AGBOLI-AGBO DEDJLANI
King of Abomey
Benin
Dedjlani, a former policeman, waited six years to retire, and then proceeded with his secret coronation ceremonies.
“Officially”, there is no longer a king in Benin. But on september 30, 1989, Dedjlani put on his royal shoes, and at the age of fifty four became King of Abomey.
Being monogamous, he was obliged to marry two more wives to take care of his royal household. When he goes out, tradition requires that he be sheltered under an umbrella with his emblem. One of wives must always be next to him, carrying the royal spitting bowl. The King also has to wear his scepter in permanence. Holding it in his hand or hanging on his shoulder, more than a symbol, the scepter is the King.
Formerly, one paid the same respect to the scepter as to the King, and wherever the scepter was to be found so was the King. The scepter authentified his orders. When a stranger wanted to meet the King, he had to wait at the port of Ouidah, “until the road was open” by the scepter which served as a laissez-passer.
The silver dust protector worn on the nose, dates from the nineteenth century, and was inherited from the King Gbehanzin. It protected the King’s nose from the dust, during the royal processions in Abomey.
