Saturday, November 22, 2008

The change we need


At the dawn of a paradigm phenomenon in the history of the world, we are being witnesses to global events that will continue to be the subject of discourse for a long while to come. How these events shape the world as we know it to be or how significant the changes that are bound to occur will affect our lives, can only be conjectured as even events continue to unfold over the next forth coming years.

Now, what is change if one might ask? Is it a transition from one situation to another? Or is it a deviation from a status quo? If it is any of these, can the new situation provide some improvement on the former one? To what degree if at all can change be measured? Who defines change and can someone become a catalyst for change?

The word change has come to be very popular over the past few weeks. This was not unrelated to the campaign slogan for the candidate of the Democratic Party in the United States presidential elections. The uniqueness and charisma that was brought into the race by the campaign endeared itself into the hearts of most people. The fact that the outcome of the elections challenged some very entrenched misgivings and upturned the applecart of 'established prejudices' actually gives some hope that at least, some things can actually change. How these translates in the politics that goes on at the level of the international system of which the United States is steadily losing it's hegemonic status will unfold before our very eyes.

Closer home now, the Nigerian State of which the Edo people make up a major component unit of, is in the process of reviewing the what is supposed to be the social contract that binds the nation together. There is no gainsaying that the subsisting arrangement has really done nothing exciting as regards the aspirations of a people so endowed but who keep languishing in the lower rungs of the global developmental index. The participation that greeted the meetings held in the six geopolitical zones of the nation underscored the need for some amendments, especially since the current 1999 constitution suffers some crisis of legitimacy as it was a bequeathal of a military decree. There is bound to be some changes coming from there, definitely. It is our hope that this task do not become more enormous than those on whose shoulders such a responsibility fall.


The effects of these external events might seem peripheral to the daily activities of the average Edo citizen, but even the land is faced with a daunting challenge at the dawn of a new epoch in the annals of her rich history. With a definition of the peoples sovereignty practically playing itself out after an attempt to deny them off of their mandate failed, the rhetoric from official quarters imbues a confidence, the action though should confirm it. The Edo people, as one, brace up to face this challenge and when the one at the lead is capable of upturning applecart's, the hope for change is multiplied.

At the end of the day, what people basically need is a steady and reasonable income, available amenities, effective and efficient infrastructure, affordable services and a public service that is accountable to dedicated leadership. With the priviledge of pedigree, the land should brace up for the challenges that confront her as she begins her forays into global limelight of model cities. It would be nice to talk about some things that actually changed for good come four years on...

We will definitely know change when we see one...

Thursday, September 11, 2008






Edo'oba


No where could have the Bini culture been so richly displayed than a centre of intellectual acquisition, the academic pride of Nigeria and citadel of African Higher Education, The University Of Benin, located here in Benin City, the heart of the Edo nation.

The sprawling gardens adjacent the Faculty of Management Sciences, resplendent in aesthetics and beauty was the venue for the annual pre-valedictory activities marking the culmination of various academic pursuits of the cream of Nigeria's young people, and they came out with their best showcasing their heritage.

It was a beauty to behold these young folks regaled in their respective robes of culture and regaled by the beauty which the natural environment that this great institution presents.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Contemporary Obas Of Benin Kingdom


Eweka II (1914 - 1933)
Akenzua II (1933 - 1978)
Erediauwa I (1979 - Till Date)

Oba Gha To Kpere. . .Ise

Friday, August 1, 2008

Post Imperial Obas Of Benin Kingdom


Ewuare the Great (1440 - 1473)
Ezoti (1473 - 1475)
Olua (1475 - 1480)
Ozolua (1480 - 1504)
Esigie (1504 - 1547)
Orhogbua (1547 - 1580)
Ehengbuda (1580 - 1602)
Ohuan (1602 - 1656)
Ohenzae (1656 - 1661)
Akenzae (1661 - 1669)
Akengboi (1669 - 1675)
Akenkbaye (1675 - 1684)
Akengbedo (1684 - 1689)
Ore-Oghene (1689 - 1701)
Ewuakpe (1701 - 1712)
Ozuere (1712 - 1713)
Akenzua I (1713 - 1740)
Eresoyen (1740 - 1750)
Akengbuda (1750 - 1804)
Obanosa (1804 - 1816)
Ogbebo (1816)
Osemwende (1816 - 1848)
Adolo (1848 - 1888)
Ovonramwen Nogbaisi (1888 - 1914)

