Ikpeazukerosene:
Dino?
How can?
Was there no tree at the venue?

Iroko tree,
Okra tree,
Watermelon tree,
Bitterleaf tree,

Or na only banana tree you sabi climb?

The man in this picture will cry

Dear God what's going on under this useless govt of Buhari that other nations even in Africa no longer respects us

BOOOMNAIJA:
How will this news solve my present predicament now?

It is well

sonnie10:
I ton (20 of 50kg) of rice is $150 in Thailand and India
Dollar at 355; $150 is about 53k naira.
Meaning 20bags is 53k. Therefore one bag is #2650.

My question is, do Nigeria farmers use gold as fertilizer for for their own rice? With the huge difference in price, the temptation to continue to import is very high.

Much love to you my bro. I still don't know why 50kg bag of rice cost N18,000 under mr integrity in 2019

Bitterleafsoup:

Why is a blogger your problem. We are talking about the leader of a country with an ear infection that took 6 months to heal remember? Shame on you the country is in fire and your here pretending things are good.

Leave cough syrup alone, ur sense no be correct.

Ignore these clowns and watch as events unfold my brother

*Breaking: Buhari’s deteriorating health challenges, suffering from acute amnesia*

A source at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja has revealed that the protracted health challenges of President Muhammadu Buhari has worsened.

It was revealed that President Buhari barely remembers most of his discussions with people. The source says..., *”If you discuss anything with Mr. President now, within few minutes of that discussion, the President will not be able to remember anything”*

It was also revealed that, that was the main reason President Buhari had directed his Ministers to report to his Chief of Staff, Mr. Abba Kyari and has also directed the Secretary to Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha to handle most of government businesses.

The source also revealed that the President is always on steroid to keep him afloat and that a special clinic is being constructed in the President’s home town of Daura, Katsina state with some special doctors, imported to take care of the President’s deteriorating health.

It was rumored that the foreign doctors arrived Daura within the Sallah break and that was why the President extended his Sallah holidays in Daura. He was packaged for the Ministerial retreat and swearing in by the foreign doctors.

Part of the packaging was a special facial steroid injections, administered in order to inflate the face of Mr. President.

In addition to this, It was rumored that President Buhari collapsed during the recent Ministerial retreat in Abuja, but the news was carefully managed by the Nigeria’s security agents and his key staff.

His planed trip to Japan is another ploy by the cabal at the Presidency to smuggle the President for another round of medical treatment.

Nigeria is currently governed by a cabal at the Presidency and the entire affairs of the country is now in the hands of an unelected select few.

There is a deep division within the cabal as there are reports that the First Lady, Dr. Mrs Aisha Buhari has fled Nigeria due to threats to her life by other members of the cabal because of her opposition to their activities.

The current scenario at the Aso Rock Villa is similar to the situation in 2010, when certain cabinet ministers and some individuals at the Aso Rock Villa, hijacked government businesses during the period the late former President of Nigeria, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was sick before he eventually died in May.

The only difference is that, during the Yar’Adua era, his wife Turai Yar’Adua, seems to be the leader of the cabal but in this case of President Muhammadu Buhari, his wife Aisha Buhari is excluded from the cabal and chased out of the country.

ejimatic:
. Affjdavit is a legal document that covers every situation.. It is a representation of what is true....The copy of what he presented support the breakdown in the affidavit or its content .It is still in order in law.

Yes affidavit is a legal document recognized in law but what happens in a situation where what you swore to in your affidavit contradicts the original documents you are trying to defend with your affidavit? Are you now saying it will still make the content of the affidavit valid? This is the issue with Buhari here.

Cc: great job there engineerboat tuniski I am proud of you guys

Simplyleo:
[s][/s]
I strike out nonsense

That should be you then because you are full of it when your mates are making things happen on the foundation of good governance you are here still championing a useless party that had brought more woes to innocent lives. The energy around you needs to be quarantined for you to start living.

