and
murder committed, and in the confusion that ensured, Willem Hogg sneaked out
of the palace. This incidence explains
the reluctance of the Obas of Benin to be exposed to European visitors and
why the British Capt. Henry L. Gallwey, Vice Consul for the Benin River
District of the Niger Coast Protectorate and his delegation, suffered
frustration and delays in March 1892, when they requested to meet with Oba
Ovonramwen, to conclude a ‘Treaty of Protection’ with Benin kingdom. It was the responsibility of the
Ezomo to take remedial action against the Dutchman because security matters
for Ughoton gateway were under his portfolio.
Ezomo Odia was not at the meeting. He had sequestered on his farm for a
little while because of misunderstanding with the palace over the issue of
the runaway slaves who had mostly taken refuge at his farm. Most of the other runaway slaves were with
other chiefs. This was why progress
was not possible on the matter. Since
the chiefs do not sell slaves, they did not feel it was their business
rallying runaway slaves for the Dutch?
That sums up the popular refrain on all lips at the time. To get Ezomo Odia to return to town, the
oracle prescribed that all the princesses of the realm should pay a courtesy
visit to Ezomo Odia. The princesses,
on being told that Ezomo Odia was at his farm, when they arrived at
Okhokhugbo village, braced up for the long journey through shrubs and narrow bush
paths. At the farm, they met Ezomo
Odia tending his yam crops. Before the
Ezomo could ask, to what he owed the honour, all the princesses were down on
their knees, between the yam heaps, to greet him and respectfully invite him
back to the city. Ezomo Odia after making peace with
the monarch at the palace went to Ughoton to arrest Commandant Hogg, who was
brought to the palace grounds in a mouth-gag, with waist manacles. He was executed at the Ozolua
Quadrangle. The two Dutchmen
subordinate officers to Willem Hogg at the Dutch Ughoton station were not
molested in any way. Six months after
Commandant Hogg’s execution, on instructions from Elmina Castle, the senior
of the two officers at the Dutch Ughoton station, one Herr Van Marken, who
had taken over leadership of the station, visited the palace to make peace
and facilitate the resumption of business between Benin and Holland. Oba
Akengbuda (1750 – 1804 CE), inherited the
throne of his father, Oba Eresonyen. Oba
Obanosa (1804 – 1816 CE), was Prince Osifo
and Oba Akengbuda’s son. There was a great commotion known as the ‘Okpughe’
during Prince Osifo’s reign as Oba Obanosa.
Prince Osifo was a handsome dandy who, before he was crowned king,
felt he had a rival whose name was Osopakharha. The prince hated Osopakharha for his
popularity, guts, flamboyance, and for what the prince described as his
pretensions. The problem really was
that they were look-alike young men, competing for influence and space in
public esteem. Osopakharha was the son of the
Esogban of Benin. The family lived at
Ugbague quarters and there was nothing special about that. Osopakharha was the warlock of a witches
coven known as Eniwanren-Aso (the Elders of the night). The prince’s parents were the patron and
matron respectively of the coven. Even
after the death of the prince’s father, Oba Akengbuda, the prince’s mother,
Iyoba Ose, remained the matron of the coven.
Osopakharha hated the prince for hating him, and for trying to clip
his wings as if he was his slave or underling. Before becoming Oba, and against the
strong advise of his parents, (the king and queen), the prince kept
threatening Osopakharha publicly that he would order Osopakharha’s death on
becoming king. Most people took the
prince’s threats against Osopakharha as unworthy of the prince and expected
him to out grow it. The prince was
generally highly regarded even by his elders who saw him as intelligent,
wise, and with great promise, and nicknamed him Obanosa, (Oba with the wisdom
and attributes of God). He chose his
nickname as his official royal name at his coronation. Not to be outdone, and perhaps to
further provoke the king, Osopakharha immediately chose to be called Oba Aso,
(meaning the king of the night). The
king of the night continued to match the Oba in flair and grandeur in social
space, and to make things worse, became the lover of Iyoba Ose, (the Queen
Mother), and was frequently at her palace at Uselu. The order to kill Oba Aso led to
heavy street fighting, accompanied by a great deal of public posturing and
bravado on both sides. Five thousand
people died and all the streets adjoining Ugbague quarters were sacked, and
for decades permanently deserted. Oba Obanosa took ill immediately after Oba
Aso’s death and the source was oracularly traced to Iyoba Ose. Obanosa ordered that the Iyoba Ose be
stoned to death with molded bricks of esorhue (sea chalk), at her Uselu
palace in public view. Obanosa then rushed the minimum traditional burial
rites required of him as the first son, to enable the mother’s soul rest in
peace. A few days after burying his
mother, he too died, as Osopakharha, the king of the night, had repeatedly
warned would happen in these words: “obo no biekhu, kevbe ekhu, era gba
yowa.” Meaning, ‘the hand that opens
a door goes with the door in the direction the door takes.’ Oba
Ogbebo (1816 CE). There was a strong tussle
for the throne between the two sons of Oba Obanosa, Prince Ogbebor and Prince
Osemwende, over who was the senior.
Prince Ogbebor triumphed but ruled for less than a year. Oba
Osemwende (1816 – 1848 CE), who took over the throne from his brother,
died in 1848, leaving his two sons, Prince Ogbewekon and Prince Adolor, with
the problem of who was the oldest to serve as Oba. Oba
Adolor (1848 – 1888 CE), Prince Adolor won the battle and ruled until
1888. The leadership tussle surfaced
again between the two sons of Oba Adolor, Prince Ovokhorhor and Prince
Ovonramwen. This time, the battle was
not as acrimonious as in previous times and was resolved in favour of
Ovonramwen. Oba
Ovonramwen (1888 – 1914 CE). Oba Ovonramwen
Nogbaisi was on the throne during the British invasion of Benin City in 1897.
To prepare the grounds before the invasion, the British first sneaked
military spies into Benin, to infiltrate the nation’s security system during the
Igue festival, a period of acute spiritual sensitivity for Edo people, when
their monarch goes into seclusion for two weeks for spiritual cleansing and
cannot receive visitors. The spies
were eliminated for their hostile acts.
