DeFuturePresido:
The crux of the disagreement is this: Who should rightfully take custody of these artefacts? To answer the question, let us take two approaches:

1. Who was the original owner of these artefacts, and who, today, physically embodies that person?

2. Who has the greatest capacity to preserve these artefacts for the greater good of the largest number of people and for posterity? Is it
A. The Benin Royal Palace,
B. A privately managed Museum Trust,
C. The Edo State Government or
D. The Federal Government of Nigeria?

ANSWERS
1. The rightful original "owner" or custodian was Oba Ovonramwen Nogbaisi, who was deposed during the British "punitive expedition" of 9 - 17 Feb 1897, which was led by Rear-Admiral Harry Rawson, and which led to sacking of the Benin empire.

The person that, today, physically embodies Oba Ovonramwen is (unequivocally) the current ruler of Benin Kingdom, Oba Eheneden Erediauwa Ewuare II.

2. The answer to who can best manage the artifacts, unfortunately, is not straight forward. Technically, it should be the Federal or State government. However, you only need to pay a visit to Federal and State museums, libraries, or monuments across the country to understand that good management and maintenance is not a strong point of government in these parts.

That leaves us with The Royal Palace or The Private Trust.

My inclination is to suggest a merger of the two options:

A. The museum/cultural district should be built in the location chosen by the Oba of Benin.
B. The museum/cultural district should be managed by the Private Trust.
C. Oba Ewuare II should be made the Chairman of the Trust.
D. The CEO of the Trust should be a thoroughly seasoned professional and should be chosen via a merit-based selection process.
E. Members of the Trust Board should be drawn equally from nominees provided by the Benin Palace, the State Government, the Trust's Directors and the Federal Government.
F. All decisions should be made via simple majority votes.

I believe that this option will resolve the issue and provide the best solution.

There is money involved that's why they are fighting - the money is N11 Billion - eleven billion naira
Oba won chop am alone - Governor say no - the state need the money to upgrade the exisiting museum - build a new one for these artefacts which will provide emplyment for the citizens of the state - if that money enter OBA hand - na voicemail - nobody go know wetin happen to am - but if the state governemnt takes control of it at least EFCC can ask Obaseki what happened to the money if nothing is seen as to what happened to it - The state is bigger than any traditional ruler in Nigeria- The state pays Oba his salary - and he does nothing for his people economically than to seat in the palace wearing beads and dishing out orders which no one can question - abegi TRADITIONAL RULERS SHOULD GET OFF THE WAY AND LET DEVELOPMENT COME TO THE PEOPLE - No wonder Abacha dethroned Sultan Dasuki and Ganduje dethroned Emir Sanusi - Monarchy in Nigeria is no longer absolute - even in the UK - there is no royal museum despite the Queen being the Head of State - Why cant the Oba let the state government do their work?

GeneralPula:
While the palace wants the artefacts kept in the Benin Royal Museum, which will be built within the palace, the state government wants the items preserved in the proposed Edo Museum of West African Arts.

Benin royal museum is okay nah..

Anyway their palaba

Leave Benin Royal Museum bs - who collects the gate takings ? OBA - How does the state benefit from that ? Oba collects the gate takings - the workers there will be unpaid, fear no go let them ask Oba for salary because him na their god - then Oba gets salary from the state government again - he gets allowances from the state goverment - he gets privileges from the state regardin security votes, allocation all that - MAKE OBA KUKU CARRY THE STATE TAKE NA - SINCE NA HIM GET THE STATE - I hate rubbish

BanevsJoker:
Obaseki should google Anthony Onyearugbulam.

guy go chill for one corner - Queen Elizabeth who raped our country and subdued all our Kings and Royals in Nigeria to laughing stock - she is still on the throne looking good and pretty by the day and all of them she humilated in the 50's. 60's 70's 80's 90's and afterwards are dead and rotten under ground - Onyearugbulem was just a coincidence- free your mind from mental slavery boy!

