Main Article Content
Abstract
The Kingdom of Benin, located in present-day Edo State, Nigeria, possesses one of Africa's most extensive bodies of material and documentary heritage, much of which was dispersed following the 1897 British punitive expedition and remains scattered across museums, archives, and private collections worldwide. While recent international initiatives such as Digital Benin and the Edo Museum of West African Art (EMOWAA/MOWAA) have advanced the digital documentation of looted objects held abroad, comparatively little attention has been paid to the archival and documentary materials relating to Benin heritage held within Edo State's own library system. This paper presents a conceptual, literature-based examination of how artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, including computer vision, optical and handwritten text recognition, natural language processing, and automated metadata generation, can be applied to the digital archiving of Benin-related materials in academic and public libraries in Edo State. Drawing on a narrative review of cultural-heritage informatics literature and Nigerian library and information science scholarship, the paper proposes a five-layer framework spanning digitization, AI processing, metadata and ontology development, access and discovery, and preservation governance. The review finds that although AI adoption in Nigerian academic libraries remains constrained by inadequate infrastructure, limited funding, skills gaps, and ethical concerns, a phased and partnership-driven approach, anchored in Edo indigenous knowledge systems, offers a realistic pathway toward safeguarding and expanding access to Benin's documentary heritage. The paper concludes with recommendations for library administrators, heritage institutions, and policymakers in Edo State.