₦airaland Forum

macof:
Anybody can write anything in a fit to throw tantrum
Doesn't change the facts which all historians all over the world know

Very stupidd of anyone to say Benin dynasty is of Nupe-Igala origin just so to deny its Ife origin
Na so madness dey start. What evidence exists to even mildly justify such Nupe origin

Where did you read that Benin dynasty is of Nupe-Igala Origin.

macof:
You are inconsequential. If you like claim your father didn't exist that's a problem for your headache
Historians are not clowns like you

You mean Ibadan manufactured historians that are not taken seriously outside Nigeria. Yoruba can not write their history without mentioning Benin.

Most of Yoruba verifiable eyewitness historical accounts began in 1824.

I am still waiting for the evidence I challenged you to provide in support of your claim.

We preached to him concerning the affairs of the Faith and his dangerous situation, because of which he abhorred us so much that he has not seen us for a long time. And if we try to see him, he cuts us off by the root. And if we go out to walk he orders us to stay indoors, and, what is worse, if we don't know how he treats his own men, they shut the door in our face and sometimes beat us. Our life her is to sell all that we brought to save our lives from hunger, which is very rampant here because of the dryness of this year and because we receive little or no charitable help from anywhere, except from your Highness, and even of that the French robbed us of all that you sent us last year, which was to come to us in the commercial ships, which they robbed. For these and other reasons we asked him to let us depart with a reply to the letter of your Highness, but he refused and said that we could not leave this place without an ambassador of your Highness to carry his letter, and he wanted to say that we are his captives, which is true because of the guards that he keeps over us, and we cannot go out of the city. By these and other things and by the hunger which we suffer he is killing us little by little. We do not want to ask him for anything, since he knows our needs, and if we tell him that he robbed us, he tells us publicly before everybody that we are lying.

The letters of your Highness, which we offered him through his boys, he did not want to accept, but rather forbad their teacher, Afonso Añes, a Christian captive, to teach them with these letterssince they do not know the things of the Faith. He commanded Gregorio Lourenço, a native Christian, not to baptize his children and women, asking who had him permission to do so. The king asked for the cross and and image of our Lady, and these were taken to him with much pomp and the priests in their vestments. After seeing this, sitting on a throne on a three-step platform, he touched everything with his hands, and had the crucifix put on the step where he put his feet. He did this for Antonio, who had become a Christian in the island where he was before, for which reason we drew him to ourselves.

AreaFada2
Ghostagain
gregyboy
UMUAZEE

1538-9 mission to Benin

3-8-1539 Missionaries to João III

The Fathers, Master Miguel of the habit, Friar Antonio and Friar Francisco of the Order of St. Francis, whom your Highness sent to the king of Benin for information of conscience and matters of our holy Catholic Faith, have been there for more than a year and want to inform your Highness that they have no confidence at all in the pretended arguments of that king to be converted to Christianity, but he is now persevering more than ever in his human sacrifices, with idolatrous practices and diabolical invocations day and night, and in dedicating his people twice a day to the Enemy of man, which is the devil. Sometimes he sends for us while he is anointed with human blood and many other superstitions, abominations and errors that he keeps.

He did not receive us with much satisfaction, because he knew that we were not bringing him temporal advantages. Despising spiritual advantages, he never values them as he should were he to know them. The favour that your Highness did in sending him your letter, which, kissing and bowing our heads we gave him with much respect, he did not receive as he should have, but threw it into a basket or box which he had on his left and did not open it until three months later, and he then called us. He keeps us under guard as guests in houses of gentiles with many idols and fetiches, where all pass over us night and day. Because of the many disturbances, noise and lack of peace we cannot recite our daily office. All we had has been stolen and we have been badly treated and insulted by his men.

