Talk:Owodo/GA2

GA review

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Nominator: Vanderwaalforces (talk · contribs) 12:38, 4 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Reviewer: Reverosie (talk · contribs) 17:28, 30 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hello! As discussed on my talk page, I'll be taking this review. Expect me to properly begin tonight or tomorrow! 🌷Reverosie🌷^★talk★ 17:28, 30 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Reverosie thank you for picking this one! Vanderwaalforces (talk) 18:12, 30 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Spot check

Update on the spot check: After viewing AirshipJungleman's extensive critiques, I need to verify that his concerns have been rectified before resuming with this review. Please allow me a moment to do so.

Update: Many changes have been rectified, however, not all. For one, the sentence about the curse remains unverified, and there is still much repetition (which I will point out.) I will be doing a more thorough spot check now. 🌷Reverosie🌷^★talk★ 14:55, 31 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Reverosie I immediately went back to my source after you mentioned the curse being unverified; I could see it there clearly. Perhaps, I paste for you the sentence from the source that verifies it?

PS: Thanks for the review so far; I am currently working on your comments below. Vanderwaalforces (talk) 15:59, 31 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Reverosie Omoregie 1997b, p 118. Accordingly Owodo was pronounced deposed and unfit to be a king. A curse, in which every member participated, was placed on any one who would react against it.

Meanwhile Owodo was alone in the palace. After he ordered his son to be killed in a forest, the oraclist who was consulted by Esagho and the chamberlains came to him to tell him the truth of the revelation...

This clearly verifies the curse; where could I have gotten/how could I have probably invented a curse that never happened? lol. Vanderwaalforces (talk) 20:38, 31 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

If you want, I could privately send you a scanned copy of this particular source for the purpose of this review. Vanderwaalforces (talk) 20:39, 31 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Infobox

~~It does not need to be specified that Owodo was the last Ogiso in his title section.~~
Instead of the successor being vacant, it should directly be written that it was either “Deposed by the Oba monarchy” or that there was an intermission of some sort (I’ll leave it up to you, but I’d suggest the former)
- According to history, the title "Ogiso" was vacant because the person m the people wanted to be Ogiso, Evian (because he was able to conquer the man-eating Osogan), refused to assume the title, and all those lasted until before the Oba monarchy was established. It currently says Vacant with an efn template saying Deposed; succeeded in power by an interim period leading to Evian's rule as administrator. Is this sufficient? --Vanderwaalforces (talk) 21:41, 31 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]
~~You should add a spouse section to the template. I’m not sure why it isn’t there, but the source editor can be annoying at times.~~
Why is Ometo in both the wife section and the mother section? I seriously doubt that Owodo married his own mother; there must be a mistake. Please fix the infobox to list Ometo as Owodo’s mother if this is the case!
- This was a damn error which I have fixed by now. Ometo was Owodo's wife not mother.
~~On top of this, the fact that Ometo was Owodo or Arigho’s wife before his coronation should be moved to the footnote as well.~~
~~Instead of “total seven wives”, it should say “five others”, if anything at all.~~
~~Occupation is not necessary here.~~

Lead

~~Why did Owodo want to curb noble privileges? If it has nothing to do with the famine, it should probably be in a new sentence.~~
It should be specified what an oracle verdict is for those who do not know/lack background on this subject
- I did now.
“His erratic governance and loss of noble support culminated in the assassination of Ogbeifun, a leading noble, and the killing of Ogbeifun's pregnant widow,” This should simply say “And the killing of his pregnant widow”.
What does Kirikuvua mean? There is no translation here.
- The act of killing a pregnant woman is called Kirikuvua. And I think the act was mentioned.--Vanderwaalforces (talk) 22:03, 31 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Early life and background

The in-flight WiFi cut out again before the thorough spot-check, so I decided to review the first section. I'm beginning to wonder if the guild of copy editors should run through this article before it is nominated for a third time, since a lot of work seems to be ahead and perhaps it is too much for a GA review to cover.. I’d like to discuss that with you before I continue this review. Keep in mind that I wrote much of this on my notes app since my in-flight WiFi completely cut out.

