- Ovonramwen
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Ovonramwen
Ovonramwen Nogbaisi (1888–1914), also called Overami, was the last Oba (king) of the Kingdom of Benin, which was dissolved following his rule.
Biography
Ovonramwen Nogbaisi came to be the Oba of Benin in 1888.[1]
At the end of the 19th century, the Kingdom of Benin had managed to retain its independence and the Oba exercised a monopoly over trade which the British found irksome. The territory was coveted by an influential group of investors for its rich natural resources such as palm-oil, rubber and ivory.[2] The kingdom was largely independent of British control, and pressure continued from figures such as Vice-Consul James Robert Phillips and Captain Gallwey (the British vice-Consul of Oil Rivers Protectorate) who were pushing for British annexation of the Benin Empire and the removal of the Oba.
A British contingent headed by Phillips went to visit the Oba in 1896 despite several warnings that Ovonramwen was unable to see them due to ceremonial duties. Having been warned on several further occasions on the way, Phillips sent his stick to the Oba, a deliberate insult designed to provoke the conflict that would provide an excuse for British annexation.[3] Phillip's expedition was ambushed and all but two were killed. Subsequently a military operation against Benin in 1897 led by Harry Rawson resulted in the burning of Benin City and the deaths of untold numbers of its inhabitants. Although the British had orders to hang the Oba, Ovonramwen escaped, but later surrendered.
Ovonramwen was exiled to Calabar with his two wives, and died there in 1914.
Notes and references
- ^ Oba of Begin, Edostate.org, accessed September 2010
- ^ Thomas Uwadiale Obinyan, The Annexation of Benin, in Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Sep., 1988), pp. 29-40
- ^ Sven Lindqvist, Exterminate All the Brutes, p.57-62
References
Categories:- 19th-century births
- 1914 deaths
- Obas of Benin
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