Please be careful how you talk about Nigerians in the Diaspora. Remember Western Union? After your politician "leaders" have stolen all your money who wire foreign currency to you? Do not make us angry, I warn you

lmao

hahahaha

Didnt some people in 9ja pay for your education abroad? your remittances are the dividends for those who sent u to school

lololol

this is very funny. i don laff tire

.

invisible!:

I think the cause of the problem is that some think because they live abroad, they dont need to come back and help with correcting things here. When things eventually get better after our efforts, they will come in with their Toronto degrees and want boys here to leave my job for him. Where were they during the fight? Hiding behind a computer?

You will be suprised how much Nigerians abroad do for people back home,
How about the $10 Billion dollars that Nigerians Abroad
sent back in 2009 for a start.

What about the business that Nigeria Abroad how set up back home,

Dont get it twisted, its a Joint Effort, Ask the Jews if you need convincing

adconline:

Is English suppose to be his mother's tongue, didn't you understand what he was saying? You should upgrade your brain first before correcting other people.
You should develop your brain for thinking, not for follow, follow. How did the poster arrive at the number that  75% of Nigerians in diaspora lack insight? Who is this guy? Dr Phil or Deepak Chopra?

Since he wasn't writing a term paper,thesis , a UN report or some thing like that, I think you can forgive him for coming up with the number 3/4. Next time you see a number like that in a forum like this please replace it in your head with words like "most", "many", "a lot" etc.

~Bluetooth:

Did anybody frustrate ZIK or Awolowo ? No,yet they made good impact to the present Nigerian state.how many present day NID have contributed to that Nation building ? Those coming to partake in politics only see it as an avenue to enrich their pockets.Look at Gbenga Daniel,all he does is turn Ogun state into a small capitalist company.too bad !

I AGREE WITH YOU,

Zik & Awo are Great Leaders, yes they Lived/studied abroad and came
back and effected change, but those were our Pre-1970S greats,

99.99% of Nigerian Leaders Post-1970 has been seduced/Deceived/Dumbed
downed by IMF/World Bank Policies!!!,

Nigerian Political leaders are still looking for Foreign Loans!!
What kinda Bull-sh**t is that

Instead of looking inward at developming its Non-Oil Sectors which is
in great demand and capturing t[b]he 500 Billion dollar commodity market now seeing that their is a boom in South east asia[/b], they are busy acting like children
fighting for "Dollar crumbs" from their "Raven IMF/World Bank Masters"

The private sector in Nigeria has HUGE POTENTIAL BEYOND THE WILDEST
IMAGINATION!!! Those NID who only come back to get into politics are just
deceiving themselves,

Every successful Economies ratios of Public to Private sector always
stands at Roughly 1:4, 20% Public & 80 Private,

NID should be looking at Business Creation in the Private sector to
boost the Nigerian economy and not how to get a Political Handout!!!

Nigeria as a country has no ideology.d only accepted ideology is corruption




even the political parties are operating without any kind of specific ideology
the govt should create the field to encourage its citizens.
if i sale my three fancy cars to invest the money in to a public projects,who will make good use of this money?,
there is no room for transparency,the govt is the one to encourage us to invest in our nation.
corruption is the key reason why Nigerians abroad don't do a lot back home.

e.g i have tried to register a company in Nigeria and the outcome was chaos infact the govt department responsible for the procedures
discouraged me with fake bills

everyone table after table wanted bribe,i decided to give it up

so to start with the govt knows what to do,create the atmosphere for investment.china created the atmosphere by reforming a bit and that is the change you are seeing in china today.

e

Perhaps Lugard was right:

"In character and temperament, the typical African of this race-type is a happy, thriftless, excitable person. LACKING IN SELF-CONTROL, DISCIPLINE, AND FORESIGHT. Naturally courageous, and naturally courteous and polite, full of personal vanity, with little sense of veracity, fond of music and loving weapons as an oriental loves jewelry. HIS THOUGHTS ARE CONCENTRATED ON THE EVENTS AND FEELINGS OF THE MOMENT, and he suffers little from the apprehension for the future, or grief for the past. His mind is far nearer to the animal world than that of the European or Asiatic, and exhibits something of the animals’ placidity and want of desire to rise beyond the State he has reached. Through the ages THE AFRICAN APPEARS TO HAVE EVOLVED NO ORGANIZED RELIGIOUS CREED, and though some tribes appear to believe in a deity, the religious sense seldom rises above pantheistic animalism and seems more often to take the form of a vague dread of the supernatural"

