Skip to main content

The Story of Emotan


Emotan a patriotic woman who traded in foodstuffs at the very spot where her statue stands in the 15th century. At that period,{11th} Oba Uwaifiokun {1430AD-1440AD} usurped the throne of the Benin kingdom in place of his senior brother,Prince Ogun who was the heir apparent. Ogun in those times of travail. paid secret and nocturnal visits to Benin from his exile. On many occasions,this market woman called Emotan warmed Ogun of impending dangers and advised him
against interacting with some treacherous chiefs who may reveal his presence. On one occasion Emotan actually hide prince ogun from his adversary. Some Historians are of the view that Emotan was a market woman who took care of little children whilst their mothers were away buying and selling their wares in oba market they refer to her as the market woman who began the first "DAY-CARE CENTRE" in Benin City.
When Prince Ogun eventually regained the throne and was subsequently crowned as the real Oba of Benin, he took the name {12th} Oba Ewuare the great {1440AD-1473AD}. He did not forget the pivotal role played by this simple market woman, Emotan who saved him from glaring dangers during his exile years. When Emotan died, Oba Ewuare ordered that the sacred Uruhe tree be planted at the very spot where Emotan used to display her goods in Oba market and decreed that thereafter, every person in Benin who is performing any ceremony of whatever must pay homage to Emotan.Thus to this day every citizen,including the Oba himself pays homage to Emotan.

During the reign of {33rd} Oba Osemwende {1816AD-1848AD} the commemorative tree fell and he replanted another Uruhe tree on the same spot.

In 1951, the British colonial administration officials injected the tree with poisonous chemicals and uprooted it. This action almost led to a violent mass reaction. After which the {37th} Oba Akenzua II {1933AD-1978AD} vehemently protested the destruction of the Emotan shrine. This had been there since the 15th century. Consequently, the colonialists acceded to the request for a replacement. A life-size statue was cast by Mr. J.A.Danfor in London from a clay Marquette modeled by Enomayo, professional brass caster from the Igun-Eronmwon.
The new Emotan statue was unveiled amidst pomp and pageantry by the Oba Benin, Akenzua ll on March 20, 1954.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Origin and meaning of Edo words

Ewuare the first Bini warrior king, was himself forced into exile as a young prince and nearly would not have ascended the Benin throne.  With death penalty hanging on his head as a result of some misdemeanor, he fled into the woods although regularly, secretly visiting the city of Benin at night. The elders (Edionisen) heard about his secret visits and set a trap to capture and kill him.  Just as he was about to be caught, he escaped to the home of Ogieva Nomuekpo, who hid him in a well covered on top with leaves.  Ogieva then went to invite the elders to come and arrest Prince Ogun as he was called then. While Ogieva was on his way to call the elders, Edo, the head servant of Ogieva's household alerted Prince Ogun about his master's diabolical plan and helped the prince to escape.  Ogieva returned with the elders to find that he had been betrayed and he severely punished Edo for this. After several years in the bush, Prince Ogun began to grow weary of his vaga...
Post a Comment
Read more

The relationship between the queen of England and the Oba of Benin Kingdom

AS the world was awaiting the coronation of a new Oba of Benin, in Benin City, there has been a barrage of goodwill messages from distant and near lands. Two of such empathic correspondence unveil the kind of royal diplomacy now being ushered in as a new dawn approaches in the nucleus of the former seat of a great West African empire (Kingdom), the former capital of Midwest region and capital of Bendel now Edo State in modern Nigeria. From the records of the Benin Traditional Council (BTC), the queen of Great Britain, Her Majesty Elizabeth 11 sent her condolence message to the Crown Prince and Heir Apparent to the Benin throne, Ambassador Eheneden Erediauwa, over the transition of Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo Erediauwa, CFR. Oba of Benin. Similarly, the Duke of Kent, His Royal Highness, Prince Edward, KG, GCMG, GCVO, ADC (P), a cousin of  Her Majesty, the Queen, has since expressed his best wishes for the Benin kingdom in a most brotherly fashion imbued with the gr...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayers In The Culture

By Michael A.  Odaro Prayers in the culture is the living entreaty of the human person with divine reality of love, embracing both trial and joy. Prayer is a consciousness of divine reality, a raising of heart and mind to the object of faith and awakens a new understanding of life experience. It s a growth in awareness, a surrender, a commitment, a risk and implies dependence on divine reality. Prayer has been classed with protective magic or with social mechanisms of explanation and control. As such it is the central phenomenon of religion and core of worship, which includes many types of religious practice, ritual, instruction, reading, singing, offering of gifts and so on. Prayer is a continuous mode of living and the spiritual disposition of the believer and fundamental spiritual communication, verbal, ritual and materialized moments of formal exchange. Social Anthropologists have been more interested in the secondary Sycho-social functions of prayer. Necessity teaches us...
Post a Comment
Read more