Some while after this, the British sent a delegation to Benin in March
1892. The delegation was led by Capt.
Henry L. Gallwey, the Vice Consul for the Benin River District of the Niger
Coast Protectorate, supposedly to conclude a Treaty of Protection with Oba
Ovonramwen of Benin. The British had
deceived King Dosumu of Lagos to sign a similar treaty that ceded Lagos to
the British in 1861. They forced the
same kind of treaty on the Jaja of Opopo in 1887 to gain access and economic
control of the eastern coast of Nigeria. Quoting Capt. Henry Gallwey, who
after retirement became Sir Henry Gallwey, in a report on the 1892 visit to
Benin, for the Journal of the African Society of April 1930, under the title:
Nigeria in the (Eighteen) Nineties, he wrote in part: “Any idea I may have had of being received
by the king the day I arrived was very soon dispelled. After being kept waiting for three days, I
sent word to say that I could wait no longer.
To support my threat, every half-hour, I sent a carrier away with a
load I did not require, telling them where to wait for me. This artifice rather worried the king, and
he sent word to me asking me “not to be vexed,” as my interpreters put
it. However, that afternoon, it was
arranged for me to have audience with the king. I accordingly donned my uniform and sallied
out with my companions into the burning heat of the afternoon, a most
unreasonable time of day at which to hold a palaver. “I am afraid, however, that the kings
of Benin were never renowned for their reasonable natures. In spite of these pinpricks, it was all
very interesting and amusing, and I never gave a thought to the discomfort of
being encased in a dress intended to be won at levees and such functions in
temperate climes…….” After attempting to compromise the nation’s
security earlier on, the British delegation could not be received by the Oba
of Benin immediately they arrived because of the need to check out their real
mission. When the Oba signaled
readiness to receive the delegates, they were in “encased dress intended to
be worn at levees,” to the palace. In
other words, they were in military uniform to the palace of an Oba who was
weary of visits of Europeans. After
the incidence of the Dutchman, Commandant Willem Hogg, who pulled a pistol
and shot at Oba Oresoyen in 1735, while on a courtesy visit to the palace to
discuss business matters with the Oba and his chiefs, Benin Obas became a
little more careful about granting direct audience to European visitors. This is the genesis of the
difficulties experienced by Capt. Gallwey while trying to have an audience
with the Oba in 1892. At the palace,
the disposition and mannerisms of the visitors had to be carefully studied
and analyzed before the Oba could receive them, since they were in military
uniform. Capt. Gallwey said the Oba was “unreasonable” and then generalized
“… as all Benin Obas are wont to be.”
He had made up his mind before the visit and was looking for excuses
to set up Benin kingdom for British invasion.
To emphasize that Benin was a special case to crack, the British
rushed to force treaties on neighbouring territories. They attacked the Nana of Itsekiri, in
their ‘palm oil war’ in 1894 and exiled Nana to Ghana; attacked the Koko of
Nembe in 1895, and the Ashanti Prempeh of Ashanti in 1896, to produce duress
inspired spurious treaties to take control of the kings' respective areas of
influence. The British accused Oba Ovonramwen of
lack of cooperation, and to look good in the eyes of the rest of the world, added
“human sacrifice,” as their reasons for launching their full-scale war on
Benin in January 1897. The real reason
for the British Expedition was that the British viewed the Benin kingdom as
the main obstacle in their expansion drive into the agricultural interior of
the West African coast from the River Niger.
The war lasted for eight days from January to early February 1897, and
went in their favour because of their big guns and cannons, which the Edo
army did not have. After capturing the
ancient city of Benin and slaughtering thousands of the natives in cold
blood, to grossly depopulate the city, and the few survivors had escaped to
farms and villages, the British ransacked the palace of the Oba, homes of
nobles and chiefs, artistes' workshops, and shrines, to rescue “pagan art”
and relieve Benin of the “evil.” Then
the British burnt the entire city down to the last house. The palace of the Oba of Benin,
according to Joshua Utzheimer, 1603, was about the size of the German City of
Tubingen.” This was razed down by fire
by the British invading force, claiming to be on a civilizing mission. Is razing cities after the surviving few
victims of their assault have surrendered, not the epitome of barbarism? Can any thing be more callous than this?
Oba Ovonramwen who could not be captured but who surrendered to the British
in August, 1897, was exiled to Calabar (in south-east Nigeria), where he died
in January, 1914. From accounts of members of the
British army that invaded Benin City in 1897, we learn that the floors,
lintels, and rafters of the council chambers and the king’s residence in the
palace were lined with sheets of repoussé, decorated brass covered with royal
geometric designs and figures of men and leopards. Ornamental ivory locks sealed the doors and
carved ivory figurines surmounted anterior.
A brass snake, observed for the first time by a European in the early
eighteenth century, was still to be seen on the roof of the council chamber
house. All of these, along with other
invaluables, including precious works of arts, the invading British stole in
the name of their king and country.
What they could not steal or burn, they destroyed, including
invaluable records of the Bini scintillating civilization, to allow their
historians to falsify human history and African contributions. According to Prof. Akin Ibidapo-Obe
in: A Synthesis of African law,
“the British stripped Benin of its pagan art treasure…..almost 2,500 of the
famous Benin bronzes, valuable works of art such as the magnificent carved
doors in the palace, were carried off to Europe for sale. Today, almost every museum of the world
possesses an art treasure from Benin.
It is important to relate the account of British brigandage and
deliberate and wanton stealing of Africa’s invaluable art treasures to show
that our culture was great and was envied.
The tradition and way of life that spawned such great achievement was
deliberately destroyed and history was falsified to justify the introduction
of their obnoxious laws, some of which purported to forbid our traditional
religion.” This is how Prof. Felix Van Luschan,
a former official of the Berlin Museum for Volkerhunde, described what the
British deviously called Pagan art of Benin; “these works from Benin are
equal to the very finest examples of European casting technique. Benvenuto Celini could not have cast them
better, nor could any one else before or after him. Technically, these Bronzes represent the
very highest possible achievement.”
