Alake, Oba of Benin meet on returned artefacts, others in Abeokuta

The Traditional ruler of Benin Kingdom, Edo State, Omo ‘N’ Oba N’edo, Eburewa II, yesterday paid a visit to the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, at his Ake palace in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital.

Oba of Benin got to Ake palace at about 2.20 p.m., with his chiefs and were ushered in by Oba Gbadebo and other notable traditional rulers in the Egbaland, which included Oba Adedapo Tejuoso (Osile Oke-Ona), Oba Saburee Bakre (Agura of Gbagura) and others.

The Alake of Egbaland, who spoke about long years of relationship between Benin and Egba kingdom, also showed his visitor the first Bible in Nigeria, brought to Abeokuta by the missionaries in the course of their evangelism.

He said the visit was another round of good relationship between the two ancient towns, adding that it was great to have the Benin monarch in Egba palace after decades.

Nigerian Ambassador to the United Kingdom (UK), Alhaji Sarafa Tunji Ishola, said the visit was to further concretise the relationship between both kingdoms.

Meanwhile, the Oba of Benin said he had been eager to visit Egbaland where he recalled his grandfather had earlier resided, noting that the two towns have similarity in history, culture and other activities.

He expressed appreciation to the efforts of Ishola towards ensuring the return of the artefacts.

He also called for further efforts in getting the remaining artefacts still in the foreign land returned.

The monarch said arrangement was in the pipeline for the construction and establishment of Benin Royal Museum, where all the recovered artefacts would be housed, adding that they should be handed over to the palace and not government.