Simplyleo:
I disagree with Mr vice.

Let them remain in their party

Imagine Fayose, FFK and and host of other miscreants in APC

IMAGINE what this funny dude is saying what is in that APC if I may ask? Indeed the energy around you is so bad that evil looks like Shawarma to you now. So sad you are a human

The accused persons were like laelae kole happen do you know who we are and so they marched straight to the West African Court of Appeal (WACA) where they appealed the decision of the trial court. At WACA, they stood before the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice John Verity who presided with two other justices.

The appellate court listened to their pleas and reached the following conclusions:
Although the disappearance of the child was reported to the Oba early in the afternoon, he as the head of the town did nothing until twilight.Five days after the disappearance, the Oba sent for the constable to say he had information that the child will be found at the forest near CMS compound.Upon the arrest of Enoch Falayi, he ordered his release because he claimed that Falayi was his ‘doctor’.The cops found the mutilated body exactly where the Oba said the police would find it.

The court held that even though these findings were circumstantial, the statements of other accused persons, and the ones read to him by the police which he confirmed, have already proved his guilt. The court specifically quoted Gabriel Olabirinjo’s statement read to the Oba by Sergeant Agbabiaka which the Oba, the Alaaye of Efon-Alaaye did not deny. The statement went thus:
‘I was in the palace of Alaaye of Efon at night, I saw Enoch carry one girl under his gown into the palace. He placed the girl under the staircase in the palace…Enoch left to call Alaaye…Alaaye came and saw the girl. He said Enoch should do her as he said he would do her….He carried the cigarette tin (in which the eyes and tongue were contained) to Oba Alaaye…The following night Oba Alaaye asked whether the corpse of the girl had been cleared…’
Justice Verity then concluded:
‘With acceptance of that statement as evidence of tacit admission of the facts therein, there is not only ample corroboration of the evidence…it goes further and is evidence of admission of facts from which no other conclusion is possible than that the appellant counseled and procured the murder of this child and was rightly found guilty thereof.’

Upon this final pronouncement, Kabiyesi Oba Samuel Adeniran Asusumasa Atewogboye II, the 43rd Alaaye of Efon-Alaaye, his herbalist and one of his servants and Gabriel Olabirinjo, were all hanged to death.

After the bloody slashings, the king then brought out kolanuts and made everyone present to swear to an oath of secrecy. Anyone who leaked the secret was expected to die, according to the useless covenant they had. The corpse was then mutilated and dismembered, her eyes were gouged out of their sockets and put in a container carried by a first individual. Then her tongue was sliced off and put in another container held by a second individual. Both individuals then ferried these body parts through a door that led to the living quarters of the Oba To Ba Lori Ohun Gbogbo (king). What evil can be greater than a leader betraying his own people?

After completing this phase of their criminal operation, they took what remained of the lifeless body of the girl to the forest around the Christian Missionary Society (CMS) Church and buried it there.

THE POLICE SWINGS IN AND A DRAMATIC TRIAL ENSUES
The parents remained traumatized and on the 10th of February, 1949, a team of police detectives (Chief Inspector Aruah, Sergeants Sule Agbabiaka and Olawaiye and Police Constable Ariyo) stormed Efon-Alaaye. They commenced work without wasting time and within 48 hours, they were able to establish that the cute Adediwura may have fallen a victim to the antics of ritual murderers.
On Monday 14th February, 1949 (a day of celebration of love), the Daily Times newspaper blew its trumpets as it reported the criminal case nationwide. The people of the British protectorate of Nigeria shuddered with terror and recoiled with shock at such brutality. But unknown to them, the worst was yet to come.
Not long after the detectives arrived, three suspects linked to the murder were rounded up and arrested. They were Enoch Falayi, Gabriel Olabirinjo and Daniel Ojo. Falayi was the native doctor and herbalist mentioned earlier, he was the personal spiritualist and consultant to the Alaaye (king), he was the one who kidnapped the girl as she was enjoying her play. The other two suspects were his messengers.
In early April, the coroner inquest to the murder opened at the Obokungbusi Hall in Ilesha under Magistrate WO Egbuna, he was the one in control of that particular jurisdiction.

