“When a king has good counselors, his reign is peaceful.” “No man, however great, is greater than his people.” Chinua Achebe
So the question is, has any Nigerian President or Governor ever been given a Benin chieftaincy title?
The answer, by all authoritative records, is no. That silence is not an accident. It is policy.
Across Nigeria, chieftaincy titles have become souvenirs for politicians. Visit a palace, make a donation, give a speech, and leave with “Jagaban of Somewhere” or “Omeogo of Everywhere.” Presidents and Governors collect them like endorsements. It’s politics dressed in beads.
The Benin Palace has refused to play that game. And for that, it deserves credit.
In Benin Kingdom, chieftaincy is not honorary. It is office. It is duty, lineage, responsibility to the Oba and to the people. You don’t get an “Erediauwa of Benin” because you commissioned a road. You get it because you serve within the structure of Benin governance. That conservatism has protected the institution from the inflation and cheapening we see elsewhere.
Presidents and Governors have gone to the Oba. They have received royal blessings, prayers, and respect due to visiting dignitaries. That is protocol. That is culture. But they have not been installed as chiefs, because the Palace drew a line.
That line matters in 2026. When trust in institutions is collapsing, the Benin model reminds us that some titles must mean something beyond PR.
Other kingdoms are not wrong to honor leaders. But Benin is right to protect meaning.
If chieftaincy must survive, it must remain work, not awards. The Palace understood that early.
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