| Oba Ovonramwen | |
|---|---|
| Oba of Benin | |
 | |
| Oba of Benin | |
| Reign | 1888–1897 |
| Predecessor | Adolo (r. 1848–1888) |
| Successor | Eweka II |
| Born | c. 1857 |
| Died | c. January 1914 Calabar |
Oba Ovonramwen Nogbaisi, also called Overami, was the thirty-fifth Ọba of the Kingdom of Benin reigning from c. 1888 – c. 1897, up until the British punitive expedition.
Born circa 1857, he was the son of Ọba Adọlọ. He took the name Ovọnramwẹn Nọgbaisi at his enthronement in 1888. Every Ọba took a new name at his coronation, Ovọnramwẹn meaning "The Rising Sun" and Nọgbaisi meaning "which spreads over all".[1][2]
At the end of the 19th century, the Kingdom of Benin had managed to retain its independence and the Ọba exercised a monopoly over trade which the British found irksome. The territory was coveted by an influential group of investors for its rich natural resources such as palm oil, rubber and ivory.[3] However, slavery played a critical role in the rise of Benin, with Oba Ovonramwen Nogbaisi representing the pinnacle of the Kingdom's human exploitation.[4]
The kingdom was largely independent of British control, and pressure continued from figures such as Vice-Consul James Robert Phillips and Captain Henry Gallwey (the British vice-Consul of Oil Rivers Protectorate) who were pushing for British annexation of the Benin Empire and the removal of the Ọba.
- ^ Eweka, Iro (1998). Dawn to Dusk: Folk Tales from Benin. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-7146-4362-5.
- ^ Oba of Benin Archived 2012-04-07 at the Wayback Machine, Edostate.org, accessed March, 2012
- ^ Thomas Uwadiale Obinyan, The Annexation of Benin, in Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Sep., 1988), pp. 29-40
- ^ 'Michael Mosbacher, 'When will the woke crowd address the history of slavery in Africa?', Daily Telegraph, 18 February 2022