Oshiomhole Panel Faults Obaseki, Recommends Museum Renaming, Transfer

A special committee set up to investigate the ownership and establishment of the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA) in Edo State has recommended that the facility be renamed and transferred to the Oba of Benin for management.

The committee, chaired by former Edo State Governor and Senator Adams Oshiomhole, submitted its report to Governor Monday Okpebholo after investigating the circumstances surrounding the establishment, funding and naming of the museum.

According to Ireporter Online, the committee alleged that the administration of former Governor Godwin Obaseki spent about ₦3.8 billion in public funds on the project while the museum underwent several name changes.

Oshiomhole said the campaign by the Oba of Benin for the return of looted Benin artefacts created the need for a Royal Museum where the recovered artefacts could be preserved.

He explained that the Edo State Government initially agreed to finance the construction of the Benin Royal Museum on land provided by the Oba of Benin.

According to the former governor, however, the Obaseki administration later demolished the Central Hospital and changed the proposed museum’s name to the Edo Museum of West African Art (EMOWA), before it was subsequently renamed the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA).

Oshiomhole said the state government initially provided ₦800 million as seed funding, while additional donations were received from various organisations and individuals.

He disclosed that the German government contributed four million euros, while Leventis donated $1.5 million, among other contributions.

The committee chairman further alleged that five days before the end of the Obaseki administration, another ₦1 billion was approved and released, bringing the total expenditure by the Edo State Government on the project to approximately ₦3.8 billion.

Oshiomhole said the multiple changes in the museum’s name raised questions about its ownership and status. He also stated that claims by the MOWAA management that more than $18 million had been spent on land acquisition and archaeological excavation were not supported by the committee’s findings.

The committee recommended that the facility should not be demolished but retained and given a name that properly reflects its ownership.

It proposed that the museum be renamed the Benin Royal Museum of African Art and recommended that its management be transferred to the Oba of Benin.

Oshiomhole argued that the traditional institution would provide a more permanent structure for protecting the artefacts, noting that governments change while the Benin monarchy remains.

Receiving the report, Governor Okpebholo commended the committee for what he described as a comprehensive and credible investigation.

The governor said he would constitute another committee to prepare a white paper on the recommendations, in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice.

Okpebholo also recalled that Obaseki had initially promised to establish a Royal Museum before the project was later transformed into MOWAA.

He said the committee had done an excellent job and expressed confidence that its recommendations would help resolve the controversy surrounding the museum.

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