- The ordering of these paragraphs is very weird. I’d suggest re-ordering it like this (I can’t use my sandbox at the moment):

Owodo was born into the ruling lineage of the Ogiso monarchy in Igodomigodo (modern-day Benin Kingdom).[c] His father was Arigho, a noble documented as a beads merchant, while his mother, Ometo—also known as Arukho ('least-placed wife')—was the daughter of Idiado and the sister of Ogiso Ehenneden.[4] Following the death of Ogiso Ehenneden c. 1110, the rulership structure in Igodomigodo changed. With Ehenneden leaving no heir, Ohuede succeeded him and established a separate succession line (the Ohuede dynasty) by distancing himself from the Odoligie line.[5] Ohuede's reign lasted two years (c. 1110 – c. 1112) before his son, Oduwa, ascended and ruled for seven years (c. 1112 – c. 1119).[5]

Initially, Owodo was not expected to inherit the throne because he had six elder brothers; however, the deaths of his brothers shifted succession expectations toward him.[5] By the time of Owodo's coronation (c. 1125), he had taken his first wife, Ometo (also known as Arukho), with whom he had a son named Ikaladerhan.[2] In establishing a traditional royal harem, Owodo expanded his household by marrying an additional six wives—primarily the widows of his deceased brothers—which brought eighteen stepchildren into the palace.[2] This decision is reported to have contributed to subsequent internal rivalries.[6] Among these new wives was Esagho, who later played a prominent role in palace affairs.[7]

Some sources describe Arigho as having implemented an anti-inflation treasury plan during the Great Famine (c. 1119 – c. 1125), a measure intended to stabilise the kingdom's economy by regulating payments and managing the circulation of wealth.[5] Under the guidance of their father, Owodo and his brothers learned the art of bead-making—a trade involving camwood beads, hard-nut beads, and cowrie beads that was considered lucrative at the time.[4] He actively participated in his family's bead-making enterprise.[5]

The rest of this review will follow the format of the rewrite

P1S2: Arigho’s role as a beads merchant is completely irrelevant compared to the fact that he was the previous Ogiso, which should be mentioned instead of this (especially since the bead making is referenced later in this paragraph)

P1S2: It does not need to be repeated that Ometo was known as Arukho since this was specified in the infobx.

P1S2: Who is Idiado and why is he worth mentioning here? If I’m remembering correctly, he wasn’t in Arigho’s article (or any of the Ogisos whose articles I’ve reviewed)

P1S3: Should say “around 1110” instead of using the circa template outside of the infobox

~~P1S4: It should be specified why Ohuede got to succeed him/how he is related to Ehenneden (an abridged version, of course)~~
- Because I entirely changed the first paragraph, these no longer apply.
P2S1: Should be rewritten. Perhaps something like, “Owodo was not expected to inherit the throne as he had six elder brothers, however, their successive deaths moved him forward in line.”
P2S2: Should be “his coronation in 1125”
P2S2: It should be specified that Ometo is or is not Owodo’s mother! Saying “also known as Arukho” is repetitive regardless since you’ve said it before.
P2S3: This sentence should be split. Perhaps. “…By marrying an additional six wives. As they were primarily the widows of his deceased brothers, eighteen stepchildren were brought into the palace, contributing to internal rivalries.”
P2S4: How did Esagho play a role in these affairs? We should be told about this.
P3S1 “Some sources.” Weasel words. Say it with conviction or don’t say it at all. In Arigho’s case, we can say with complete certainty that he implemented anti-inflation plans and was incredibly wealthy (his name quite literally means money eater). We don’t need to say that “some sources” described it this way when it was absolutely true (if you DO say “some sources”, in the future, you’ll need to specify exactly who said it).
P3S2 + P3S3: These can be trimmed a bit and merged into one sentence
Image: Perhaps an image of these beads could be added since this article has absolutely no images.
P4: This entire paragraph reiterates what is said during the reign section and should either be merged with the rest of the article or entirely deleted.

Comment: @Reverosie: I reworked this particular section entirely. Please take a look. --Vanderwaalforces (talk) 09:19, 1 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

From a quick read, the reworked version of this section is significantly better. I'll write new comments applying to the rework ‍🌷Reverosie🌷^★talk★ 21:32, 3 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]