Rossikk:


The Benin empire did not enslave its people, and slavery was banned in the Empire.

The Benin Empire did not participate in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and any person found to be engaging in such activities within the kingdom was tried and executed.

It is a common Eurocentric, racist lie that great African monuments of antiquity such as the pyramids and great temples of Nubia and Egypt were built by ''slaves''. They were not.

They were EMPLOYED AND PAID by the state to do the work.

The Benin Empire was an honourable empire with civilized values.

Rossikk:


The Benin empire did not enslave its people, and slavery was banned in the Empire.

The Benin Empire did not participate in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and any person found to be engaging in such activities within the kingdom was tried and executed.

It is a common Eurocentric, racist lie that great African monuments of antiquity such as the pyramids and great temples of Nubia and Egypt were built by ''slaves''. They were not.

They were EMPLOYED AND PAID by the state to do the work.

The Benin Empire was an honourable empire with civilized values.

ogbe88:
stoop insulting ppl Mr man, let them speak, and I don't think u are from Edo state.

U keep talking about one Nigeria, where has it lead us to, Imagine Benin Kingdom (Edo State) been on it's own, do you know how much progress will be made.

Pls be having sense.

Odibembem:


Lost without trace u said? Let us stop this embellishments. Am an Edo man, schooled in Uniben, lived and worked in Benin for eleven years up till a few years ago. What Benin has is a Moat dug around it NOT a wall. Even Benin folklore says d giant Arualan dug d moat by marching round d city though d reality is that it was dug by workmen. I have gone round d palace and much of central Benin and it's vicinity, nothing remotely like d ruins of any wall, just d moat which u can still see around back of Vegetable mkt off Airport road. Embellishment and exaggeration of history is d bane of d black man, d present Oba palace is like a hut, a toy house not befitting d oba's status (I virtually lost respect for d Bini monarchy when I visited Buckingham palace for d first time after taking that long walk from Big Ben thru Downing Street then brigade of guards to d palace, seeing d war and colonial monuments, nature and wildlife preserved, d majesty of d British Monarch was just overwhelming and humbling. And Buckingham has been in existence for how many centuries? The Oba of Benin is famed, too majestic to live in that ringroad palace, our people and govt need to go to a huge expanse of land, in d outskirts of Benin, build a huge palace that befits d majesty of d omonoba, site a royal museum in that vicinity, build six lane roads with huge walkways and site some natural wildlife (not violent wildlife oh) enroute to d palace to attract tourists like Burkingham which looks like everyday is Christmas while retaining d old palace in ringroad. This is what we should be doing not creating fables and consoling ourselves with lies of things we never had. What matters now is what we have and d present palace is nothing to write home about. A more majestic palace for d Omonoba should be d song!

JuanDeDios:

Lol at bolded.

Oyinbos didn't destroy our culture though. We did that ourselves. We embraced foreign faiths and took them to ridiculous levels. Jesus was not born in Britain too - he was foreign until the Brits adopted the Roman religion. Rome sef, Jesus was foreign until they adopted the religion from Judea. Today, they're mostly secular societies, using their heads instead of blaming Israel for bringing Bibles.

Rossikk:


You claim to have schooled in Uniben, yet you reason like a school dropout. YOU don’t know anything about the Benin wall. The dimensions and descriptions given here were made by international researchers and scientists who have visited and measured the dimensions of the structure with helicopters and expensive, modern equipment, including satellite technology, when you were still sucking breast, or even before you were born. Your job, if you had a working brain, is to return to the city and fill the gaps in your knowledge presented by the research findings, not to dispute them because of the little section YOU saw while walking to your classroom or beer parlour.

Rossikk:
If we had to implement such a project today, we would not believe in our capacity to do it.

We would be looking for China or Julius Berger to do it, and we would be ready to pay them billions of dollars.

Such is the damage that colonial rule did to our sense of confidence in our capacity as a people.

This wall was built long before the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century.

300 years before.