But then, something very interesting happened. The case assumed a new twist when one of those in police custody decided to leak everything and damn the consequences of the covenant they had. He confessed and nailed the royal coffin as he mentioned the name of the king as being the brain behind the whole violent crime. Kabiyesi Oba Samuel Adeniran Asusumasa Atewogboye II was immediately arrested. I want to repeat here that at this time, there was no country called Nigeria, it was a protectorate of the British Empire under King George VI but the justice system was incredibly efficient and it was obvious no one was above the law – not even the king, the second-in-command to the gods. Representing the Crown at this trial was Mr. Lloyd Crow.

As the people of Efon-Alaaye were trying to recover from the shock that their arrested monarch could be the brain behind the most savage killing in the land, the case was then transferred to Akure High Court. The stage was set for the trial of the decade.

Justice NS Pollard was the trial judge and before him were 21 witnesses ready to vomit all forms of evidence. One of them was Aina Ola and she wasted no time in revealing that it was Enoch Falayi the herbalist who grabbed Adediwura and stuffed her under his agbada.

To make things worse for the ritualist masquerading as a herbalist and native doctor, his own wife, Owomobi, also provided further evidence saying the child was kept in their house and in the cover of darkness, she was forced to carry the child on her back to the residence of the second accused, Gabriel Olabirinjo.

In a testimony that added more nails to the royal casket, Ojo Olofa on his own testified that the child was taken to the palace the following day and it was in the presence of the king that the innocent kid was murdered with brutal cuts. He also gave further details of what happened to her body parts and subsequent burial, all mentioned earlier.

Once all the witnesses gave their evidence, the Crown counsel, Mr. Crow proceeded to submit that the statements of the three principal witnesses – Aina Ola, Owomobi and Ojo Olofa were more than enough for the conviction of Falayi, the crooked herbalist.
But the legal drama was just starting. The defence counsels launched their own counterattacks as they insisted that the three witnesses were accomplices and therefore, their evidence needs to be corroborated.

However, the trial judge, Justice Pollard, ruled that he was satisfied that Aina Ola could not be considered as an accomplice and as such, her evidence was enough corroboration of the concealment of Adediwura at Falayi’s house and the subsequent transfer of the child to the palace. Thus, Falayi was pronounced guilty. Gbagam!

That was not all, the Crown counsel Crow also submitted that the confessional statement provided by Gabriel Olabirinjo and Ojo Olofa’s evidence was a total corroboration of the second accused person’s guilt. And it gets more interesting as his lawyer, Bode Thomas, argued that his client made the statement under duress and so it should not be accepted as evidence. But again, Justice Pollard disagreed. He stated that he was satisfied that the accused evidence was made voluntarily and freely. And without wasting time, the judge slammed him with a guilty verdict too. But Daniel Ojo was lucky, he was acquitted for lack of substantial evidence again him.

So what happened to the criminal king? As for Kabiyesi Oba Adeniran, the Crown counsel submitted that the evidence revealed clearly that he did not only have the intention to kill but also took part in the ritual murder of baby Adediwura. He then directed the court to the evidence of Ojo Olofa and Owomobi. The prosecuting counsel further prayed to the court to take into consideration the countenance of the Oba which he said, already showed him as someone with guilty mind. Okay, now wait for this.

The lawyer to the king, Chief Obafemi Awolowo (yes the same African chief on the N100 naira note) fired back. He argued that since the king rendered helped the parents of the deceased and the parents by organizing a search part. Awolowo said that alone was enough to wash the royal robe clean of all blood. He did not stop there, he said as an Oba, it was possible that some of the enemies of the king wanted to deal with him by involving him in the gruesome killing. Awolowo dismissed all the evidence presented against his client: he branded them as circumstantial.

