My Beauty Best Teacher

The Benin Moats (Iya) have been described as "a complex system of moats and ramparts spread over some 6,500 square kilometers". The aims of the Benin Moat Foundation are to:

Restore the integrity of the moats integrate them into park systems for tourism. Find the sites of the Nine Gateways into old Benin and in each, acquire land large enough for buildings for the needs of history, relaxation, transportation and tourism.Do the utmost to realize the moats’ tourism potential for Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria and the World.Work to find the moats their respected, permanent and revered places, and eventually as a World Heritage Site .

Image courtesy of Benin Moat Foundation

Lugard Ehimatie Aimiuwu makes suggestions on how to turn Benin-City's heritage into a tourist attraction:

Benin has, in its extensive military moats and mounds, described in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest earthworks in the world ( in the pre-mechanical era), a major tourism potential. Yet, a new creation Tinapa, is much better known not only abroad but also at home. It will most certainly become tomorrow’s money spinner because of purposeful management. Action: (a) rehabilitate the moats; (b) canvass for and secure UNESCO World Heritage Classification; (c) create and promote an annual tourist-attracting international event. Build pathways and driveways along the works and have Great Benin Moat Marathon, Great Benin Trek and perhaps African Grand Prix. There are so many possibilities; (d) also exploit the domestic potential by networking them into new canal system to help de-flooding and promote inland transportation.

Over at Aachronym:

Sotheby's is trafficking in stolen goods and it is doing so without any concern for the fact of its brazen criminality. It is clear that the Benin artworks are a contested collection of cultural artifacts. The history of their plunder from Benin is not in doubt, and the Benin Kingdom has never at any time given up its claim to these artworks. There has been significant amount of words written about the history of the British plunder of Benin and why the artworks should be repatriated. How is it then that despite the constant requests for the repatriation of these artworks and their clear identification as stolen goods, they continue to be sold by firms such as Sotheby’s without any hesitation?

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In 234Next Akintayo Abodunrin reports on an exhibition -Benin1897.com- that highlights the sacking of the Benin Empire:

In February 1897, a ‘punitive expedition' was sent to Benin to capture the king and destroy his kingdom in retaliation for the killing of a British Counsel and his party on their way to investigate reports of ritual human sacrifice in the city. But the punitive expedition not only went beyond its brief - capturing and destroying the city - it also engaged in large scale looting of artifacts. Among other war ‘booties', about 900 Benin bronze works were taken from the city to "defray the cost of the war." Many of these are held at the British Museum in London, and have been the subject of long standing contention between Britain and Nigeria.

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BBTV's Xeni Jardin reports on Benin's relatively unknown Pendjari Biosphere:

The Pendjari Biosphere lies in Benin's remote rural northwest, along the border of Burkina Faso. Despite poaching and environmental damage, it's still home to a diverse number of species -- elephants, lions, monkeys, cheetah, and around 300 species of birds. We traveled here during the dry season, when animal spotting is easiest. Here is what we saw at dawn (the time of day when critters all come out to the watering holes and rivers)...[continue reading]

Blessing-Miles Tendi writing in the Guardian:

The standard explanation offered by Africans opposed to gay rights is that homosexuality is alien to their culture and was introduced to Africa by European colonialists. A good deal of African-American homophobia relies on the same justification. But late 19th-century records on Africa and African oral history show that homosexual practices existed in pre-colonial Africa. One case in point are the Azande people in the north-east of modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where it was acceptable for kings, princes and soldiers to take young male lovers.
Further evidence for the existence of homosexuality is that pre-colonial African ethnic groups ascribed tribal classifications to gay people. While some of these categorisations had negative associations, many had neutral connotations. Certain tribes in pre-colonial Burkina Faso and South Africa regarded lesbians as astrologers and traditional healers. A number of tribal groups in Cameroon and Gabon believed homosexuality had a medicinal effect. In pre-colonial Benin, homosexuality was viewed as a boyhood phase that males passed through and eventually grew out of.

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From the BBC:

When magnificent 16th-century bronze casts were discovered in the kingdom of Benin in 1897, many could not believe they had been made by Africans. It was thought West Africa lacked the technical development required to make them. Dr Casely-Hayford travels to present-day Nigeria and Mali in search of the truth, exploring what the bronzes mean, how the technology to make them developed, and what it reveals about the lost kingdoms of West Africa.

Watch the video:

via Bombastic Elements

Brill's overview of George Ayittey's Indigenous African Institutions-2nd edition:

