Life and times of Oba Erediauwa

Life and times of Oba Erediauwa

Born in 1923 as the first son of Oba Akenzua II, then Prince Solo­mon Aiseokhuoba Igbinoghodua Akenzua attended Government School, Benin from where he pro­ceeded to Government College, Ibadan in 1939, where he obtained with flying colours, his London Ma­triculations which qualified him to gain admission into Yaba College, Lagos in 1945.
At the end of his course at Yaba, he gained admission into King’s College, Cambridge to study Law and Administration.
He returned to Nigeria to join the Eastern Nigeria Civil Service as a District Officer (D.O) in 1957. He later transferred his service to the Federal Civil Service and rose to the position of Permanent Secretary.
Prince Solomon Akenzua retired from the service as Permanent Sec­retary, Ministry of Health in 1973 and became the regional represen­tative of Gulf Oil Company, now known as Chevron.
He was appointed Commissioner for Finance in the defunct Bendel State during the Military Adminis­tration of Major-General Agbazika Innih in 1975.
His early retirement from public service was to prepare him to handle the intricacies of the administrative challenges that would confront him in the performance of his duties as Oba of Benin, as his father, Oba Akenzua II under-studied his father, Eweka II whom he served as Private Secretary before his enthronement as Oba of Benin.
On Saturday, 23rd March, 1979, Prince Solomon AKenzua was crowned the 38th Oba of Benin with the title Omo N’Oba N’Edo, Uku Akpolokpolo, Erediauwa, CFR, Oba of Benin.
On the eve of his coronation, the sun and the moon reportedly ap­peared and created a partial eclipse, an occurrence that was interpreted to mean the Cosmic consent and endorsement of the coronation of the Oba to rule and reign over his people.
As a young prince and heir ap­parent, Oba Erediauwa was named Solomon-wise as King Solomon; Igbinoghodua- the Lord will be your strength and Aiseokhuoba-nobody should dare cause or invite your wrath by his grandfather, Oba Eweka II. These names and his title Erediauwa which means “one who has come to put the house and so­ciety in order”, have proved to be significant and instructive during his reign as the Oba of Benin.
Highly cerebral, one of the most revered traditional rulers in the country and always current with events, Oba Erediauwa’s reign wit­nessed peace and tranquillity and brought monumental transforma­tion to Benin, the Edo State capital. famous for its old mud houses with rustic zinc from ancient times to a modern city.
He demonstrated his love for development of the State and in particular, Benin City, when the du­alization of the Airport Road, Benin, was to commence.
At the time, the Peoples Demo­cratic Party (PDP) which had just lost power to then Action Congress (AC), was opposed to the project, claiming it was unnecessary and a waste of resources. A campaign was then mounted that the planned dual­ization would require the demolition of part of the Oba’s Palace. The es­sence of the campaign was to make Governor Adams Oshiomhole and his administration unpopular.
The Oba, obvioulsy interested in the development of Benin, reasoned differently and encouraged the proj­ect by personally adjusting the Pal­ace fence to pave way for the road dualization project, even when the State Government decided to shift the road to avoid impacting on the palace.
The road project, apart from be­ing a reality today, has changed the face of Benin.