Owo National Museum

The National Museum, Owo, exhibits the rich cultural and historical backgrounds of the people of the ancient town of Owo in Ondo State. HAKEEM GBADAMOSI takes a tour of the museum and brings how artefacts and other objects of artistic, cultural and historical importance of Owo people are preserved.

The National Museum, Owo, in Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State, was established in 1968, with its location in the ancient palace of Owo kingdom. The museum housed historical collections from different ethnic groups especially from Owo, Ile Ife and Benin, for use by students, scholars, researchers, cultural organisations and schools.

The Owo museum also contained some significant antiquities from the old Owo palace, which was regarded as the largest palace in the whole of Africa. Apart from the antiquities from the old palace, some important archaeological artefacts and ethnographic materials were discovered within the town and other towns which have affiliation with Owo, and these were found in the museum.

Speaking on the establishment of the museum, the curator, Mr Adeoye Oluwasola, explained that the museum came to being after the visit of Oba Olateru Olagbegi II to the palace of Ile Ife in 1968 and saw how the ancient people of Ile Ife preserved their antiquities.

He said the Olowo, who was a lover of art and culture transformed the building where the Action Congress was formed, to the museum and provided other logistic and located the museum inside the Olowo’s ancient palace. According to him, the monarch appointed one Chief Akeredolu, who gathered a massive collection of antiquities in Owo and its environs.

He said the collection of Akeredolu formed a part of an exhibition in Lagos which was curated by the then director of antiquities, Mr. K. C Murray who was impressed by the rich and large collections from Owo kingdom and eventually gave his approval for the establishment of Owo museum to accommodate the collection.

Oluwasola, however, said the Owo museum was not officially commissioned until 1987 but said “sadly enough, the museum was burgled in 1997, coupled with the Obaship crisis in the town. The museum was closed down until peace returned to the town, but said some of the items in the museum were carted away while two security officers were killed.

“The need to reopen the museum gallery and the resolved Obaship crisis in Owo, however, provided the impetus to redesign the exhibition around the theme “Binding Ties in Nigerian Unity: The Place of Owo.”

Taking Nigerian Tribune around the museum, he explained that the museum was divided and arranged into six sections, arranged in a special manner to highlight the relationship that exists between Ile Ife, Benin and Owo art. He said these arts exposed the rich cultural heritage of Owo people.

The six sections are: the early civilisation section, archaeological excavations at Owo and its environs, Ife/Owo/Benin affinity, Owo culture and tradition, local technology and ancestral worship sections.

 

Early Civilisation

This section reflected the major phenomenon and discoveries during the Stone Age period. The major discoveries by a British archaeologist, Thurstan Shaw, confirmed that early men lived in this part of the world, at Iho Eleru, in Isharun, in Ondo State.

In this section, the evolution of man’s technologies was on display, from production of hunting tool to that of agricultural implements. The finds of Iho Eleru included skeletal remains, arrow heads, polished and ground stones. The section also has the Nok terracotta culture which flourished during the transition period from stone to Iron Age. This depicted the success of agriculture in Nigeria and reflected the artistic creativity of the Nok.

 

Archaeological Evacuation at Owo

The curator explained that evacuation of some antiquities were unearthed by the then Director of the Federal Department of Antiquities, Prof. Empire and his team at a place known as Igbo’laja which demonstrated the close links with Ife and Benin terracotta and bronzes as well as wood carving. Oluwasola said the Igbo’laja finds dated to the 15th century and serves as an evidence of the dual influence of Ife and Benin on Owo art.

 

Ife / Owo/ Benin Affinity

Here, the Ife, Benin and Owo art works display a striking commonality in media, form and function which suggest a possible contact or a common ancestry for the three great civilisations.

These affinities can be utilised as bridges of peace and unity among the people. Some of the art works on display which showed similarities among the three towns included, brass bell, known as agogo in Owo, and Eroro in Benin, Ivory tower known as Akeni in Benin and Iroke Ifa in Owo. Others include ceremonial royal sword, doorpost arts among others.

 

Owo Culture and Tradition section

This section is dedicated to Owo culture and tradition. According to the curator, the people of Owo have preserved and have been promoting their material and non material culture, ever since they arrived at their present abode from Ile Ife since the 12th century, and this has given them a special identity. The objects presented in this section, covers costumes, ornaments, musical instruments, masks and hunting Implements. It also captures the unique place of royalty, industry and the ancestors in the history and culture of Owo people. This includes Orunfaran costume, mask heads and helmets and hunting implements.

 

Local Technology

This section displays the evidence of arts and crafts of Owo people which indicate evidence of early civilisation and identity of the people of the town. The curator added that this portrayed the culture, belief systems and traditional technology.

“Owo people are known to be in a wide range of craft production, which forms a strong basis for technological advancement and self reliance for the people of Owo as exhibited in this section,” he said.

The section exhibits the king pottery works from local clay, and the hand moulded pots of various designs, shapes and sizes, which are used for different purposes ranging from domestic, ceremonial and religious. The section also displays the traditional cloth-weaving and blacksmithing, wood carving, bow and arrows among others.

 

Ancestral worship

This shows the belief of the people in family tradition handed over from generation to generation. Ancestral worship is an African family tradition. It is based on the belief in and reverence for deceased members of the family as part of the living minimal lineage. These ancestors are cared for by their living relations in return for their guardian angel duties of protecting and preserving peace, order and wellbeing among their consanguineous devotees.

This section also shows the miniature of a typical shrine, known as Oju-ebo, the Aladoko masquerade and the Ako effigy which are some of the links between Owo people and their ancestors.

The curator however, explained that the Ako ceremony symbolises the continuing nature of the chiefly office, despite the death of the temporary holder. He said the concept was probably derived from Benin from where it spread to Owo. He noted that the ceremony is usually held in honour of a wealthy person where the Ako effigy, which is the effigy of the deceased, would be exhibited and paraded around the town before it will be buried.

Speaking on the economic importance to the community, Oluwasola said the museum which now belongs to the Federal Government is an ancestral museum, which serves as the historical link between the people, their past and their ancestors but said there is not much awareness about the significance of the museum which will celebrate its 50th year of existence soon, though, it remains a place for inquisitive tourists and ethnographic researchers.

• Highlighting the importance and purpose of museums

He noted that the museum, especially the tourism industry, has the potential to generate revenue for the country but said little or nothing is known about museums in the country and called for more enlightenment programmes towards this.

Speaking with Nigerian Tribune, a member of staff stated that there was little or no patronage in the museum except from students and some scholars who are doing some research work.

She noted that students on excursion account for the highest number of visitors to the museum while she noted that constant power outage has been a challenge and most of the income generated is used to power the generating set.

She said the management of the museum has been working tirelessly to ensure that all cultural and historical materials within the museum are properly preserved in the appropriate room temperature but the power supply has been an impediment.

An indigene of the ancient town, Bukola Ibrahim said she had visited the museum once some twenty years ago and said there was no awareness programme to attract the people to the place, except schools that visit the place on excursions.

“The location might be responsible for this because those who have nothing to do with the palace might not know there is a museum here. If there is room for extension or relocation of the museum out of the palace, it might attract more patronage.

“We need to develop our tourism industry and this can only be done by ensuring that our museums are in good shape because for some international tourists, the museum is usually the first port of call and the Federal Government should fund this museum adequately for it to ensure efficiency,” she said.

The history graduate however called on the Federal Government to continue to mount pressure on countries with Nigerian artefacts to return them to the rightful owners, to make the nation’s museum centres a pride of place to visit, saying that collections repatriated to the country are few while many of them are still outside the country.