However, to the disappointment of Awolowo, Justice Pollard did not agree with him. The judge said that saying some enemies in the town vowed to implicate the king in the murder was nothing but a baseless afterthought. In short, the judge gave Awolowo and legal park well. The worst was yet to come for Awolowo and his client. The stern trial judge dropped the bomb when he eventually found the king guilty. The king must have thought he was having a bad dream when Justice Pollard sentenced him to death. Also sentenced to the graves were the other accused persons.
NB: Also integrally involved in this case is a particular Mr. Oye, said to be a first-class criminal case investigator who made the success of the prosecution possible.

*THE FIRST OBA TO FACE PUBLIC EXECUTION 1949'Oba Samuel Adeniran the 43rd Alaaye of Efon Alaaye*

How Oba Samuel Adeniran Asusumasa Atewogboye II Was Sentenced To Death For Killing A Baby For Ritual In 1949
The 43rd Alaaye of Efon-Alaaye, Kabiyesi Oba Samuel Adeniran Asusumasa Atewogboye II, his herbalist and one of his servants and Gabriel Olabirinjo, were all hanged to death for The Ritual Murder of 15-Month-Old Baby Girl Named Adediwura In 1949

By M. Ogunshakin

On a Monday morning that started out like every other day, the 10th of January, 1949, something unbelievably nasty was to occur. An event so brutal it shook the helpless community to its very core. In the rustic compound of Mr. Ojo was a 15-month-old baby girl whom he and his adorable wife joyfully named Adediwura (meaning royalty or crown has turned to gold). Not bothered with any problem in the world, she was busy playing.

Unknown to the family, the crown of the Efon-Alaaye was soon going to turn their own crown into a calabash of blood. All of a sudden, someone noticed the little girl playing within the compound was nowhere to be found. It was as if she just vanished. Ha!

What type of a bad joke is this, the father must have mused. But it was no joke. After checking every plank and crevice in the compound, the parents knew something terrible was amiss. Their child was gone! Just like that!

By that moment, the mother was already on the edge of lunacy. As the sun became hotter and the day entered afternoon with her daughter nowhere to be found, the frenzied woman burst into full-scale madness. She just could not bear it anymore. She heaved her whole body in the air and landed on the ground, throwing herself all over the place several times with hot tears streaming down her face, her non-stop wailings attracted bystanders, neighbours and sympathizers. Who was playing this crazy joke with a child?
Her hormones boiled, the maternal instincts kicked in, she ran out of the house into the sun and she let out a piercing cry:
My child has been kidnapped!

Confused and equally worried, her husband and other concerned members of the compound and family quickly mobilized a small army, had a swift meeting and they all agreed the next thing was to approach the number one person in charge of their welfare, their beloved king – the Alaaye of Efon Alaaye. After all, the king is the father of everyone and if any child in the community is missing, it is the king’s child who was missing.

With the speed of light, the chaotic party was soon at the palace. With pitiful tears in their glassy eyes, hot mucus meandering down their nostrils and glistening sweat covering their dark tropical skins now utterly covered with dust and worry, they outlined exactly in weak voices what happened to the king. With the crown of his ancestors perched on his head, the Alaaye listened with rapt attention to the tragedy that was unfolding before his very throne. He told them to return home that the issue will be looked into.

After several hours, the Alaaye of Efon-Alaaye, Kabiyesi Oba Samuel Adeniran Asusumasa Atewogboye II, organized a search party to sniff out the missing child. But it was all a waste of time. They searched every nook and corner of the kingdom, called for help from the villagers and police but nothing that remotely resembled the child was even found. Exasperated, the colonial representatives and police messaged Lagos for further help from the Central Investigations Department (CID).

BUT WHERE WAS THE CHILD?

