Benin Royal House excluded, Oba Ewuare speaks as row over house for artefacts deepens

…Obaseki defends self

By Ozioruva Aliu

Benin Kingdom, Edo State has been in the news for the past few weeks when it became public knowledge that the Museum of West African Arts (MOWAA) would be officially opened on Tuesday, November 11, 2025.

The interest it generated was not only because of the beauty and ambience that surrounds the edifice, which is a masterpiece in terms design and situated in a portion of the land formerly housing the Benin Central Hospital, but its true ownership, what kind of monuments to be housed there, the relationship it is supposed to have with the Benin palace which, in the last few years, has been receiving artworks which were taken away by British soldiers during the 1897 invasion of the kingdom among others.

The development sharply divided arts enthusiasts, as well as political and traditional leaders in Edo on the appropriateness of the planned opening without input from the state government and the palace of the Oba of Benin.

There are concerns that the project was conceived and expected to be the Benin Royal Museum but it turned out to start as the Edo Museum of West African Arts (EMOWAA) and later changed to the Museum of West African Arts (MOWAA) with donations from various quarters including 900 million Euros said to have been donated by the German government which returned about 1, 000 artefacts to the Benin palace.

No reason was given for the change of name but, in June 2023, the Director of Pavilion, Research and Collections, Ore Disu, said that EMOWAA was now a world-class Museum of West African Art (MOWAA), Edo, and that it is a non-governmental and non-profit-making organisation, promoting West African arts and culture, that would create world-class art, culture and heritage complex.

Disu said that Nigeria, and then Edo State, were chosen to build the befitting museum in order to upgrade conservation efforts in the country, and ensure that surviving remains of artworks were protected, besides generating numerous employment opportunities for the people.

Probe

While the construction of the edifice was still going on, Edo State House of Assembly, barely a month ago, announced a probe into the MOWAA based on a letter it said it had received from the state government requesting that it investigate two ongoing projects initiated by the administration of Governor Godwin Obaseki.

The projects are the Radisson Blu Hotel and MOWAA.

The Speaker of the House, Blessing Agbebaku, announced that an ad hoc committee would be constituted to conduct an investigation into the projects.

Protest

By last week, the anti-inauguration forces of MOWAA seemed to have got the upper hand. They staged a massive protest around Benin City, disrupting traffic and social activities in the early hours of the day.

The protesters said they were representing a broad coalition of Benin socio-cultural organizations and expressed deep concern over the reported plans to inaugurate MOWAA.

 Speaking on behalf of the group, Comrade Osazee Amas-Edobor said the museum project remained under deliberation at the Edo State House of Assembly, and any attempt to commission it ahead of legislative clarity and royal approval would constitute an affront to the state and the throne.

The protesters visited the palace of the Oba of Benin, Edo State House of Assembly and Government House.

At the Government House, Governor Monday Okpebholo reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to safeguarding the sanctity of Benin culture and tradition, declaring that under his watch, no action, public or private, will be allowed to undermine the cultural authority of the Benin Kingdom.

He assured the demonstrators that their concerns were legitimate and that his administration shared their resolve to ensure that Benin culture, heritage, and ancestral symbols are never desecrated, diminished, or exploited. “Please, be assured that nothing belonging to the people of Edo will be taken away from them. Give me time to resolve this matter in a way that honours our history and our monarch”, he said.

 Disruption

The management of MOWAA organized preview on Sunday, November 9 for diplomats, movie producers and tourists, among others.

The Director of MOWAA, Philip Ihenacho, briefed the team on the history behind the facility, adding that the inauguration would now hold next year and, hopefully, by then, the entire MOWAA institute would have been concluded. On her part, Disu led the team round the museum ground after being received at the open pavilion.

Several artworks, both digital and handmade, were displayed in the various compartments in the world class facility which Ihenacho said has the largest holding museum in sub-Saharan Africa.

While the tourists were on a guided tour of the institute, some youths stormed the area chanting pro-Oba songs and anti-Obaseki incantations. The protesters entered the open space inside the compound and tried to disrupt activities.

It took the efforts of the state Commissioner of Police, Monday Agbonika, to calm the angry youths and Benin cultural activists. The tourists were ferried through the back gate close to Sapele Road with heavy security to their various hotels.   

Oba’s rare visit to Government House

 Activities to mark Okpebholo’s one year anniversary were suspended on Monday when it was announced that Oba Ewuare II was visiting the Government House.

The Oba congratulated the governor on his victories about his election in the courts and commended him on his developmental works in Edo.

He expressed shock at the MOWAA project, alleging that Obaseki started the whole process as the Benin Royal Museum, but, along the line, changed the scenario without recourse to him.

He accused the former governor of attempting to undermine the Benin people’s rights over their ancestral artifacts.