Yet it is never our will to refuse to receive our friends and servants into our friendship and service when they admit their errors with fidelity and truth and they turn to us, after the example of what our almighty Lord God always does to those who wander and go against him [....] We have sent our men and arms to other places much further away in order to serve God our Lord by spreading his holy Faith, which obliges us more than any other thing in this world, and by helping the souls of those who are deprived of knowledge of his holy Faith. For all those souls who do not receive the faith of Jesus Christ our Lord will be forever lost in the fire of Hell, whereas those who die with the knowledge of the Faith will live forever in glory and the happiness of Paradise.
Therefore with much good will we send you the priests that you sent for. They are bringing all the things that are necessary to teach you and your people the knowledge of our Faith. We hope that our Lord will give you his grace to understand it and be saved by it for the things of this world all pass away, while those of the other world last forever. I urge you strongly to continue to receive the teachings of the Faith of Chrisitians, as we count on you to do as a king who is our dear friend. For when we see that in the affairs of Christianity you act as a good and faithful Christian, there is nothing in our realms that we will not continue to put at your disposition, whether arms or canons or other instruments of war against your enemies, since we have so many such things, as your embassador Dom Jorge will tell you. We are not sending them now, although he requested them, because the law of God forbids giving them as long as you are [an unbeliever...]
We urge you strongly to keep your markets open and allow free trade, as has always been the case, and to let goods come in and out freely with their ships, as we expect of you and of your friendship. We will very willingly see to it that, as you do so, nothing will come to your or to your land except what is good and profitable. Our secretary, who is very devoted to our service, will always place all your requirements before us, and we will see that they are taken care of.
Written in Allmeirim, on 20 November 1514.

AreaFada2
Ghostagain
gregyboy
UMUAZEE

1514 mission to Benin

20-11-1514 King Manuel: to the Oba of Benin on sending priests

The powerful and noble King of Benin: We, Dom Manuel, by the grace of God King of Portugal, of the Algarves, at home and abroad, in Africa, Lord of Guinea and of the conquest, of the navigation and commerce of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia and India. We inform you that we have learned from Dom Jorge, your embassador, all that you require of us. His coming to us has helped us very much to appreciate the good will you declare to have for the things of our service. We were very pleased with all that he told us about your good will.
Certainly, since we desire that all your affairs prosper, you are right in doing what helps our affairs and service, just as if they were your own. For never, thanks be God, I know of no king, whether in Guinea or India or more distant places, who has regretted having friendship with us; rather they have always continued and do continue to nourish it the more and preserve it themselves along with us, with the good actions which we do for them, just as we will be pleased to do with you, if with regard to our affairs you do what you should as a king who is a friend of ours, as we believe that your are, given the fact that in past years we have had different information and we saw it in action.

When the ambassador is leaving, he is shown a foot below the curtains as a sign that the prince is within and agrees to the matters that he has raised; this foot they reverence as though it were a sacred relic. As a kind of reward for the hardships of such a journey the ambassador receives a small cross, similar to that sent to the king, which is thrown round his neck to signify that he is free and exempt from all servitudes, and privileged in his native country, as the Knights are with us. I myself knew this, but in order to be able to write it with authority, (although the King D. João in his time had also enquired well into it) when in the year 1540 certain ambassadors of the king of Beny came to this Kingdom, among whom was a man about seventy years of age who was wearing one of these crosses, I asked him the reason, and he gave an explanation similar to the above. And as in the time of the King, D. João, whenever India was spoken of, reference was always made to a very powerful king called Priest John of the Indies, who was reputed to be a Christian, it seemed therefore to the King that it might be possible to enter India by way of this kingdom. For he had learnt from the Abexijs (Abyssinian) priests who came to these parts of Spain, and also from some friars who had been from this kingdom to Jerusalem and whom he had ordered to gather information about this Prince, that his country was in the land above Egypt whence it stretched to the southern sea. Wherefore the King and his cosmographers, taking into consideration Ptolemy's general map describing Africa and its kings on the coast, as was ascertained by his discoverers, and also the distance of two hundred and fifty leagues to the east where according to the people of Beny the country of prince Ogané lay, concluded that he must be Priest John, for both were hidden behind curtains of silk and held the emblem of the cross in great veneration. And it also appeared to him that if his ships continued along the coast they had discovered, they could not fail to reach the land where the plateau promontory was, which is the boundary of that country. Therefore taking into consideration all these facts which increased his ardour for the design of discovering India, he determined to send immediately in the year 1486 both ships by sea and men by land, in order to get to the root of this matter which inspired so much hope in him.