Patrioticman007:
See casting of the little emperor called Obaseki, it will be for the state interest, if the artefacts are kept in the royal palace museum, for they will protect with their lifes, under like the governor that will sell it to the highest bidder.

do people steal from Nigerian museaums? boy it is not about the artefacts - it is about the money coming with the artefacts they are fighting over - 11 billion naira - will you trust the OBA (who no one can question) with that money or the STATE GOVERNMENT (with a governor who can be probed) ?

obynzo:

I understand, but note the colonials deposed the Oba after the punitive expedition and nothing happened to them. if it is in the basis of preserving the heritage of the monarchy it is understandable.

what of the soldiers (FREE CITIZENS of Benin) who died preserving the monarch and the monarchy in 1897? dont their lineage deserve to have access to see these things freely in a government controlled environment ? Dont their lineage deserve to be compensated by gettin employed in the museaum and getting wages? What IF THE PALACE say's - women cant see this - woman cant go there within the museum ? is that fair ?

WHERE ON EARTH DO WE HAVE A ROYAL MUSEUM?

kingthreat:


Dont say this in Benin. People there dey vex. Dethrone a whole Oba of Benin? No just even whisper am.

who the Oba dey feed? na Oba dey feed you ? abegi - liberate yourelf from mental slavery!

okuta007:



who the Oba dey feed? na Oba dey feed you ? abegi - liberate yourelf from mental slavery!

Mr Biafra go find life nobody go mind you

Or can I employ u ?

If you don't mind since u not get work

Regie2bless:
I'm a bini man, but on this issue I dont support the Oba, first Benin kingdom was invaded in 1897 by the British, no where in history suggests that it is only the palace that was robbed other households in Benin kingdom was also affected by the raid, that means is that is not the Oba property or the Oba claiming ownership of the artifacts. Secondly can the Oba provide the needed security for such Artifacts? Knowing full well that one small piece can amount to millions of naira, can such property be safe in his compound? Queen Elizabeth does not have a museum in her compound. With utmost respect the Oba should allow the government do their job. Tnks.

God bless you - Oba is not the State and this is how tyranny starts - The man is educated and he should realize we are in m odern times - not the era where he can cut someone's head with a flick of his finger - Even if the whole artefact comes from his palace - they were in a museum for more than 100 years in Europe - why cant they be put in a museum in Nigeria? IF the Oba wants the artecfacts - then he must sign that he and his lineage will NEVER COLLECT A SALARY AGAIN FROM THE STATE GOVERNMENT - Henceforth - You can not eat your cake and have it...

The Queen of England and the Royal family of England gets paid about 5% of the entire profits that the COUNTRY generates from tourism each year - which runs into hundreds of millions of pounds - And the things people come to see are the exclusive rights of the Windsors, the Queen's family. The Queen is not fighting the British government to control the arts of statutes which is the property of her family

DO NOT FORGET SOME THINGS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM IN LONDON ARE ART WORKS STOLEN BY THE GERMAN'S 3RD REICH UNDER HITLER and they were returned after the end of the second world war - The Queen did not say - these must be returned to her palace - They are in the LONDON Museum

Can the Oba be humble enough to learn from the Queen of England ?

Isusugbaghada:



Mr Biafra go find life nobody go mind you

Or can I employ u ?

If you don't mind since u not get work

when an average Nigerian cant survive in the arena of ideas, he resorts to name calling

Dude, use your brain for ones and liberate your self from mental slavery!!!!! ovien

okuta007:



when an average Nigerian cant survive in the arena of ideas, he resorts to name calling

Dude, use your brain for ones and liberate your self from mental slavery!!!!! ovien

Go get a life instead of jumping into what you know nothing about

Or did the oba tell you he is going to keep it inside the palace?

This is the agreement he had with obaseki in 2019 while is obaseki shifting to legacy trust an EMOWAA without even telling the oba

you just jump into issue without knowing the oba reason for action


Who tell u say na palace them wan put the art

Or watch the Friday oba press conference where he told the press

"If obaseki were to walk in here now I ask him erhi ma gba ta ra ? ( is this what we plan earlier)"

Okuta007 I except you to keep on with your arguments after you saw what obaseki said

Isusugbaghada:



Go get a life instead of jumping into what you know nothing about

Or did the oba tell you he is going to keep it inside the palace?

This is the agreement he had with obaseki in 2019 while is obaseki shifting to legacy trust an EMOWAA without even telling the oba

you just jump into issue without knowing the oba reason for action


Who tell u say na palace them wan put the art

Or watch the Friday oba press conference where he told the press

"If obaseki were to walk in here now I ask him erhi ma gba ta ra ? ( is this what we plan earlier)"

vba gba ta? ya de gwoghua vbo odo

Isusugbaghada:



Mr Biafra go find life nobody go mind you

Or can I employ u ?

