Nigerian History
Nigerian History explores the people, events, and ideas that have shaped Africa’s most populous nation. From the rise of powerful precolonial kingdoms and the impact of British colonial rule to the struggle for independence, civil war, and modern nation-building, this category brings Nigeria’s past to life through detailed narratives and verified historical accounts. Here, readers discover stories of leadership, resilience, culture, and transformation — tracing how Nigeria’s diverse heritage continues to influence its present and future.
How a 16 year old girl reignited a 1950s highlife favourite in 1986, the Mandy Brown Ojugbana “Taxi Driver” story
Long before Mandy Brown Ojugbana stepped into a recording studio in the 1980s, “Taxi Driver” was already part of Nigerian musical life. The song...
Mandy Brown Ojugbana, From Teenage Pop Sensation to Respected Broadcaster
In 1986, Nigeria embraced a teenage singer whose version of “Taxi Driver” quickly became one of the most recognisable sounds of the era. Mandy...
Taxi Driver Made Her Famous at 16, Then Mandy Brown Ojugbana Rebuilt Her Life in Broadcasting and Radio Journalism
Mandy Brown Ojugbana entered Nigeria’s pop consciousness in the mid 1980s through Taxi Driver, her cover of Bobby Benson’s highlife classic. The song became...
When Lagos Briefly Became the Capital of the Black World
On 15 January 1977, Lagos opened one of the most ambitious cultural gatherings ever organised on African soil. The Second World Black and African...
Nigeria’s ECOMOG Wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone, the Battles Abuja Led So West Africa Could Survive
By 1990, Liberia’s civil war had spiraled into a regional emergency. Armed factions battled for control, refugees streamed across borders, and instability threatened to...
The Destruction of Odi, How a Security Operation Turned Into a National TragedyNigeria powered ECOWAS’s most consequential military interventions of the 1990s, paying in...
Odi is an Ijaw community in Kolokuma, Opokuma Local Government Area of Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta. Before November 1999, it was a...
How Nigeria Was Handed SDP and NRC, And How June 12 Grew Out of a Democracy Built From Above
By the late 1980s, General Ibrahim Babangida’s military government was advancing a transition programme intended to culminate in a return to civilian rule. The...
The Nigerian Women Who Faced Prison for Demanding Freedom
Nigeria’s political history is often told through the names of prominent male figures and the prisons that held them. Yet across decades, women also...
Nigeria’s 1966 Niger Delta Uprising, Isaac Adaka Boro and the Republic That Lasted Twelve Days
On 23 February 1966, Isaac Jasper Adaka Boro, an Ijaw nationalist, proclaimed the Niger Delta Republic. He led an armed group known as the...
The Dawn Radio Coup That Tried to Remove Five States, How Orkar’s 1990 Broadcast Shook Nigeria in One Morning
In the early hours of Sunday, 22 April 1990, armed soldiers launched an attack in Lagos, then the seat of Nigeria’s military government. Their...