Ewuare II (born 20 October 1953) was crowned the Oba of Benin on 20 October 2016. He is the 40th Oba, a title created for the

Head of State A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

(Emperor) of the

Benin Empire The Kingdom of Benin, also known as Great Benin, is a traditional kingdom in southern Nigeria. It has no historical relation to the modern republic of Benin, which was known as Dahomey from the 17th century until 1975. The Kingdom of Benin's c ...

at some time between 1180 and 1300.

Education

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

Benin City Benin City serves as the Capital city, capital and largest Metropolitan area, metropolitan centre of Edo State, situated in Nigeria, southern Nigeria. It ranks as the List of Nigerian cities by population, fourth-most populous city in Niger ...

(

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

) 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 () 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 – the university was the first universit ...

, UK and holds a Master of Public Administration degree from

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

Graduate School, New Jersey, USA.

Career

He worked at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

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 worked closely with Godwin Obaseki, a former governor of

Edo State Edo State, Edo, officially known as Edo State, is a States of Nigeria, state in the South South, South-South Geopolitical zones of Nigeria, geopolitical zone of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As of 2024, the state was ranked as the List of Ni ...

. Like many of his predecessors, he started his rule by demanding that the spiritually and historically important Benin Bronzes that were stolen in 1897 by the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

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 ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

Calabar Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari, Cali and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language, as the Efik people dominate this area. The city is adjac ...

, and Jos. The Sokoto Sultanate Council 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 act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...

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 (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

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 Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...

, at a ceremony in the royal palace in

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.

Notes

References

{{authority control 1953 births Living people 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 People from Benin City