AreaFada2
Ghostagain
gregyboy
UMUAZEE

1486 João de Barros: Pre-Protuguese Christian influence in Benin - Ibid., 126-7

Among the many things which the King D. João learnt from the ambassador of the king of Benin, and also from João Afonso d'Aveiro, of what they had been told by the inhabitants of these regions, was that to the east of Beny at twenty moons' journeywhich according to their account, and the short journeys they make, would be about two hundred and fifty of our leaugesthere lived the most powerful monarch of these parts, who was called Ogané. Among the pagan chiefs of the territories of Beny he was held in as great veneration as is the Supreme Pontif with us. In accordance with a very ancient custom, the king of Beny, on ascending the throne, sends ambassadors to him with rich gifts to announce that by the decease of his predecessor he has succeeded to the kingdom of Beny, and to requesst confirmation. To signify his assent, the prince Ogané sends the king a staff and a headpiece of shining brass, fashioned like a Spanish helmet, in place of a crown and sceptre. He also sends a cross, likewise of brass, to be worn round the neck, a holy and religious emblem similar to that worn by the Knights of the Order of Saint John. Without these emblems the people do not recognize him as lawful ruler, nor can he call himself truly king. All the time this ambassador is at the court of Ogané, he never sees the prince, but only the curtains of silk behind which he sits, for he is regarded as sacred.

macof:
Referring to Benin as a one time empire is correct, the problem arises when people don't have respect for timeline consistencies and speak as if the polity was always an empire.
Benin started off as a distant offshoot of Ife benefiting from Ife's trade network and commercial monopoly which saw that polity rise to primacy in the first place. Until the mid 15th century, of all the cities with links to Ife, Benin was the first to maintain a steady growth (Owu would have been, but couldn't due to rivalry with Oyo during Sango's reign and Ife's still existing power under Ọbalufọn, but also constant Nupe raids)
By the 1550s-1600s Benin was at its peak, Oba Ehengbuda was the last great expansionist King Benin had. By the 1690s a long civil war that lasted decades broke out between the supporters of Oba Ozuere and those of Oba Akenzua. Benin city itself was destroyed and later rebuilt but never able to fully recover it's early 1600s power. It's hold on some formerly answerable kingdoms became mostly relegated to legitimacy rather than actual authority, which Benin itself maintained with Ife.

There are no verifiable historical evidence that support Benin relationship with Ife until the fall of Benin in 1897.

Everything you wrote were fabricated after 1897. You cannot provide any written evidence before 1897 that link Benin to Ife.

I challenged you to provide such evidence.

1486 João de Barros: The Oba of Benin asks for missionaries - Tr. in G.R. Crone, The voyages of Cadamosto (London: Hakluyt Society, 1937), 124

Though the christianizing of these people of Congo progressed greatly to the glory of God, through the conversion of their king, little profit accrued from what the King did in the matter of the request of the king of Beny, whose kingdom lay between that of Congo and the Castle of S. Jorge da Mina. For at the time of Diogo Cam's first return from Congo, in the year fourteen hundred and eighty six, this king of Beny also sent to solicit the King to despatch thither priests who might instruct him in the Faith. This country had already been visited in the previous year by Fernão Po, who had discovered this coast and also an island near the land, now known by his name. On account of its size he called it Ilha Formosa - but it has lost this name and bears that of its discoverer. This emissary of the king of Beny came with João Affonso d'Aveiro, who had been sent to explore this coast by the King, and who brought back the first pepper from these parts of Guinea to theKingdom. This pepper is called by us de rabo (long tailed) because the stem on whihc it grows comes away with it to distinguish it from that obtained from India. The King sent some to Flanders, but it was never held in as high esteem as the Indian.