“HE LACKS THE POWER OF ORGANIZATION, and is conspicuously deficient in the management and control alike of men or business. HE LOVES THE DISPLAY OF POWER, but fails to realize its responsibility, he will work hard with a less incentive than most races. He has the courage of the fighting animal, an instinct rather than a moral virtue, In brief, the virtues and defects of this race-type are those of attractive children, whose confidence when it is won is given ungrudgingly as to an older and wiser superior and without envy, Perhaps the two traits which have impressed me as those most characteristic of the African native are HIS LACK OF APPREHENSION AND HIS LACK OF ABILITY TO VISUALIZE THE FUTURE."

---Lord Frederick John Dealty Lugard, The Dual Mandate, pg.70 (1926)

http://www.compassnewspaper.com/NG/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48442:20000-nigerians-languish-in-uk-prisons-&catid=672:top-stories&Itemid=794

please read.

ShangoThor:

Perhaps Lugard was right:

"In character and temperament, the typical African of this race-type is a happy, thriftless, excitable person. LACKING IN SELF-CONTROL, DISCIPLINE, AND FORESIGHT. Naturally courageous, and naturally courteous and polite, full of personal vanity, with little sense of veracity, fond of music and loving weapons as an oriental loves jewelry. HIS THOUGHTS ARE CONCENTRATED ON THE EVENTS AND FEELINGS OF THE MOMENT, and he suffers little from the apprehension for the future, or grief for the past. His mind is far nearer to the animal world than that of the European or Asiatic, and exhibits something of the animals’ placidity and want of desire to rise beyond the State he has reached. Through the ages THE AFRICAN APPEARS TO HAVE EVOLVED NO ORGANIZED RELIGIOUS CREED, and though some tribes appear to believe in a deity, the religious sense seldom rises above pantheistic animalism and seems more often to take the form of a vague dread of the supernatural"

“HE LACKS THE POWER OF ORGANIZATION, and is conspicuously deficient in the management and control alike of men or business. HE LOVES THE DISPLAY OF POWER, but fails to realize its responsibility,  he will work hard with a less incentive than most races. He has the courage of the fighting animal, an instinct rather than a moral virtue,  In brief, the virtues and defects of this race-type are those of attractive children, whose confidence when it is won is given ungrudgingly as to an older and wiser superior and without envy, Perhaps the two traits which have impressed me as those most characteristic of the African native are HIS LACK OF APPREHENSION AND HIS LACK OF ABILITY TO VISUALIZE THE FUTURE."

---Lord Frederick John Dealty Lugard, The Dual Mandate, pg.70 (1926)

Are you a white guy who's pretending to be black and Nigerian? If not, I suggest that you see a shrink.

hmmm, I will rather say its the other way round , Nigerians at home lack insight and innovation. I will use my personal self as an example , when I graduated few years back in Nigeria all I wanted is get a job! get a job! get a job!, but after moving to Europe and finishing my masters degree , I felt like Bossing myself , I have millions of ideas of my own , and I feel it is a waste of time working for someone else , so I think moving abroad widens your view , If Nigerians at home are innovative enough they wont all be running after jobs (even after their hard earned degrees) , ILE NI ATIN KO ESO RE ODE , Plus you cant expect individuals to start doing the government obligations (its not done anywhere in the world) and more so the Nigerian government refuses to create a good environment for such things

lakode:

hmmm, I will rather say its the other way round , Nigerians at home lack insight and innovation. I will use my personal self as an example , when I graduated few years back in Nigeria all I wanted is get a job! get a job! get a job!, but after moving to Europe and finishing my masters degree , I felt like Bossing myself , I have millions of ideas of my own , and I feel it is a waste of time working for someone else , so I think moving abroad widens your view , If Nigerians at home are innovative enough they wont all be running after jobs (even after their hard earned degrees) , ILE NI ATIN KO ESO RE ODE , Plus you cant expect individuals to start doing the government obligations (its not done anywhere in the world) and more so the Nigerian government refuses to create a good environment for such things

Good honest perspective.

