EDO STATE PART I: VISITOR’S GUIDE
THE BINI (EDO) PEOPLE
By Uji A. Iliyasu
Edo State, in Nigeria’s South-South region, is one of the country’s oldest centres of civilisation, home to the famous Benin Kingdom and a mosaic of peoples whose histories predate colonial Nigeria by centuries.
For the visitor, understanding Edo State means understanding its people: their kingdoms, festivals, and living traditions. Here are four of the state’s most prominent ethnic groups, which we shall visit.
1. The Bini (Edo) People
2. The Esan (Ishan) People
3. The Afemai (Etsako) People.
4. The Owan People
THE BINI (EDO) PEOPLE
The Bini, or Edo people, are the founders and custodians of the ancient Benin Kingdom, one of the most powerful and artistically accomplished pre-colonial states in West Africa. Located in present-day Benin City, they remain the dominant ethnic group of Edo State, and among the most historically significant peoples in Nigeria.
Short History
Edo oral tradition holds that the earliest inhabitants of the area organised themselves under a line of rulers known as the Ogiso (“Kings of the Sky”), who governed a kingdom then called Igodomigodo. After the last Ogiso, Owodo, was banished for misrule, the Benin chiefs sought a new ruler from the Yoruba kingdom of Ile-Ife.
Prince Oranmiyan came to rule them, but finding the people difficult to govern, returned home, leaving behind his infant son, Eweka, by a Benin princess. That son became the first Oba of Benin around 1200 AD, founding the dynasty that continues to this day.
The kingdom grew steadily but reached its greatest height under Oba Ewuare the Great, who came to power around 1440. Ewuare transformed Benin from a city-state into an empire, reorganised its government, and is credited with giving the city and people the name “Edo.”
Under his successors, Benin built the famous Benin Walls and moats, earthworks that once ranked among the largest man-made structures in the world, and developed a sophisticated bureaucracy, military, and guild system for craftsmen, including the brass-casters who produced the world-renowned Benin Bronzes.
Benin maintained diplomatic and trade relations with Portugal from 1485 and later with other European powers, exporting pepper, ivory, and cloth in exchange for coral beads, firearms, and manufactured goods. The kingdom’s independence ended in 1897, when a British “punitive expedition” sacked Benin City, exiled Oba Ovonramwen, and looted thousands of royal artworks, many of which remain in Western museums today and are the subject of ongoing repatriation efforts. The Obaship was restored in 1914 under Oba Eweka II, and the institution has continued as a cultural and spiritual authority within modern Nigeria ever since.
Language
The Bini speak Edo (also called Bini), a language of the Edoid branch of the Niger-Congo family. Edo is tonal and is the root language of a wider Edoid cluster that includes Esan, Etsako (Afemai), Owan, Urhobo, and Isoko,. all historically linked to the Benin Kingdom’s sphere of influence, though each has since developed a distinct identity.
Edo is taught and broadcast in parts of the state, and cultural advocates have pushed for its stronger inclusion in schools amid concerns about declining fluency among younger, urbanised generations.
Music and Dance
Bini traditional music is closely tied to royal and religious ceremony. Court musicians historically played instruments such as the ukuse (rattle), agogo (bells), talking drums, and various flutes and gongs to accompany royal processions and festivals. The Ekassa is one of the most prominent Bini dance forms, a stately, minimal-movement dance traditionally reserved for the burial of an Oba, performed by the palace’s Iwebo and Iwoguae societies.
Outside the palace, masquerade dances such as Igbabonelimwin combine acrobatics, drumming, and elaborate costuming and are performed during festivals and important social occasions. In contemporary times, Benin City has also become a hub for Edo-language highlife and Afrobeats-influenced music, carrying traditional rhythms into modern popular culture.
Rich cultural performance
Belief and Religion
Traditional Bini religion centres on Osanobua, the supreme god, alongside a pantheon of lesser deities and ancestral spirits who mediate between the divine and human worlds. Olokun, deity of the sea, wealth, and fertility, is among the most widely venerated, along with Ogun (god of iron and war) and Esango/Sango-related war deities honoured in some Bini contexts. Ancestor veneration is central: family shrines and altars dedicated to deceased fathers and forebears are maintained in many Bini homes, and the Oba’s own ancestral shrine at the palace is central to state religious life. Christianity, introduced from the colonial era onward, is now the majority religion among the Bini, but it commonly coexists with respect for traditional customs, particularly around chieftaincy, burial rites, and royal festivals, a blending visitors will notice throughout the region.
Kingship
The Oba of Benin, styled Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, is the paramount traditional ruler of the Bini people and one of the most respected monarchs in Nigeria. The current Oba, Ewuare II, ascended the throne in 2016 following the death of his father, Oba Erediauwa. The Obaship is hereditary within the House of Eweka and carries deep spiritual as well as political significance: the Oba is regarded as a divine link between the people and their ancestors and deities. He is supported by an elaborate palace structure of hereditary and honorary chiefs organised into palace societies (Iwebo, Iwoguae, and Ibiwe) and town chiefs (Eghaevbo n’Ore), a governance system that has endured, in modified form, since the medieval kingdom.
The palace in Benin City remains a working seat of traditional authority and a major point of interest for visitors.