Only a highly civilized nation could have borne the expenditure and
facilities of such marvelous works of art, some of the best masterpieces in
the history of mankind. When the Nigerian government
requested to loan a replica of the Idia Ivory mask for use during the 2nd
World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC), held in 1977
in Lagos, Nigeria, from the British Museum of Mankind, the British
authorities insisted on the Nigerian government depositing a sum of three
million dollars before collecting the loaned
copy. A 17th century
Benin bronze head (nine inches high) stolen from the palace of Oba
Ovonramwen, by the British invaders in 1897,
was auctioned by Sotheby, New York, for US$550,000 in July, 2007. Despite the British abuse of Bini
culture and marginalization of Bini history, the splendour of Edo
civilization continues to this day to astound and excite the world. Benin artifacts are among the most
exquisite and coveted in world’s history, and the kingdom of Benin remains famous
for its sophistication in social engineering and organization. The Bini Obaship institution is still one
of the world’s most revered apart from being one of the most ancient. Benin was incorporated into what the
British called the Niger Coast Protectorate, later known as the Southern Protectorate,
and after annexing Arochukwu (igboland) in 1902, and Hausa Fulani emirates in
1903, merged what they called Southern and Northern Protectorates in 1914 to
form what in now Nigeria. Oba
Eweka II (1914 – 1933 CE), ascended his
father’s throne in 1914 and when he died, his son, Oba Akenzua II (1933 –
1979 CE), took over. Between them,
they restored a great deal of the tradition and dignity of Benin Obaship, and
rebuilt, although on a smaller scale than the Ewuare palace, the grandeur,
triumph, and supremacy, of Bini traditions. Large walled areas have now
replaced the numerous compounds of former kings, with enclosed individual
altars for each of the three immediate predecessors, and one general altar
for the rest. Decorated sheets of
brass adorn the rafters and lintels, and terra-cotta plaques recount the
exploits of former kings. The current
king of this great African kingdom and one of the most vibrant, colourful,
and enlightened ancient civilizations in the history of the world, is Oba Erediauwa, Uku Akpolo Kpolo, the Omo N’Oba N’Edo (1979 CE –). The
Oduduwa Controversy A
lot of dust was raised in the press in 2004 over the Oduduwa issue. The controversies on Oduduwa are finally
put to rest in this write-up. All students
of history must carefully preserve this historical record as a reference
point. Oduduwa is Prince Ekaladerhan of Bini and he entered Yoruba life about
900 years ago and that is categorical and final. The Yoruba/Edo collaborative evidence
follow. The first most telling revelation about Oduduwa’s ancestry is from
Oduduwa himself. He, in his lifetime, reserved a special seat in his Ife
palace for his ancestors. The seat
remains reserved until this day for the Bini monarch only. No one else, not even the reigning Ooni, or
Oronmiyan (Alaafin) in Oyo, or any of the Obalades of Yorubaland can sit on
the seat. So, if Bini is not the
wellspring of Ife, why is it that no member of the Alaafin, or Ife Ooni
dynasties (or siblings), can use the seat?
Besides,
the most sacred name for Ife is ‘Uhe’ a (non-Yoruba), deep and strong Bini
word, meaning virgin or vagina depending on how it is pronounced, and is
interpreted in myth as ‘innocence,’ ‘the birth canal,’ or ‘the source of
life.’ Also, no major Ifa ritual or
ceremony in Ife even now is considered authentic, blessed by or acceptable to
the gods and ancestors, without the presence and involvement of relevant Bini
traditional faith custodians. The
dress culture of Ife chiefs and priests is from Bini court. Professor
Ade Ajayi’s comment that the Bini are trying to re-write history and that the
motivation for this is political is ridiculous to say the least, unless
professors are not supposed to have some responsibility for truth and
scholarship. Ajayi’s comment influenced less-informed commentators who
accused the Oba of Bini of possible political bias at the age of 80, in an
interview published in The News of
28 June 2004. The age of the Bini
monarch bellies the silly accusation.
No Bini historian, including Omo N’oba Erediauwa has said that a rebel
king migrated from Benin to father Oduduwa in Ile-Ife. The Yoruba historians peddling this
falsehood should take time off to read this specially packaged report on Oduduwa
because it puts the Oduduwa controversy to rest once and for all. Perhaps
the most childish comment on the Oduduwa issue so far was the one in an
article published in the Sunday Sun of June 27, 2004. The writer is upset over the antics of Bini
prostitutes in Italy but ignores the Yoruba credit card schemers, painting
the USA and Europe red with their notoriety? He says and I quote: “The Bini
position on Oduduwa is motivated by imperial politics, a dose of envy and
irrepressible ego. It is part of an
agenda to hijack the enviable fame of Yoruba dynasty and superimpose it on
the subdued ego of the Bini people who have lost the glory of their once
powerful Bini Empire to the greater might of the British colonial masters.” I
was expecting the writer to say ‘Yoruba masters’ instead of ‘British masters’
in his erroneous statement. As far as
I know, there is no record of the Yoruba ever once conquering or colonizing
even an inch of Biniland. Rather, the
Bini colonized, dominated and enslaved large tracks of Yorubaland and people
until British colonialism liberated the Yoruba, so who should be envying
who? Besides, the Yoruba were
colonized along side the Bini and we all gained our ‘flag’ independence from
the British on the same day, which was the 1st of October
1960. Black collective plight as the
most wretched people in the world has not changed since ‘flag’ independence,
so what is there in the Yoruba to make the Bini or anyone jealous? The writer is proud that there are Yoruba
enclaves in Brazil and so on. But they got there as slaves and they are still
slaves, (second-class citizens), in the Diaspora right now. The Bini were never enslaved, (the Bini
kept hordes of Yoruba and other slaves from their conquests and shielded them
from the slave trade), so you would not find slave colonies of the native
Bini extraction anywhere in the Diaspora.
What greater honour could anyone have than that? No
Yoruba commentator or expert so far has provided concrete evidence or
credible story on Oduduwa. Some that
have attempted to do so, have quoted spurious speculations from racist,
paternalistic and condescending British historians like Basil Davidson,
because that was what they passed their exams on. Prof. Siyan Oyeweso of the
LASU History Department, goes further to swear by some 1950s – 60s researchers,
such as Philip Igbafe, R. E. Bradbury, Alan Ryder and G.A. Akinola, who
quoted profusely from each other, and largely relied on the ‘white god’
Davidson’s story for authenticity.
What right do we have to expect these ‘experts’ to transcend the infantile
bias of their day that Oduduwa was God incarnate, who as the Yoruba
progenitor, descended with a rope from the sky? Could the historians have said Oduduwa was
not God at a time of Yoruba political dominance in the region? Could they have set off on a limb and
expect their books to be recommended reading by the West African Examination
Council (WAEC)? The
overwhelming counter argument by the Yoruba so far, weighs heavily on why the
Bini have only just come out now with their Oduduwa story? It is wrong for anyone to claim that the
Edo origin of Oduduwa story is a recent creation. Prof Siyan Oyeweso even tried to put a 1971
date on when Edo people invented the Oduduwa story. He provides no evidence of his assertion
other than that we should take his words for it because he is a
professor. And if he were allowed to
get away with his blatant distortion of history, it would become the history
that students pass their exams on.
