Owodo

Owodo ( , ) was the thirty-first ('King') of the pre-imperial Benin kingdom of Igodomigodo and the last ruler of the Ohuede dynasty, succeeding his father, Arigho. According to traditions recorded by historian Osarẹn Ọmọregie, his rule began during recovery from a prolonged famine but was dominated by palace factionalism, disruptive attacks from and a high-profile domestic scandal that led to the exile (and, in some accounts, the attempted execution) of his son Ikaladerhan. Conflict with the ('Great Nobles') and public outrage after Owodo struck and killed a noble's pregnant widow, an act considered under the kingdom's law and punishable by deposition, prompted an emergency council meeting to declare him unfit to rule. He was deposed and exiled to Ihinmwirin, where he died in obscurity three years later. His removal ended the Ohuede dynasty and the Ogiso era. It paved the way for the arrival of Prince Oranmiyan from Ile-Ife and the establishment of the Oba monarchy by Oranmiyan's son, Eweka I.

Owodo ( , ) was the thirty-first ('King') of the pre-imperial Benin kingdom of Igodomigodo and the last ruler of the Ohuede dynasty, succeeding his father, Arigho. According to traditions recorded by historian Osarẹn Ọmọregie, his rule began during recovery from a prolonged famine but was dominated by palace factionalism, disruptive attacks from and a high-profile domestic scandal that led to the exile (and, in some accounts, the attempted execution) of his son Ikaladerhan. Conflict with the ('Great Nobles') and public outrage after Owodo struck and killed a noble's pregnant widow, an act considered under the kingdom's law and punishable by deposition, prompted an emergency council meeting to declare him unfit to rule. He was deposed and exiled to Ihinmwirin, where he died in obscurity three years later. His removal ended the Ohuede dynasty and the Ogiso era. It paved the way for the arrival of Prince Oranmiyan from Ile-Ife and the establishment of the Oba monarchy by Oranmiyan's son, Eweka I. == Problems of historical reliability== The Ogiso once occupied the immemorial position of myth and legend. A historical account on the Ogiso has been reconstructed and self-published by Osarẹn Ọmọregie, a former history teacher and government official, who reportedly obtained oral traditions from the last surviving member of the Ughoron (supposedly the Ogiso's court historians). Anthropologist Joseph Nevadomsky strongly criticised Omoregie's work as "somewhere in between mythic and make-believe", saying that there is "no referencing, bibliography, source interviews, or historical methodology". On the Ughoron, he said that there is no oral evidence, palace evidence, nor family history of them, describing Omoregie's later claim of descent from the Ughoron as "narrative conceit professed by a self-actuated savant". One particular flashpoint has been his version of the Ikaladerhan narrative on the founding of the Eweka dynasty, which has been strongly criticised by various Yoruba and non-Yoruba scholars, yet remains favoured by Edo historians and received support from the late Oba of Benin Erediauwa. Scholars such as Philip Igbafe and Dmitri Bondarenko have used Omoregie's work, although Bondarenko lamented the scarcity of sources on the Ogiso. Osarhieme Osadolor writes that local historians such as Omoregie tend to have greater collections of historical materials than some scholars, and that their work can serve as useful sources themselves as representations of a community's views on certain traditions and direct historical inquiry. Omoregie's work has gained acceptance and popularity in Edo society, with Osadolor saying it fosters "a strong sense of local identity" among the Edo people.

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