Benin History & Research Centre in Diaspora

NEBO TV Magazine, Year-in-review features Nigerian Canadian Multicultural Centre (NCMC), 2023 Edo Language Day Worldwide, Edo youth in the United States and more! The full magazine will be available on our website (nebotv.com) soon!  

The Ondo State government, through the state's Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Bamidele Ademola-Olateju, released a statement on Wednesday saying that Akeredolu passed away in the early hours of Wednesday in Germany from complications that came from his struggle with protracted prostate cancer. He died at the age of 67. 

Isiokuo festival is a re-enactment of ancient Benin warfare, to commemorate the god of war. Procession of warriors headed by Shield bearers move through the streets to fight a mock battle. Relics of war implements of Ake Nisi, a great archer, his bows and arrows were kept and members from Ilobi people who specialized in the archer use the bows and arrows invented by Ake nisi are some relics used during the Isiokuo festival.  The festival ends up with the “Amufi” (acrobatic games) performing the special tree top acrobats as a mark of the spiritual and mystical powers involved in the destruction of the man eating monster-osogan. Isiokuo festival is no longer celebrated in Great Benin but at the countryside. Although Isiokuo festival might have been celebrated in some areas of the ancient Benin Kingdom, Evboesi people of Iyekeorhionmwon Local Government Council area of Edo State do this in specific manner to re-enact how Ekpen Elegbe a general warlord and hero defended the territory a...

Lady Nekpen Obasogie has hosted the first session of her book launch in Toronto on November 4th, 2023. The book titled Benin Warriors and the British Colonial Rule in Niger ia depicts the oral and written historical accounts of the military might of Benin and its warriors (warrior kings) in the pre-colonial era.  It sheds light on how the British colonial violence in that part of Africa, now known as Nigeria, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries disrupted the military and geographical arrangements of the old Benin Empire. Specifically, the book bridges the long-existing gaps in African/Benin literature on the significance and role of spirituality in the process of nation-building and warfare in the ancient Benin Kingdom. The grand session of the book launch has been scheduled for January 2024 worldwide. Everyone is invited to join the program online via Zoom. 

A Steel of Edo Culture, Lady Aghabiomon Ogbeiwi has arrived Toronto from New York yesterday, August 8th, 2023 ahead of the Edo Language Day Worldwide. The event is schedule for August 12th and 13th, 2023.  Lady Aghabiomon is one of the Edo Elders nominated for the 2023 Edo Elders Award: a part of the Edo Language Day programs. Everyone is invited to join or follow us on our social media handles on August 12th and 13th. To attend the in-person events in Toronto and Edo State please email us at edolanguage2023@gmail.com.

The Esogban of Benin, Chief David Edebiri has peacefully joined his ancestors after a brief illness in a private hospital in Benin City. He was 93, and would have been 94 on September 2nd, 2023.  Family members said he died at 12:20 pm “He has not been too strong and we took him to the hospital a few days ago and he died this afternoon, the family will follow the protocols for the formal announcement to be made” a family member said.  He was spotted in Benin casting his vote at the 2023 presidential election.  Rest well, great man!

 The upcoming Edo Language Day Worldwide celebration (August 12th & 13th, 2023) has captured the attention of some prominent Edo intellectuals at home and abroad. Vice Chancellors and Professors of different Universities in Edo State have pledged their attendance and support for the program. The actions toward sustaining Indigenous languages require the efforts of Indigenous peoples whose languages have been affected by this global phenomenon (the gradual extinction of Indigenous languages across the globe).  The University of Toronto is also partnering with NEBO TV to host the event in Toronto on August 12th, 2023.  We have received endorsements from several individuals and organizations since the beginning of this year.  I thank everyone who has endorsed and donated to this program so far. Wa hia ru ese! - By Nekpen Obasogie