I am so mad at this post
If you read History you woldnt have posted such rubbish

"In character and temperament, the typical African of this race-type is a happy, thriftless, excitable person. LACKING IN SELF-CONTROL, DISCIPLINE, AND FORESIGHT."
If we were childlike,prone to emotion,stupid,lazy and lack the ability to organise how come we had so many empires before we were discovered?
discovered?


EGYPT


"After the desertification of the Sahara, settlement became concentrated in the Nile Valley, where numerous sacral chiefdoms appeared

Later consolidation of the chiefdoms into broader political entities began to occur in upper and lower Egypt, culminating into the unification of Egypt into one political entity by Narmer (Menes) in 3100 BCE.
Instead being viewed as a sacral chief, he became a divine king.
The henotheism, or worship of a single god within a polytheistic system, practiced in the sacral chiefdoms along upper and lower Egypt, became the polytheistic religion of ancient Egypt.

Bureaucracies became more centralized under the pharaohs, run by viziers, governors, tax collectors, generals, artists, and technicians. They engaged in tax collecting, organizing of labor for major public works, and building irrigation systems, pyramids, temples, and canals. During the Fourth Dynasty (2620-2480 BCE), long distance trade

was developed, with the Levant for timber, with Nubia for gold and skins, with Punt for frankincense, and also with the western Libyan territories. For most of the Old Kingdom, Egypt developed her fundamental systems, institutions and culture, always through the central bureaucracy and by the divinity "





NUBIA

Around 3500 BCE, one of the first sacral kingdoms to arise in the Nile was Ta-Seti, located in northern Nubia.


Ta-Seti exported gold, copper, ostrich feathers, ebony and ivory to the Old Kingdom. By the 32nd century BCE, Ta-Seti was in decline. After the unification of Egypt by Narmer in 3100 BCE, Ta-Seti was invaded by the Pharaoh Hor-Aha of the First Dynasty, destroying the final remnants of the kingdom. Ta-Seti is affiliated with A-Group culture known to archaeology

SOMALIA
In antiquity, the ancestors of the Somali people were an important link in the Horn of Africa connecting the region's commerce with the rest of the ancient world. Somali sailors and merchants were the main suppliers of frankincense, myrrh and spices, all of which were valuable luxuries to the Ancient Egyptians, Phoenicians, Mycenaeans and Babylonians

In the classical era, several flourishing Somali city-states such as Opone, Mosyllon and Malao competed with the Sabaeans, Parthians and Axumites for the rich Indo-Greco-Roman trade


AKSUM

The earliest state in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea was D'mt, dated around the eighth and 7th centuries BCE. D'mt traded through the Red Sea with Egypt and the Mediterranean, providing frankincense. By the fifth and 3rd centuries, D'mt had declined, and several successor states took its place. Later there was greater trade with southern Arabia, mainly with the port of Saba. Adulis became an important commercial center in the Ethiopian highlands. The interaction of the peoples in the two regions, the southern Arabia Sabaeans and the northern Ethiopians, resulted in the Ge'ez culture and language and eventual development of the Ge'ez script. Trade links iincreased and expanded from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, with Egypt, Greece, and Rome, to the Black Sea



WEST AFRICA

the western Sahel, the rise of settled communities was largely due to the domestication of millet and sorghum. Archaeology points to sizable urban populations in West Africa beginning in the 2nd millenium BCE. Symbiotic trade relations developed before the trans-Saharan trade, in response to the opportunities afforded by north-south diversity in ecosystems across deserts, grasslands, and forests. The salt-starved agriculturists received salt from the desert nomads. The protein-starved desert nomads acquired meat and other foods from pastoralists and farmers of the grasslands and from fishermen on the Niger River. The forest dwellers provided furs and meat.[48]


Farther south, in central Nigeria, around 1000 BCE, the Nok culture developed on the Jos Plateau. It was a highly centralized community. The Nok people produced miniature lifelike representations in terracotta, including human heads, elephants, and other animals.

