X-Message-Info: JGTYoYF78jE6LlX3vLMOg+qxIuZfCE7m
Received: from n10.grp.scd.yahoo.com ([66.218.66.65]) by mc7-f34.hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC(5.0.2195.6713);
Wed, 12 Nov 2003 15:31:15 -0800
X-eGroups-Return: [log in to unmask]
Received: from [66.218.66.159] by n10.grp.scd.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 12 Nov 2003 19:11:36 -0000
X-Sender: [log in to unmask]
X-Apparently-To: [log in to unmask]
Received: (qmail 33098 invoked from network); 12 Nov 2003 19:11:34 -0000
Received: from unknown (66.218.66.218)
by m19.grp.scd.yahoo.com with QMQP; 12 Nov 2003 19:11:34 -0000
Received: from unknown (HELO hotmail.com) (65.54.245.72)
by mta3.grp.scd.yahoo.com with SMTP; 12 Nov 2003 19:11:34 -0000
Received: from mail pickup service by hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC;
Wed, 12 Nov 2003 11:03:43 -0800
Received: from 199.95.204.184 by by1fd.bay1.hotmail.msn.com with HTTP;
Wed, 12 Nov 2003 19:03:42 GMT
X-Originating-Email: [[log in to unmask]]
To: [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask]
Cc: [log in to unmask]
Bcc:
Message-ID: <[log in to unmask]>
X-OriginalArrivalTime: 12 Nov 2003 19:03:43.0109 (UTC) FILETIME=[B0D9F350:01C3A94F]
From: "Enosakhare Idubor" <[log in to unmask]>
X-Originating-IP: 65.54.245.72
X-Yahoo-Profile: Edo_nation
MIME-Version: 1.0
Mailing-List: list [log in to unmask]; contact [log in to unmask]
Delivered-To: mailing list [log in to unmask]
Precedence: bulk
List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 19:03:42 +0000
Subject: [edo-community] The Case of Great Benin.
Content-Type: text/html; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Return-Path: [log in to unmask]
<html>
<div style='background-color:'><DIV>
<TABLE cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top align=right width="22%"><FONT size=2><EM></EM></FONT></TD>
<TD vAlign=top width="66%"><B>
<P align=center><FONT face="Lucida Handwriting" size=6>The Case of Benin</FONT></B></P></TD>
<TD width="12%"></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top noWrap align=right width="88%" colSpan=2><FONT size=2><EM></EM></FONT><I>
<P style="WORD-SPACING: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 100%; xmargin-TOP: 0px; xmargin-BOTTOM: 0px" align=center><FONT size=3>Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport Appendices to the Minutes of Evidence</FONT></I></P></TD>
<TD noWrap width="12%"></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top align=right width="22%">
<P align=center><IMG height=326 src="http://www.kwenu.com/images/binimask.gif" width=187 border=0><BR><FONT face=Verdana size=2><B>Bini Mask</B></FONT></P></TD>
<TD vAlign=top width="66%">
<P align=justify> </P>
<P align=justify><FONT face=Verdana size=2>I am Edun Akenzua, Enogie (Duke) of Obazuwa-Iko, brother of His Majesty, Omo, n'Oba n'Edo, Oba (King) Erediauwa of Benin, great grandson of His Majesty Omo n'Oba n'Edo, Oba Ovonramwen, in whose reign the cultural property was removed in 1897. I am also the Chairman of the Benin Centenary Committee established in 1996 to commemorate 100 years of Britain's invasion of Benin, the action which led to the removal of the cultural property.</FONT></P><FONT size=1>
<P align=justify> </P></FONT><B>
<P align=left><FONT face=Verdana size=2>HISTORY</FONT></P></B>
<P align=justify><FONT face=Verdana size=2>"On 26 March 1892 the Deputy Commissioner and Vice-Consul, Benin District of the Oil River Protectorate, Captain H L Gallwey, maneuvered Oba Ovonramwen and his chiefs into agreeing to terms of a treaty with the British Government. That treaty, in all its implications, marked the beginning of the end of the independence of Benin not only on account of its theoretical claims, which bordered on the fictitious, but also in providing the British with the pretext, if not the legal basis, for subsequently holding the Oba accountable for his future actions."</FONT></P>
<P align=justify><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The text quoted above was taken from the paper presented at the Benin Centenary Lectures by Professor P A Igbafe of the Department of History, University of Benin on 17 February 1997.</FONT></P>
<P align=justify><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Four years later in 1896 the British Acting Consul in the Niger-Delta, Captain James R Philip wrote a letter to the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Salisbury, requesting approval for his proposal to invade Benin and depose its King.</FONT></P>
<P align=justify><FONT face=Verdana size=2>As a postscript to the letter, Captain Philip wrote: "I would add that I have reason to hope that sufficient ivory would be found in the King's house to pay the expenses incurred in removing the King from his stool."</FONT></P>
<P align=justify><FONT face=Verdana size=2>These two extracts sum up succinctly the intention of the British, or, at least, of Captain Philip, to take over Benin and its natural and cultural wealth for the British.</FONT></P>
