BusinessDay... the voice of business: Benin monarch decries encroachment

Benin monarch decries encroachment
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Anonymous on 27 March, 2008 12:00:00
 
The Oba spoke while receiving members  of the Benin Moat Foundation, a voluntary
organisation seeking to preserve it.
He called for urgent measures to safeguard the moat “before the historical
landmark  is wiped out’’.
Erediauwa lamented that the National  Commission for Museums and Monuments 
(NCMM) and related agencies of government  had not enforced the laws against
encroachment.
The Oba, who commended the initiative of  the organisation, berated successive
curators of the NCMM (Benin Museum), who he said, had failed to take actions
even when he prompted them to do so.
“As I speak to you today, the laws are still there and no one is doing
anything concrete to stem the encroachment,” he said.
Erediauwa said that rehabilitation of the moat demanded urgency, asking the
federal, state and local  governments to rise to the challenge.
President of the foundation, Omorodion Uwaifo, said the new organisation
comprised of eminent Binis who had committed themselves to rehabilitating the
Benin Moat. Uwaifor said this was necessary because of its historic
significance, as well as the need to make it a tourist attraction.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Moat has entered the Guinness Book
of Records as “the largest known earth work” on earth since antiquity.
It is ranked in significance with the Great Wall of China, a renowned ancient
monument.