That is how the Davidsons and Bradburys became the authorities on African
history. I
have discovered serious laxity on the part of some of our supposed African
professors. They accept any rubbish
put out by the dishonest, ill-informed Basil Davidsons of the white world as
the gospel truth requiring no further investigation. No black intellectual outside Africa today
relies on racist whites as sources of knowledge about themselves because such
whites lie about the African contributions.
They claim that we were nothing until slavery. That we were worse than wild animals before
they intervened in our lives and that we are still less than animals now. Racists
whites do not want us challenging their lies and upsetting the applecart. But
the greatest thing about truth is that until it triumphs, it allows lie no
peace. It does not matter when the
truth comes out? If a researcher comes
out with the true identity of God today (as I have now done in this book),
billions of years into the creation story, does that make the truth less true? The world continues to stumble on new
‘truths’ everyday because original researchers did not have the accumulated
knowledge and tools now available to modern research work. Ovbia
Oba Edun Agharese Akenzua, in his book: Ekaladerhan,
tells us that while the Oba of Benin was visiting Ife on November 11, 1982,
the Ooni said in part……”As we have
mentioned briefly during our historic visit to your domain not too long ago,
we said that we were there to pat you on the back for a job well done. Your present visit we regard as a short
homecoming, where you will have an opportunity to commune with those deities
you left behind. Now my son and
brother, long may you reign.” “The
address suggested that the people of Benin, or at least, the Royal Family,
owe their origin to Ile-Ife. In the prelude of his response to the Ooni’s
welcome address, the Oba of Benin tacitly rebutted the submission.” “The Oba said: If the Ooni of Ife calls the Oba of Benin his son and the Oba of
Benin calls the Ooni of Ife his son, they are both right.” “The Oba did not elaborate, but in the womb
of that innocuous assertion is the fetus of a story, which had never been
told in full. In both Benin and Uhe,
the story is told with varying details.” Six
years ago, I sent the Edo story on Oduduwa to Adeniji, the Arts Editor of
ThisDay newspaper at the time. I
phoned and he said I should send it but he never used the story. I understand that the Daily Independent of
Friday May 14, 2004, published a version of the article in my name with my
original title. I have not read it but
I suspect it is the same article I sent to ThisDay two years earlier that the
Daily Independent newspaper published when the controversy was raging. Whatever it is, am I to blame for the story
not being used earlier? I don’t own a
newspaper or magazine. I can only try
and reach out through facilitators, hoping that they and everyone else would
be interested in the unraveling of truth. Edo
historians have written volumes on the Oduduwa story. My parents told me the story in my early
teens. They too were told the story in
their teens as are every Edo child regardless of what they are taught at
school for WAEC exams. I wrote about
it in the Sunday Guardian and the Post Express some twelve to fifteen years
ago. Five years back, I put the story
all over the Internet, and a few years earlier I produced a book on Oduduwa
in my Obobo book series for children.
Four years ago, I did a four-part series on Edo history in my Daily
Sun’s weekly column, which was lost on the public until the Oba of Bini’s
book reviews woke up our pseudo authorities on Oduduwa. The Yoruba professors
who put a workshop together on Oduduwa history at the EKO FM Multi-purpose
Hall in Lagos on Thursday October 7, 2004, were not aware that my write-up
preceded the Edo monarch’s book reviews, and yet they pretend to be
knowledgeable on what is written and when about Oduduwa. So, there is a time, place and opportunity
for everything. Prof
Isola Olomola of the OAU’s History Dept. claims that Oduduwa could not have
been a Benin man. Olomola would not
accept such history anyway and his reason is very simple indeed, Olomola is a
professor and a Yoruba. He puts no
argument forward to buttress his position; instead, he allows his tribal
pride to becloud his better judgment.
That is not scholarship but an attempt to write history by ‘ugboju’
or terror tactics. Prof. Siyan Oyeweso
beats his chest that Oduduwa is not Ekaladerhan and that Oduduwa dropped from
the sky. The works of such professors litter library shelves around our
country, distorting our history and keeping us ill informed. To move forward on the Oduduwa issue,
Yoruba historians must let go on their two fallacious preoccupations: (a)
that Oduduwa dropped from the sky at the beginning of time, and (b) that
Oduduwa was the Yoruba progenitor. The
Bini do not claim to be the Yoruba progenitors and as Prof. Isola Olomola
suggested at the October 7, 2004, workshop on Oduduwa, skeletal remains of a
stone-age man has been found at Iwo Eleru, near Isarun in Ondo state, with
similar sites also discovered in Ife, Owo, and Asejire. Dating of the sites may need more vigorous
investigation and coupled with the facilities of an open mind, we could begin
to move forward on the Oduduwa issue.
This is what this article on Oduduwa tries to do by asking questions
and providing available knowledge in a systematic, comprehensive, and
simplified way, to solve the controversy and carry even non-scholars
along. My most potent weapon in this
regard, is the unraveling of the date of the Oduduwa experience. When
did Oduduwa reign in Ife? If
we can establish the date and time of Oduduwa’s interregnum in Ife, most of
the mysteries about who he was would be laid to rest. I have solved the problem of date in this
article to finally put the Oduduwa controversy to rest. The Yoruba do not
know the time of his reign in Ife beyond the speculation that his name was
synonymous with Ifa, and that the Ifa divinity was there from the beginning
of time. In other words that Oduduwa
is as old as time itself. The idea
that he was here at the beginning of time is too vague for serious minded
people to consider. The
Universe is some 10 to 20 billion years old and the Earth 4.6 billion
years. Humans are the late comers on
Earth and have evolved over a period of 13 million years albeit as members of
the chimpanzee family. We only started
looking as we do now (i.e. Homo sapiens) 50,000 to 100,000 years ago. 15,000 years ago to be specific, the human
race was still very primitive. The
stirring of civilization started in earnest from Black Egypt less than 10,000
years ago. All races of the world
originated from the African (Black), and moved to occupy the rest of the
earth from Africa. Even when original African settlers all over the world had
begun to change in skin colour due to climatic differences and had forgotten
their African origins, new waves of Africans continued to invade their old
colonies to assert their authority and teach new knowledge. From the Osirian reign in Egypt in 4100
BCE, Africans began to teach the rest of mankind farming, industrialization,
commerce, and how to organize cities and nation states, while the African
religion, the Mystery System, (which is the mother of all the religions of
the world), began its uninterrupted supremacy until about 2000 years
ago. Africans
from Egypt colonized Mesopotamia and Elam in 4000 BCE to teach the rudiments
of civilization and introduce African religion (spirituality), which with
emphasis on Nimrod, carved from the image of Ausar (Osiris), went through several
phases to become Zoroastrianism. The
African religion also gave birth to the Islamic religion in Persia, 1000
years before the birth of Muhammad.