Saturday, June 14, 2008

The Pre-Imperial Obas Of Benin Kingdom


Eweka I (1180 - 1246)
Uwuakhuahen (1246 - 1250)
Henmihen (1250 - 1260)
Ewedo (1260 - 1274)
Oguola (1274 - 1287)
Edoni (1287 - 1292)
Udagbedo (1292 - 1329)
Ohen (1329 - 1366)
Egbeka (1366 - 1397)
Orobiru (1397 - 1434)
Uwaifiokun (1434 - 1440)

Monday, May 26, 2008

The Sky Kings of Benin


The Ogiso Dynasty Lasted From 900-1170 AD
1. Igodo
2. Orire
3. Odia
4. Ighido
5. Evbobo
6. Ogbeide
7. Emehen
8. Akhuakhuan
9. Ekpigho
10. Efeseke
11. Irudia
13. Ekebowe
14. Odion
15. Omarhan
16. Oria
17. Emose (F)
18. Ororo (F)
19. Irebo
20. Ogbomo
21. Agbonzeke
22. Ediae
23. Oriagba
24. Odoligie
25. Uwa
26. Eheneden
27. Ohuede
28. Oduwa
29. Obioye
30. Arigho
31. Owodo

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

A Reparation Call


There has been a great many atrocities committed by man on man over the history of mankind, why the holocaust perpetrated on the Jews has assumed a more significant dimension is due partly to the number at such a short space of time. The Japanese occupation of china also witnessed these unfortunate incident, it should be mindful to note that the seed of this inhumanity was sown many centuries ago with an atrocity perpetrated upon a people that to a great deal led to the justification of further acts of mans inhumanity to man.

While some of the perpetrators of these dastardly acts have hidden behind the cover of "a lack of verifiable evidence", the evidence of this particular acts abound everywhere for ease of observation.

I mean here an event that has been allowed to remain undebated, further consolidating the beliefs that no iota of remorse is felt by the descendants of these perpetrators. The pillaging of Africa by slave dealers and slave traders and the encouraging of the slave market by Europe led to a number of people being taken away from their homeland, families and friends against their will (most times under inhuman transport conditions which further led to the deaths of millions others enroute their capturers destinations). The number of those that survived populated plantations in far flung areas of the world, but nobody seems to be talking about this.

To be honest, not just Europe is guilty of the slave trade and the near extinction of the young and vibrant populations of these ancient African societies as parts of Arabia was also an active participant. The argument that these people were primitive and bestial has been proven a fallacy as contemporary academic research under historical, anthropological and archaeological findings have shown that most if not all of these societies had complex and well defined societal and cultural practices which worked well enough to maintain peace, stability, development and political organization. The famous Portuguese explorer, Ruy de Sequeira in his first visit to the kingdom of Benin, located in the southern coast of modern day Nigeria in the 15th century, marveled at the political organization of the city, her road networks and town planning and officially noted that the city was more developed and organized than the Portuguese capital, Lisbon at the time.

Had the slave trade not been allowed to occur, Africa might not have posed the problem to the world that it unenviably does today. This is how Africa has been underdeveloped, how her youths who would have acted as the intellectual catalyst to her indigenous modernizing process at a point that Europe was also emergent in industry and ideology were forcefully extracted. Rather than a symbiotic relationship that should have existed between these two different peoples with different orientations, it became a parasitic relationship of exploitation and domination.

