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In the Oba's palace there is never silence.
An ancient Edo saying
The king's palace or court is a square, and is as large as the town of Haarlem and entirely
surrounded by a special wall, like that which encircles the town. It is divided into many
magnificent palaces, houses, and apartments of the courtiers, and comprises beautiful and
long square galleries, about as large as the Exchange at Amsterdam, but one larger than
another, resting on wooden pillars, from top to bottom covered with cast copper, on which
are engraved the pictures of their war exploits and battles, and are kept very clean.
Most palaces and houses of the king are covered with palm leaves instead of square pieces of
wood, and every roof is decorated with a small turret ending in a point, on which birds are
standing, birds cast in copper with outspread wings, cleverly made after living models.
From the description of a seventeenth century Dutch engraving in Olfert Dapper's Nauwkeurige Beschrijvinge der Afrikaansche Gewesten, Amsterdam, 1668
According to tradition, the palace grounds belong to the people and only they, never the King, can build on it. The King lived for the people and ruled at their pleasure.
The Oba (King) was a prisoner of his station; he had no real power. He belonged to the kingdom. Every year, the priests consulted the Ifa (oracle) to determine the king's fate. If it was decided he should die, the chiefs sent him a parrot egg...
Daniel Laine, African Kings, Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 1991
What Daniel Laine describes above is the quintessence of democracy: the idea that a leader is always accountable to the people. As we know, traditional ways have long been ceded to colonial practices as well as the influence of contemporary society which are no respecters of Africa and her ancient traditions.
But between the restriction on the royal family and current local lethargy—lethargy stemming from the erosion of ancient value systems—the palaces have been slowly falling into disrepair for about a century. This erosion has rendered asunder the social systems that made constant maintenance and repair possible. Now, many worry that future kings, or indeed powerful individuals, may not respect the people’s ownership of the palace and may rebuild or modernize it to suit their individual taste, thereby resulting in the loss of the ancient earthwork architecture forever.
Despite the worry and the disrepair, most palaces continue to function as the place of gathering for important ritual festivals and social events.
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| Queen Nzinga, having been refused a seat by a Portuguese official, uses one of her attendants as a stool |
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| The Ogoga of Ikere in Colonial Times |
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| Celebrations in the Palace, Ikere-Ekiti |
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The Present, Unlike the Past...
While many of the traditional functions continue at Ikere palace, disrepair threatens the palace and the values for which it stands. Indeed, many Africans have begun to look back longingly to the days when the palace was a source of pride and dignity. Also, many now believe that the demise of the ancient systems is perhaps one of the prime sources of Africa’s endemic problems. For me, the collapse of the African palace system is certainly a symbol of the collapse of a rational, regional way of life.
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| Her Royal Highness, the Mwami of Rwanda |
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| Ancient Egyptian Crowns |
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| A Pharaoh of Egypt |
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The Benin City Walls were ravaged by the British in 1897. Since then, portions of the walls have gradually vanished in the wake of modernization--large segments cannibalized for the construction of other buildings. [Nevertheless], significant stretches of the walls remain enclosing innumerable red earth shrines and vernacular elite architecture with red-fluted walls. Though the walls and moats have been protected by national legislation since 1961, no conservation plan exists. The earthworks need to be mapped and assessed, a public awareness campaign launched, and a plan for long-term management developed.
Benin Moat: Neglected Monument In Search of a Rescuer, Hendrix Oliomogbe, Edo Nation, Va.: Herndon, 2006
Oliomogbe might well be describing thousands of Africa's ancient palaces, hence the significance of My Palace Initiative.
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