Well, you will recall that the girl was playing in the compound while her parents busied themselves with house chores. It was in an instant that an herbalist pounced on the girl and kidnapped her. He must have been surveying the compound to know precisely when to attack. He hid the tiny child under his a flowing traditional garb called an agbada (see photo) and whisked her off to his house.
At night, he then told his wife to carry the child on her back to the house of another person. The next day, while the parents of the child could not sleep, the kidnappers took the child straight to the palace. The girl was brought before the king, Kabiyesi Oba Samuel Adeniran Asusumasa Atewogboye II. With a wave of his authority, the poor girl was butchered right in his presence.

It is the truth, Tomakint's signature clearly painted the clear picture abou this disaster called Buhari now we are all squirming but I pray may the Buharideens cry bitterly until this demonic being is forcefully removed before 2023

So so sad and shameful

Nigerian jailed 90 years in US for fathering six children with own daughters

An award-winning Nigerian music director, Aswad Ayinde, found guilty of fathering children with his daughters will spend the rest of his life in jail.
According to Mail Online, Ayinde, 55, of Paterson, New Jersey, United States, was sentenced to 50 years in prison on Friday after being found guilty in the second of five expected trials in which he is accused of repeatedly raping his six daughters, resulting in six children being fathered.
Mr. Ayinde was found guilty in his latest trial of having intercourse with his daughter when she was as young as eight-years-old. The second sentence adds to the 40 year sentence Mr Ayinde received in a 2011 trial for sexually assaulting a separate daughter.
Mr. Ayinde is known for directing the music video for the Fugees 1996 smash hit “Killing Me Softly.”
In a disturbing disclosure during his first trial, Mr. Ayinde’s former wife said he was trying to create a “pure family bloodline” by impregnating his daughters. He even claimed during a pre-trial hearing before the first trial that “the world was going to end, and it was just going to be him and his offspring and that he was chosen.”
In this latest trial, it was revealed that Mr. Ayinde began having intercourse with his second daughter from the time she was eight-years-old, impregnating her four times.
The sexual assaults happened for almost 30 years until Mr. Ayinde and his wife separated, officials said. They occurred in numerous homes across Northern New Jersey, even while the family was under watch of State Child Welfare officials, according to NBC New York. Some of the rapes even took place in an abandoned funeral home.
The family moving as far away as Florida to avoid investigation, after case workers removed multiple children from the Ayinde household in 2000, resulting in Mr. Ayinde being arrested for kidnapping for trying to take them from State custody in a Medical Center, NBC New York reported.
He pleaded guilty to lesser charges and received a year’s probation – as he continued raping one daughter for at least another two years, according to officials.
The depraved father also beat and starved the girls using wooden boards and steel-toed boots for even “minor transgressions,” Ayinde’s wife testified at the first trial.
Some of the children Ayinde fathered with his daughters were born in the home, with at least two babies who died in the home having been buried without notifying authorities or obtaining birth certificates, NBC New York reported.
Ayinde’s tortured daughters were home Schooled and isolated from other children, so as to keep the family secrets hidden, the Station added.
With his wife, too afraid to confront him, Mr. Ayinde carried out his evil plan without hindrance even while directing the Music Video for the Fugees 1996 breakout hit ‘Killing Me Softly, for which he won ‘Best R&B Video’ at the 1996 MTV Music Video Awards. The Fugees are also originally from Northern New Jersey.
Source: Tribune

SillyMods:

Dull thing, how did you know a thing about me?

I am beginning to like you now at least judging from your signature

NwaliE01:


Like seriously. How is your mind wired?

You didn't even read through the body of the message before making your baseless and ineptic comment.
Atiku is a very Nigerian like you if you were one and I expect you should leave politics aside and express concern about the country's dysfunctional management.
Our future generations would soon ask us what we contributed during this era of massive killings and suffering.