AreaFada2
Ghostagain
gregyboy
UMUAZEE

1486 mission to Benin

1486 Ruy de Pina: Discovery of Benin - Tr. from J.W. Blake, Europeans in West Africa (London, 1942), 2 vols.; this part is from vol. 1, 78-9

In this year [1486] the land of Benin beyond Mina in the Rios dos Escravos was first discovered by Joham Affom da Aveiro, who died there. The first Guinee pepper came to Europe from that land, where it grows in great abundance. Samples of it were sent to Flanders and other places, and it was soon popular and selling for a high price.

The king of Benin sent as ambassador to King João one of his captains, a negro from a seaport town called Gwato, because he desired to learn more about Europe, whose people were regarded there as an unusual novelty. This ambassador was a man of good speech and natural wisdom. Great feasts were held in his honour, and he was shown many of the fine things of Europe. He returned to his land in one of the King's ships, who gave him on departing a gift of rich clothes for himself and his wife. Through him he also sent to the king of Benin a rich present of such things he knew the king would like very much. He also sent through the ambassador some holy and Catholic words of advice, with a praiseworthy appeal to embrace the Faith, rebuking him sternly for the heresies and gross idolatrous and fetish practices which are so common among the negroes of that land.

New commercial agents of King João went with the ambassador to reside in that land and buy pepper and other things of interest to the King's business. But because the land was later found to be very dangerous from sickness and not so profitable as had been hoped, the trade was abandoned.

AreaFada2
Ghostagain
gregyboy
UMUAZEE

HISTORY OF ILE IFE AS SEEN ON THE OONI’S WEBSITE www.oonirisa.org Or the book 📕 HISTORY OF ILE IFE … it’s agreed Oduduwa was a stranger who came with his group to Ife , fought with the aborigines , won dem and became their leader .

Balogunodua:
Samuel my guy....do want me around

You and anyone else who are interested in real history are always welcome.

Mind you what was written as Benin history starting from 1897 was heavily corrupted to accommodate Ife for the political unification of old Western Region.

Today the Ooni is selected in the Nigeria political arrangement as the head of the yoruba people, but historians know that it was the Alaafin that the British met on ground in 1824 as the king and head of Yoruba Land.

It was the Alaafin as king and head of the Yoruba people that signed treaty with the British on 3rd July, 1888.

The Alaafin was relegated by politicians to bring all Yoruba people under the Ife umbrella.

Ife have no independent eyewitnesses verifiable historical records to rely on, this is why Benin history was brought in and corrupted to accommodate Ife.

All early Europeans eyewitnesses accounts of Benin/Nupe-Igala relationship were corrupted and replaced with Ife in Osun state.

Most of the so called history book written starting from 1897 were written to deceive future generations.

Uhe which was east/North-East of Benin was changed to Ife which was Western direction of Benin.

Benin artefact depiction of Nupe-Igala people are being interpreted as yoruba people.

Oghene N’Uhe was referenced as Ooni of Ife, but historians know Ooni was not the most powerful person in Yoruba land. Even the Alaafin who was the most powerful king and head of the Yoruba people told the British in 1824 that he was relying on the Oba of Benin military strength to assist him to deal with uprising amongst his neighbours.

As it stands today Benin have two historical accounts.

1. Real historical accounts that were documented by Europeans explorers who were eyewitnesses to the events and Benin they visited starting from around 1485 to 1897.

2. Political history of Benin. History that is heavily corrupted to accommodate the Benin/Ife fairytale.

Your motive is not clear, but just incase you are up to something else, Benin had nothing to do with Ife until the fairytale was invented in 1897.

I just want to leave this here now because we know how thread like this usually ends.