The Dravidians from Ethiopia took Hinduism to India in 3200 BCE. In
1640 BCE, 70 Hebrews entered Egypt but some 3,154,000 African-Hebrews left
Egypt in 1230 BCE, under the leadership of the African prince called
Moses. Moses trained in the Mystery
System as a prince for 40 years and adapted its laws for his followers. Arabs are a hybrid of Africans and Caucasians. Muhammad was born in 570 CE and he adopted
the Babylonian (African) religion that was already 1000 years old from Persia
during his time. The
reverse dispassion of blacks from the Nile Valley began seriously as a result
of the over population of the Valley, then as a consequence of social
upheavals, and finally due to Persian 525 BCE, Greek 332 BCE, and Roman 55
BCE invasions of the black race Egypt.
The civilizations that emerged from the Egyptian disturbances in the
West African sub-region, not in any special order, where Ghana, Chad, Mali,
Benin and Songhai, with some dating back to 1500 BCE, at least. The
Bini so far trace their history to perhaps hundreds or thousands of years
before 40 BCE when they where called Idu and to 40 BCE specifically, when the
Ogiso dynasty began. Thirty-one Ogisos
ruled Idu (called Igodomigodo), between 40 BCE and about 1200 CE. The first Ogiso (king) was called Ogiso
Igodo and his capital was at Ugbekun.
Ogiso Igodo’s successor, Ogiso Ere, transferred the capital from
Ugbekun to Uhudumwunirin. The last of
the Ogiso kings was called Owodo. He
reigned in the early 11th century CE and had only one child, a
son, despite having many wives. That child, Ekaladerhan, is Oduduwa. All
Oduduwa’s telltale links with Edo are still there open to investigation. The non-mortal aura of Edo God-son kings
since 40 BCE. The sacrosanct first son succeeding father traditional
law. The, around 1200 CE, Ogiso
succession problems because heir apparent, Ekhaladerha, escaped to Yorubaland.
The emergence of Ogieamie chiefdom to sell Edo land at every coronation to
Edo Oba elect since 1200 CE. By the above account, Bini historians are saying
that Oduduwa’s reign in Ife ended around 1200 CE. Yoruba historians confirm
that Oduduwa’s first child and son was Oronmiyan and that Oronmiyan was the
first Alaafin of Oyo. Yoruba historians deliberately avoid discussing the
date Oronmiyan ascended the Alaafin throne obviously because that would
destroy their myth about when Oduduwa intervened in their lives. The
Bini say the Alaafin’s dynasty in Oyo began around 1200 CE. Oronmiyan was in Igodomigodo in 1170 CE,
and it was after his sojourn in Igodomigodo that he set up his Oyo
dynasty. This date is not difficult
for Yoruba historians to verify and if it is true, Oduduwa was alive during
his son’s sojourn in Igodomigodo and also when the Oyo dynasty came into
being. Therefore, the Ife stool could not have become vacant until about 1200
CE. This is not really debatable
because Yoruba historians confirm that 37 Oonis reigned in Ife before
Akinmoyero in (1770-1800), and that 13 more have reigned since. This enables us to prove the 1200 CE date
mathematically. If from 1800 CE to
2004 CE (i.e. a period of 204 years), produced 13 Oonis on the average, how
many Oonis could have reigned from 1200 CE to 1800 CE (i.e. a period of 600
years)? The answer is 38 Oonis. The
Ife history of the Ooni dynasty confirms 38 Oonis, including Akinmoyero (1770
– 1800). Here are their names in the ascending order of the period of their
reign: Ogun, Osangangan, Obamakin, Ogbogbodirin, Obalufon, Oronmiyan,
Ayetise, Lajamisan, Lajodogun, Lafogido, Odidimode Regbesin, Aworokolokun,
Ekun, Ajimuda, Gboo-Nijio, Okinlajosin, Adegbalu, Osinkola, Ogbooru, Giesi,
Luwoo (female), Lumobi, Agbedegbede, Ojee-Lokunbirin, Lagunja, Larunka,
Ademilu, Omogbogbo, Ajila-Oorun, Adejinle, Olojo, Okiti, Lugbade, Aribiwoso,
Osinlade, Adagba, Ojigidiri (Lumbua), Akinmoyero (1770 – 1800), Gbanlare
(1800 –1823), Gbegbaaja (1823 –1835), Wunmonije (1835 –1839), Adegunle
Abewelo (1839 –1849), Degbinsokun (1849 – 1878), Oranyigba (1878 – 1880),
Derin Ologbenla (1880 –1894), Adelekan Olubuse I (1894 –1910), Adekola
(1910), Ademiluyi Ajagun (1910 –1930), Adesoji Aderemi (1930 – 1970), and the current Ooni Okunade Sijuwade
Olubuse II, whose reign dates from 1980.
Obviously, Oronmiyan, the first child and son of Oduduwa, did not
inherit his father’s throne, which is the genesis of the quarrel between the
true Oduduwa’s heirs and the Ooni’s dynasty.
Oduduwa’s
eight children (as claimed by Yoruba historians), are known as the Obalades
or crowned chiefs of Yorubaland. The
argument is that not all Yoruba Obas have genuine crowns; only the Obalades
are the exception and consist of the Alaafin of Oyo, the Oregun of Ile Ila,
the Alake of Egbaland, the Owaoboku of Ijeshaland, the Alaketu of Ketu, the
Owa of Ilesa and two Obas in the Republic of Benin as follows: the Onipopo of
Popo and the Onisabe of Sabe. What
this means in effect is that Yoruba civilization did not start in earnest
until the reign of Oduduwa and his sons.
