By GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE
As part of efforts to strengthen the ancestral link between the Binis and the Ekpeye people of Rivers State, members of the Benin Cultural Heritage Centre (BCHC)  last week  visited the Eze Ekpeye Logbo 11, Eze Robinson O. Robinson

Speaking during the historical visit, the President of the Benin Cultural Heritage Centre, Dr. Roland Ehigiamusoe intimated the Eze of Ekpeye land of the activities of the Centre, one of which is to revive the cultural glory of the people of Benin both at home and in the Diaspora.

He said the Centre also sought to promote unity and harmony among all descendants of the great Benin Empire all over the world, hence the visit of the members of the Centre to the Eze of Ekpeye land whose people migrated from the great Benin Kingdom some centuries ago.

Eze Robinson O. Robinson of Ekpeye with his cabinet members and the members of the Benin Cultural Heritage Centre during the visit

The President of the BCHC further informed Eze Robinson O. Robinson that the Benin Cultural Heritage Centre of which the Oba of Benin is the grand patron was one of the foremost cultural organizations in Nigeria where valuable cultural and comprehensive information could be obtained.

Dr. Ehigiamusoe expressed gratitude to the Monarch of Ekpeye land for his financial contribution to the building of the Benin Cultural Heritage Complex and announced plans by he Centre to organize the next Benin Cultural Heritage Congress in Ekpeye land.

Receiving the delegation of the Benin Cultural Heritage Centre, the Eze Ekpeye, Eze Robinson O. Robinson acknowledged the ancestral link between his people and the Binis.

While commending the vision of the Centre, he advised that efforts should be made to reach out to all descendants of the great Benin Empire some of whom he said, were in Dahomey, Brazil, Ghana and India among other places to re-direct them to their ancestral home.

He noted that the visit of the member of the BCHC and other such interactions between the Palace of the Oba of Benin and the traditional institution in Ekpeye land were testimonies of the ancestral relationship between the two ethnic groups.

High point of the visit was the presentation of Kolas nuts and a Benin Bronze Head to the Ekpeye Monarch which he reciprocated with a donation of N1million to the activities of the BCHC.

Over twenty-seven traditional rulers and their chiefs from Ekpeye land were in attendance during the visit.