By 500 BCE, they were smelting iron. By 200 CE, the Nok culture had vanished. Based on stylistic similarities with Nok terracottas, the bronze figurines of Ife and Benin are believed to be continuation of the tradition.[51]



GHANA

Ghana at its greatest extent
The Ghana Empire may have been an established kingdom as early as the 4th century CE, founded among the Soninke by Dinge Cisse.
Ghana was first mentioned by Arab geographer Al-Farazi in the late 8th century. Ghana was comprise of urban dwellers and rural farmers. The urban dwellers were the administrators of the empire, who were Muslims, and the Ghana (king), who practiced traditional religion. Two towns existed, one where the Muslim administrators and Berber-Arabs lived, which was connected by a stone-paved road to the king's residence. The rural dwellers lived in villages, which joined together into broader polities that pledged loyalty to the Ghana. The Ghana was viewed as divine, and his physical well-being reflected on the whole society. Ghana converted to Islam around 1050, after conquering Aoudaghost.

MALI

Mali Empire at its greatest extentThe Mali Empire began in the 13th century CE, when a Mande (Mandingo) leader, Sundiata(Lord Lion) of the Keita clan, defeated Soumaoro Kanté, king of the Sosso or southern Soninke, at the Battle of Kirina in c. 1235. Sundiata continued his conquest from the fertile forests and Niger Valley, east to the Niger Bend, north into the Sahara, and west to the Atlantic Ocean, absorbing the remains of the Ghana Empire. Sundiata took on the title of mansa. He establish the capital of his empire at Niani.

Although the salt and gold trade continued to be important to the Mali Empire, agriculture and pastoralism was also critical. The growing of sorghum, millet, and rice was a vital function. On the northern borders of the Sahel, grazing cattle, sheep, goats, and camels were major activities. Mande society was organize around the village and land. A cluster of villages was called a kafu, ruled by a farma. The farma paid tribute to the mansa. A dedicated army of elite cavalry and infantry


Conversion to Islam was a gradual process. The power of the mansa depended on upholding traditional beliefs and a spiritual foundation of power. Sundiata initially kept Islam at bay. Future mansas would be devout Muslims but still acknowledged traditional deities and took part in traditional rituals and festivals, which were important to the Mande. Islam became a court religion under Sundiata's son Uli I (1225–1270). Mansa Uli made a pilgrimage to Mecca, becoming recognized within the Muslim world. The court was staffed with literate Muslims as secretaries and accountants. The great Muslim traveller Ibn Battuta left vivid descriptions of the empire.



SONGHAI

The Songhai Empire, c. 1500The Songhai people are descended from fishermen on the Middle Niger River. They established their capital at Kukiya in the 9th century CE and at Gao in 12th century. The Songhai speak a Nilo-Saharan language

Sonni Ali, a Songhai, began his conquest by capturing Timbuktu in 1468 from the Tuareg. He extended the empire to the north, deep into the desert, pushed the Mossi further south of the Niger, and expanded southwest to Djenne. His army consisted of cavalry and a fleet of canoes. Sonni Ali was not a Muslim, and he was portrayed negatively by Berber-Arab scholars, especially for attacking Muslim Timbuktu. After his death in 1492, his heirs were deposed by a general, Muhammad Ture, a Muslim of Soninke origins


Muhammad Ture (1493–1528) founded the Askiya Dynasty, askiya being the title of the king. He consolidated the conquests of Sonni Ali. Islam was used to extend his authority by declaring jihad on the Mossi, reviving the trans-Saharan trade, and having the Abbasid "shadow" caliph in Cairo declare him as caliph of Sudan. He establish Timbuktu as a great center of islamic learning. Muhammad Ture expanded the empire by pushing the Tuareg north, capturing Aïr in the east, and capturing salt-producing Taghaza. He brought the Hausa states into the Songhay trading network. He further centralized the administration of the empire by selecting administrators from loyal servants and families, and assigning them to conquered territories. They were responsible for raising local militias. Centralization made Songhay very stable, even during dynastic disputes. Leo Africanus left vivid descriptions of the empire under Askiya Muhammad. Askiya Muhammad was deposed by his son in 1528. After much rivalry, Muhammad Ture's


