Edo State

== History ==
The [[Mid-Western Region, Nigeria|Mid-Western Region]] was a division of Nigeria from 1963 to 1991, formally known as [[Bendel State|Bendel state]] from 1976.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=L.Franklin |first=Blitz |title=The politics and administration of Nigerian government |publisher=African university press |year=1965 |location=Zaria |pages=281 |language=English}}</ref> It was formed in June 1963 from Benin and [[Delta State|Delta]] provinces of the Western Region, and its capital was Benin City.<ref name="About Edo">{{Cite web|date=2019-07-11|title=About Edo|url=https://www.edostate.gov.ng/about-edo-2/|access-date=2021-07-08|website=Edo State|language=en-US|archive-date=2021-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709185139/https://www.edostate.gov.ng/about-edo-2/|url-status=dead}}</ref> It was renamed a province in 1966, and in 1967 when the other provinces were split up into several states, it remained territorially intact, becoming a state.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Edo state: The heartbeat of the Nation|url=https://www.channelstv.com/2012/03/26/edo-state-the-heartbeat-of-the-nation/|access-date=2021-07-09|website=Channels Television}}</ref>

During the [[Nigerian Civil War]], the [[Biafra]]n forces invaded the new [[Mid-Western Region, Nigeria|Mid-Western]] state, en route to [[Lagos State|Lagos]], in an attempt to force a quick end to the war. While under [[Biafra]]n occupation, the state was declared as the "[[Republic of Benin (1967)|Republic of Benin]]" as Nigerian forces were to retake the region.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-12-21|title=The Republic of Benin was one of the shortest-lived countries in history|url=https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/12/21/the-republic-of-benin-was-one-of-the-shortest-lived-countries-in-history/|access-date=2021-07-10|website=The Vintage News|language=en}}</ref> The republic collapsed a day after the declaration as Nigerian troops overtook Benin City. Edo State was established on 27 August 1991 when [[Bendel State]] was split into Edo and [[Delta State]]s.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Unveiling Nigeria - state|url=https://www.unveilingnigeria.ng/index.php/geopolitical-zone/edo-state|access-date=2021-07-09|website=www.unveilingnigeria.ng|archive-date=2021-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709191006/https://www.unveilingnigeria.ng/index.php/geopolitical-zone/edo-state|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bondarenko|first1=Dmitri M.|last2=Roese|first2=Peter M.|date=1999|title=Benin Prehistory: The Origin and Settling down of the Edo|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40465021|journal=Anthropos|volume=94|issue=4/6|pages=542–552|jstor=40465021 |issn=0257-9774}}</ref> The Edo people political organization is expressed in a three-tier age group system that cuts across kin groups and make age, rather than line-age affiliation, with criterion of authority.<ref name=":0" />  Benin city itself is organized on the basis of age-grades similar to those of the villages as well as on the basis of wards and chiefs, both hereditary and non-hereditary, serving the Oba in specialised functions. The [[Oba of Benin|Oba]] is the focal point of the Benin political system and institution is based squarely on that of divine kingship.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Obayan |first=E.O. |date=November 1964 |title=The machinery of planning in Eastern Nigeria |journal=The Nigerian Journal of Economic and Social Studies |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=250}}</ref>