Ancient & Pre-Colonial Nigeria
Histories of Nigerian kingdoms, empires, trade routes, and cultures before colonial rule, including Nok, Benin, Oyo, Sokoto, and Kanem-Bornu.
Urhobo Otota, Okpo, and Ivwrì, The Power Symbols That Defined Authority and Protection
In the Niger Delta, authority was never silent and it was never invisible. Power was expressed through clearly defined titles, performed through council procedure,...
Onigu Otite and the Study of Ethnicity in Nigeria
Onigu Otite, born Kingsley John Onigu Otite on 21 January 1939 and who died on 14 March 2019, was a Nigerian sociologist whose work...
When Aggression Took Shape, The Urhobo Iphri Dance of the Niger Delta
A photograph taken in 1972 by Perkins Foss captures a powerful Urhobo performance centred on an iphri, a shrine figure associated with male aggression....
Inside MOWAA, The New Museum in Benin City at the Centre of the Global Benin Bronzes Debate
The Museum of West African Art, widely known as MOWAA, is a cultural institution based in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. The museum describes...
Owedjebo Edjo of Oghrerhe (Eherhe)
Owedjebo Edjo stands as a powerful shrine presence from Oghrerhe, also known as Eherhe, in the Agbarho area of Nigeria’s western Niger Delta. More...
The Urhobo People of Nigeria
The Urhobo are one of the major peoples of southern Nigeria, with an ancestral homeland located in the northwestern part of the Niger River...
Ogbomosho, From Frontier Post to Historic Yoruba Town
Ogbomosho, also known as Ògbómọ̀ṣọ́, stands today as one of the most prominent towns in the northern part of Oyo State. Its beginnings were...
Nwagboka of Onitsha, The Last Omu and the Protest That Ended a Female Throne
In nineteenth century Onitsha, authority did not belong to a single ruler. Alongside the Obi, the male monarch, stood a recognised female office known...
Waribo Uranta of Opobo, Wealth, Authority, and a Name the Record Kept
Waribo Uranta appears in the historical record not through long biographies or colonial reports, but through a small number of clear and enduring traces....
Oshodi Tapa and the Oshodi Cenotaph
In the Epetedo area of Lagos Island, history stands quietly but firmly on Oshodi Street. There, a cenotaph commemorates Oshodi Tapa, a man remembered...