Ancient & Pre-Colonial Nigeria
Histories of Nigerian kingdoms, empires, trade routes, and cultures before colonial rule, including Nok, Benin, Oyo, Sokoto, and Kanem-Bornu.
Benin and Europe, Diplomacy, Trade, and the 1897 Conquest
Long before colonial borders reshaped West Africa, the Kingdom of Benin stood as a powerful and organised state in what is now southern Nigeria....
Egúngún Masquerade in Ede, Nigeria
A widely shared image of an Egúngún masquerader in Ede has a solid archival home, it is preserved in the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives...
From Ilorin to Lagos via Bahia, The Life of a Yoruba Muslim Who Bought His Freedom
During the nineteenth century, Salvador da Bahia stood at the heart of Brazil’s Atlantic economy. It was a major slave port, a dense urban...
How Nigerian States Emerged, Power, Trade, Technology, and Environment
Nigeria was never a single political world. It was a landscape of empires, kingdoms, city states, frontier zones, and decentralised societies, each shaped by...
Nigeria Before 1914, The Kingdoms, Networks, and Institutions That Shaped Power
Nigeria’s modern political frame is often introduced with a single date, 1 January 1914, when British authorities amalgamated the Northern Nigeria Protectorate with the...
The Myth of “Civilized” and “Uncivilized”, What History Really Says About Igbo and Yoruba Societies
Few claims provoke as much argument in Nigerian historical discussions as the assertion that pre-colonial Igbo people were “walking naked” while the Yoruba were...
What Existed Before Colonial Nigeria, The Kingdoms and Empires Rarely Talked About
For many years, Nigeria’s past was often presented as if history began with colonial rule. Yet long before European powers arrived, the region that...
The Ezomo of Benin, War, Inheritance, and Power Beyond the Palace
Benin’s history is often told through its kings, its palace rituals, and its celebrated artistic traditions. Yet alongside the Oba stood a title whose...
The Ife Terracotta Head Known as “Lajuwa”, Meaning, Memory, and the Legacy of Ilé,Ifẹ̀
Ilé,Ifẹ̀ stands at the heart of Yoruba history and spiritual identity. Long before colonial contact, the city flourished as a centre of religious authority,...
The Collapse of Royal Authority in Ijebu, Two Kings Removed by Colonial Power
In many Yoruba communities, kingship carried sacred authority as well as political power. The oba was not only a leader, he was also a...