Ancient & Pre-Colonial Nigeria
Histories of Nigerian kingdoms, empires, trade routes, and cultures before colonial rule, including Nok, Benin, Oyo, Sokoto, and Kanem-Bornu.
Aku Uka and Sacred Kingship in Wukari
The political history of the Jukun people in the Middle Benue region is closely tied to two important historical formations, Kwararafa and the later...
The Tiv of Central Nigeria, Homeland, Settlement, and the Meaning of Swem
The Tiv are one of the major ethnolinguistic communities of Nigeria’s Middle Belt, with their strongest demographic centre in present day Benue State. The...
Who Are the Peoples of Nigeria’s Guinea Savanna?
Nigeria’s Guinea Savanna forms one of the country’s most important ecological and human landscapes. Stretching between the rainforest zone in the south and the...
Rivers, Spirits, and Masquerades in the Niger Delta
The Niger Delta, covering much of present day Bayelsa, Rivers, Delta, and Akwa Ibom States and extending into adjoining riverine zones, is one of...
How the Sarki Governed Kano, Katsina, and the Hausa States
In the medieval centuries of Hausaland, political authority revolved around the office of the Sarki, the recognised ruler of a Hausa state. City states...
The Origin of the Ijaw People in the Niger Delta, Migration, Identity and Historical Development
The Ijaw, also known as Ijo or Izon, are a major riverine population of southern Nigeria. Their communities are historically rooted in the creeks,...
Bayajida and the Making of the Hausa States
Across northern Nigeria and into parts of southern Niger, the name Bayajida stands at the center of one of the most enduring origin traditions...
The Rise of the Itsekiri Kingdom
The Itsekiri people inhabit the western Niger Delta in present day Delta State, Nigeria, particularly around Warri and surrounding riverine communities. Their homeland is...
Urhobo Origins and Benin Connections in Historical Perspective
The history of the Urhobo people of the western Niger Delta is preserved in a combination of oral traditions and written scholarship. Across Urhoboland,...
Tsoede and the Rise of Nupe Kingship
In the riverlands of central Nigeria, where the Niger and Kaduna rivers shape movement, trade, and settlement, Nupe history turns on the remembered rise...