[Kanem-Bornu (Kanembu)

The farthest extent of the medieval Kanem-Bornu state.Around the 9th centure CE, the cenral Sudanic Empire of Kanem, with its capital at Njimi, was founded by the Kanuri-speaking nomads. Kanem arose by engaging in the trans-Saharan trade. It exchanged slaves, captured by raiding the south, for horses from North Africa, which in turn aided in the acquisition of slaves. By the late 11th century, the islamic Sayfawa (Saifawa) dynasty was founded by Humai (Hummay) ibn Salamna. The Sayfawa Dynasty ruled for 771 years, making it one of the longest-lasting dynasties in human history.[addition to trade, taxation of local farms around Kanem became an source of state income. Kanem reached its peak under Mai (king) Dunama Dibalemi ibn Salma (1210–1248). The empire reportedly was able to field 40,000 cavalry, and it extended from Fezzan in the north to the Sao state in the south. Islam became firmly entrenched in the empire. Pilgrimages to Mecca were common; Cairo had hostels set aside specifically for pilgrims from Kanem.[

Around 1400, the Sayfawa Dynasty moved its capital to Bornu, a tributary state southwest of Lake Chad with a new capital Birni Ngarzagamu. Overgrazing had caused the pastures of Kanem to become too dry. In addition, political rivalry from the Bilala clan was becoming intense. Moving to Bornu better situated the empire to exploit the trans-Saharan trade and to widen its network in that trade. Links to the Hausa states were also established, providing horses and salt from Bilma for Akan gold.[116] Mai Ali Gazi ibn Dunama (c. 1475-1503) defeated the Bilala, reestablishing complete control of Kanem


DAHOMEY


The Dahomey Kingdom was founded in the early 17th century CE, when the Aja people of the Allada kingdom moved northward and settled among the Fon. They began to assert their power a few years later. In so doing they established the Kingdom of Dahomey, with its capital at Agbome. King Houegbadja (c. 1645-1685) organized Dahomey into a powerful centralized state. He declared all lands to be owned of the king and subject to taxation. Primogeniture in the kingship was establish, neutralizing all input from village chiefs. A "cult of kingship" was established. A captive slave would be sacrificed annually to honor the royal ancestors. During the 1720s, the slave-trading states of Whydah and Allada were taken, giving Dahomey direct access to the slave coast and trade with Europeans. King Agadja (1708–1740) attempted to end the slave trade by keeping the slaves on plantations producing palm oil, but the European profits on slaves and Dahomey's dependency on firearms were too great. In 1730, under king Agaja, Dahomey was conquered by the Oyo Empire, and Dahomey had to pay tribute. The kingdom continued to expand and thrive, as a major dealer in slaves. Taxes on slaves were mostly paid in cowrie shells. During the 19th century, palm oil was the main trading commodity.[126] France conquered Dahomey during the Second Franco-Dahomean War (1892–1894) and established a colonial government there. Most of the troops who fought against Dahomey were native Africans.


YORUBA


Oyo Empire and surrounding states, c. 1625.Traditionally, the Yoruba people viewed themselves as the inhabitants of a united empire, in contrast to the situation today, in which "Yoruba" is the cultural-linguistic designation for speakers of a language in the Niger-Congo family. The name comes from a Hausa word to refer to the Oyo Empire. The first Yoruba state was Ile-Ife, said to have been founded around 1000 CE by a supernatural figure, the first oni Oduduwa. Oduduwa's sons would be the founders of the different city-states of the Yoruba, and his daughters would become the mothers of the various Yoruba obas, or kings. Yoruba city-states were usually governed by an oba and a iwarefa, a council of chiefs who advised the oba. By the 18th century, the Yoruba city-states formed a loose confederation, with the Oni of Ife as the head and Ife as the capital. As time went on, the individual city-states became more powerful with their obas assuming more powerful spiritual positions and diluting the authority of the Oni of Ife. Rivalry became intense among the city-states