If you don't mind since u not get work

you are so employed what are you doing in the forum of jobless people> ?

okuta007:




vba gba ta? ya de gwoghua vbo odo

Its obvious your fuel don finish

You don't know what to say again

Tu we r edo kekan
We ma hen vbin o sunu vb edo


If your are among those that believe that the oba is selfish then I don't what to say to you
Because it seems you may be Edo

Oya ra ya sinmwin evbomwan

okuta007:



you are so employed what are you doing in the forum of jobless people> ?

My spirit told that there is a jobless fellow I must help from NL dis noon

Mikecold:
The oba is perfectly right on this one

Obaseki is probably creating his own private museum to earn him revenue when he leaves office

And should indeed he leaves what then becomes of the artifacts left in the hands of private individuals who the next government may not be in terms with

We know how private firms in deals with government later turn out to be the governor private property after leaving office

It is right they go back to the only unmovable place that all binis can relate to

The oba has put in place the palace trust obaseki should use that

To think that's where they where even stolen from in the first place is not rocket science

Juat speaking without any context the project will be owned by the government, the british museum and the royal family I don't know why they have now changed their stance go and read about it

Isusugbaghada:



My spirit told that there is a jobless fellow I must help from NL dis noon

my spirit tells me some one has an insane spirit on NL

Isusugbaghada:



Its obvious your fuel don finish

You don't know what to say again

Tu we r edo kekan
We ma hen vbin o sunu vb edo


If your are among those that believe that the oba is selfish then I don't what to say to you
Because it seems you may be Edo

Oya ra ya sinmwin evbomwan

Oya no oba ya du igho mu - Oya ra gbue.... ovien dan

okuta007:




Oya no oba ya du igho mu - Oya ra gbue.... ovien dan

Ite wee eguae nu wi hian mue nene eronmwon yi o da wee

Emwen ma gba nuen yeye !!

Emwoba ma giu we ya zin, we setin ya zegbele ne gbue mie ke na gha ro vbo khoro

Isusugbaghada:


Ite wee eguae nu wi hian mue nene eronmwon yi o da wee

Emwen ma gba nuen yeye !!

Emwoba ma giu we ya zin, we setin ya zegbele ne gbue mie ke na gha ro vbo khoro

okpia - ya tota - aro ma gba nuen
agbon egogo iweva na - ere una ye we emwin ovien ?
egbe ma ran we hiehie

okuta007:



okpia - ya tota - aro ma gba nuen
agbon egogo iweva na - ere una ye we emwin ovien ?
egbe ma ran we hiehie

Oma nuen gha rhovbie gbue

Isetin lelue gbagbamwen

Walkee:
all homeless slum dwelling kids are almajiris

it's okay to be passionate about a cause but to be passionate with extreme ignorance is disaster waiting to happen

Walkee:
what the fucck is this fool talking about? Egor is a local government area with uselu as the capital
Ogiegor was defeated by oromiynan and he impregnated his daughter who gave birth to Eweka which was the beginning of the Oba dynasty.

Even the original Yoruba history don't have it that he fought with Ogiegor. Ogiegor entertained him on his way back to Yoruba land and while he sojourned there for the night, he impregnated his daughter. stop being a fool to the Yoruba race, posterity will judge you and judge your ignorance

Walkee:
Egor is a local government area with uselu as the capital.

That's the best you know about those two towns and it can be gotten online,this only goes to show that your suppose knowledge of Esan and Edo history were gotten from one stupid blog or something. Woe betide me if I let you pass falsehood as truth

Walkee:
lol you are an idiot. If I were a Yoruba, won't I be worshipping Oba and claiming he founded the whole world?
I am an uromi man. We are a descendants of Ogiso.
By the way why didn't you answer my question?
Why would the son of Ogiso (king from the sky) choose a Yoruba title?
Why did the Kings in igodomigodo say Ogiamen? Ogiamen means it's Ogie we have, a direct rejection of Oba answers these questions and stop clowning around

The Ogieamien talk you certainly got it from me on the warri succession thread, I have not seen it on nairaland before I certainly brought it to this forum, I stand to be corrected though, you can bring such threads out if you find such

Walkee:
I can taste your tears from here

An Uromi person will not write like that, how on earth do you taste someone's tears. You left I can feel, I can sense and you went for taste and you feel you are normal. Same old unpolished mediocre brain dead patterned symbryxton

Walkee:

is there still ogiegor today?