FACTS ABOUT PA IDU

1. Pa Idu was born at Ogbe N’Alaka a place that eventually became the homestead of later Ogiso’s and Oba’s of Benin.
2. Pa Idu father was known as Ere (not to be mistaken as Ogiso Ere) he was the founder of Uhunmwundumwun (premier town), a place hundreds of years later Ogiso Ere moved the palace to from Ugbekun. Pa Idu father Ere, is where the ancient word Otamere (evening tide favored Ere) was created from.
3. Pa Idu is generally accepted as the Progenitor of the Benin race and all its descendants because the chroniclers of our remembered history, Ughoron; popularize his name above other native indigenes of which Idu came out from.
4. Pa Idu had three sons: Akka, Efa and Emehi. Efa and Emehi are the fathers of the modern day Benin population,
5. Through legitimacy of ancient ownership the Efa and Emehi families are the owners of Edo land as every other families came from them.
6[b]. Pa Idu died at Uhe(not to be mistaken as Ile-Ife) present day Igala areas of Kogi State and was referred to as Oghene N’Uhe by the earliest Benin natives, he was deified as a Priest King. The Chief priest and scepter bearer of the Oghene N’ Uhe shrine, Azama; followed Akka, Efa and Emehi back to Benin land and a replica of the shrine was built here in Benin land, the descendants of the Azama N’Uhe are the Oloton family of Benin and they are the custodian of the scepter of authority of Pa Idu carried by Azama and bequeathed to the descendants of Efa and Emehi.
7. Earliest Portuguese referred to Oghene N’Uhe(Pa Idu) as “Ogane” the great potentate of the interior.[/b]
8. All Ogisos starting from Ere to Oba Ewuare I all went on pilgrimage visit to pay respect to their progenitor at Uhe, a sort of confirmation and spiritual renewal ritual. A ritual also conducted by Ikaladerhan before he became a ruler in Ile-Ife.
9. When the later Oba’s of Benin discovered the complexity of the pilgrimage visit and the decline of the Uhe town they created “Erinmwidu” a replica of Oghene N’ Uhe Shrine and made it Royalty. Hence Erinmwidu is the royal deity of the Benin people.
10. Idusere, Idusogie, Idugbowa etc. reaffirm the Benin native ownership of Idu ideology hence Idu is Benin, Benin is Idu.

Let the legacies of Pa Idu be remembered by us all his children.
Pa Idu gha to kpere. Ise
Oba gha to kpere. Ise

Written by
Imasuen Amowie Izoduwa

As can been seen from the treaty, the Alaafin has always been the king and head of the yoruba people. The Ooni was politically elevated in the 1900s.

It was the Alaafin as the king of the yoruba people that signed treaty with Britain in 1888. Ooni was not in the picture. Ooni was elevated from a chief priest of Ifa to Oba in the 1900s.

Ooni as a common chief priest of Ifa in the western direction of Benin was definitely not the eastern Ogane that was referred to by the Portuguese in the 1400s.

The Ooni was not even the most powerful king in yoruba land until he was elevated in the 1900s. The Ooni was not even a king until the 1900s, how could he have been the Ogane referred to in Benin history in the 1400s. Ooni was only elevated to the status of a king in the 1900s, about 500 years after the event.

1. The Ooni was not the head of the Yoruba people
2. The Ooni was not the king of the yoruba people
3. The Ooni is located in the west of Benin, not east as recorded.
4. How could anyone who is not intellectually deficient and mischievous argue that Ooni was the Ogane referred to in Benin history of 1400s.
5. The Ooni was not even the most powerful and respected person/ruler in yoruba land.
6. If anyone argues that Ogane was that powerful, how could him have been the Ooni who was only elevated to an oba in 1900s.

Below is the summary of an extensive work done on Benin history by Ryder. What Ryder is saying is that the current Benin/Ife connection doesn't agree with what the Europeans recorded about Benin history from the 1400s or 15th century.

No material evidences in Benin recorded eyewitness historical accounts between 1400s to 1897 supports Benin/Ife connection.

Benin had no relationship with the Ooni, Ife until the fairytale was invented and introduced after the fall of Benin to Britain in 1897.

In 1824 when Europeans first visited yoruba land they meant the Alaafin of Oyo as the king and head of yoruba people. The Ooni was just a chief priest of Ifa as shown below. The two most powerful Kings in southern Nigeria in 1824 were the Oba of Benin and Alaafin of Oyo. The Ooni was not in the picture. It was Awolowo that elevated the Ooni above the Alaafin.