Since the publication of the first edition of Indigenous African Institutions in 1992, Africa has undergone a substantial change. Still, much mythology and misconception enshroud Africa and its people. An enduring myth claims that pre-colonial Africa had no viable institutions. This book is an attempt to provide a better, modern understanding of Africa and its people – not for cultural rehabilitation or romanticism but for practical reasons.
Traditional or indigenous Africa has not vanished; it is still the home of the real people of Africa – the peasant majority, who produce Africa’s real wealth using ancient institutions and practices. Kings, chiefs, and village markets still exist in Africa.
The object of development is to improve the lot of the peasants – not the pockets of Africa’s ruling elites – and it starts from the “bottom up” – not from the “top-down.” What is there at the bottom are the peasants, their institutions, practices, and economic ways of life. Africa cannot be developed by ignoring its traditional sector, nor can this sector be developed without understanding how it works. Africa’s salvation, then, lies in returning to its roots and building upon its own indigenous institutions. This ethos is captured by such phrases as “sankofa” by the Asante, “majimbo” in Swahili, and the mantra, “African Renaissance,” touted by President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa.
Botswana is the only African country that built upon its own indigenous institutions and prospered. Moreover, it was the same indigenous institutions African peasants utilized to engineer what historians call, “The Golden Age of Peasant Prosperity, 1880-1950.” In recent times, pro-democracy activists revived and modernized an indigenous African institution (the village meeting) into a “sovereign national conference” and used it as a vehicle to craft a new political dispensation for Benin, Cape Verde Islands, South Africa and Zambia – in the same way as the United Nations used a loya jirga, an ancient tribal democratic institution, to chart a new political order for Afghanistan in 2002. Similarly, the same indigenous African institutions can also be used to craft uniquely “African solutions to African problems.” Thus, the blueprint for Africa’s economic rejuvenation can be found in its on backyard; that is, its own indigenous institutions. Tragically, African leaders, elites and their Western development partners have seldom looked there.

Amengeo Amengeo writing in Business in Focus about the South African "anti immigrant" crisis states that:

Since the ‘end’ of apartheid [and this is moot since whites still control the economy, the courts and the land] South Africa has experienced unparalleled levels of violence, much of it directed inwardly. The people’s rage like an unstoppable river had to find its way and it fell back on itself. The late African-Martinician revolutionary Franz Fanon warned that a people, denied outlets for their anger will turn this rage inward, teetering on a pre-revolutionary precipice.
The anger and horrific brutality expressed in South African violence and crime are not the acts of mad people, but the acts of people made mad by the denial of justice and closure against those who oppressed them for so long. These people have been placed out of reach by the insane generosity of ‘forgiveness’ and ‘reconciliation’ offered without the consent of the people. The unfortunate ‘immigrants’ who have every right to be in South Africa, since without their unswerving support and solidarity apartheid could never have been toppled, are convenient scapegoats subjected to ‘xenophobia’ –destined to be the new divisive buzzword- while the government stands aghast, caught off guard by a situation they should have seen coming. This is a very, very dangerous time not just for South Africa, but the entire Continent.

While African Shirts insists that the countries "Rainbow Nation" image is phony and an example of faux liberalism:

The truth is that SA has a liberal/progressive constitution, but this liberalism isn't a reflection of actual South African society. See William Gumede's article in yesterday's Guardian. And I've always been suspicious of it. I never thought South Africa's adoption of gay marriage was a genuine reflection of what people thought.

via Benin Epilogue etc

Benin Mwangi at the Cheetah Index, comments on rice imports in Ghana.

There is not really an inherent problem with Ghana or any other African nation importing rice from other countries. However, if enough of it is imported, then it puts downward price pressure on Ghana's local agricultural producers who are the engine of the country's economy. One reason for this is because the long grain rice coming into Ghana from abroad is typically sold below what it would cost to produce the same quantities and qualities of rice in Ghana. In the US this is possible because of government subsidies to farmers, which cause large surpluses and in Asia it is presumed to be because of the low cost of labor and the largely intact road infrastructure.

Prosper Mondé writes:

Identifying traditional knowledge and putting it to good use is more important than ever, given that our economies remain geared towards outside markets and that people, especially those living in towns, do not have any viable way of feeding themselves. You only have to look at the quantities of frozen meat from the West and rice from Asia being imported by a number of West African countries, products that are widely acknowledged as less nutritious than their local counterparts. Sorghum and millet are disappearing in some parts of southern Benin, though these crops play an important role during lean periods.
How can we reverse this trend? By fighting collective ignorance. In this respect, governments, national and international civil society organisations, researchers and journalists all have a major role to play...[continue reading]

Mamphela Ramphele comments (listen):

"Average annual GNP growth in African countries has climbed to over five percent," she said, "and in countries like Mozambique, Benin, Ghana, Algeria, Nigeria and South Africa, the economies [are getting stronger and stronger]. Last year's acquisition of the South African Bank ABSA by Barclay's PLC was one of the largest acquisitions in the world. Major private equity companies like Blackstone and KKR [are looking] for deals on the continent, and the recently completed RFP process for the development of the Cape Town waterfront saw major [investors] from all over the world bidding to participate. Overall, the rewards remain high and the balance of risks has improved in Africa."

via Knowledge@Wharton

Image by skasuga via FlickrBenin Mwangi at African Path reports:

Paul Kagame has cut a striking image throughout the world as a leader who has been willing to go against the grain on so many levels to bring about real and lasting change in Rwanda.
Whether we are looking at the ICT industry, the tea and coffee industry, education, women's rights, or reconciliation he seems to always be at the forefront of his class-that class being the class of current African presidents and political leaders. And his leadership has not gone unnoticed in the since that since he came to leadership Rwanda has made a slow but very steady march towards stability and prosperity...[continue reading]

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• Seeds of Change in Rwanda

Bubacarr Sankanu writes in Africa Council

The prophets of intolerance cannot seriously claim to be defending African Values as all the monotheistic religions they are using to argue are foreign imports. It is the serious Voodoo Practitioners like those of the Republic of Benin who can talk about defending the true African Values. In fact no one can talk about bringing faith/salvation to Africans, be it monotheist or otherwise.

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