How do you reclaim an artefact from a colonial vault when reparation and restitution are not options?
If your name is Lydia Idakula and you are a writer, producer and culture impresario, you perform an artistic heist in the form of a musical. That artistic appropriation, Idia: The Musical was presented on stage to over 200 people at the Actor’s Church on Bedford Street in London on Thursday July 17, 2025.
When over 1,000 British soldiers led by Sir Harry Rawson attacked the Benin Kingdom in the punitive expedition of 1897, they bombarded the city, sacked the palace, dethroned and exiled Ovonramwen Nogbaisi, the Oba of Benin, and looted thousands of artefacts forged mainly out of ivory and bronze.
Among the loot which was subsequently sold to pay for the cost of the expedition were three identical bronze masks of Queen Idia, the first Iyoba or Queen mother of the Benin Kingdom.
The masks remained unheralded and dispersed in the UK, Germany and the USA until the mid-70s when master artist, sculptor, muralist and graphic artist Erhabor Emokpae was commissioned to produce a bronze replica of the ivory mask of Queen Idia, as the official emblem of Festival of Black Africa aka FESTAC ’77.
While Emokpae’s popular replica is larger-than-life, one of the masks which is currently at the British Museum is more of a pendant, although the craftsmanship and aesthetic value are unmistakable.
The use of the mask as the official emblem of the festival made Queen Idia a cultural icon and symbol of British malfeasance in Benin.
But who was Queen Idia and why was she immortalised with a series of masks which were domiciled for centuries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, British Museum, Seattle Art Museum, Linden Museum? (The one at the Linden Museum was recently returned to Nigeria in response to calls for restitution led by the Benin Dialogue Group and others.)
Queen Idia, reputed to have lived in the 16th century, is the first mother of a Benin Oba who did not die ceremoniously when her son ascended the throne. She was a warrior queen and priestess who was seen as the real power behind the throne of her son, Osawe (crowned Oba Esigie after he succeeded his father, Oba Ozolua.)
A cocktail of song, poetry and dance
The story of her life – from catching the eye of Oba Ozolua at a dance to birthing the future King, fighting alongside her son in the Igala War and becoming a power broker in the kingdom – informs Lydia Idakula’s Idia: The Musical which even though still in its development stage has wowed audiences in Cambridge, Peterborough and London.
The London iteration featured Lydia Idakula, spoken word poets Donna Obaseki and Ndukwe Onuoha, singer Omolara, guitarist Cill Soul, dancer and percussionist Julius Obende and pianist Akin Fingers.
The audience was held spellbound by the presentation with its heady cocktail of songs, spoken word poetry and dance which brought to life the story of Idia and the traditions of the ancient Benin Kingdom.
The dialogue and monologues were poignant and evocative of the time, bringing to life the desperate struggle for power and control of the kingdom as Oba Ozolua thunders – “A progeny of war/I make peace bow at my feet!”
The songs were the highpoint of the production. Running the gamut from Afrobeats to highlife, pop and rhythm and blues, they had the audience singing along and many asking when an album will be ready.
Restitution or not, Idia’s name and her story will not be silenced as Lydia Idakula sings: “No matter how deep you dig/You can’t dig a hole deep enough to bury my name.”