Benin artefact depiction of Igala messager and example of Igala depiction of themselves.

Yoruba took advantage of their early Western education and try to rewrite Benin history in their favour.

First image is a Benin artefact of Igala messenger.

Second and third images are Igala artefacts.

Until 1897, Benin had no connection with Ife in Osun state. Benin/Ife connection is a fairytale with no evidence.

1. Reported Location of Ogane is east of Benin.
2. Benin people have not gone into extinction, they know their history more than anyone else.
3. The Benin royal house whose ancestors were referred to in the history still exist.
4. There are no evidence that Benin had anything to do with Osun Ife which is west of Benin until after the last independent oba of Benin, Ovonramwen was dethroned in 1897.
5. Benin/Ida/Igala connection is very well documented since the 1500s.
6. The photos below speaks for themselves.
7. It's the Igala people that were depicted in Benin artefacts, not yoruba.

Africa: Map of Guinea and surrounding regions by Jodocus Hondius (1563-1612), 1625. 'Benin Regnu', the Benin Kingdom, is indicated in the south-east.
Captions are provided by our contributors.

Map of Old Benin kingdom

Map of Old Benin kingdom

Benin Palace banished traditional functionaries that went to Ife.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYdeLSGpvrQ?si=fm-5pW3IyeI89971

Ghostagain:
@samuk, can you speak some senses into this brother ?

UMUAZEE:
Unless you and @samuk is the same, nobody will subscribe to this nonsense you are saying.

People on a forum like this fall into different categories and personalities.

Oduduwa:

1. Why was the myth of Oduduwa created
2. Why did the Benin Palace promote it, what are the present/future benefits to the Edo nation.
3. Why didn't Oduduwa, Ife and Oranmiyan appear in Benin eyewitness historical accounts before 1897.
4. What happened to independent Benin between 1897 and 1963.

Myths are created by people for reasons. We must be careful not to lose our audience in the process of deconstructing such Myths for academic purposes.

Some Myths do play a vital role in the political and economic relevance of people and places. We have all kinds of Saints across Europe playing various roles in the lives of nations.

Oduduwa was created for the unity of the former Western region of Nigeria, which Benin was part.

People will contribute to topics based on their level of knowledge of that particular subject, not necessarily because they are stupid or dumb. They may not just know enough and we shouldn't lose their audience in trying to provide them more information about the subject matter.

Any body that feel insulted will not want to listen to your point of view no matter how important it maybe.

Ghostagain:

You have made valuable contribution in the academic discussion of Benin history over the years and it will be a shame if your audience especially your compatriots see your style as condescending.

There are those that genuinely seek the truth no matter where it leads whilst there are others that are dogmatic in their views and beliefs.

Would you say that the billions of
Christians that believe the Virgin birth of Jesus are dumb and stupid?

Certain aspects of people's lives goes beyond academic explanations.

It takes logic and intelligence to see the logic and sense in the creation of some Myths and fairytales.

I believe we can find a way to let people know that there were no mention of Oduduwa, Ife and Oranmiyan in Benin history before 1897 without them feeling insulted.

[quote author=Ghostagain post=129645518]@Areafada
@Samuk

Guys, there is a video of some impostors dressed in Benin attire who go to the meet the Oni of ife call him their father and give him greetings reserved to the Oba of Benin. The impostors also recount that oranmiyan fairytale and call it "what we know". The impostors are part of a theatrical group, but the video online is claiming the Oba of Benin sent them. The ennemies of Benin are already using it as propaganda. Why have nobody addressed that ? This is yet an other attack on us and you guys just let it go ? Someone needs to tame the Oni of ife and his obsession with Benin monarchy.

https://dailypost.ng/2024/04/27/oba-of-benin-suspends-six-officials-for-posing-as-palace-emissaries-to-ooni-of-ife/?utm_source=operamini&utm_medium=feednews&utm_campaign=operamini_feednews

Oba of Benin Palace reply.

Ghostagain:
@Areafada
@Samuk


I've said it many times before that it were time to put those fairytales to death, and use true scientific research of history instead. Nobody listened, and now you have some impostors calling themselves "ogiso" and trying to discredit the Benin throne.