They did not use any machines at all (at least none that we know of. Maybe they invented something they used, who knows? Do we research our history?)

But today, if we want to build a COMMON RAILWAY LINE OF 5 KILOMETRES, we call the Chinese.

5km compared to 16,000km.

To show you how far back we've gone, from our can-do attitude which civilized this world, to this tragic dependency on people who were BABIES on this Earth when we were adults.

Today, we want to build an expressway, we call Julius Berger.

We want to build an airport or shopping mall, we call China.

I mean, we need to snap out of it, and become MEN again.

Just like our illustrious ancestors.

Men who knew their worth.

Odibembem:


I lived and worked in Benin for 11 years besides d years I spent in Uniben as a student. No axis of Benin I don't know. I have friends and family in Benin and I visit d city at least once every month. Where exactly are d ruins of this phantom wall? Have u ever lived in Benin? If so u should tell me yourself where d ruins are. I was on ground in Benin,some dreamer-writer is telling u he used helicopter and satellite to locate d walls, are helicopters sharper than eyes on ground? Hear u talking of helicopter and satellite as if Benin is an inaccessible jungle like d Amazon. I can tell u that u don't need helicopter to access anywhere in Benin City, u have no idea of d city, simple. What rubbish and infantile thought process. Why not interview d custodians of Benin history and archives themselves, go to d Palace Chiefs, go to d Edebiris, d Osuans, d Isekhures and ask them if Benin had these phantom walls. The leading authority in Benin ancient history was Jacob Egharevba, he wrote a comprehensive book on Benin history, he is d undisputed authority. No where in d book did he mention anything about Benin wall. Have u read d book? Visit Chief Osuan at Vegetable Mkt, he is d custodian and holder of d keys to d shrines of d Oba, their family came with Oranmiyan from Ife, he is an a good position to tell u if those walks existed, his family meticulously keeps records. It is not remotely in your place to have this discussion with me. As far as Benin issues are concerned, u are 'igbon'.

Odibembem:


I lived and worked in Benin for 11 years besides d years I spent in Uniben as a student. No axis of Benin I don't know. I have friends and family in Benin and I visit d city at least once every month. Where exactly are d ruins of this phantom wall? Have u ever lived in Benin? If so u should tell me yourself where d ruins are. I was on ground in Benin,some dreamer-writer is telling u he used helicopter and satellite to locate d walls, are helicopters sharper than eyes on ground? Hear u talking of helicopter and satellite as if Benin is an inaccessible jungle like d Amazon. I can tell u that u don't need helicopter to access anywhere in Benin City, u have no idea of d city, simple. What rubbish and infantile thought process. Why not interview d custodians of Benin history and archives themselves, go to d Palace Chiefs, go to d Edebiris, d Osuans, d Isekhures and ask them if Benin had these phantom walls. The leading authority in Benin ancient history was Jacob Egharevba, he wrote a comprehensive book on Benin history, he is d undisputed authority. No where in d book did he mention anything about Benin wall. Have u read d book? Visit Chief Osuan at Vegetable Mkt, he is d custodian and holder of d keys to d shrines of d Oba, their family came with Oranmiyan from Ife, he is an a good position to tell u if those walks existed, his family meticulously keeps records. It is not remotely in your place to have this discussion with me. As far as Benin issues are concerned, u are 'igbon'.

Stoplying:
Your hatred of Benin is clouding your judgement.
Only traces of Benin defensive walls still exist today, the British leveled those walls in the war of 1897 which opposed Benin empire to the British empire. So asking to see the walls today is a little bit strange, like asking to speak to a dead man which you also ask for when telling people to go and speak to egherevba. By the way, contrary to your claim, egherevba was not in anyway "the leading authority" in Benin history, actually egherevba is just a man who wrote stories for his PhD in university of Ibadan, he called his stories: short history of Benin. But he seems to not have known how to actually conduct historical research, he just put a bunch of stories with no substantiation, his stories were oriented towards a pro-yoruba perspective which was very well received by his Yoruba university (mystery solved). You also do not seem to understand how history is researched, you seem to think all you need is to quote a person who has the same views as you and then hype that person as "the leading authority", therefore making your argument like a word from the gospel.
History is researched through eye-witness written documents! All the Europeans who visited the capital of Benin empire/kingdom (the capital is Benin city), talk about the walls, you see: eyewitness written records.

