Why is Benin City the same as it was in the sixties?? Whose fault and what can you do about it?

1)Mr. Lucky Igbinedion has (mis) directed resource control into his purse.
Only that he was so daft he could not even pretend (like Ibori/Odili) by
putting up some structures.

2) Mr. fix it was fiddling in Abuja till he was oufoxed by OBJ.

3) All the big guys were fighting it out in Abuja becos Lucky swallowed

mama nipple and breast together. So no kpa je (kill and chop) 4 Benin again.

Benin city, once among the most sophisticated cities in the world, look at it now. 

ezeagu:

Benin city, once among the most sophisticated cities in the world, look at it now. 

Ask the British this question after taken Ruling from this empire, when they leave the Power they handed it over to nationalist not kingdoms.
Here they are now.

The last time any development took place in Benin was during the time of Gov. Ogbemudia!! All the roads, UBTH, University,schools and housing estates were built during his time. Can anyone say what has been done since then?

J

It is called the 'ancient city' of Benin and not the modern city, so why do you want to spoil it with modern things? Ok, jokes apart the land is beset with so much angst and idolatry, i am not superstitious but i tend to have a point of view first. The evil and tyrannical leadership suffered over the years can be seen as a mirror image on the manner with which the followers live! The youths are hardly resourceful and rather rob and prostitute, there is a pronounced level of ritual related killings. The people have no doubt been deserving of their leadership

@ topic
why not give a picture of the city, to prove it

point of correction, its Benin Village not Benin City. this village is a big joke

Not just Benin city, but all the cities in Nigeria that have lost local autonomy. Until, the federal constitution is re-worked to allow cities like Benin develop at their own pace, this decay wil continue all over

Please explain further on the 'local autonomy' i find it interesting you seek this!

bibiking1:

Please explain further on the 'local autonomy' i find it interesting you seek this!

The law as it is today was designed to put the federal government in charge of just about everything.----roads, power, aviation, and even housing to some extent.
There's no reason Benin should not be allowed and encouraged to develpe at it's own pace---ie develop and design roads as its population grows, instead most if not all the roads leading in and outside Benin are the so-called federal roads. That's just one example.

A classic example of the dividends of corruption

snowdrops:

A classic example of the dividends of corruption

Where was the corruption in the 16th century?

Why you dey ask me? I be fossil?

snowdrops:

Why you dey ask me? I be fossil?

Your asking me as if I know when you were born.

Illustration of a View of Benin City
An illustration of the Benin king in procession with musicians and warriors. Illustration from La Galerie Agreable du Monde, published by Pieter van der Aa in the 1720s, after a print from a 1668 publication by Olfert Dapper.

Beaf:

Illustration of a View of Benin City
An illustration of the Benin king in procession with musicians and warriors. Illustration from La Galerie Agreable du Monde, published by Pieter van der Aa in the 1720s, after a print from a 1668 publication by Olfert Dapper.

Can you imagine that picture is better than modern day Bini?

ezeagu:

Can you imagine that picture is better than modern day Bini?

My broda, na so we see am o!

The building with the stiples topped with eagles in the background is the palace. Those stiples used to be made of copper and were decorated with pythons (similar to the hippocratic oath ones, but upside down) it was very beautiful. I have a book with an image, but its buried somewhere. Otherwise I would have scanned it.

[img]http://www.ikon.sk/Benin/images/city.jpg[/img]

you can see the portuguese influence in architecture

Beaf:

Illustration of a View of Benin City
An illustration of the Benin king in procession with musicians and warriors. Illustration from La Galerie Agreable du Monde, published by Pieter van der Aa in the 1720s, after a print from a 1668 publication by Olfert Dapper.

@Beaf
I swear I have seen that building with the stiples around Ugbowo area of Benin city. I didn't know that building is so old
Now, I understand what they mean by stagnation

naijaking1:

@Beaf
I swear I have seen that building with the stiples around Ugbowo area of Benin city. I didn't know that building is so old
Now, I understand what they mean by stagnation

I honestly don't think that building still exists (I might be wrong). The british totally wiped out that empire and carted everything that could be lifted off to Europe. I found some more stuff below.