My brother as in, these weird ones must have been created when God was angry you can tell they children of Belial always siding with evil and more of it. For crying out loud who in his right senses will compare an Atiku (entrepreneur par excellence) to a Buhari (a cattle rearer).

SillyMods:
[s][/s]
Buhari is the next best thing to happen to Nigeria after independence.

Argue with your ancestors.

Your hunger is eternal i am sure in your former life things were not rosy for you at least it is glaring from your current life.

HarunaWest:

what is written there is Mohamed Buhari not Muhammadu Buhari....My dad is Agematez with Buhari, they schooled same time, his name is still intact no difference. This was the same thing that Evans ewerem was thrown out for...But you all won't see this cos ur blindfolded by loyalty to the president instead of loyalty to the nation.
Just remember that in future,you all will regret your actions today.

You just said it all

VULCAN:
Is this the certificate that Buhari hasn't been able to provide for 4 and a half years?

The one that made him go to court with 30 SANS

My brother the matter just tire me

This is what I call technological advancement with futuristic gains

This is a good move in the right direction judging from the fact that MTN made the biggest cash throughout the whole continent from Nigeria. They should do more......

cescky:
God..in as much as this was wad a possibility .

This announcement shocked me to the core..what type of country and people are we? Sincerely wer not far from demons...




Animal may this be your portion next week

Amen

plaindealer:
[s][/s]



I know you are still in sifia pain at the sifia beating atiku your hausa Fulani slave master received at the polls by the one and only magnificent PMB.

...but this thread is not your crying and sifia pain thread and I don't have towel for your to wipe your tears with so kindly go away and wail in peace.

It is extremely difficult to free slaves like Buharideen Kamoru like you from the chain (poverty) they revered.

stieyven:

He who calls his brother a fool shall be in danger of hell. Matthew 5 :22

The name is Ratello from down Southern part of Nigeria I am not a brother to Buhari neither is he a brother to me please be guided next time the way you Buharideen Kamoru misquote the Holy Book to your own shame,

plaindealer:



What kind of person is this who can not read and make sense. Do you know the meaning of the word compare? This kind of person must be ipob.

Can this Buharideen Kamoru listen again to himself or he is just pretending to be silly as ever. What were you doing when you brought the demonic Buhari into your debate if not comparing. Will you sod of my mention at once chronic Buharideen.

plaindealer:
If PMB did this in Nigerian......ogbele gbele... heaven go fall.

Crazy and yaba left people go full street

Na islamazation agenda

Na Fulanization of Nigeria

Democracy is in danger

Na Nepotism and tyranny

Nigeria don finish and so on and so on...

What type of human being is this for Christ sake Is Buharig the same person as Boris Johnson? Why compare apples with oranges funny man. Still no shame being a Buharideen

I can only laugh at this useles thing that is about to perish off the face of the earth for bringing tears to many homes

ozoebuka1:
ok sir

My brother I am back with the thread like I promised I hope it will open your eyes to some hidden facts about Nigeria as you read it meditatively.

BRITISH OCCUPATION WARS FOR NIGERIA.

BENIN EMPIRE PT 2:

On January 12th 1897, Rear-Admiral Harry Reason, commanding the squadron at the cape of Good Hope was appointed by the British Admiralty to lead an explanation to capture Benin King and destroy Benin city.

The operation was named "The Benin punitive expedition " .

On 9th February 1897, the invasion of Benin city began.

The field commanders were instructed by their commander-in-chief  to burn down all Benin kingdom's towns and villages and hang the BENIN KING wherever and whenever he was captured.

The invasion force of about 1,200 Royal marines,  sailors and Niger Coast Guard protectorate forces and comprised of 3 columns :
The Sapoba, Gwato and Main columns.

The Sapoba and main columns reached Benin city after 10 days of bitter fighting but the Gwato column was routed at Gwato.

Homes,  religious buildings and Palaces were burnt down.

By the third day,  the blaze went out of control and engulfed most of the city.

