By Nehi Igbinijesu.
Some questions never really surface in general discourse. But seriously, where do the Obas of Benin go after they exit this world? The Binis believe they go to heaven. And Ife tradition seems to believe that too.
Yoruba historians widely speculated that Ona Orun Awon Oba Ado was a site in Ife where some of the Obas of Benin were interred. Today, passing Obas are known to be interred in the Ogbe section of Benin.
In Benin tradition, the Oba is a demi-god, in a class below a pantheon of gods which the Bini people revered. The Oba was therefore deemed an intermediary between the people and the gods. He was largely seen as immortal. When an Oba died, it was seen as a mere transition of state.
Today among the Binis, it is a taboo believed to bring bad fortune, for a Bini person to report the demise of an Oba. In proper parlance such an incident is reported in a somewhat idiomatic manner: “The ground has eaten white chalk.”
So if ever you visit Benin and hear that the ground has eaten white chalk, you might easily understand a part of Bini culture that venerates its King.
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This article was first published on 2nd October 2012
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Some questions never really surface in general discourse. But seriously, where do the Obas of Benin go after they exit this world? The Binis believe they go to heaven. And Ife tradition seems to believe that too.
Yoruba historians widely speculated that Ona Orun Awon Oba Ado was a site in Ife where some of the Obas of Benin were interred. Today, passing Obas are known to be interred in the Ogbe section of Benin.
In Benin tradition, the Oba is a demi-god, in a class below a pantheon of gods which the Bini people revered. The Oba was therefore deemed an intermediary between the people and the gods. He was largely seen as immortal. When an Oba died, it was seen as a mere transition of state.
Today among the Binis, it is a taboo believed to bring bad fortune, for a Bini person to report the demise of an Oba. In proper parlance such an incident is reported in a somewhat idiomatic manner: “The ground has eaten white chalk.”
So if ever you visit Benin and hear that the ground has eaten white chalk, you might easily understand a part of Bini culture that venerates its King.
