The Special Committee on the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA), chaired by former Edo State Governor and Senator representing Edo North, Adams Aliu Oshiomhole, has recommended that the management of the museum be handed over to the Oba of Benin.
Presenting the committee’s report to Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo in Benin City on Thursday, Oshiomhole said the committee found the Oba of Benin to be the most appropriate custodian of the Benin artefacts.
According to him, the committee established that the administration of former Governor Godwin Obaseki spent about N3.8 billion in public funds on the museum project, while the project’s original concept and identity were subsequently altered.
Oshiomhole said the project originated from efforts by the Oba of Benin to secure the repatriation of looted Benin artefacts, which led to international agreements for their return and plans for a royal museum to preserve the historic treasures.
He recalled that the Edo State Government initially agreed to finance the proposed Benin Royal Museum on land provided by the Oba of Benin. However, he said the project was later renamed the Edo Museum of West African Art (EMOWAA) and subsequently the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA).
The committee chairman added that the project attracted substantial international support, including €4 million from the German Government and $1.5 million from the Leventis Foundation, while MOWAA was also reported to have received more than $18 million from donors.
The committee recommended that the existing facility be retained but renamed Benin Royal Museum of African Art, reflecting what it described as the museum’s original purpose and ownership.
Oshiomhole said the committee’s key recommendation was for the museum to be managed by the Oba of Benin, stressing that the monarchy would provide a more enduring institution for the protection of the artefacts.
“The museum should be returned to the Oba of Benin to manage it henceforth, as the government comes and goes but the Benin Monarch remains and the artifacts can be protected better by the institutions that own it,” he said.
Receiving the report, Governor Okpebholo commended the committee for what he described as a thorough and objective assignment.
He said the state government would constitute another committee, working with the Ministry of Justice, to prepare a White Paper on the report and determine how the recommendations would be implemented.
Okpebholo also recalled seeing a video in which former Governor Obaseki announced plans to build a royal museum in honour of the Oba of Benin before the project’s name was later changed.
The report presentation was attended by Deputy Governor Dennis Idahosa, Secretary to the State Government Umar Musa Ikhilor, Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Prof. Roland Otaru, and other senior government officials.