It is also strange that you think these infos can be found on archives even though, our ancestors didn't have a written form of language! You clearly have a learning disability. You don't understand the concept of time, I see many Nigerians with this mental disability.

Rossikk:


You are an utter ignoramus.

Go on GOOGLE EARTH, you blasted dunce.

TYPE 'BENIN WALL' into GOOGLE EARTH.

Do you know what GOOGLE EARTH is?

ACTUAL Photographs of the land.

The rampart can be EASILY IDENTIFIED by the vegetation covering it.

Blasted illiterate.

You think coming here to drop names of people you've never spoken to in your life or asked any questions of, and who themselves are probably ignorant of the scale of the edifice, will impress anyone here?

The wall goes FAR beyond Benin city, and is a KINGDOM RAMPART.

Oh sure, scientists and researchers in Europe, America, journalists, etc just decided ''we are so bored, so let us invent this monster wall in Benin city which never existed, just to titillate ourselves.''.

Go on GOOGLE EARTH and quit being an embarrassment to whatever you school you claim to have attended.

Odibembem:


My friend think, use your head and think. The pyramids of Egypt were constructed 4000 years ago, they suffered pillage and vandalization for 3000 years yet their ruins are still there for anyone to see. The ruins of d Incas cities in Peru over 500 years old don't need a satellite or helicopter to see, they are still there for d naked eyes. U say the walls of Benin were felled by d British in 1897, that's just about 125 years ago yet zero sign of them. Did d British carry their army with bombs and dynamites all around Benin blasting d walls? If they were as majestic as d great walls of China with d length u are claiming, how reasonable for a 19th century army to effectively bring down such a wall without any trace of rubble just 125 years later? Look, there is Legend, there is Myth and there is Fable. This is 100% fable, even worse than that of Arualan who used to use palm trees as broom to sweep and as chewing stick and Iyenugholo his witch doctor. BTW Arualan's statue is adorned in Ring Road with a tree in his hands in a sweeping position, u can also argue that he aactually was a historical reality and used palm trees to sweep. What Benin has is d great Moat, not Walls.

Odibembem:


U rely on Google Earth, an app fed info by people u don't know, I rely on eye witness, myself being d most credible. I don't need to drop names, out of d names I mentioned, I knew two very personally and discussed ancient Benin history with them.
U said d British felled d walls 125 yes ago and today zero sign or evidence. Yet d Pyramids of Egypt 4000 years old are still there after so many years of plunder. Peru and Mexico still have d ruins of d Incas and Aztecs after over 500 years despite how d Spanish plundered and annahilated them for years. A small British expedition that didn't last a few days totally erazed a so called wall more majestic and longer than d wall of China. When u tell stories to people, learn to differentiate Fables from Myths and Legends. This one is 100% fable, no such wall ever existed. When u want to embellish or lie, at least do it with some dignity, your children are watching u and they will ask questions

Rossikk:


It was PRECISELY because the Benin Kingdom was “on its own” that the British could brazenly invade, destroy, and burn down the place. If Benin was part of a ‘Nigeria’ at the time, or better yet an African federation at the time, the British would have been repelled. In fact they wouldn’t even have dared to invade.

You people need to realise that your tribalism and ethnic parochialism is a WEAKNESS, not a strength. It is DUMB and makes you vulnerable to external forces who capitalise on your fragmentation.

Think like China. India. Brazil. They have numerous languages and ethnic groups there too. But they realised that the bigger you are the better, and came together.

That is the ONLY WAY you can confront and checkmate the external forces targeting your continental resources.

Even today, France can bully a small nation like Togo, Gabon, and even place their troops on ground there, as they do.