You don't fight a fairytale with your own fairytale when you can just do proper historical research and you would be vindicated ! But for that, you need to be willing to use your brains and not be intellectually lazy.

I have a post here which I wrote sometime ago in which I broke down Benin history into two parts:

1. Pre - 1897 eyewitnesses backed history of Benin
AND
2. Post - 1897 political/fairy tales history of Benin.

I am also a realist to know that like must things such as religion etc, history could also be a political tool for relevance.

The Post - 1897 Benin history have become a political tool in the hands of the Yoruba people. The reason is simple, Benin remains the cradle of Black civilization and the yoruba people have been struggling since the fall of Benin in 1897 to claim it through the Oduduwa fairy tale.

I did also argued that the Oduduwa narrative have come to stay and it will be exercise in futility trying to argue against it now because millions believe in it, what is then required is to manage the narrative from the Benin end. Christians believe Jesus ascended to heaven, trying to argue against this with logic and science has always been a waste of time because majority of humans don't usually subscribe to logic.

We can shout from now to eternity, provide all the logical and scientific prove that Oduduwa was a fairytale, there are and will always be millions of people that believe he is their progenitor. The Oduduwa story will always be sustained by his association with Benin, the cradle of Black civilization. I believe that this realisation is why the Benin palace starting from Oba Erediawa 11 of blessed memory tried to control the narrative.

Take Benin out of Yoruba and Ife history, what will be left will be eyewitness historical accounts not older/earlier than 1824. Rather than trying to tell millions of yoruba worldwide that Ododuwa is a fairytale, I prefer to control the narrative as it concern Benin history.

Yoruba tried stealing Benin history through Oduduwa but ended up handing Benin palace and people the historical knife and yam. As it stands Benin is the one with the traditions and arts to back up the fairytale.

Unlike the Oba of Benin, the Ooni is a political stool, the Ooni is only a figure head of the Yoruba people. The spiritual head of half of the Yoruba people is the Sultan of Sokoto whilst the remaining half subscribed to christianity.

I am not bothered by the yoruba narrative because it will fades off with time as long as the Benin palace continues to promote the Benin/Africa indigenous spirituality.

In the future, Africa diaspora that seeks authentic Africa history will only have Benin City as their destination, especially with the cultural district that is currently being developed by the Edo state government.

BENIN IMPACT ON THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE.

Benin recognised our Independence first, Brazil tells Oba of Benin
https://tribuneonlineng.com/benin-recognised-our-independence-first-brazil-tells-oba-of-benin/

GREAT BENIN IMPACT ON THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE.

In 1824, the republic of Brazil, in South America, forcibly obtained her independence from Portugal, cutting off the Umbilical cord which joined her to her European mother-country, other European were loathe to extend Diplomatic Recognition to the new country. The kingdom of Benin, under Oba Osemwende (1816-1848), was one of the first sovereign countries in the world to extend to this South American country the Diplomatic Recognition which validated her independence.

The Oba of Lagos; Oba Oshinlokun(1821-1829) had recommended to Benin City, a wealthy and literate Lagosian, a Brazilian returnee (whom the Lagos people generally call “Aguda”, just as they call the Lagos Sierra Leonean returnees “Saro”). This Aguda Grandee was His Excellency, Manoel Alves de Lima. He became the Ambassador Plenipotentiary of Oba Osemwende of Benin, to the Court of the Republic of Brazil, in the Capital Bahia.

It was only after this Recognition, extended by Benin to Brazil, that other European countries like Britain and France, and then Portugal herself, extended their own Diplomatic Recognition to the new Latin American Country.
Great Benin country has always had so much influence on world affairs at the International level in ages past whereas it’s neighbors where still Bush savages in the era and time the Benin people had sway in matters of world affairs.
Oba gha to kpere. Ise.

Excerpt from “Benin City, The Edo State Capital” by Late Dr. Aisien Ekhaguosa.

Edited by Imasuen Amowie Izoduwa