Ewuare II (born 20 October 1953) was crowned the

Oba of Benin The Oba of Benin is the traditional ruler and the custodian of the culture of the Edo people and all Edoid people. The then Kingdom of Benin (not to be confused with the modern-day and unrelated Republic of Benin, which was then known as Dah ...

on 20 October 2016. He is the 40th Oba, a title created for the

Head of State A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

(Emperor) of the

Benin Empire The Kingdom of Benin, also known as the Edo Kingdom, or the Benin Empire ( Bini: ') was a kingdom within what is now southern Nigeria. It has no historical relation to the modern republic of Benin, which was known as Dahomey from the 17th c ...

at some time between 1180 and 1300.

Education

Eheneden Erediauwa, as he was known before becoming Oba of Benin, attended

Edo College Edo College is a secondary grammar school in Benin City, Nigeria, the oldest in the Mid-Western Region. It was established in February, 1937 and started as the Benin Middle School with forms, I, II and III. In April 1937, the school, with a total ...

in Benin from 1965 to 1967 and Immaculate Conception College from 1968 to 1970. He got his A-Level Certificate from South Thames College, London. He graduated with an Economics degree from the

University of Wales The University of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Prifysgol Cymru'') is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff � ...

, UK and holds a Master of Public Administration degree from

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

Graduate School, New Jersey, USA.

Career

He worked at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

between 1981 and 1982. He also served as Nigeria's Ambassador to Angola and Sweden, with accreditation to Norway, Denmark and the Republic of Finland. He was also Nigeria's Ambassador to Italy.

Reign

Traditional high priests procession for the coronation of a new king photo6

Ewuare II chose his name as tribute to the 15th-century Ewuare I. Since his ascension to the throne, Ewuare II has worked closely with Godwin Obaseki, the current governor of

Edo State Edo, commonly known as Edo State, is a state located in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. As of 2006 National population census, the state was ranked as the 24th populated state (3,233,366) in Nigeria, However there was controversy ...

. Like many of his predecessors, he started his rule by demanding that the spiritually and historically important

Benin Bronzes The Benin Bronzes are a group of several thousand metal plaques and sculptures that decorated the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin, in what is now Edo State, Nigeria. Collectively, the objects form the best examples of Benin art and were cre ...

that were stolen in 1897 by the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

be returned to his people. In October 2017, he celebrated his first anniversary on the throne, with great participation by the local populace as well as several officials, politicians, and visitors from other parts of Nigeria such as

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

Calabar Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language. The city is adjacent to the Calabar and Great Kwa rivers and cre ...

, and Jos. The

Sokoto Sultanate Council The Sultanate of Sokoto is a traditional state in Northern Nigeria with headquarters in the city of Sokoto, capital of the modern Sokoto State. Preceded by the Sokoto Caliphate, the council was formed in 1903 after the British pacification of ...

and Ile-Ife's royal family also sent representatives to take part in the celebrations. In 2018, Ewuare II issued a curse against any juju priest involved in carrying out

human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extrac ...

within his domain, and he publicly revoked all curses used by priests to manipulate trafficking victims. One analyst reported that "what the oba has done is likely to be more effective than anything the international anti-trafficking community has managed to do after millions of dollars and many years". During the governorship campaign in the Edo State 2020 election, the Oba encouraged all political players to conduct themselves peacefully, an act that accorded him praises by groups such as the Edo Equity Forum(EEF) as well as the Allied Peoples Movement (APM). In 2021, the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

approved the repatriation of one of the Benin Bronzes, which was handed to a delegation that included representatives of Ewuare II on 28 October 2021. He received it, and a bronze cockerel returned by

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

, at a ceremony in the royal palace in Benin City on 19 February 2022.

Personal life

By the time he was crowned Oba, Ewuare was married to Queen Iroghama (Obazuaye N'erie), Princess Iyayiota (Obazuwa N'erie) and Princess Ikpakpa (Ohe N'erie). He later wed more women.

References

{{authority control 1953 births Living people African royalty Nigerian royalty Obas of Benin 21st-century monarchs in Africa Nigerian diplomats Rutgers University alumni Alumni of the University of Wales Edo College alumni Edo people