Can any country try that in Nigeria?

No.

Why?

Because you are a massive country with 220 million people and a large, powerful military capable of defending your territorial integrity.

Today they invite Nigeria to G20 meeting, BRICS meeting, G70 meeting…. every meeting, they invite us to sit at the table, even when we are not official members, where they are discussing world affairs.

Do you see them inviting Togo? Sierra Leone? Ghana? Senegal?

When you break up into your stupid little tribal republics, who will even know or care about your new names, never mind inviting you to BRICS meeting or G20?

Do you see anybody calling South Sudan for anything?

As an African country, smallness makes you irrelevant in the international community.

Your job will be to TAKE ORDERS from resolutions reached at those meetings by the likes of India, Brazil, China, US and EU.

The bigger you are, the better.

You have NO CHOICE but to end tribalism.

Rossikk:


It was PRECISELY because the Benin Kingdom was “on its own” that the British could brazenly invade, destroy, and burn down the place. If Benin was part of a ‘Nigeria’ at the time, or better yet an African federation at the time, the British would have been repelled. In fact they wouldn’t even have dared to invade.

Rossikk:


Study the history properly, as there are some gaps in your knowledge.

The British forced Christianity unto Nigerians using economic blackmail.

When they seized our land, they also seized the means of access to the resources of our land by implication.

So the way to prosper came to be by acquiring a western education in a missionary school. To be accepted into the missionary school you had to abandon your traditional religion and get baptised, and become a Christian. And you were giving a new name like Samuel or Michael or Josiah.

Many people including the wealthy chiefs had no choice but to send their kids to the colonial schools if they were to progress in the new dispensation, and THAT was how Christianity came to be enthroned - through economic blackmail.

Stoplying:


Benin kingdom was bigger than Nigeria.
What are you talking about. The British had the maxim guns, and other military tools which us Africans didn't have, that is how they defeated us, the only country in Africa which defeated the European colonisers was Ethiopia which had access to the same military technology as the Europeans thanks to Russia.

ogbe88:
U still made no sense.

JuanDeDios:

It's generally true that coercive persuasion sometimes was used for conversion. But I'm unconvinced that was the greatest factor - the bandwagon effect was. This is certainly true for the SE where 98-99% converted to Christianity in many places.

While kids who went to missionary-built schools were often required to practice Christianity WHILE IN SCHOOL, this was not enforced beyond school compound and no such requirements were made on their parents and other relatives. No chief needed to convert to Christianity so his kids could go to school. Oba Ovonramwen, while in exile, did not convert to Christianity yet some of his kids went to school and one or two were ordained as Christian ministers in Benin City. If conversion was a requirement for Western education, Western education won't have thrived side by side with Islam and traditional religions in Yorubaland.

When I was a kid, traditional practices and Christianity both thrived in my village. Christian boys did not take part in traditional initiation ceremonies, yet more than 2/3 of the boys in my community went for those initiations - because the influence of tradition was stronger than that of Christianity. But go to my village today - hardly anyone goes for those initiations. My friend went for a second burial in his village and came back to tell me of his shock that the eldest man in his community offered the traditional prayer and ended it with "In Jeeeezus' name" and everyone chorused "Aaaaamen". When I was a kid, our culture in my village was still alive and well - Christianity or not. Between when I was a kid and now, what happened? Oyinbos? No. A great shift took place in the IBB era and our people turned en-mass to a viral version of Pentecostalism. It has become the orthodoxy almost everywhere and here we are. We did this.

Rossikk:


Benin kingdom was absolutely NOT bigger than Nigeria in 1897 when she was invaded. That map you are showing is from centuries earlier, before the slave trade, possibly. A lot had changed in the region by 1897, and many regions had broken away from Benin hegemony.

Rossikk:


Fair enough. But it all started with the economic blackmail by the British, in insisting that new entrants to their schools had to drop their traditional religion and get baptised.

The bandwagon effect can be compared to the speed of a tyre increasing as you roll it downhill. The BRITISH started the rolling.