The fact of the abolition at least lends credence that it was a great wrong perpetrated on a people, but the issue should be seen in the present light of reality. The longer the world keeps mum on this issue, then no one has any moral standing nor justification to speak up against any other subsequent atrocity...

Saturday, March 22, 2008

A New Edo


The future of the people should be as bright as the smile from an infant child, as an air of realization has dawned on all. A people so great as told by history, a people diligent, assiduous and hardworking. Achievers and accomplishers, the span of a massing of egalitarian and structured living. From the captivating highlands of the north, the expansive vegetation of the central axis to the coast lands that boarder the south, all bonded by our common red earth.

This new dawn might not break into a full blaze in this generation, it might probably not be in our lifetime, but it is a common understanding that all today must put in all the efforts to ensure that the firmest of foundations are laid for a more fulfilled life for the younglings we see all around us. Our little sisters and brothers and our kids and their friends, those ones in the womb and those that would find their way there. The future calls all today, it is a call to justice, it is a call to a redefinition of the ideals that has kept all Edo as one for countless centuries, it is a call from the homeland that should hold us all attention.

Great Edo is being reborn, and the next century and beyond beckon on all Edo today, we met the land that was left for us, what are we going to leave for the next generation and subsequent generations of Edos.

As a child smiles in implicit confidence of her safety and wellbeing, the mass of Edo's must smile as the express people inspired leadership continue to affiliatae itself to the dream of the Edo citizen. We are all children of the land, and the tears the land cried must be dried up by the smile of her children.

Oba gha to kpere...

Ise

Thursday, March 20, 2008

A ruling for Edo people


The decision of the election tribunal in Edo state that gave a ruling to the effect that Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the candidate of the Action Congress in the April 14 2007 Edo gubernatorial election, be returned as the elected governor elicited mixed feelings amongst many Edo people today.

There was spontaneous celebrations in different parts of the city and many such events in most other parts of the state as the judgment was greeted with relative goodwill. Previously, there was an apprehensive calm within the city center as most were wary of any untoward incident(s), however, the security was such that would instill reason to any trouble maker.

Elsewhere in the city, the majority of the populace expressed reservations about the ultimate outcome of a ruling that spanned hours, this was not surprising as many of the citizens were witnessing a live ruling for the first time. At least most got a tutelage on the runnings of the judiciary.

The long wait however turned out to be worthwhile as the chairman of the tribunal finally gave a definitive ruling, and in most parts of the city, the hurrays and backslapping's gave an insight as to how a people appreciated the freedom to exercise their choice.

This approach however might just turn out to be short lived, as it is expected of the incumbent governor, former senator and Professor Osariemen Osunbor to file an appeal, as his continued stay as the governor might be finally dependent on that final ruling. Coming amidst a spate of earlier tribunal rulings, the professor might not be too perturbed as he probably might have well known that the tables might turn to his disfavor. Riding on the crest ruling PDP machinery, he laid claim to an mandate which is presently being disputed by the opposition.

The professor however has quickly learned the art of statecraft and despite the many odds that may seem to assail him in his less than twelve months term in office, he has consistently weathered the storm and has in a sort of way warmed himself into the hearts of liberal citizens. A few projects that are observed as one goes around the city especially and in other parts of the state has somewhat won him some sympathy.

Now, Osunbor knows that his fate lies with the appeal he is expected to file, but will he file for appeal? Whether he does or not, any action taken should be seen to be working together towards the greater good of the Edo people, where party affiliations would be relegated to the background and athe yearnings and aspirations of the greater number of the populace would be seen to have been met.

An Edo that would take it's rightful place as the cultural nerve center of the world, an Edo that is not only infrastructurally developed, but technologically advanced and culturally alive so as to be positioned to fully challenge in a competitive world of the 21st century, brimming with limitless opportunities. That is the Edo of our dream and that is a challenge that Edo people would want her leaders to meet...