All leading Yoruba historians agree on this. In
fact, we know that it was from early twelfth
century that Ife grew into a large city surrounded by walls, inhabited
mostly by farmers and some skilled craftsmen who created great works of arts
respected around the world today. The
famous Ife bronze, terracotta works, statues in baked clay, some representing
the Ooni dressed in full regalia, are among the world’s greatest works of
art. Some of the terracotta were so
large and complex, it is impossible to bake them today even with modern
technology. All these date back to the
eleventh century CE. Because
Ogun, the first Ooni after the demise of Oduduwa, was not Oduduwa’s child, he
was not considered an Obalade by Yoruba tradition and elite. Ogun was a chief with spiritual
responsibilities. He usurped the Ife throne
because the true heirs to the throne were busy else where at the time of
their father’s death. Ogun out maneuvered the children of Oduduwa over the
Ife throne with his superior knowledge of the inner working of the Ooni’s
palace, and his spiritual prowess as the head of the Ogun shrine. Oduduwa’s true heirs have been smarting
over this ever since. Chief
Obafemi Awolowo, the Premier of the Western Region of Nigeria in the early
sixties, strengthened the hands of the Oonis, and facilitated their
prominence in Yorubaland by appointing Oba Adesoji Aderemi, the Ooni of Ife
at the time, as the first Governor of the now defunct Western Region of
Nigeria. Oba Adesoji Aderemi’s ascendance was consolidated with his
Chairmanship of the Western Region’s Council of Obas that at the time
entrapped the Edo Oba. With such
immense political power of his own, and the political influence and authority
of Awolowo as the leader of the Yoruba, no one could raise a finger against
the supposed illegitimacy of the Ooni’s dynasty in Yorubaland. The Bini, of course, were worst hit as a
voiceless minority in Awolowo’s Western Region’s politics of tribal exclusion
and domination. The
Oduduwa lineage tried to fight back by identifying with the NPN in opposition
to the UPN. Awolowo accentuated the
schism by promoting the emergence of Bode Thomas, a young and dynamic lawyer
from Oyo. Bode, with Awolowo’s clout,
wielded considerable political power in Oyo to the point of being rude to the
Alaafin, who was alleged to have put a curse on him. Bode became mad to the chagrin of Awolowo,
who promptly banished the Alaafin from his Oyo throne. Just as the Oduduwa’s
legitimate heirs and the Yoruba elite generally, have always known and
concealed the quarrel over the Ife throne, the Bini have always known their
history and borne the pains of not being able to act on it because Chief
Awolowo was unassailable and had turned the Ooni dynasty into a colossus to
cow all opposition. Another
way of confirming Oduduwa’s 1200 CE demise date in Ife, is to look into the
famous account of valour during Oduduwa’s reign when an external invasion by
the Igbos from the East took place.
The record can easily be traced and Moremi’s courage came to the fore
at the time for sacrificing her life for the safety of her people. From 1200 CE to 2004 CE is only 804 years,
so the Yoruba should stop deceiving themselves that Oduduwa dropped from the
skies at the beginning of time or that Ife is the ‘source’ of the
universe. Ife is ‘Uhe,’ meaning
Oduduwa’s re-birth, or successful re-location from Bini land of his
ancestors. Where
did Oduduwa come from in Yoruba myth? The
Yoruba story about Oduduwa is extremely thin on substance. What we have is wrapped largely in myths,
parables, and folktales. In fact, the
most generous way to describe the story is that the Yoruba do not know anything
about their highly revered progenitor.
Oduduwa himself left a tell tale evidence of his ancestry in his
lifetime. He reserved a special seat
in his palace for his ancestors, which only the Bini monarch can sit on even
now. No other human, whether Arab,
Eskimo, Alaafin, Ooni, or Yoruba, (bleached or not), can sit on the
seat. Despite this vivid evidence that
has survived through the centuries, some Yoruba historians still claim that
he was from somewhere in Arabia. Any
place from Egypt to Lebanon to Iraq to Saudi Arabia has been mentioned, and
the Yoruba professors’ strongest proof of Oduduwa’s Arabian ancestry so far
is that he was light in complexion.
This may have influenced some heirs of Oduduwa, who have been accused
of serious attempt at bleaching. The ‘light’ in complexion argument could
place Oduduwa’s origin any where in the world from Edo, to China, to Britain,
to Mexico, but who dares fault our professors who passed their exams on
European history? The Saudi Arabian
origin theory is not popular with the Ijebus who erroneously claim Wadai as
their roots. Those linking Oduduwa
with Iraq claim that he descended from Lamurudu (the Nimrod of Babylon’s
myth). Nimrod was not an historical
figure but a myth constructed from the life image of Ausar, the god of the
Chaldeans, who invaded and colonized Persia from 4000 BCE. In any case, is it not dishonest to try to
link 6000-year-old ancestry with 900-year-old personalities, without
authentic and verifiable historical documents or DNA test? You can deceive
the illiterate with myths but Nigerians are becoming more and more educated
now. There
is another school of thought among some Yoruba historians claiming that
Oduduwa came from the East. Some
Yoruba historians are more specific and claim that Oduduwa first settled on a
hill East of the valley over-looking the native Yoruba settlements. If he settled first in the Eastern side of
the hamlet, isn’t there a good chance that he may have come from that side
too? Bini would appear to be more East
of Yorubaland than any Arabian country.
The argument that the native Yoruba people probably did not know their
East from their North is not tenable because the same people told us that the
Igbos attacked them from the East in Moremi’s story, and both the Bini and
the Igbos are East of Yorubaland. Who
was Oduduwa in Yoruba myth? There
is a measure of agreement between the Yoruba and Bini historians about who
Oduduwa was. The Bini say he was their
prince. All Yoruba historians agree
that Oduduwa was a noble and some say he is a god. Many settle for a prince with impeccable
royal blood and immense spiritual powers. The Yoruba historians tell us that
Oduduwa was the first ruler of the Yoruba people. There
is no mention in any Arabian historical records of a prince of such
illustrious ancestry who abandoned his privileged ranks at home and moved
several hundreds of miles through bush paths to live in the West African
jungle. Such incidents do not happen casually or without clear excuse such as
a jihad or war of conquest, and when it did, all tribes along their routes
felt their impact one way or the other.