<P align=justify><FONT face=Verdana size=2>British troops invaded Benin on 10 February 1897. After a fierce battle, they captured the city, on February 18. Three days later, on 21 February precisely, they torched the city and burnt down practically every house. Pitching their tent on the Palace grounds, the soldiers gathered all the bronzes, ivory-works, carved tusks and oak chests that escaped the fire. Thus, some 3,000 pieces of cultural artwork were taken away from Benin. The bulk of it was taken from the burnt down Palace.</FONT></P><FONT size=1>
<P align=justify> </P></FONT><B>
<P align=left><FONT face=Verdana size=2>NUMBER OF ITEMS REMOVED</FONT></P></B>
<P align=justify><FONT face=Verdana size=2>It is not possible for us to say exactly how many items were removed. They were not catalogued at inception. We are informed that the soldiers who looted the palace did the cataloguing. It is from their accounts and those of some European and American sources that we have come to know that the British carried away more than 3,000 pieces of Benin cultural property. They are now scattered in museums and galleries all over the world, especially in London, Scotland, Europe and the United States. A good number of them are in private hands.</FONT></P><FONT size=1>
<P align=justify> </P></FONT><B>
<P align=left><FONT face=Verdana size=2>WHAT THE WORKS MEAN TO THE PEOPLE OF BENIN</FONT></P></B>
<P align=justify><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The works have been referred to as primitive art, or simply, artifacts of African origin. But Benin did not produce their works only for aesthetics or for galleries and museums. At the time Europeans were keeping their records in long-hand and in hieroglyphics, the people of Benin cast theirs in bronze, carved on ivory or wood. The Obas commissioned them when an important event took place which they wished to record. Some of them of course, were ornamental to adorn altars and places of worship. But many of them were actually reference points, the library or the archive. To illustrate this, one may cite an event which took place during the coronation of Oba Erediauwa in 1979. There was an argument as to where to place an item of the coronation paraphernalia. Fortunately a bronze-cast of a past Oba wearing the same regalia had escaped the eyes of the soldiers and so it is still with us. Reference was made to it and the matter was resolved. Taking away those items is taking away our records, or our Soul.</FONT></P><FONT size=1>
<P align=justify> </P></FONT><B>
<P align=left><FONT face=Verdana size=2>RELIEF SOUGHT</FONT></P></B>
<P align=justify><FONT face=Verdana size=2>In view of the foregoing, the following reliefs are sought on behalf of the Oba and people of Benin who have been impoverished, materially and psychologically, by the wanton looting of their historically and cultural property.</FONT></P>
<P align=justify><FONT face=Verdana size=2>(i) The official record of the property removed from the Palace of Benin in 1897 be made available to the owner, the Oba of Benin.</FONT></P>
<P align=justify><FONT face=Verdana size=2>(ii) All the cultural property belonging to the Oba of Benin illegally taken away by the British in 1897, should be returned to the rightful owner, the Oba of Benin.</FONT></P>
<P align=justify><FONT face=Verdana size=2>(iii) As an alternative, to (ii) above, the British should pay monetary compensation, based on the current market value, to the rightful owner, the Oba of Benin.</FONT></P>
<P align=justify><FONT face=Verdana size=2>(iv) Britain, being the principal looters of the Benin Palace, should take full responsibility for retrieving the cultural property or the monetary compensation from all those to whom the British sold them.</FONT></P><FONT size=1>
<P style="WORD-SPACING: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 100%; xmargin-TOP: 0px; xmargin-BOTTOM: 0px" align=justify> </P>
<P style="WORD-SPACING: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 100%; xmargin-TOP: 0px; xmargin-BOTTOM: 0px" align=justify> </P>
<P style="WORD-SPACING: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 100%; xmargin-TOP: 0px; xmargin-BOTTOM: 0px" align=justify> </P>
<P style="WORD-SPACING: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 100%; xmargin-TOP: 0px; xmargin-BOTTOM: 0px" align=justify> </P></FONT>
<P style="WORD-SPACING: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 100%; xmargin-TOP: 0px; xmargin-BOTTOM: 0px" align=center><FONT face=Verdana size=2><I>Memorandum submitted by</I></FONT></P><B>
<P style="WORD-SPACING: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 100%; xmargin-TOP: 0px; xmargin-BOTTOM: 0px" align=center><FONT face=Verdana size=3>Prince Edun Akenzua</FONT></P></B>
<P align=right><FONT face=Verdana size=2>March 2000</FONT> </P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV></div><br clear=all><hr>Tired of spam? Get <a href="http://g.msn.com/8HMAEN/2734??PS=">advanced junk mail protection</a> with MSN 8.
<br>
<br>
<tt>
<BR>
<BR>
</tt>
<br>
<br>
<tt>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the <a href="http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/">Yahoo! Terms of Service</a>.</tt>
</br>
</html>