The city's walls were once the largest earthworks created in the pre-mechanized era and were estimated to be four times longer in total than the Great Wall of China.

Today,  little evidence of these structures exist after its destruction by the British.

Immediately after securing the city,  the British invaders began looting.

Though this was carried out by all members of the expedition,  Major Henry Gallaway was reputed to have made away with artifacts and ivory worth about $5million in today's value.

Monuments and Palaces of many high ranking chiefs were looted.

There were evidences of human sacrifices found by the British which they construed as barbaric.. with Reuters and the illustrated London news reporting that the town reeked of human blood.

Most of the plunder from the city was retained by the expedition with some 2,500 (official figure)  religious artifacts  Benin visual history, mnemonics and artworks being sent to England.

The British Admiralty confiscated and auctioned off the war booty to pay for the cost of the expedition .

The expected revenue from the expedition was already discussed before Phillips set out on his ill-fated journey to the city of Benin in 1896.

In a letter to Lord Salisbury,  the British foreign secretary,  Phillips had requested approval to invade Benin and depose the Oba,  adding the following footnote...:
I would add that I have reason to hope that sufficient ivory would be found in the King's house to pay the expenses incurred in removing the King from his stool.

About 40% of the art was accessioned to the British museum in London,  some works were to individual members of the British military as spoils of war while the remainder was sold at an auction by the British  Admiralty to pay for the expedition as early as May 1897.. (Stevens Auction Rooms, 38 kings street London,  May 25th 1897, followed by several sales at William Downing Webster,  Bicester,  between 1898 and 1900)

Most of the Benin Bronze sold at auction were bought by British museums, mainly in Germany.

The dispersal of the Benin art to museums around the world catalyzed the beginnings of the long and slow European reassessment of the value of West African art.

The Benin art was copied and the style integrated into the art of many European artists and thus had a strong influence on the early formation of modernism in Europe.

HOW ABOUT OBA OVONRAMWEN... you might be asking... 

He was eventually captured by the British Consul-general,  Ralph Moor.

He was deposed and sent to live out his day in Calabar.

Oba Ovonramwen died in 1914!

In 2017, a cockerel statue or Okukor looted during the 1897 Benin expedition was removed from the hall of  Jesus College,  Cambridge,  following protests by students against the celebration of colonialism.

Jesus college student union passed a motion declaring that the sculpture should be returned.

The University is currently willing to discuss and determine the best future for the Okukor,  including the question of repatriation.

...........................................................................

Lesson: The lesson learnt here was a bitter one on the part of the Benin Empire as a result of not considering deeply the cost of attacking the British without thorough estimation of their strengths. This cost them great artefacts that were forever lost and eventually imploded the great Benin Empire till date. Nigeria is truly an artificial creation of the British!

BRITISH OCCUPATION WARS OF NIGERIA:

THE BENIN KINGDOM....

Before we return to the naming of Nigeria, let's take a look at how the British pacified the various ethnic kingdoms of Nigeria.

THE BENIN KINGDOM :

At the end of the 19th century,  the kingdom of BENIN had managed to retain it's independence and the Oba exercises a monopoly over trade, which the British found repulsive.

The territory was covered by an influential group of investors for it's rich natural resources such as palm oil,  rubber and Ivory. 

After the British consul, Richard Burton visited BENIN in 1862, he wrote of BENIN as a place of gratuitous barbarity which stinks of death : a narrative which was widely publicized in Britain and increased pressure for the territory's subjugation.

In spite of this, the kingdom maintained it's independence and was not visited by Britain again until 1892 when Henry Gallaway,  the British vice-consul of the Oil Rivers protectorate visited the city,  hoping to open up trade and ultimately annex Benin Kingdom to make it a British property. 

Gallaway was able to get Omo n' Oba (Ovonramwen)  and his chiefs to sign a treaty which gave Britain legal justification for exerting greater influence over the Empire. 