In the case of Oduduwa, mum is the word from the Northern flanks of
Yorubaland all the way through the jungle to the other side of the
Mediterranean Sea. The
God-son origin claim by Oduduwa Oduduwa’s
claim to uniqueness loses its enigma when traced to its Bini source because
Bini history precedes Oduduwa’s intervention in Ife by some 1240 years. Arabs
do not make such a claim, not even for Muhammad. The
Bini version is that Osanobua decided to populate the Earth, so, Osanobua
sent four sons, each with a choice of peculiar gift. The oldest three of the sons were
spirits. The first chose to have
wealth, the next chose wisdom and the third chose magical skills. As the fourth and youngest was about to
make his choice known, Owonwon cried out to him to settle for a snail
shell. This he did. When the canoe the four children were
travelling in reached the middle of the waters, the youngest son turned his
snail shell upside down to release endless stream of sand resulting in the
emergence of land from the waters. The four sons at first were afraid to step
on the land from the canoe. To test
the firmness of the land, they sent the Chameleon, which is why Chameleons
walk with hesitation. On stepping on the land, only the youngest son turned
human, the others remained spirits. Osanobua
came down with a chain from the sky, to allocate responsibilities. Osanobua
gave the oldest son control of the waters. The Bini call this son, Olokun
(meaning the god of the river). The
other two children had spirit freedom to balance out the negative and
positive forces of nature. Osanobua
appointed the youngest son as ruler of the earth. The son called the earth
(agbon), and promptly set up his headquarters at Idu which later became
Igodomigodo. Osanobua then settled in
the realm of the spirit world across the waters, where the sky and the earth
meet. The Ifa myth of creation draws
significantly from the Bini and Egyptian corpus. It claims that Olodumare
sent his son, Orunmila, (another name for Oduduwa), from heaven on a chain,
carrying a five-legged cockerel, a palm-nut and a handful of earth. Before then, the entire earth surface was
covered with water. Oduduwa scattered
the earth on water; the cockerel scattered it with its claws so that it
became dry land. The palm-nut grew
into a tree representing the eight crowned rulers of Yoruba land. Oduduwa had eight children who later
dispersed to found and rule other Yoruba communities. The Yoruba myth of
creation is community based, confirming lineal relationship with it’s (earth
based Bini, and universe based Egyptian), mother sources. Religion
as a tool for unraveling Oduduwa’s origin No
Yoruba historian has been able to prove yet, Oduduwa’s Arab names. As an illustrious Arabian prince, Oduduwa
must have been a staunch Moslem, but Yoruba historians have failed to
enlighten us so far about how he adjusted so easily to the Ifa
mysteries. Oduduwa did not invent Ifa
but appears to have been a strong adherent and custodian of it so
effortlessly. For a Moslem with possible jihadist credentials, Oduduwa’s easy
conversion to Ifa must have been a great feat considering Muhammad’s open
rage against what he called, serving more than one God. To
try to overcome this observation, some Yoruba historians claim that Oduduwa
was an idol worshipper who escaped from persecution during Arabian
antiquity. Well, Muhammad’s era does
not equate with the beginning of time.
It was less than 1500 years ago, 700 years before the demise of
Oduduwa, and encompassing a period of rather modern documentation of
history. There is no record so far
from the Yoruba tribe or outside it, at least, about an illustrious Arabian
prince, who escaped persecution at home to surface in Yoruba West Africa in
the last 800 years because he was an idol worshipper. That would have been headline news anywhere
in the world, wouldn’t it? No
Ifa major ritual or ceremony is considered genuine or acceptable to the gods
or ancestors without being wrapped in Edo traditions and involving a typical
Bini traditional faith custodian, from Oduduwa’s time until now. This is
because both Ifa and Bini traditional faiths have a strong common source,
which explains Oduduwa’s easy assimilation into the Ifa traditions. Oduduwa was the spiritual leader of Ifa
divinity. The Yoruba (who call Tu-SoS,
Olodumare), saw Oduduwa as a direct descendant. His banishment link with the God-son (Ogisos)
was kept a secret from the Yoruba. In
fact, the Yoruba believed he was a deity from the sky and accorded him great
reverence as their leading ancestor and spiritual icon. The
Bini say there are two aspects of man.
One half is ehi, which is
the spirit essence and the other half is the omwa, which is the physical person. The two interchange existences seven times
each, to produce in totality the fourteen phases of human existence. Before birth, the ehi (the spirit essence) of the individual humbly goes before
Osanobua (Tu-SoS), to ask for the kind of life he wishes to live on earth (agbon). The requests obviously are made with a
baby’s innocence of rights and wrongs and the weight of the karmic debit and
credit baggage of the individual from previous life styles. However, the choice of the new life style
is patently and entirely the individual’s, and could be any or a combination
of scenarios. He may want to be a
powerful magician, a rich businessman or farmer, a great warrior, a happy or
unhappy family man, a wimp or beggar, a revered medicine man, a famous chief
or popular king and even a notorious thief. The
request process is called hi and
leads to Osanobua stamping his sacred staff on the floor to seal the
wishes. The secret wishes are only
known to ehi who is entrusted with
the responsibility of ensuring that his second half (omwa) keeps to the promises made before Osanobua. The Bini, however, believe that their
ancestors can intercede on their behalf, when faced with failure in
life. This apparently is in
contradiction of the popular notion of destiny being immutable but then, what
is a man’s life worth without hope? In
Yoruba mythology, Olodumare is the Almighty Tu-SoS whose sixteen ministers
serve as intermediaries between Tu-SoS and mortals because (Tu-SoS) Olodumare
is too great and remote. The ministers
include Orunmila, the God of wisdom, Obatala, the God of creativity, Ogun,
the God of Iron and Shango (Jakuta), the God of lightening, just like the
attributes of the Sefiroth of the Jews.
Obatala has the responsibility of creating human forms, while Orunmila
endows the forms with sense. Obatala
was revered as a great artist and yet deformities continued to smear his
record in creating perfect human images.
He rushed back to Olodumare to request for the power to mould only
perfect human forms. Ajalorun, the
gatekeeper to heaven, laughed and put Obatala through a learning process to
demonstrate that humans choose what they would look like or become, before
birth, and not even Obatala could change that. In other words, failure or success in life
depends on ones chosen destiny, says the Yoruba. Destiny is chosen by ori or ori-inu (the
inside of ones head or inner essence.
Therefore, ori-inu alone,
and no one else, knows the content of the chosen destiny. Ori is the spiritual essence of man and
precedes him to life, sheds part to animate and monitor the physical self on
earth while the other part stays behind with the Creator. The part that animates life returns to the
other half on the death of the animated physical body on earth. This,
of course, means that there are two sides to man. The ori-inu,
which is identified by the Yoruba with the head, and the eniyan (which is identified with the heart) and includes
aspirations, desires, feelings and thoughts. When aspirations fail to tally
with immutable destiny, the head and the heart are said to be in conflict and
to minimize or prevent this tendency the Yoruba have developed prayerful
songs to extol the ori-inu to
harmonize with eniyan while on earth. This
peculiar song is translated by Prof. E.D. Babatunde to English (published in ’Bini and Yoruba Notions of
Human Personality’ the ‘Substance of African Philosophy, edited by C.S.
Momoh, African Philosophy Projects Publications, Auchi, Nigeria, 2000). My
inner self, steer me to a good course, My
director, allocate a good place for me, I
look up to you. My
inner self, do not spoil my endeavours, Come
and make my life successful, Hearken
to my call, Because
if I want to have money, I ask it from you. If
I want many children, I
will plead for them through you. My
inner self, please do not frustrate my efforts
to look up to you. The
central figure in Ifa divinity is Orunmila, the God of wisdom who, in Yoruba
myth, was witness to earth’s creation.