This is another mistake an Uromi man will never make. , most of you are passionate about this cause but only very few come out outstanding with knowledge, the rest are extreme guesswork from fairy tales which are not in consonance with reality. If you are coming to the war front come prepared not this ignorant show of shame you put off. Agba's shrine is at your father's house at Oshogbo you bastard

UGBE634:
This is another mistake an Uromi man will never make. , most of you are passionate about this cause but only very few come out outstanding with knowledge, the rest are extreme guesswork from fairy tales which are not in consonance with reality. If you are coming to the war front come prepared not this ignorant show of shame you put off. Agba's shrine is at your father's house at Oshogbo you bastard

fucck off kid. Stop masturrbating to post kid.
Get a life you whining little bitcch. I don't care about you. I don't even bother reading your rubbish. Move on already fool

Walkee:
fucck off kid. Stop masturrbating to post kid.
Get a life you whining little bitcch. I don't care about you. I don't even bother reading your rubbish. Move on already fool

Go and charge your brain first then we can talk you would be needing it in life and in destiny. You have so much ignorance for an adult

crossfm:


Thanks for your mention.

I have been following the happenings in Edo state.
If you can recall the invent which took place in front of oba's palace prior to the election. The way the oba handled the issue to me was biased, I stand to be corrected.
Blaming a single party in front of the media to me points to one thing,which is taking side.

He also brought up the issue of what Obaseki's grand father did before the whole world.
From that particular video, he went further to explain how he never gave his approval when Osho told him Obaseki was going to be his successor.

This particular video,and His recent statement was what gave rise to my assertions.

All in all,we need peace in Nigeria.

Those things he said before the camera were all truths which even those he accused couldn't deny. Specifically, he mentioned Philip Shuaibu's sponsoring of violence across the state and Philip couldn't deny it. The Oba of Benin Stool is one that has no use for political correctness, so any Oba on the Benin throne at any era would say things exactly as they are and that is not partisan politics politics but being frank and candid. That also explains why he frankly reminded Oshiomhole of his rather unilateral hence undemocratic decision to annoint Obaseki despite knowing that Obaseki's family has a history of ingratitude and betrayal which Oshiomhole himself was tasting bitterly at the moment. During Abacha's evil government the incumbent's father publicly condemned his colleagues like Ooni of Ife and the rest who were trooping Aso Rock to pledge allegiance to Abacha. To quote him verbatim: "All those traditional rulers giving Abacha moral support are encouraging bloodshed in Nigeria".
His speech about Obaseki's family betrayal history is a fact and was provoked among lots of other issues by Obaseki's stoppage of the Enogies regular meetings with the state government. So you can see that his breaking of tradition to pay Obaseki an official visit just a month into his tenure was a good gesture by which he held out an olive branch to the entire Obaseki family and which Obaseki should have reciprocated in the interest of burying the hatchet about the past ugly history. Now, can you, in all honesty, defend Obaseki's cancelation of the Enogies meetings as a demonstration of good faith and acceptance of the Oba's olive branch? A traitor is always a traitor. It is a genetic trait. Even within the PDP Obaseki defected to he has since reneged on all the agreements he reached with them as conditions to getting their ticket hence the brouhaha, physical assaults, demolition of the opposite PDP faction's members' landed properties in the State, opening a parallel state PDP secretariat, etc. for their 'crime'of insisting that he honours those agreement. When last did you hear Edo State PDP make a public statement in defense of Obaseki? They have in no time seen him for who he really is. Even the Torgbarians have all disappeared from both online and real life. None of them chants Ogbane or Torgba again in Edo State due to the embarrassing disappointments that have been kissing and slapping them in their faces.

Interesting topic!

For the detailed history of how the artefacts were looted, see link below:

https://naijaphilia.com/2021/11/13/naija-history-1897-invasion-of-benin-kingdom/

So th Oba will rather have the artifact kept in abuja under Northern supervision than to be in Benin irrespective of the museum.. Southerners mvmv no be small sha the pull all down syndrome is killing us