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THE BENIN KINGDOM AND HER DELTAN NEIGHBOURS

ABSTRACT

This study was set out to analyze the Kingdom of Benin and her Deltan neighbors. Rituals of kingship in some parts of Nigeria represent the main social reality for many people, providing meaning amidst clashing and ineffectual ideologies, and promising security in a politically unstable time. In the Benin kingdom the Oba’s power is less than in centuries past. but the ideas underling kingship persist, through myth and ritual, as a general cognitive model. By exploring the meanings of Benin Kingdom and the contemporary contexts of royal ceremonies this paper shows how court performances and other legitimating icons such as cement statuary give the Bini a sense of stability by tying them into a larger imagined tradition of greatness. Data collected were analyzed with qualitative methods of content analysis and expository essays. The study was an empirical literature review on the Benin Kingdom and her Deltan neighbours.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1  BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Nigeria is a multi-ethnic nation with several ethnic groups. These ethnic nationalities or groups occupy different territories that formed the area known as Nigeria. While geographical factors such as good climate, soil, presence of mineral resources and others such as better security, search for land, religion, trade and migration etc. provide explanations to the spread of ethnic groups in different parts of the country. The uniqueness or the geographical attributes of the immediate localities played major roles in the people’s culture, economic activity as well as political organizations. Also, through geographical determinisms, certain ethnic groups developed centralized political systems while others developed what is described as non–centralized or segmentary political organizations. The focus of this study is on notable ethnic groups in the southern Nigeria particularly, the Yoruba, Igbo, Benin and Itsekiri among others with particular emphasis on their culture, economy and political organization

The people of Nigeria are classified under two major geographical groups, namely the forest peoples and the grassland (savannah) people1 . Therefore the people of Southern Nigeria belong to the geographical group called the forest people. The forest south is comprised of the mangrove swamp forests of the Niger Delta and coastal Greeks which have provided protection for refuge cultures. The major ethnic groups in Southern Nigeria include the Yoruba and Edo (Benin) people in South West of Nigeria, and the Igbo, Ibibio, Ekoi people of the Southeastern Nigeria.

Igue Festival of Benin is the most popular and colourful festival of the Edo people of Edo state. It consists of up to nine smaller events or mini festivals. It is celebrated by the Oba of Benin and all Edo people to mark the end of the year and for the ushering in of a new year. The Oba dresses in his full regalia and dances with the scimitar; the king’s sword. It is an occasion for the Oba end Edo people to thank the gods for their protection during the year. The Oba sacrificed animals to propitiate the spirits, the gods and souls of dead Obas. Evil spirits are exorcised from the land.