You can’t go further in human history than that. Oduduwa’s link with immortality comes from
his sometimes being equated with Orunmila in Yoruba myth. Orunmila uses his special insight as a
witness to creation, to guide, help, and teach the 401 spirits sent to earth
to organize the world. The spirits
include gods of fire, iron, vegetation, thunder, eshu, and goddesses such as,
Yemoja the goddess of fertility. These
are specialized pockets of karmic or electromagnetic vibrancies,
incorporating the spirits of ancestors, who performed incredible feats when
alive. They are neither good nor bad,
just spiritual energies to tap into for selfish and other ends. ‘Ifa’
sounds like the Bini ‘Iha.’ Both
divinations are oral, secretive in dimension and thrive on words of wisdom
from the obvious to the proverbial, the mystical to the esoteric. They are gigantic memory banks of words on
all sorts of events on earth and under the heavens. No issue is too trivial to preserve and the
information banks’ subjects range from births to deaths of the lowly and the
kings, wars, evolution of great and small empires and nations, journeys,
marriages, quarrels, etc. Every
incidence imaginable is carefully catalogued, itemized and stored away ready
to be accessed by the trained mind at will.
The knowledge banks are constantly being replenished and updated to
make them ever fresh, relevant, and comprehensive. Both
Ifa and Iha religious traditions use myths, parables, proverbs, symbols,
magic and numbers to conceal truth from the non-initiates. Initiates go through long and tedious
periods of training where teachings are memorized rather than written
down. Ifa and Iha students start
between the ages 7-10. Progress
between training grades is slow and laborious, subjecting students to memory
and bodily ordeals and tests. Only the very fit, tough, and determined can
survive and complete the training and graduate. Many drop by the wayside. Students graduate 12 years later as
philosopher-priests, known as Babalawos (or Awos) in Ifa and Obos in Bini.
The Ifa library of wisdom is called Odu ifa and consists of 256 verses
divided into 16 chapters of 250 minor categories. An Awo, apart from memorizing all these,
must be able to recognize and interpret the 16 major signs and the 240 minor
ones as they appear or fall in divination. Language
in aid of history Language
is a legitimate tool for constructing history and all the names associated
with Oduduwa have deeper roots in Bini language than in the Yoruba. The Arabs or the Yoruba, do not have words
like ‘Uhe’ (the sacred name for Bini and Ile-Ife, or words ending with
‘duwa,’ ‘noyan’ or ‘miyan,’ which are typical Bini vowels. ‘Uhe’ is perhaps the most powerful and
revealing of all the Bini names associated with Ile-Ife because depending on
how it is pronounced, it could refer to something sacred or taboo (such as
Virgin or Virginity or Vagina), interpreted as innocence, source, birth
canal. Oduduwa
is not the ancestor of the Yoruba Many
Yoruba historians have canvassed the view that Oduduwa was not the Yoruba
ancestor and we have now proved it that Oduduwa entered Yoruba history about
900 years ago. There were Yoruba
people living in the hamlets Oduduwa stumbled upon. But Oduduwa and his children, the Obalades
organized the Yoruba into a nation state and civilized them. Oduduwa was the first ruler in all of
Yoruba land and was seen as the Yoruba spiritual progenitor. He introduced them to the idea of
rulership. Bini history precedes
Oduduwa’s by at least 1,240 years because 31 Ogisos ruled Igodomigodo between
40 BCE – 1200 CE. Those
1,240 years of early Bini history could not have been deliberately
constructed to coincide with Oduduwa’s intervention in Ife so that the Bini
could claim to have been the progenitors of the Yoruba? It is the Yoruba that are looking to be
someone’s progenitors anyway. Edo
simply states the fact that between 1100 and 1200 CE, her Prince Ekhaladerha
took 1,240 years of illustrious Edo civilization to some remote non-Edo
hamlets he named Uhe (re-birth) and his domicile he named Ilefe (successful
escape), and woke up the Yoruba race. According
to Ovbia Oba Edu Akenzua in his book, Ekaladerhan,
“the issue is not about whether or not the relationship between Benin and Ife
existed, its existence has been proven beyond doubt by anthropological and
folkloric evidence. Songs and rituals
are performed in both Benin and Ife today which eulogize the link with
nostalgia, relish and pride.” The
Yoruba hamlets, Ekhaladarha eventually settled in were obviously no where as
sophisticated as Igodomigodo. Yoruba historians attest to the contrast in
sophistication between the kingdom Oduduwa was coming from and the Yoruba
villages he joined. The question now
is, why a people as sophisticated in political and social administration,
spanning a period of 1,240 years, would be looking to some unknown alien
villages for a king at a time of crisis?
Unless through military conquest, such adventure is not normal and the
Oduduwa’s hamlets in Yoruba land at the time were not known to have conquered
even their neighbours let alone to have ventured as far away from home as
Igodomigodo. Ovbia
Oba Edu Akenzua again, “at the time when the event took place, Uhe had no
record of a ruler, let alone a famous one, from whom neighbouring countries
could make such a request. Why did the
people of Igodomigodo choose Uhe, instead of another place, which is perhaps
nearer, to go and request for a king? “ The
argument that a patently powerful kingdom like Igodomigodo, reached out to
her son Ekhaladerha, to plead with him to return home to his father’s throne,
is not so outlandish after all.
Especially considering that the people of Igodomigodo put a great deal
of premium on the first son of their king inheriting the father’s
throne. Ogiso by the way means rulers
from the sky or God-son kings, which explains why the people of Igodomigodo
were averse to mere mortals ruling them. It had to be the Ogiso’s first son
and no body else, and that is still the case today. The Oba of Bini’s first
son is the heir apparent to the Bini throne. Bini
Obaship is one of the most revered institutions in the world because of the
way it has sustained its awesome prestige with strict and meticulous
attention to ancient traditions of valour, discipline and integrity. Bini chieftaincy titles cannot be bought or
conferred on non-indigenes or frivolously.
Every Bini chief performs a peculiarly sacred duty and responsibility
to the people of Bini. It does not
make sense, therefore, to think that a people who would not and have never
conferred their chieftaincy titles on non-indigenes, would voluntarily
invite, accept, or surrender to non-indigenes as their kings. Due to
celestial origins, the Edo monarch cannot eat out and cannot be diverted from
full time palace duties to hustle for contracts. In fact, he cannot function
outside the palace confines without divine sanction.
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