Oba Ewuare II
Foods
Bini cuisine reflects the tropical forest belt of southern Nigeria, built around starchy staples, leafy vegetables, and rich, often spicy soups. Staples include pounded yam, garri (eba), and starch (a smooth cassava-derived swallow distinctive to the region), typically eaten with soups such as banga (palm-nut) soup, owo soup, and vegetable soups made with ingredients like bitterleaf or ukazi-style greens adapted locally. Grilled and peppered bushmeat and fish are common, and the region’s proximity to rivers and the coast means fish and seafood feature heavily. Palm wine, tapped locally, remains a traditional drink served at ceremonies and social gatherings.
Climate and Weather
Edo State, and Bini territory in particular, lies within Nigeria’s humid tropical rainforest belt. The climate follows two main seasons: a long rainy season from roughly April to October, with peak rainfall around June to September, and a shorter dry season from November to March, which includes the dusty, cooler harmattan period around December and January. Average temperatures are warm year-round, generally in the range of 24–32°C, with high humidity typical of the forest zone.
Visitors planning trips to festivals or outdoor cultural sites are generally advised to favour the dry season months for easier travel.
Courtship and Marriage
Traditional Bini marriage follows a structured, multi-stage process rooted in family and community involvement rather than a purely individual decision. Courtship typically begins with introductions between families, followed by formal visits by the groom’s family to the bride’s family to declare intent. The centrepiece is the traditional marriage rites ceremony, which involves the payment of a bride price and the presentation of items, including drinks, kola nuts, and gifts, as a mark of respect and formal request for the bride’s hand. A distinctive feature of Bini marriage ceremonies is the bride’s elaborate coral beadwork and wrapper attire, layered with beads across the neck, wrists, and waist, symbolising status and heritage.
Elders and chiefs often play a formal role in blessing the union, and the celebration afterward typically involves music, dancing, and feasting that draws in the wider community.
Beautiful bride and groom
A beautiful bride in Traditional attire
Industry
Historically, the Bini economy rested on farming (yams, cassava, plantain, and palm produce), trading, and, most distinctively, craft guilds,, brass-casting, wood and ivory carving, weaving, and leatherwork, organised under royal patronage and passed down through hereditary guild families, some of which, such as the brass-casters of Igun Street, still practise today.
In the modern era, Benin City has grown into a major commercial, administrative, and educational centre for the state, home to the University of Benin, government offices, and a range of trading, manufacturing, and service industries.
Edo State, more broadly has also become known for entertainment and creative industries, with Benin City producing a significant share of Nigeria’s film, comedy, and music talent.
Tourist Attractions
Benin City and its surrounding Bini heartland offer some of Nigeria’s richest cultural tourism sites. Key attractions include:
The Oba’s Palace, the still-functioning royal seat and spiritual centre of the kingdom.
The remnants of the Benin Walls and Moats, once among the most extensive earthworks in the world, parts of which are still visible around the city.
The National Museum, Benin City, is home to bronzes, ivories, and other royal artefacts.
Igun Street (Igun-Eronmwon), the historic guild street of bronze and brass casters, a UNESCO-recognised heritage craft community where visitors can watch artisans work using techniques passed down for centuries.
Ekiadolor and other traditional craft villages, known for wood carving.
The annual Igue Festival, held in Benin City around December, is the most significant cultural event of the year, featuring royal rites, processions, and public celebration, and is one of the best times for visitors to experience Bini culture at its fullest.
Prominent People
Notable Bini figures include Oba Ewuare II, the reigning monarch and traditional custodian of Edo culture; Chief Jacob U. Egharevba, the pioneering Bini historian whose writings, including A Short History of Benin, remain foundational references on the kingdom’s history; Professor Victor Uwaifo, the celebrated highlife musician, sculptor, and academic; Governor Godwin Obaseki, who has led Edo State’s government; Abel Guobadia, a former Chairman of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission; Senator Adams Oshiomhole, former outspoken labour leader and the state governor. Others are comedian Bright “Basketmouth” Okpocha, one of Nigeria’s best-known entertainers.
The community has also produced numerous artists, academics, and public servants who carry Bini identity into national and international spaces.
Burial Ceremony
Traditional Bini burial rites, especially for titled elders and chiefs, are elaborate, multi-stage events reflecting the person’s status in life. Rites typically begin with a period of mourning and ritual preparation of the body, followed by formal interment, and then a series of second burial or “final rites” ceremonies held sometime later, which can involve feasting, masquerade performances, and the conferment of honours on the deceased’s descendants.
The death of an Oba is marked by the most solemn form of these rites, historically including the Ekassa dance performed exclusively on such occasions, alongside protracted royal mourning customs before a successor is formally installed.
For ordinary community members, burial remains a significant communal event, with extended family, age-grade associations, and church or traditional religious leaders (depending on the family’s faith) playing central roles, and expectations around costly, well-attended ceremonies are strong across Bini society.
References
Face2Face Africa, “How the great Benin kingdom was founded by a teenager who was the first Oba in 1200AD”
National Geographic Education, “The Kingdom of Benin”
Britannica, “Benin | History, Culture & People of West Africa”
Wikipedia, “Eweka I,” “Akenzua II,” “Erediauwa,” “Oguola,” “Akengbuda”
New World Encyclopedia, “Benin Empire”
Edo Nigeria Association of Western Australia, “Edo People”
Kwekudee Trip Down Memory Lane, “Edo People: Africa’s Most Popular and Artistic People from Nigeria…”
The African Archives, “The Edo People of Nigeria”
Joshua Project, “Edo, Bini in Nigeria people group profile”
Uji A. Iliyasu, can be contacted@:
+234 8078486507
234 8037815416
WhatsApp +234 8067364107