Oba Erediauwa of Bénin
Nigeria
Nigeria
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On march 23, 1979, prince Salomon, a graduate of
Cambridge University, was crowned Oba( king ) of Benin. He suceeded his father Akenzua II,
and became the thirty-eigth king of a dynasty dating back to the thirteenth century. "The large chalk stick is broken", was the metaphor used to officially announce the death of Akenzua. Immediately afterwards, the Edo of Nigeria, England and America, shaved their heads. The new growth of the hair signified the rebirth of the kingdom, and the re-establishment of the harmony between man and the elements, that had been broken for an instant by the death. At the time of the arrival of the Portuguese, and then the Dutch, Benin palace was as large as Haarlem( city in Holland ). Sometimes the Oba( king ) would parade around , surrounded by leopards at the head of an impressive procession of warriors. At the time, Benin controlled all of southern Nigeria and Dahomey.
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