OBA ESIGIE contrived his own death. Atonement the central tenet of Christianity, was what greatly impressed him in the European religion preached by the Portuguese in Benin Atonement or sacrifice, meant making amends with innocent blood, for the shortcomings of others, so that those others might achieve a release from the consequences of their actions. Atonement in itself was already a familiar, ordinary concept in the Benin native religion, as it also was in most of the other religions of the world. It was the idea which lay behind all sacrifice, whether the sacrifice was of a tortoise, a fowl or a ram. What impressed Esigie in the Christian form of sacrifice was that it was the God-head, at whose feet the sacrifice was to be laid, who was Himself the sacrifice. The daily morning and evening celebration of the Mass in Esígie’s Palace drummed the relentlessly and unabatingly into the leader that it was from him that sacrifice was expected. It was not the lowly follower who in his lowliness was to give his all for the good of the leader as a fowl, or a goat or even another human did in some other religions. That was not the message of the Mass. That would be an unworthy sacrifice. It would in fact be parasitism, the opposite of the concept of sacrifice of the concept of leadership. The self-sacrifice unto death of Jesus Christ, along with what happened to HIM thereafter, was what elevated Jesus from being just another Prophet to being a part and parcel of the God-head Himself

The maintenance of the corporate health of the Edos and the sustenance of the over-all good of the land are the responsibilities of the Oba of Benin. He is the Chief Priest of his kingdom. The Edo Court calendar consisted of an un-ending series of ceremonies and propitiations directed towards the assurance of these purposes. Then it happened that in the Benin City of Oba Esigie the religion of Christianity was presented to the monarch as having everything which was needed for the ensuring of the spiritual health of his kingdom. The new belief-system, he was assured, had made redundant all the other belief systems previously worked out by the people for securing the same purposes

But the difficulty which the Oba had to cope with was that the, introduced belief-system which he had personally accepted, had remained only a Court religion by the people and rejected by the nobles of the land were Christianity to have been any other religion, a religion with a jealous God. Oba Esigie would have unsheathed his sword and made forced converts of his subjects and of the neighbouring peoples. The Jewish Prophets of the Old Testament confronted with a similar scenario as confronted Esígie of the wilfulness and the disobedience of the people had raved and ranted and cursed and damned. But finding Himself in similar circumstances  Baulked by the obduracy and self-righteous of the leaders of his society Jesus of Nazareth knew what had to be done and He went ahead, without fuss, and did it, announcing with great relief at is conclusion that it is finished it was done accomplished his method, that of self-sacrifice, as unusual as it was un- anticipated spawned a religion Oba Esigie, reminded daily by the celebration of the Mass of the solution adopted by Jesus Christ in bringing redemption to an uncomprehending people decided upon emulation, to save the Edo people as Christ saved humanity.

Enclosed within the perimeter wall of the Benin Palace was, and is an extensive area of jungle or woodland called the OGO N’ERHIE. The woodland was in association with the royal Harem Many hectares in extent. and much larger in the time of Esigie than it is today due to me severely contracted proportions of the Twentieth Century Palace, the Ogo n’Erhie served as an enclosed farmland to the Palace Crops were raised there, and the larger domestic animals of the Palace were allowed to forage in it.

Esigie gave instructions that two or three man- holes, large enough for cows to pass through should be cut in that, part of the perimeter wall of the Palace skirting the Ogon erhie. The purpose of the man-holes, explained the monarch, was to allow the Palace cows the occasional exit from the confines of the Ogo n’Erhie, to the outside world of greener and perhaps more varied forage.
One evening, in the half-light of the dusk Oba Esigie stole un-noticed out of the Palace through one of regular gates, and approached the Ogo n’Erhie from the rear putting a sac of calico cloth over his head he dropped on all fours, and crawled through one of the freshly cut man- holes, or more correctly cow-holes, into the expanse of the bush and farm-land of the Ogo n’Erhie. his presence there was soon discovered. The alarm went through the Harem that a strange mate figure had been seen stalking those forbidden areas of the Palace grounds. The Harem women fled into the safely of their respective quarters.

