Governor Monday Okpebholo on November 24, 2024 said that he will distance himself from the Museum Of West African Arts (MOWAA) sited in the former premises of the Central Hospital, Benin, in Edo State. Good decision.

But, the governor's action is not far reaching enough MOWAA should be Akpakomiza- mise!! I mean it should be technically scrapped to avoid litigation by its management that is a puppet of Obaseki.

We don't need the theoretical contraption called MOWAA which was birthed by quack caesarian surgery by Obaseki when a normal delivery of Edo Museum Of West African Arts (EMOWAA) became impossible. Because the gods of Edo land are angry with him over the sacrilegious sin of forcefully trying to appropriate the returned looted artefacts of the Benin Kingdom.

For a start, let us take a look at Cross Rivers State that is far less endowed than Edo State. Yet the state runs an integrated global annual art, culture and tourism festival that fetches it billions of naira. An incorporated government body Calabar Carnival Commission (CCC) was set up to manage the event.

But over here, Obaseki, always enmeshed with plagiarizing Western concepts, started as an abstract EMOWAA in November 2020.

He told us: "As a part of our urban renewal programme, we have embarked on several archaeological and architectural interventions in Benin City resulting, among other things, in the creation of Edo Museum Of West African Arts (EMOWAA).

"We have set up a Legacy Restoration Trust supported by the British Government with a grant of 4m dollars.

"Our aim is to restore Edo State as the tourism arts and culture capital of Nigeria in the quest to making Edo great again."

In the Cross Rivers State, all other activities are literally shut down for the billion world-class arts, culture and tourism carnival, No too much grammar.

But this is not so in Edo State. The trademark PDP administration of Obaseki likes talking. Words... Words....Words!! No solid, physical accomplishments on the ground.

So, before 2021, Obaseki gave us from his EMOWAA notebook what he called Cultural District in Benin Metropolis without consultation with the paramount monarch of Benin Kingdom. He then informed us that the district will host a pavillion, the national museum, royal collections, Oba's Palace, a portion of the recovered moat, Urhokpota Hall and a digital documentation of all Benin artefacts in private and public museums across the world.

This was during 2021; with nothing to showcase, Obaseki was already day dreaming about mega revenue returns fro arts/culture-driven tourism. He boasted that over 5000 tourists initially will like to visit Benin Metropolis because of his reforms in the arts and culture industry.

Later on September 27, 2022 loquacious, Obaseki launched his tourism master plan.

He said: "We present Edo State Tourism Masterplan to you. Tourism is one of the sectors we are paying critical attention to so as to change the face of the face of the state's infrastructure and revenue generation.

"The tourism master plan is designed to make Edo State the choice destination among global tourists and would enable Edo State to generate N2 trillion in the next 10 years from the sector."

According to Obaseki, tourism must be exploited to the full because of its potential of contributing significantly to growing the GDP of Edo State.

There was still no real development in the arts and culture sector to give teeth to tourism boom in the state. Absolutely nothing!!

Nevertheless, the PDP-led administration of Obaseki cared less since it is afflicted by classical, Obsessive Idealism Disorder.

Behold!! On December 22, 2022 he was celebrating EMOWAA's re-definition of arts, culture and tourism to the high heavens. He announced to journalists in Benin City that Phase 1 of EMOWAA in only 5 years will attract minimum of one million people to Edo State yearly to see our artefacts, culture, forests and environment.

However, the vertebrae of EMOWAA is the recovery and placement of the looted royal artefacts from Benin Kingdom inside the space of the national museum. But he has totally failed to do so. Frustrated by this development, Obaseki downgraded EMOWAA to MOWAA.

Expectedly, following the cues of theoretical and over academic Obaseki, the mandate of MOWAA is idealistic not of practical value to Edo State.

For instance, the executive director of MOWAA explains to journalists in Benin City on November 7, 2024: "We are not a traditional museum at all. We have shifted away from that experience that was a legacy of colonialism to something that is more relevant to Nigeria and Africa."

In explicit terms, MOWAA is purely a cultural centre for education and research as well as where idling cultural professionals achieve their creative potentials not a museum for holding artefacts or artworks.

What the executive director of EMOWAA, Mr Philip Ihaenacho and the Obaseki have succinctly exposed are very terrifying.

Firstly, it is that EMOWAA will apparently be operated like a streetwise non-governmental organisation or foundation on consultancy basis.

Secondly, another revelation is that Legacy Restoration Trust will manage EMOWAA. This trust was given the 4m dollar grant from the British Government for building an Edo State Museum for holding in the ecotourism space of the national museum at the King's Square all returned artefacts looted in 1897 during the British punitive expedition to Benin Kingdom.

But the idea of this state museum suffered miscarriage along the line.

The federal and now the state government threw their support for the revered Oba of Benin's Royal Museum for keeping the returned artefacts. Given this, broken-hearted Obaseki decided to downscale EMOWAA to MOWAA. Both of which have contributed nothing really to the development of arts, culture and tourism.

Painfully, the PDP administration of Obaseki with either extinct EMOWAA or irrelevant, limping stillborn MOWAA, only talked about boosting tourism. Loud mouth!! Nothing more.

If you doubt me, visit our over 39 tourist landmarks in Edo State. There is no practical evidence of upgrading them by EMOWAA or MOWAA.

Here are some of these great historical tourist sites or monuments neglected by Obaseki, his PDP government, EMOWAA and now MOWAA: Oba's Palace, Benin City moats, the statues of Queens Iden/Emotan and Idia, Asoro/Giant Aruaran Statue, old Gelegele river port and fountains, Igun Street of bronze casters, Igbesanmwan wood carvers, Okomu wildlife sanctuary, Somorika hills, Agenebode sand beach, Amahor waterside, Lamoese crocodile lake, Ozalla springs, Edegbaka/Oghodogobodo caves, Idoma hill, Ise lake of Weppa Wano and the Ize- Iyamu storey building in Benin City second only to that in Badagry in Lagos State.

Had these tourist locations as well as monuments developed and an Edo cultural carnival grafted into our Igue Festival we would have been on the route to promoting our arts, culture and tourism today.

A question. Does MOWAA resonate with this agenda? No!! That is why it should be scrapped.

MOWAA's certificate of occupancy should be revoked in the public interest.

Thereafter, a central cottage hospital should be built in the recovered space. This health facility wil offer much more benefit than MOWAA an empty barrel set up only to make hackneyed, loud academic classroom noise on arts, culture and tourism development in Edo State.