Oshiomhole committee recommends MOWAA be returned to Oba of Benin

The Special Committee on the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA), chaired by former Edo State Governor and Senator Adams Oshiomhole, has recommended that the museum project be retained and renamed Benin Royal Museum of African Art, with ownership and management returned to the Oba of Benin.

The committee submitted its report on Thursday to the Edo State Government, following its review of the project’s ownership, funding and development status.

Presenting the report, Oshiomhole said the committee established that the administration of former Governor Godwin Obaseki committed N3.8 billion in public funds to the museum project.

He said the project was originally conceived as a Benin Royal Museum intended to house repatriated Benin artefacts, following sustained efforts by the Oba of Benin to secure the return of the kingdom’s looted cultural heritage.

According to him, the Obaseki administration subsequently demolished the former Central Hospital site earmarked for the project and changed its name, first to the Edo Museum of West African Art (EMOWA) and later to MOWAA.

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Oshiomhole said the Edo State Government provided N800 million as seed funding, while the project also received €4 million from the German Government and $1.5 million from the Leventis Foundation.

He added that another N1 billion was approved and released five days before the expiration of the Obaseki administration, bringing the state’s total expenditure on the project to N3.8 billion.

The committee also examined claims by MOWAA management that more than $18 million had been received for land acquisition and archaeological excavation.

Oshiomhole said the committee was unable to substantiate the claims based on the documents and evidence presented before it.

The committee consequently recommended that the existing facility should not be demolished but preserved and properly designated as the Benin Royal Museum of African Art.

It further recommended that ownership and management be transferred to the Oba of Benin, arguing that the traditional institution would provide continuity and ensure the preservation of the kingdom’s cultural heritage and artefacts.

Receiving the report, Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo commended the committee for what he described as a comprehensive and fair assessment of the controversial project.

Okpebholo said his administration would constitute another committee, working with the Ministry of Justice, to study the report and prepare a White Paper on the recommendations.

The governor recalled that the previous administration had initially presented the project as a Royal Museum before it was subsequently renamed MOWAA.

He said the committee had performed an important service to Edo State by examining the project and its implications for the state’s cultural heritage.

The presentation was attended by Deputy Governor Dennis Idahosa, Secretary to the State Government Umar Musa Ikhilor, Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice Prof. Roland Otaru, and other senior government officials.

The recommendations are expected to shape the state government’s next steps on the museum project and could reopen broader discussions over the ownership, management and purpose of the institution and the future of Benin’s repatriated artefacts.