The 16th century saw the rise of the Oyo Empire. The Oyo state had been conquered in 1550 by the kingdom of Nupe, which was in possession of cavalry, an important tactical advantage. The alafin (king) of Oyo was sent into exile. After returning, Alafin Orompoto (c. 1560-1580) built up an army based on heavily armed cavalry and long-service troops. This made them invincible in combat on the northern grasslands and in the thinly wooded forests. By the end of the 16th century, Oyo had added the western region of the Niger to the hills of Togo, the Yoruba of Ketu, Dahomey, and the Fon nation. A governing council served the empire, with clear executive divisions. Each acquired region was assigned a local administrator. Families served in king-making capacities. Oyo, as a northern Yoruba kingdom, served as middle-man in the north-south trade and connecting the eastern forest of Guinea with the western and central Sudan, the Sahara, and North Africa. The Yoruba manufactured cloth, ironware, and pottery, which were exchanged for salt, leather, and, most importantly, horses from the Sudan to maintain the cavalry. Oyo remained strong for two hundred years.[128][129] It became a protectorate of Great Britain in 1888, before further fragmenting into warring factions. The Oyo state ceased to exist as any sort of power in 1896.[130]




Southwest of the Yoruba and on the western fringe of the Niger delta are the Kwa Niger-Congo speaking Edo people. Legend has it that political development of the Edo people began when the population got tired of their king and requested that the Ife oni Oduduwa give them one of his sons as ruler. Prince Oranyan was selected. By the mid 15th century, Benin was engage in political expansion and consolidation. Under Oba (king) Ewuare (c. 1450-1480 CE), the state was organize for conquest. He solidified central authority and initiated 30 years of war with his neighbors. At his death, the Benin Empire, extended to Dahomey in the west, to the Niger Delta in the east, along the west African coast, and to the Yoruba towns in the north. Ewuare's grandson, Oba Esigie (1504–1550), eroded the power of the uzama (state council) and increase contact and trade with Europeans, especially with the Portuguese, who provided a new source of copper for court art.

The oba ruled with the advice from the uzama, a council consisting of chiefs of powerful families and town chiefs of different guilds. Later its authority would be diminished by the establishment of administrative dignitaries. Women wielded power. The Queen Mother, who produce the future oba wielded immense influence.[131]

Benin's expansion ended around the 16th century, and it ceased being a major exporter of slaves. By the 18th century, it was wracked with dynastic disputes and civil wars. After the 16th century, Benin mainly exported pepper, ivory, gum, and cotton cloth to the Portuguese, who resold it to other African societies on the coast. In 1897, the British sacked the city.

Niger Delta and Igbo

The Niger Delta comprised numerous city-states with numerous different forms of government. These city-states were protected by the waterways and thick vegetation of the delta. The region was transformed by trade in the 17th century CE. The delta's city-states were comparable to those of the Swahili people in East Africa. Some, like Bonny, Kalabari, and Warri, had kings. Others, like Brass, were republics with small senates, and those at Cross River and Old Calabar were ruled by merchants of the ekpe society. The ekpe society regulated trade and made rules for members known as house systems. Some of these houses, like the Pepples of Bonny, were well-known in the Americas and Europe.[

The Igbo lived east of the Delta (but with the Anioma on the west of the Niger River). The Kingdom of Nri rose in the 9th century CE, with the Eze Nri being its leader. The kingdom expanded towards the Kingdom of Benin and to the Igala Kingdom between 1100 and 1400. It was a political entity composed of villages, and each village was autonomous and independent, with its own territory and name, each recognized by its neighbors. Villages were democratic, with all males and sometimes females a part of the decision-making process. Graves at Igbo-Ukwu (800 CE) contained brass artifacts of local manufacture and glass beads from Egypt or India, indicative of extraregiona
Central Africa
Further information: Early Congolese history, Congo Free State, and History of the Republic of the Congo
Around 1000 BCE, Bantu migrants had reached the Great Lakes of East Africa. Halfway through the first millennium BCE, the Bantu had also settled as far south as what is now Angola.

The father of medicine, the first architect, the builder of first pyramid.