Here's a box built to look like the original palace, with statues, copper roof tiling and the python all in view. (Berlin)
[img]http://sorrel.humboldt.edu/~rwj1/AFR/afr899s.JPG[/img]

This is one of the original python heads (Berlin)
[img]http://sorrel.humboldt.edu/~rwj1/AFR/afr900s.JPG[/img]

How art the mighty fallen

It was in line with pics and views above that our dear Lucky Igbenedion swore he would maintain the ancient city of Benin.
For that alone, he did nothing for 8 years. Fortunately, after 4 years, his dad begged Edo people that a child that fails an examination
should be allowed to repeat the class. That was how he got the second term.

meexteriox:

It was in line with pics and views above that our dear Lucky Igbenedion swore he would maintain the ancient city of Benin.
For that alone, he did nothing for 8 years. Fortunately, after 4 years, his dad begged Edo people that a child that fails an examination
should be allowed to repeat the class. That was how he got the second term.

To be honest, its like, since the British rampaged through (17 February 1897), Benin has not been able to recover from what hit them. The place is now like a bunch of dark, menacing cobwebs, God forbid that rain meets you between Ugbowo and Uselu and you don't have a submarine. Bands of black goats move around freely, in an urban area! Benin is like an open gutter, like a place with a curse on it.

[size=14pt]Is is karma?[/size] The bight of Benin was also known as [size=14pt]"Slave Coast"[/size] . Maybe it is time to atone for slavery? Edo empire participated extensively in slave trading and blood letting throughout her territories; Ouidah, Lagos, Little Popo, Great Popo, Agoue, Jakin, Porto-Novo, and Badagry.

A seventeenth century Dutch engraving from Olfert Dapper's Nauwkeurige Beschrijvinge der Afrikaansche Gewesten, published in Amsterdam in 1668 wrote:

"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, "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Benin

. . .From international city to cursed land. Why?

If Benin is cursed then the whole of Nigeria and indeed Africa is cursed.

Beaf:

To be honest, its like, since the British rampaged through (17 February 1897), Benin has not been able to recover from what hit them. The place is now like a bunch of dark, menacing cobwebs, God forbid that rain meets you between Ugbowo and Uselu and you don't have a submarine. Bands of black goats move around freely, in an urban area! Benin is like an open gutter, like a place with a curse on it.

[size=14pt]Is is karma?[/size] The bight of Benin was also known as [size=14pt]"Slave Coast"[/size] . Maybe it is time to atone for slavery? Edo empire participated extensively in slave trading and blood letting throughout her territories; Ouidah, Lagos, Little Popo, Great Popo, Agoue, Jakin, Porto-Novo, and Badagry.

I would go on to disagree with you about curse and supernatural reasons why things are not moving as they should in Benin and other ancient African cities. Topographically, the drainage in Benin is not worse than that of Amsterdam or other low-lying cities, the difference is that unlike African cities, other cities have taken the challanges of good engineering, town planning, and architecture in their hands, while we still think that there is a supernatural diety preventing us from doing the right thing.

naijaking1:

I would go on to disagree with you about curse and supernatural reasons why things are not moving as they should in Benin and other ancient African cities. Topographically, the drainage in Benin is not worse than that of Amsterdam or other low-lying cities, the difference is that unlike African cities, other cities have taken the challanges of good engineering, town planning, and architecture in their hands, while we still think that there is a supernatural diety preventing us from doing the right thing.

Na man! I'm not the superstitious type, the place just looks so old, grey and dirty that it reminds you of things like shrines and curses, thats all.
I strongly believe that aside from physical infrastructure, Benin owes a lot of folk an apology (at the very least) for its part in the slave trade.

Benin City Wears A New Look
With Tessy okwudi


THE demolition of illegal structures in the state metropolis, which started sometime in May 2009, by the Edo State task force on the demolition of illegal structures, street Trading and the Removal of Road traffic obstruction has changed the face of the city to a very dynamic nature.

It is really “Dynamic in nature” because the way the state looks or is looking at the moment, is the natural way the state should have looked like many years ago. Nature they say “is unique” in the sense that no matter what we do in life, nature must take as full cost at the right time.

A lot of people reading this article might want to ask, what is the relationship between the demolition of illegal Structures and Nature? This boils down to the saying that “No matter what we do, it will snap back at us”. Why are my saying this? It is only natural for the state to come to its Master Plan irrespective of the process that might be required.

Now to answer the aforementioned question, “the relationship between nature and demolition” is that it is only demolition of illegal structures in the state that can bring the state back to its natural look (Master Plan).

The both work together in bringing out the original Master Plan of our “Ancient City of Benin”. Demolition of illegal structures have turned the city into a glamourous state if you go to ring road, Akpakpava and environs. Presently, you will agree with me that “positive change is sweet”.

