APPELLATIONS FOR THE OBA OF BENI

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Nation of people who are mostly located in the Midwestern part of Nigeria, Western Africa.

APPELLATIONS FOR THE OBA OF BENIN.

compiled by

Segun Toyin Dawodu,

segun@dawodu.com

Benin history is full of rich traditions and one of such traditions is the habit of addressing the Oba by various appellations instead of his actual names as a sign of deep respect and awe. It is no wonder, therefore, that the Oba of Benin is known by several appellations as listed below:

	EDO	ENGLISH
1	Ovbi' Umogun Oza	The Child of the Oba whose mother hailed from Oza
2	Ovbi' Ekpen N' Owa	The son of the home leopard
3	Ovbi' Adimila	The son of Adimila - who is next to God
4	Ikeja Orisa	Second in command to the gods
5	Agbaghe, N'Ovbi Olokun	Olokun's son, the cynosure of all mortals
6	Abieyuwa N'Ovbi Odua N'uhe	The son of the wealthy Odua of Uhe. (Uhe is Ile-ife, a town now in Yoruba land, founded by Ekaladerhan, the first child and banished son of Owodo, the last Ogiso of Benin)
7	Ovbi' Ada, Ovbi' Eben	The child of the owner of the Ada = scimitar and Eben = royal sword, Edo symbol of sovereignty.
8	Ovbi'Ekenekene ma deyo	The son of beauty that never fades.
9	Ovbi'Ekuaho N'Olo, Ovbi'Ekuabo N'Olo	The son of the rocky arm, the brave and powerful
10	Ovbie Ikpinhianbo kpuru no Gb'oduma	The son of the short fingered man that was still able to kill a lion
11	Nohien utete no gh'ughe s'omwan	The king on a hill, who sees more than everybody
12	Ovbi'Oghonwan nei bun aro	The son of the fearless, who looks without twinkling his eyes
13	Ovbi'ode, ode n'ohan ren mu' ete	The son of the warrior whose enemies got frightened at the announcement of the approach
14	Uku Akpolokpolo	The mighty that rules
15	Ovbi' Adolo no dolo uwa dolo utomwen	The son of the wise judge and peace maker who combined wisdom and wealth with long life
16	Ovbi' oven owie no gbaisi (erhan gba iri)	The son of the morning sun that covers everywhere
17	Ovbi' okpogunla, ogie no y'igho b'owa	The child of the womb of Akpogunla - the warrior who fought big wars and built a house of cowries
18	Oba n'osa	A king that is god to his subjects
19	Ovbi' otolo n'olomi; Ologberonmwon nei rie iruen, ebo, ayemwinre eminiminimini	The son of the water controller, the son of beauty itself, the starter of things and the person whose reign saw people with many tongues

SICKNESS OR INDISPOSITION

When the Oba is indisposed you described this in the following ways

EDO ENGLISH

1	Ehoho hoho vb'ode ugha	The wind is blowing (in the inner chambers of the palace)
2	Uhun v'ekpen vb'ato	The leopard is sick in the wilderness
3	Oni fi	The weather is cold
4	Amen bi	The rain is threatening
5	Oni gb'edo	Edo has cold
6	Owen bi vb'agho	The sun is being covered by cloud
7	Emwin zebagha	A bad thing is happening (when the illness was critical)
8	Ukpo na vi'iloi gbera gh'ugbekun	The year the iloi were removed from the Oba's harem to ugbeku
9	Ukpo na ru'emwin nekhua	The year the big great events were performed
10	Ukpo na y'unu kha vb'ere khare	The year Ewuare's predictions were repeated
11	Eko - z'eken	The stool has touched the ground
12	Orie igie no bunse	He had gone to where everything is surplus
13	Obu' enikao	He has gone to join his ancestors

BURIAL

When the Oba is interned, the following expressions are used

	EDO	ENGLISH
1	Oto ri' orhue	The earth has eaten some chalk
2	Adole osorhue yi ne	The chalk has been kept
3	Aye egho y'oto	The ground has been paid some tributes

The period between the passing away and the announcement to the Binis(public) is regarded as the time the Oba is said to be carrying out some harvesting " OBA GHA DUGIE ORHO ". The uwangue acts as a regent until the Edaiken is crowned.

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The premier web site of Edo speaking people.

Send mail to webmaster@edo-nation.net with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright ï¿½ 1999-2009 Segun Toyin Dawodu . All rights reserved.

Segun Toyin Dawodu, P.O. BOX 710080, HERNDON, VA 20171-0080, USA
Last modified: December 20, 2008

The premier web site of Edo speaking people.

Send mail to webmaster@edo-nation.net with questions or comments about this web site. Copyright ï¿½ 1999-2009 Segun Toyin Dawodu . All rights reserved.

Segun Toyin Dawodu, P.O. BOX 710080, HERNDON, VA 20171-0080, USA Last modified: December 20, 2008

Send mail to webmaster@edo-nation.net with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright ï¿½ 1999-2009 Segun Toyin Dawodu . All rights reserved.

Segun Toyin Dawodu, P.O. BOX 710080, HERNDON, VA 20171-0080, USA
Last modified: December 20, 2008