The man who would be Oba of Benin

The things mortals cannot now wish away may be bringing quite close him, the limelight he tried to avoid in the past. It is the way of our world to defer to this great epoch in sight. A world where republicans contend with the version of royalty that today still thrives in Nigeria.

The Crown Prince of the fabled Benin Monarchy and ancient civilization known worldwide for its illustrious bronze heads and royal court figures, a highly developed social engineering and political organisation, is the persona in whose direction reverential thumbs would now be pointing.

Well considered, he fittingly defines what and who a true monarch is, contrary to the way that word is being used today in the media. A monarch (even if he cannot be sovereign in a modern state) should have a solid monarchy backing him and dating into the recesses of history, otherwise some other descriptive terminology might well be employed to describe the now endless number of Nigeria’s traditional rulers.

But for years, he appeared content with guesses about his mythic traditional cocoon, his views on contemporary issues as well as his thoughts on the future of his people who already know that he will be the one to bear the “burden” of their ancient cultural heritage.

As a princely specimen, Crown Prince Eheneden Erediauwa is similar yet distinct from his father, the departed Omo n’oba Erediauwa. He makes his own unique impression with a striking priestly handsomeness.

Back in 1999, Crown Prince Erediauwa had a ready shield to the reporter’s inquisition about his unknown world. “The cork has to get to his prime to crow” he would say.

The first close encounter with him was during the seminar for ambassadors-designate in Abuja. He was recalled from Stockholm, Sweden on the orders of President Obasanjo who had earlier asked all the country’s plenipotentiaries to proceed on compulsory leave. Shortly before his posting, he shied away from the reporter then despite being accosted several times for a chat. Trying to wriggle out once, he said “let us see how it will go first…Whenever I am back in Nigeria, we can perhaps talk”

But he was his reluctant old self at a later encounter after inviting the reporter to his NICON Hilton hotel suite having been assured that there would be no chat but just to say hello. The Crown Prince is down to earth and can be fraternally friendly. In simple shorts he stepped forward, half smiling, half musing “Ah the journalist! I hope they are taking good care of you in Abuja. Soon after we settled down, the expectation of squeezing some newsy juice turned sour. “Speak with the other ambassador first and then I may also talk to you” was now the new song.

Of course, the other envoys were under instructions to spare their tongues. Undaunted, the reporter probed further “Okoro, you are my targeted source. This is expected of me. Can we have a glimpse of your experiences in Sweden so far? Many questions regarding life in Scandinavia and how to impact the best practices over there on the domestic scene…” But there were only little yields despite the calculated reporter barrage. Rather more personal matters dominated the almost one and a half hours tete-a-tete.

What could pass for a cat out of the bag came in form of hints. For instance, he would love the concerned government agencies to cooperate more with Nigerian Missions abroad in making relevant information available to potential investors who have been talked into doing business in Nigeria by hardworking ambassadors.

The man who would be the Oba of Benin is quite kind hearted. The story was once told of how the then young Erediauwa was prevented from donating blood to soldiers on the Federal side during the Nigerian civil war. Being the only student who volunteered when the reverend Father announced to his class at the Immaculate Conception College (ICC), Benin City, that blood was needed to save the dying soldiers who were brought in from the frontal battle line, he felt his royal background was responsible for the action of the school authorities rather than the convenient reason of “being too young.” He subsequently expressed his displeasure to his father who visited thereafter and the story spread!

He is also passionate about people empowerment and the freeing up of entrepreneurial spirit. He already said then: “Our people must be investment conscious. There is a beneficial way both private and public funds can be circulated for the advancement of society…What I find appalling with our entrepreneurs on the local scene and the so-called movers and shakers of the society is that most often people just flaunt wealth, throw money around and there is still primitive accumulation. It would be nice to see wise investment of funds to create employment. This is not how we should carry on for meaningful growth”

Born on a predicted date 63 years ago, and having attended the Benin Divisional Council Primary School and ICC, he was at the South West London College, University of Wales, Cardiff, as well as the Rutgers Graduate School, Newark, New Jersey, USA between 1971 and 1979, before joining the University of London’s Institute of Commonwealth Studies in 1985. This had come on the heels of his service as an administrative officer at the Nigerian Institute (NIIA), Lagos. Among others, he also holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and a deferred PhD in International Administration.

Impressed by his diligence while serving as a graduate intern in the Population Division at the United Nations (UN) in 1981, the Nigerian Mission in New York, acknowledged his contributions in references. Regardless of the influential nature of his background, the recommendation therefrom played its part in his appointment as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary in December 1997. As ambassador to the Kingdom of Sweden, his Mission had concurrent accreditation to the Kingdoms of Norway, Denmark and the Republic of Finland. By then and prior to the return to civil democratic rule in 1999, Nigeria had restructured its concurrent accreditation formula. Denmark was excised to be covered by the Mission in Ireland while Estonia and Lithuania were added to his Mission in Stockholm.

One of the very basic, yet well researched submissions of sociologists is to the effect that a culture of a people must be gratifying. This means that all of those traits that gather under the banner of the so called culture, must in practice be such that give joy to the practitioners. Also from an elevated spiritual point of view, apart from the culture being something that is dynamic, it must also never lose the beautiful side of its essence.

Oghogho Arthur Obayuwana is the former Foreign Affairs Editor of The Guardian now a public Affairs analyst based in Abuja •The earlier version of the article with this title was first published by the same author in The Guardian on November 14th 1999

It is when the culture is kept beautiful and intelligible that the enduring and beneficial pearls therefrom are preserved in a sustainable manner and in a way that is agreeable to most of its practitioners or inheritors. In the new time, this should also be key as a people once versed in breathtaking art, adept in military campaigns and astute in socio-political organization, take an important step to face up with the realities of the 21st century within the context of a modern Nigeria.

Now, there is a clarion cock-a-doodle-doo in Benin City and special gongs are already ushering in the “big things”. But there should be also the bigger things to come.
Oghogho Arthur Obayuwana is the former Foreign Affairs Editor of The Guardian now a public Affairs analyst based in Abuja
•The earlier version of the article with this title was first published by the same author in The Guardian on November 14th 1999