Igue Festival: The People and Civilization of the Great Benin Kingdom

Igue Festival: The People and Civilization of the Great Benin Kingdom

Introduction

Tourism has been one of the most prominent and high-profile industry to exist on the face of the earth. Travelling, leisure, recreation, all have been significantly associated with tourism since people visits different places, exploring all sites and sounds to satisfy their innate need for adventure and peace at the same time. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, members of the upper class traditionally completed their education with a Grand Tour of Europe's cultural heritage. Today, cultural tourism no longer belongs only to the wealthy, nor is this kind of travel restricted to great cities like Rome, Paris, Tokyo, or Cairo. A General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade white paper concluded that travel and tourism is now the world's largest single industry; tourism has become the third largest retail segment of the American economy and the largest segment of export. Not surprisingly, cities and towns across the United States now compete for a coveted place on today's tourist agenda, using their cultural heritage as the main attraction.

In view of the importance of cultural tourism, this case study analysis will revolve around one of the oldest cities the man has ever known (Malaquais, 1998, pp. 94).

One of the principal historic kingdoms (12th-19th century) of the western African forest region. Founded by the Edo people, the kingdom was centered on present-day Benin City in southern Nigeria. With the accession of Ewuare the Great in the amid 15th century, the Benin kingdom was vastly expanded, including the founding of the city of Lagos. The Portuguese first visited Benin in the late 15th century, and, for a time, Benin traded ivory, palm oil, pepper, and slaves with Portuguese and Dutch traders. Benin stopped trading slaves with Europeans in the 18th century and focused attention on dependent regions around it. Succession struggles in the 18th and 19th centuries put a series of weaker kings on the throne. After the British attacked and burned Benin City in 1897, the kingdom was incorporated into British Nigeria. Today it has become an attractive tourist place for the world and people travelled from around the world to experience the cultural tourism in this region (McKrecher & Cros, 2002, pp. 181). The main aims and objectives of this study will revolve around three main aspects of Edo State, Nigeria:

To discover the historical event of IGUE Festival

To understand the demographics, nature and general mode of behaviour of the people of Edo.

To explore the subject civilization reviewing the traditions and norms of the edo people in the context of history.

Case Study

The case study is related to the people and civilization of the Great Benin Kingdom which particularly related to the Igue Festival. In this context, the historical past of Benin Kingdom shows that although trade could help to spread religion from group to group, thus eliminating potential religious conflict, differences among indigenous religions were generally not a source of ...