Ancient & Pre-Colonial Nigeria
Histories of Nigerian kingdoms, empires, trade routes, and cultures before colonial rule, including Nok, Benin, Oyo, Sokoto, and Kanem-Bornu.
How Adeniran Adeyemi II Lost Oyo’s Throne in the Age of Party Power
When Adeniran Adeyemi II ascended the throne of Oyo in 1945, he became Alaafin at a moment when Yoruba kingship stood at a crossroads....
Why Attah Ameh Oboni I Was Deposed
Kaduna in early 1956 was dressed for spectacle. A young Queen Elizabeth II arrived on a royal tour of Nigeria, and Northern Nigeria answered...
Who Was Baba Kekere of Oyo, The Palace Aide Who Served Three Alaafins
Within the walls of the Alaafin of Oyo’s palace, tradition is sustained not only by kings and chiefs, but also by individuals whose daily...
The Opha Ceremony of the Urhobo People
Among the Urhobo of southern Nigeria, rites of passage were historically communal events that marked responsibility, character, and belonging. In several Urhobo communities, the...
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...