Esigie made a quick get-away through the cow hole shed his disguise and gained the IWEGUAE, the section of the Palace housing his living quarters, with his outing undiscovered.
Soon word was brought about the interloper who had been seen in the forbidden confines of the Ogo n’Erhie Esigie sent for the ISIENMWENRO and instructed the EKEGBIAN to mount guard over the cow holes. Any human attempting to gain entrance through them was to be instantly destroyed.

The Isienmwenro whereupon stationed guards over the cow-holes. Each guard sat by his hole, within the Ogo n’Erhie, armed with a heavy iron mallet called AMA, with instruction to allow only the livestock uninterrupted passage through the access The AMA was to be used on any person who would attempt a trespass

A few days passed with the darkness fast closing in the Oba slipped out of the Palace one evening unobserved. He approached one of the cow-holes in the Ogo n’Erhie Wall He slipped the disguise of the calico cloth over his head, dropped on all fours and made to pass through the aperture leading with his head

The Isienmwenro guard manning the hole was startled to see a covered head pushing through the access with a shout he raised his AMA with both hands and brought it down hard on the protruding head.

But the OGBON hair-do plaited on the occiput of the Oba saved Esigie from mortal injury. With the ogbon hair-do distorting the normal configuration of the head within the sae- disguises the attacking Isienmwenro mis- judged his aim As the AMA came down it struck the plaits of the Ogbon a glancing blow, which greatly reduced its force of impact on landing.

Esigie retracted his head and quickly got lost in the darkness. He found his way back into the Palace and gained his private quarters without raising any suspicions about his caper in the minds of his numberless attendants.

During the time of Esigie the Obas of Benin could still by themselves open and shut the doors of rooms and passages as they moved about in their capacious Palace It was during the reign of Oba EHENGBUDA, Esigie’s grandson that It became a custom that this chore of opening and closing doors to rooms and apartments, be no longer performed by the Oba himself, but always for him, by an attendant. Ehengbuda had developed a whitlow of the thumb when he was stung by an insect sticking to a door as he opened the door to pass through. The finger had to be imputed because the resulting osreomyelitis, the infection of the bones of the affected finger, would not heal up.
News of the second attempt at breaching the security of the Ogo n’Erhie was brought to the monarch. Esigie expressed disquiet at the failure, the second time around, to neutralise the trespasser.
“Make sure”, he told the Ekegbian, “that you do not botch he job again in the event that the trespasser makes a third attempt”. He only after-effect of the head blow suffered by Esigie was a royal headache which he nursed for a few days.

The ogbon hair-do consists of three plaits of hair sanding vertically on the occiput of the wearer. It is a distinguishing feature of the Oba of Benin, and of a select band of Palace chiefs called the EGIE-EGBE chiefs The descriptive name of these chiefs implies that each of them is a representation of a named portion of the physical frame of the Oba of Benin;

Chief USO represents the Oba’s TEETH

Chief EHANA represents the Oba’s FEET

Chief OHONBA represents the Oba’s HEAD

Chief EHALOYEN represents (he Oba’s TRUNK

Chief ARO (OVENREN) represents the Oba’s EYES

These chiefs are in effect priests or custodians of that portion of the person of the monarch which name they bear as their title. Chief Ehana for instance laboured mightily and unceasingly to ensure that the feet of the Oba remained healthy and strong, and that these feet walked the Oba only along pathways of peace and security, and only to destinations of honour and abundance.
In old Benin the EGIE-EGBE chiefs were programmed not to survive the Oba. They all died on the day the death of the monarch occurred. They each died in their respective homes, in the peace and security of their own living quarters.

In addition to the Oba and the EGIE-EGBE chiefs other personages who sport the ogbon hair-do are Chief IHAZA, a number of hereditary priests of some of the deities of the land and the two ENOBORE chiefs, physical look-alikes of the Oba who support the monarch’s arms during ceremonial occasions
Nowadays the ogbon hair-do is usually represented by three straight plaits at the back of any head-gear the Oba might be wearing, even the simple Ones made of cloth.