Last week, the task force on the Demolition of illegal structures “rolled out their bulldozers to do justices to some illegal structures that either encroached on government right of way, that is, that did not maintained the specific perimeter which is 15 meters for Trunk A road (Grade A Federal Government road) 12 meters for trunk B road (Grade B, state Government road) and 7.5 meters for Trunk C road (Grade C, Local Government road). Or the structures had an extension that is not in the original building plan, as the case may be”. For buffer zone, its 50 metres from the buffer zone. Especially at the Ikpoba Hill, Ramat Park Aduwawa axis and Lagos Street, such illegal structure were affected.

The demolition report says will go round the Aduwawa axis, down Eyaen to Urora, infact it will clear all the illegal structures along that axis.

During this demolition exercise, it was discovered that some persons erect their structures without the appropriate building plan, some had a plan for one structure but erected another one and attached it to the one with building plan, this is absorbed.

These persons had their shares during the demolition, it should be noted that there is every need for you to get an approved building plan from the Ministry of Lands, Survey and Housing so that you could save yourself some stress or the stress of running around.

At the Aduwawa, some illegal structures were pull down by the task force on the demolition of illegal structures under the supervision of Major Lawrence Loye (Rtd) first Vice Chairman incharge of operations along with Charles Ize Iyamu and other members and some mobile policemen.

At the moment, if you go to Ikpoba-Hill, down Aduwawa axis in the state metropolis, you won’t believe what you will see.

A lady who was affected as well, by the Demolition of illegal structures, whose shop’s attachment was removed, spoke to The NIGERIAN OBSERVER stating that “As you can see my shop was affected, but I like what is going on, this place look new, I felt it so hard, I know I have to call a carpenter to work here but even at that, the truth must be told. We need change in this Benin, everybody must be ready to make a sacrifice, I know it will affect most of the structures in this Ikpoba-Hill, but it should be done. I have made my own sacrifice so I encourage people to welcome this, but I really want to appeal to the state Government to sustain the tempo to ensure that it goes round Benin City”.

Another lady who was crying at the scene of demolition because she was equally affected, in tears she said “well I know the government want to restore the state Master Plan, they gave us notice almost 3 months ago, we would have packed Oh, but out landlord deceived us to say, they won’t come to Aduwawa, so he convinced us to pay another one year rent (1 year) so that he will put things right; most of us paid”. When asked about the whereabout of the landlord, she looked at me and gave a mischievous smile and walked away.

Only God knew what she wanted to say, then I became inquisitive, I went to another occupant of the demolished illegal structures who had earlier packed, infact he was smarter than the landlord’s plan, he refused to give his name but referred anonymity, “the landlord has ran away after he collected the money from some people, but I was smart, since I got the information that he erected these shops on government land and I saw the mark for demolition, I started parking, but some of us here were very stubborn, that is why some are affected, they are very lucky that the task force gave them time to pack their luggages. In Lagos, nobody waits for you to pack, the moment they gets there, they will just put their bulldozer”, (he smiled). For an occupants or landlord, claiming that he can save this house that has been earmarked for demolition, it is barbaric.

At this juncture, I will like to bring to the notice of those whose illegal structures (shops) has been earmarked for demolition, not to pay money to any landlord or landlady who claims that he/she can stop the demolition but rather quickly look for another shop that is safe and move, instead of been deceived.

I will not forget to discuss the Lagos Street demolition report that says, it was done to create Government right of way and to remove extensions to the buildings that is used for street trading, it should be recalled that the Lagos Street, is a place that has been a centre for street traders despite the warnings and the mobile court prosecution of street traders in the state metropolis.

The situated practice in Benin is the problem. That town can never be developed no matter the effort Adams or anyone infuse. This is a town of immorality, Idol Worship and all things capable to hindering progress. Imagine in this jet age there is still an evil forest in Benin city, inside the city center, close to the road. The benins believe the forest is the last of their gods and a live lion comes out yearly to eat human, That land is situated in a good spot, instead of selling it to an industry to put a structure there, they believe in that MYTH nonsense. They are not ready for development.

Why is lucky igbinedion not in jail?It is quite glaring he stole enormous amount of money that belong to nigerians,yet he is still lording over his victims till date as a BIG MAN,big man my ass.

Beaf:

Na man! I'm not the superstitious type, the place just looks so old, grey and dirty that it reminds you of things like shrines and curses, thats all.
I strongly believe that aside from physical infrastructure, Benin owes a lot of folk an apology (at the very least) for its part in the slave trade.

seriously, were you sold?

This one that you're going around demanding apology everywhere.

i see your point but its getting too much nah.

and sometimes the slave traders themselves ended up being sold as slaves- did you know that?