While the treaty itself contains texts suggesting that Ovonramwen actively sought Britain's protection,  this appears to be fiction...as Gallaway's own account suggests the Oba was hesitant to sign the treaty. (you can imagine the trick here again played against a would-be smart King against the whims of the imperialists)

Although there were insinuations that humanitarian motivations were behind Britain's actions,  letters written between administrators suggests that economic motivations were predominant.

The treaty itself does not mention anything about Benin's  deadly customs that Burton had written about....instead it speaks vaguely about ensuring a general progress of civilization.

It was clear that the Oba did not intend to keep to the treaty.

While the treaty granted freedom of trade within the Benin Empire,  the Oba persisted in collecting customs duties. 

Since Major (later Sir)  claude Maxwell MacDonald,  the Consul-general of the Oil Rivers protectorate considered the treaty legal and binding,  he deemed  the King's actions a violation of the accord,  thus a hostile act. 

In 1894, after the invasion and destruction of Ebrohimi, the trading town of chief Nana Olomu,  the leading Itsekiri trader in the Benin River District by a combined British Royal Navy and Niger coast protectorate forces,  BENIN Kingdom increased her military presence on her Southern borders.

This vigilance and the colonial office's refusal to grant approval for an invasion of Benin city  scuttled the expedition the protectorate had planned for early 1895.

Between September 1895 and mid 1896, 3 attempts were made by the protectorate to enforce the Gallaway treaty.

Major P.  Copland Crawford,  Vice-consul  of Benin District,  made the first attempt,  Mr.  Locke, the vice-consul assistant made a second attempt while Captain Arthur Maling the commadant of the Niger coast protectorate force detachment based in Sapele made the third attempt.

In March 1896, following price fixing and refusal by Itsekiri  middlemen  to pay the required tributes,  the King of Benin ordered a cessation of supply of palm oil products to them.

This embargo brought trade in the region to a standstill and British traders quickly appealled to the protectorate's consul general to open up the Benin territory and send the Oba (whom they claimed was an obstruction)  into exile.

In October 1896, the acting Consul-general,  James Robert Phillips visited the Benin River District and had meetings with the agents and traders.

They were able to convince him that the future would be brighter if an attack was carried out.

In November,  Phillips made a formal request to his superiors for permission to invade Benin City and in late December,  without waiting for a reply or approval from London,  Phillips embarked on a military expedition  with two Niger coast protectorate force officers,  a medical officer,  two trading agents,  250 African soldiers masquerading in part as porters.

His request to London was to depose the King,  replace him with a native Council and pay for the invasion with the Ivory he hoped to plunder from the King's Palace.

Meanwhile,  he sent a message ahead to the King that his mission was to discuss trade and peace... demanding admission to the empire in defiance of Benin law explicitly forbidding his entry.

Unfortunately for Phillips, some Itsekiri trading chiefs had sent a warning to the Oba that the white man was bringing war.

The Oba quickly summoned an emergency meeting of the city's high ranking nobles to discuss the situation.

The Iyase,  the Commander in chief of the BENIN army argued  that the British were planning a surprise attack and must be defeated.

The Oba however insisted that the British should be allowed to enter the city... to truly ascertain if they were friendly or not.

The Iyase ignored the King's views and ordered  the formation of a strike force that was commanded by Ologbosere,  a senior army commander,  which was sent to Ughoton to destroy the invaders.

On 4th January 1897. the Benin strike force composed mainly of border guards and servants of some chiefs caught Phillips ' collumn totally unprepared at Ugbine village near Ughoton.

Since Phillips was not aware that his plans had already been brought into the open in BENIN city and was not prepared for any attacks,  his officers'pistols were locked up in the head packs of the African porters.

After the encounter...

Only two British officers survived the annihilation of this expedition.

This became known as the BENIN massacre. 

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Lesson: Attack as they say is the best form of defence but while attacking you must know the strength and weakness of your enemies. It's a cold world fighting a cold war.