In a mounted albumen photograph dated circa 1897, a young man sits at the center of a group portrait taken in Opobo. He is identified as Prince Frederick Sunday Jaja of Opobo (1873 to 1915). The image is attributed to the Nigerian photographer Jonathan Adagogo Green and appears in an album once owned by James Howie, an Elder Dempster shipping company merchant.
The photograph presents Prince Frederick Sunday Jaja seated among companions, composed and formally dressed, reflecting a royal household accustomed to public presence and political visibility. Preserved today in a museum collection, the image stands as a rare visual record of Opobo’s royal lineage during a period of mounting external pressure.
Opobo’s power, built on trade and guarded by diplomacy
By the late nineteenth century, Opobo had become one of the most strategically important trading states in the eastern Niger Delta. Control of palm oil routes brought wealth and influence, but also placed the kingdom at the center of British commercial and political ambitions.
Relations between Opobo, Bonny, and British authorities were shaped by treaties, negotiations, and repeated disputes over trade control. In 1873, peace negotiations involving Bonny chiefs and British officials were formalized through treaty arrangements that reshaped regional power dynamics. These agreements did not end conflict, but they marked a decisive shift toward deeper British involvement in Niger Delta affairs.
Within this environment, Opobo’s monarchy sought to preserve authority through diplomacy as much as force. Kingship was no longer exercised solely through local custom, but increasingly through engagement with British officials, merchants, and legal frameworks.
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Education as royal strategy
One of the most significant responses by Opobo’s ruling family was the use of Western education as a political strategy. King Jaja sent his second son, Prince Frederick Sunday Jaja, to London for further studies, aligning him with a generation of African elites trained to navigate European institutions and imperial expectations.
Education abroad offered language, legal familiarity, and cultural fluency that could be used in negotiations with British authorities. For Opobo’s monarchy, sending heirs to Britain was not abandonment of tradition, but preparation for survival in a transformed political landscape.
The presence of Prince Frederick Sunday Jaja in the 1897 photograph reflects this dual positioning, grounded in Opobo’s royal authority while shaped by international exposure.
Succession, exile, and growing responsibility
The internal history of King Jaja’s family further illuminates Prince Frederick Sunday’s role. Prince Waribo, another son of King Jaja, had earlier been sent to England for education. After Prince Waribo’s death, Prince Frederick Sunday Jaja emerged as the leading heir within the royal household.
Political tensions intensified in the late 1880s as disputes between King Jaja and British officials escalated. In 1887, King Jaja sent a deputation to London in an attempt to resolve the crisis. Prince Frederick Sunday Jaja was part of that deputation, participating directly in diplomatic efforts to protect Opobo’s autonomy.
These efforts failed. King Jaja was detained and deported by British authorities, first to Grenada and later to St Vincent. Prince Frederick Sunday accompanied his father during this forced exile, experiencing displacement at a formative stage of his life. He later returned to Britain to continue his education, further deepening his exposure to the imperial world that had dismantled his father’s authority.
The merchant album and imperial circulation
The album containing the 1897 photograph connects Opobo’s royal history to the commercial networks of empire. Elder Dempster ships dominated maritime trade between West Africa and Britain, and merchants such as James Howie documented their experiences through private albums.
These albums often included portraits of African rulers, elites, and trading partners, reflecting relationships built around commerce, negotiation, and access. The inclusion of Prince Frederick Sunday Jaja’s portrait situates him within these transatlantic networks, where power was observed, recorded, and circulated alongside goods.
Through this album, the image traveled far beyond Opobo, becoming part of the visual archive of British engagement with West Africa.
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A portrait of continuity under pressure
Prince Frederick Sunday Jaja lived through a period when Opobo’s sovereignty was steadily constrained by British authority. His life spanned the final decades of independent royal power and the consolidation of colonial control in the Niger Delta.
The 1897 photograph captures neither confrontation nor defeat. Instead, it shows continuity, a prince maintaining royal presence, dignity, and composure amid profound political change. It reflects a strategy centered on visibility, education, and negotiation, rather than withdrawal or isolation.
Today, the image remains a powerful historical document, preserving the face of a royal heir whose life was shaped by exile, diplomacy, and the reshaping of power along the Niger Delta.
Author’s Note
This photograph endures because it shows how Opobo’s royalty responded to empire, not only through resistance, but through education, diplomacy, and public presence, reminding us that survival in the Niger Delta was as much about adaptation as it was about authority.
References
National Museums Liverpool, Group photograph of Prince Sunday Jaja and friends, catalogue entry OA 1703 22.
Edna Adagogo Brown, Oko Jaja Tuonimi Eze, King Jaja and Christianity in Opobo Kingdom of the Eastern Niger Delta, International Journal of History and Philosophical Research, Vol 8, No 2, August 2020.
Heather Powling, Prince Waribo, New Links with the Family of Frodsham’s Black Prince, local history paper, December 2014.