Again many days passed, and Esigie decided on a third attempt at bringing his Ogo n’Erhie stratagem to fruition. Firstly he loosened his ogbon hair-do. Then at dusk he again stole out of the Palace, assumed his disguise. Dropped on all fours, and stuck his head through one of the cow-holes in the Wall.

This time the lsienmwenro guard manning the hole made sure he did not make any further mistakes. With a shout he brought the heavy iron mallet down on the head with such force that he broke the skull in. The disguised figure collapsed, and was dragged through the hole into the Ogo n’Erhie
A cursory examination of the figure in the near, darkness confirmed that the intruder was indeed dead. The calico sac was thrown over the body, and the body left where it lay. A message was rushed to the Ekegbian who, bursting with pride at an assignment successfully carried out, asked for an audience so he could personally report a mission accomplished

But the Oba was nowhere to be found. Panic seized the officers of the IWEGUAE, the department of the Palace which has the custody of the living quarters of the monarch and also of his personal safety. The courtiers sent for Chief ESERE, the head of the IWEGUAEI who incredulous at first, hurried from home and took charge of the search

Satisfied that the monarch was not in the Palace the Esere paused did the king, probably accompanied by an OMADA and one or two IBIERUGHA, lesser pages in the Iweguae, slip out under cover of darkness to the house of the ESOGBAN almost directly opposite the Palace across from the UNUOGUA open field. A surreptitious enquiry made at the Esogban’s yielded a negative result, but it sent that personage hurrying across to the Palace to team up with the Esere in the search.
With the Esere, the Esogban, the OSODIN and the whole of the Palace at their wits ends, and the royal Harem already in a state of subdued uproar, the Esere finally said: “Let us take a look at the intruder neutralised by the Isienmwenro at the Ogo n’Erhíe

Equipped with large ezoba lanterns the party made its way to the Ogo n’Erhie. The sac thrown over the body of the slam intruder was removed, and the body turned over on its back and inspected. Then was the harrowing discovery made that the body was that of Esigie:
the lord of the Palace;
the monarch of the Kingdom;
the Emperor of the Empire;
son of Ozolua Nibaromi;
Christian;
friend of the Portuguese;
expert bronze artisan;
Oba of Benin.

The most handsome face in Benin City, a face set in a skin of the fairest of complexions, was calm and composed in death, in the supreme discharge of his conceived spiritual responsibilities to the people whom he led.

An earlier incident in the life of Oba Esigie which might have presaged the manner of his subsequent death occurred soon after he became the Oba of Benin. The monarch was a man of a finely-honed sensitivity, possessed of a delicacy, a near-fragility of nature. Soon after he ascended the throne of his father OZOLUA five hundred years ago he had to fight a civil war against his younger brother Prince IDUBOR, alias the ARHUANRAN, the ENOGIE of UDO town in the OVIA territories. The Benin Udo Civil War was difficult and long drawn-out. It took three successive campaigns to defeat Udo. The third campaign which proved to be successful had been deliberately planned to take place during the crop-planting season. All of UDO’s citizen-soldiers were of course inveterate farmers, and would not renege on the only planting season of the year. After the victory of the Benin troops and the death of the Enogie of Udo it still required or more campaign by Benin before the final pacification of Udo town was assured.

When the victory over Udo had been accomplished the young Oba Esigie suddenly became disorientated there by the bank of the UDO LAKE, the body of water where prince Idubor had committed suicide by drowning rather than be taken prisoner to Benin.

The Oba was brought back to Benin in this acute medical condition. His mother IDIA portrayed in the famous FESTAC MASK sourced a Yoruba herbalist from the UGBO/ILAJE riverine area. The BABALAWO or AWO cured Esigie of his disorientation. The AWO was thereupon prevailed upon by the Queen Mother IDIA to settle permanently in the City, where his services would be on tap should any further need for them arise. The IYOBA settled him in the OGBELAKA Quarters, in the called AWO Street, where he and his descendants have lived and thrived these five centuries.

Awo Street constitutes one of the sixteen traditional Guilds which make up the OGBELAKA Quarter of Benin City.