Oba Ewuare II was visibly not happy with the way his son was brought into the picture without his knowledge, saying he was used to deceive donors creating the impression that the palace was part of the whole project.

He said: “I invited Godwin Obaseki shortly after he was sworn-in in 2017, I intimated him with how much my father and I had been fighting for the return of the stolen artefacts. I solicited for his collaboration being the new governor of the state, and I the new Oba on the throne. He promptly agreed to support this effort.

“On my second coronation anniversary, he was called to make some remarks and he surprised everyone when he informed us that he had been meeting with the Benin Dialogue Group and that some museums and international donors were already cooperating with him for the setting up of the Benin Royal Museum, and that he had invited them for the next meeting. He then said he couldn’t see any better coronation anniversary gift he could give to me than that.

“Then there was silence. After that silence from Governor Obaseki, COVID-19 came and complicated issues. The evil plan was also being perfected as that was the period I now found out that a lot of money was coming with the artefacts to the palace.

“Suddenly, I saw that they co-opted my eldest son into their conspiracy because they felt that seeing him as the Crown Prince of Benin would prove that they were collaborating with the palace.

“My dear son said that they constituted the Legacy Restoration Trust, and they had given him a board seat but I didn’t send him there.

“He looked excited, of course, he didn’t understand the implications of what he was getting himself into because he didn’t remember, or didn’t care to remember what I had been teaching, what I had been teaching him about people”.

He also took a swipe at a former top official of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), saying: “I gave several referral letters to the official for him to be able to negotiate with different museums in Europe and America.

“Surprisingly, I was no longer put in the picture of the pursuit of these artefacts. Several agreements were signed by the official on behalf of the Oba of Benin which I never saw up till now.

“The official and the Obaseki administration started building what they call Edo Museum of West Africa Arts, I was never put in the picture anymore.

“It was later made known that the finance for the MOWAA which they were building was actually got from foreign donors, who were made to believe that the Benin artefacts that will be returned will be housed there.

“I have to keep on re-emphasizing this I am therefore in support of my people who came out a few days ago to protest against MOWAA opening of any sort.

“I therefore urge the state government to ensure that the MOWAA structure which is under probe by the Edo State House of Assembly is fully investigated, and the source of finance and ownership made known.

“Your Excellency for the information of the general public, the foreign donors are actually seeing this MOWAA structure as the Benin Royal Museum and I urge your Excellency to let it be so.”

Okpebholo revokes land

 Okpebholo, for his part, revealed that he was not informed of the visit of diplomats and other stakeholders for the preview of MOWAA when he received a delegation of European envoys led by the European Union Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Gautier Mignot, alongside the German Ambassador, Dr. Annett Günther, at the Government House in Benin-City. The delegation was later accompanied by the governor on a courtesy visit to the Palace of the Oba of Benin.

He said the MOWAA project lacked transparency as there was no official document on the project that was handed over to him, but assured that a committee he already set up would be fair to all.

“The entire controversy around MOWAA stems from a lack of openness by the previous government,” the governor said.

“It is puzzling how the project transitioned from the Benin Royal Museum to the Edo Museum of West African Art (EMOWAA), and now to the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA), without consultation or clarity, especially with our revered traditional institution.

He expressed his commitment to partnerships with international organizations, but insisted that transparency and respect for the Benin Kingdom must be upheld at all times.

Speaking to journalists after the courtesy call at the palace, EU Ambassador Gautier Mignot explained that the visit was to strengthen partnership and pay homage to the Oba of Benin.

“We also discussed the MOWAA project and recent unfortunate developments. We exchanged views in a spirit of dialogue and partnership, which is how we intend to proceed,” Mignot said.

 He clarified that while the European Union itself has no direct stake in MOWAA, several EU member-states, including Germany, are involved as partners.

 Later that day, the governor announced the revocation of the land where MOWAA was built and then set up a committee headed by a former governor of the state, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, to meet with all stakeholders in the project and give the way forward.

Obaseki’s defence

 Former Governor Godwin Obaseki, in an online interview, affirmed his support for MOWAA, describing it as one of the most transformative cultural and economic investments in West Africa.

Obaseki dismissed purported misconceptions which, according to him, were “politically motivated distortions.”

He explained that MOWAA was conceived to reposition Edo as a global hub for cultural scholarship, tourism, and heritage innovation, arguing that the state cannot continue to lean on “old narratives of fear, suspicion, and misinformation” when the rest of the world is investing massively in culture-driven economies.

The former governor stressed that the museum’s structure, funding model, and governance framework were clearly defined and transparent throughout his administration.

Reacting to criticisms, he clarified that MOWAA was never designed as a private business but as a non-profit institution meant to attract international partnerships, donor funding, academic collaborations, and heritage investments that a state government alone could not shoulder.

According to him, Edo’s financial contribution was only a fraction of the total project cost, a strategic move that allowed the state to leverage global support for an ambitious world-class museum.

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