Imhotep was the world's first named architect who built Egypt's first pyramid. He is often recognized as the world's first doctor, a priest, scribe, sage, poet, astrologer, and vizier and chief minister,

Shango of Oyo Empire
Shango was the fourth king of the Oyo clan in Yorubaland who brought prosperity to the Empire he inherited. Many stories have been told about him, and several myths surround him. He stands as the cornerstone of a good part of Afro-Caribbean religion and worship


Shaka the Zulu

Shaka (sometimes spelled Tshaka, Tchaka or Chaka; ca. 1787 – ca. 22 September 1828) was a Zulu leader.


Only known drawing of Shaka standing with the long throwing assegai and the heavy shield in 1824 - four years before his deathHe is widely credited with transforming the Zulu tribe from a small clan into the beginnings of a nation that held sway over the large portion of Southern Africa that stretches between the Phongolo and Mzimkhulu rivers. His military prowess and destructiveness have been widely studied by modern scholarship


Queen Amina of Zaria, the warrior
Queen Amina of Zaria
(16th century)

The seven original states of Hausaland: Katsina, Daura, Kano, Zazzau, Gobir, Rano, and Garun Gabas cover an area of approximately 500 square miles (1,300 km2) and comprise the heart of the Hausa realm. In the 16th century, Queen Bakwa Turunku built the capital of Zazzau at Zaria, named after her younger daughter. Eventually, the entire state of Zazzau was renamed Zaria, which is now a province and traditional kindom in present-day Nigeria.

However, it was her elder daughter, the legendary Amina (or Aminatu), who inherited her mother's warlike nature. Amina was 16 years old when her mother became queen and she was given the traditional title of Magajiya, an honourific borne by the daughters of monarchs. She honed her military skills and became famous for her bravery and military exploits, as she is celebrated in song as "Amina, daughter of Nikatau, a woman as capable as a man."

Amina is credited as the architectural overseer who created the strong earthen walls that surround her city, which were the prototype for the fortifications used in all Hausa states. She subsequently built many of these fortifications, which became known as ganuwar Amina or Amina's walls, around various conquered cities.


Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia
Main article: Haile Selassie
He inherited his imperial blood through his paternal grandmother, Princess Tenagnework Sahle Selassie, who was an aunt of Emperor Menelik II, and as such, claimed to be a direct descendant of Makeda, the queen of Sheba, and King Solomon of the ancient Israel. Prior to his accession to the imperial title, he had reigned successively as the national crown prince and as a provincial king under the authority of his eventual predecessor, the Empress Zauditu.

Upon his coronation as emperor and in keeping with the traditions of the Solomonidi dynasty that had reigned in highland Ethiopia since 1297, Haile Selassie's throne name and title were joined to the imperial motto, so that all court documents and seals bore the inscription: "The Lion of the Tribe of Judah has conquered! Haile Selassie I, Elect of God King of Kings of Ethiopia
Usman dan Fodio
Main article: Uthman Dan Fodio
Shaihu Usman dan Fodio (Arabic: عثمان بن فودي ، عثمان دان فوديو‎) (also referred to as Shaikh Usman Ibn Fodio, Shehu Uthman Dan Fuduye, or Shehu Usman dan Fodio, 1754–1817) was a writer, ruler and Islamic reformer. Dan Fodio was one of a class of urbanized ethnic Fulani living in the Hausa city-states in what is today northern Nigeria. He lived in the city-state of Gobir, and is considered an Islamic revivalist; he encouraged the education of women in religious matters, and several of his daughters emerged as scholars and writers (with the most prominent of them being the Princess Nana Asmau).

Dan Fodio was well-educated in classical Islamic science, philosophy and theology, and became a revered religious thinker in his own right. His teacher, Jibril ibn 'Umar, argued that it was the duty and within the power of religious movements to establish the ideal society, free from oppression and vice. Dan Fodio used his influence to secure approval to create a religious community in his hometown of Degel that would, or so he hoped, be a model town.



Queen Nzingha of Ndongo (1582-1663) - Angola=
Main article: Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba

In the 16th century, the Portuguese stake in the slave trade was threatened by England and France. This caused the Portuguese to transfer their slave-trading activities southward to the Congo and South West Africa. Their most stubborn opposition, as they entered the final phase of the conquest of Angola, came from a queen who was a great head of state, and a military leader with few peers in her time. The important facts about her life are outlined by Professor Glasgow of Bowie, Maryland: