₦airaland Forum

The Oba of Benin

Benin City’s planning and design was done according to careful rules of symmetry, proportionality and repetition now known as fractal design. The mathematician Ron Eglash, author of African Fractals – which examines the patterns underpinning architecture, art and design in many parts of Africa – notes that the city and its surrounding villages were purposely laid out to form perfect fractals, with similar shapes repeated in the rooms of each house, and the house itself, and the clusters of houses in the village in mathematically predictable patterns.

Daily street life in Benin City might have consisted of large crowds going though even larger streets, with people colourfully dressed – some in white, others in yellow, blue or green – and the city captains acting as judges to resolve lawsuits, moderating debates in the numerous galleries, and arbitrating petty conflicts in the markets.

The early foreign explorers’ descriptions of Benin City portrayed it as a place free of crime and hunger, with large streets and houses kept clean; a city filled with courteous, honest people, and run by a centralised and highly sophisticated bureaucracy.

The city was split into 11 divisions, each a smaller replication of the king’s court, comprising a sprawling series of compounds containing accommodation, workshops and public buildings – interconnected by innumerable doors and passageways, all richly decorated with the art that made Benin famous. The city was literally covered in it.

The exterior walls of the courts and compounds were decorated with horizontal ridge designs (agben) and clay carvings portraying animals, warriors and other symbols of power – the carvings would create contrasting patterns in the strong sunlight. Natural objects (pebbles or pieces of mica) were also pressed into the wet clay, while in the palaces, pillars were covered with bronze plaques illustrating the victories and deeds of former kings and nobles.

At the height of its greatness in the 12th century – well before the start of the European Renaissance – the kings and nobles of Benin City patronised craftsmen and lavished them with gifts and wealth, in return for their depiction of the kings’ and dignitaries’ great exploits in intricate bronze sculptures.


As he puts it: “When Europeans first came to Africa, they considered the architecture very disorganised and thus primitive. It never occurred to them that the Africans might have been using a form of mathematics that they hadn’t even discovered yet.”


At the centre of the city stood the king’s court, from which extended 30 very straight, broad streets, each about 120-ft wide. These main streets, which ran at right angles to each other, had underground drainage made of a sunken impluvium with an outlet to carry away storm water. Many narrower side and intersecting streets extended off them. In the middle of the streets were turf on which animals fed.

“Houses are built alongside the streets in good order, the one close to the other,” writes the 17th-century Dutch visitor Olfert Dapper. “Adorned with gables and steps … they are usually broad with long galleries inside, especially so in the case of the houses of the nobility, and divided into many rooms which are separated by walls made of red clay, very well erected.”

Dapper adds that wealthy residents kept these walls “as shiny and smooth by washing and rubbing as any wall in Holland can be made with chalk, and they are like mirrors. The upper storeys are made of the same sort of clay. Moreover, every house is provided with a well for the supply of fresh water”

On 12 January 1897, Rear-Admiral Harry Rawson, commander of the Royal Navy forces at the Cape of Good Hope and West Coast of Africa Station,
was appointed by the Admiralty to lead a force to invade the Kingdom of Benin, capture the Benin Oba and destroy Benin City. The operation was named the Benin Punitive Expedition.

On 9 February 1897, the invasion of the Kingdom of Benin began. The British invasion force of about 1,200 Royal Marines, sailors and Niger Coast Protectorate Forces was organised into three columns: the 'Sapoba', 'Gwato' and 'Main' columns. Flotillas of warships (including HMS Philomel and Phoebe) and gunboats approached Benin City from the east and west.
The 'Sapoba' and 'Main' columns reached Benin City after ten days of fighting. The 'Gwato' column (under Captain Gallwey) took the same route as that taken by the previous mission and came on the scene of the massacre, finding headless bodies of the victims.

Elspeth Huxley spent some time researching in Benin in 1954, and wrote

"...to hear an account of the Benin massacre of 1897 and its sequel from one who had taken part. It is a story that still has power to amaze and horrify, as well as to remind us that the British had motives for pushing into Africa other than the intention to exploit the natives and glorify themselves. Here, for instance, are some extracts from the diary of a surgeon who took part in the expedition.:- 'As we neared Benin City we passed several human sacrifices, live women slaves gagged and pegged on their backs to the ground, the abdominal wall being cut in the form of a cross, and the uninjured gut hanging out. These poor women were allowed to die like this in the sun. Men slaves, with their hands tied at the back and feet lashed together, also gagged, were lying about. As we neared the city, sacrificed human beings were lying in the path and bush—even in the king's compound the sight and stench of them was awful. Dead and mutilated bodies were everywhere – by God! May I never see such sights again!"


Herbert Walker, a soldier serving in the punitive expedition, believed that the human sacrifices he saw were an attempt by Benin City residents to appease the Gods as they tried to defend themselves from the expedition fetishism and animalism sprouted from as a means of defence for the African "

According to Robin Law, the issue of human sacrifices is an extremely sensitive one and prone to bias. Law suggests that the reported extent the practice in Benin was exaggerated by the British in order to establish the need for military intervention.

Historian Dan Hicks has described the punitive expedition's actions during their push to Benin City as democidal, claiming that it involved:

"massacres of towns and villages from the air and thus women and children across the whole of the Benin Kingdom, scorching the earth with rockets, fire and mines. Primary among the war crimes was the scale of the killing and bombings of civilian targets."

On 18 February Benin City was captured by the expedition, in spite of its defensive iya. The city was set ablaze, although it has been claimed that this was accidental.

Eight members of the punitive force were recorded as being killed in action during the Benin Expedition; the number of military and civilian casualties amongst the Benin people was not estimated but is thought to have been very high.

The Benin Expedition was described as such:

"In twenty-nine days a force of 1,200 men, coming from three places between 3000 and 4500 m. from the Benin river, was landed, organized, equipped and provided with transport. Five days later the city of Benin was taken, and in twelve days more the men were re-embarked, and the ships coaled and ready for any further service."

All-in-all, around 5,000 men were mobilised for the expedition, which took place over three weeks.


After the capture of Benin City, houses, sacred sites, ceremonial buildings and palaces of many high-ranking chiefs were looted and many buildings were burned down, including the Palace building itself on Sunday 21 February. There was evidence of previous human sacrifice found by members of the expedition, with journalists from Reuters and the Illustrated London News reporting that the town 'reeked of human blood.'Inside the abandoned palace, a terrible sight was revealed to the British. The Oba in panic of what he had done and in fear of a retaliatory attack, had embarked in a great mass of human sacrifice in order to stave off full disaster. Bodies of those sacrificed by the Oba laid in pits and many hung crucified in trees

The Oba was eventually captured by the British consul-general, Ralph Moor. He was deposed and exiled, with two of his eighty wives, to Calabar.
A British Resident was appointed, and six chiefs were hanged in Benin City's marketplace.

Most of the plunder from the city was retained by the expedition with some 2,500 (official figures) religious artefacts, Benin visual history, mnemonics and artworks being sent to Britain. They include over a thousand metal plaques and sculptures collectively known as the Benin Bronzes. The Admiralty confiscated and auctioned off the war booty to defray the costs of the expedition.

About 40% of the art was accessioned to the British Museum, while other works were given to individual members of the armed forces as spoils of war, and the remainder was sold at auction by the Admiralty to pay for the expedition as early as May 1897 (Stevens Auction Rooms, 38 King Street, London, 25 May 1897; followed by several sales by the ethnographic dealer William Downing Webster, Bicester, between 1898 and 1900). Most of the Benin Bronzes sold at auction were purchased by museums, mainly in Germany. The dispersal of Benin artworks to museums around the world catalysed the beginnings of a 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.

The British occupied Benin, which was absorbed into the British Niger Coast Protectorate and eventually into British colonial Nigeria. A general emancipation of slaves followed in the wake of British occupation, and with it came an end to human sacrifice. However, the British instituted a system of drafting locals to work as forced labourers in often poor conditions that were not much better than had been during the previous Benin Empire

Interior of the oba of Benin after been razed

Benin known for its famed wall , renouned for been 4 times larger than the walls of China , so lovers of history let's begin



At the end of the 19th century, the Kingdom of Benin had managed to retain its independence during the Scramble for Africa, and the Oba of Benin exercised a monopoly over trade in Benin's territories which the Royal Niger Company considered a threat. In 1892, Deputy Commissioner and Vice-Consul Captain Henry Lionel Galway (1859–1949) tried to negotiate a trade agreement with Oba Ovọnramwẹn Nọgbaisi (1888–1914) to allow for the free passage of goods through his territory and the development of the palm oil industry. Captain Gallwey (as his name was then spelled) would push for British interests in the region, especially of the palm oil industry, by attempting to negotiate a free trade agreement with the Oba at the time. Later on, Moor would urge the Foreign office to use whatever means to secure the signed treaty, up to and including force.
Gallwey signed the treaty with the Oba and his chiefs which gave Britain legal justification for exerting greater influence in the region. While the treaty itself contained clauses which suggested that the Oba had sought British protection, this was not corroborated by either him or Gallwey. According to Gallwey's own account, the Oba was hesitant to sign the treaty.
After the British consul Richard Burton visited Benin in 1862 he described it a place of "gratuitous barbarity which stinks of death", a narrative which was publicized in Britain and increased pressure for the territory's incorporation into the British Empire.

The treaty itself does not explicitly mention anything about the "bloody customs" that Burton had written about, and instead includes a vague clause about ensuring "the general progress of civilization".While the treaty granted free trade to British merchants operating in the Kingdom of Benin, the Oba persisted in requiring customs duties.
Since Major (later Sir) Claude Maxwell Macdonald, the Consul General of the Oil River Protectorate authorities considered the treaty legal and binding, he deemed the Oba's requirements a violation of the accord and thus a hostile act.

Although some historians have suggested that humanitarian motivations were driving British foreign policy in the region,other historians, such as Philip Igbafe, consider that the annexation of Benin was driven largely by economic designs. The treaty itself did not mention any goal that removed the "bloody customs" that Burton had written about.

In 1894, after the capture of Ebrohimi, the trading town of the chief Nana Olomu (the leading Itsekiri trader in the Benin River District) by a combined Royal Navy and Niger Coast Protectorate force, the Kingdom of Benin increased the military presence on its own southern borders. These developments combined with the Colonial Office's refusal to grant approval for an invasion of Benin City scuttled an expedition the Protectorate had planned for early 1895. Even so, between September 1895 and mid-1896 three attempts were made by the Protectorate to enforce the Gallwey Treaty of 1892: firstly by Major P. Copland-Crawford, Vice-Consul of the Benin District; secondly by Ralph Frederick Locke, the Vice-Consul Assistant; and thirdly by Captain Arthur Maling, Commandant of the Niger Coast Protectorate Force detachment based in Sapele.

In March 1896, following price fixing and refusals by Itsekiri middle men to pay the required tributes, the Oba of Benin ordered a cessation of the supply of oil palm produce to them. The trade embargo brought trade in the Benin River region to a standstill, and the British merchants in the region appealed to the Protectorate's Consul-General to "open up" Benin territories and to send the Oba (whom they claimed was an obstruction to their trading activities) into exile. In October 1896 the Acting Consul-General, James Robert Phillips, visited the Benin River District and met with the agents and traders, who convinced him that "there is a future on the Benin River if Benin territories were opened
In November 1896, Phillips, the Vice Consul of a trading post on the African coast, decided to meet with the Oba in Benin City in regards to the trade agreement that the Oba had made with the British but was not keeping. He formally asked his superiors in London for permission to visit Benin City, claiming that the costs of such an expedition would be recouped by trading for ivory. In late December 1896, without waiting for a reply or approval, Phillips embarked on an expedition comprising

James Robert Phillips, Acting Consul-General, Niger Coast Protectorate.
Maj. Copland Crawford, Vice-Council of the Benin and Warri districts.
Alan Boisragon, Commandant of the Constabulary of the Niger Coast Protectorate.
Cap. Malling, Niger Coast Protectorate force.
Dr. Elliot, Medical Officer for Sapele and Benin districts.
Mr. Ralph Locke, District Commissioner of Warri.
Mr. Kenneth Campbell, District Commissioner at Sapele.
Mr. Gordon, trader, Africa Association.
Mr. Swainson, trader, of Mr. Pinnock's firm.
Mr. Powis, agent for Millers Brothers palm oil, at Old Calabar.
Mr. Lyon, Assistant District commissioner at Sapele (waited Gwatto).
Mr. Baddoo (of Accara, Gold Coast), Consul-General's Chief clerk and Photographer.
Mr. Jumbo, Consul-General's orderly, and Civil Policeman.
Mr. , Vice-Council's orderly, and Civil Policeman.
Mr. Towey, local interpreter.
Mr. Herbert Clarke, local interpreter.
Mr. Basilli, local Benin guide.
Jim, Boisragon's, Kru, manservant.
180 Jakri porters to carry their supplies, food, trade goods, presents, cameras, and tents.
60 Kru labourers.

Phillips had sent a message to the Oba, claiming that his present mission was to discuss trade and peace and demanding admission to the territory. Ahead of Phillips, he had sent an envoy bearing numerous gifts for trade. It was during this time that the Oba was celebrating Igue festival, and he sent word that he did not wish to see the British at the time, and he would send word in a month or two, when he was ready to receive just Phillips and one Jakri chief.

On 4 January 1897, Phillips and his entire party was ambushed along their journey to Benin City, at Ugbine village near Gwato.British officers and African porters were both slaughtered. Only two British survived their wounds, Alan Boisragon and Ralph Locke. Within the week, news had made it to London of the massacre. This event led to the mounting of the Punitive Expedition.

As a result of this attack, the Foreign Office of Britain authorized military action, leading to the "punitive expedition", the purported intention by Moor: »It is imperative that a most severe lesson be given the Kings, Chiefs, and JuJu men of all surrounding countries, that white men cannot be killed with impunity, and that human sacrifices, with the oppression of the weak and poor, must cease.« According to historian Philip Igbafe, the humanitarian and punitive justifications given by Moor ran counter to the economic justifications for military action that he and other members of the Protectorate administration promoted in the months and years before the events of February 1897.

The two British that survived the annihilation of Phillips' expedition,which became known as the 'Benin Massacre', were Captain Alan Maxwell Boisragon, Commandant of the Constabulary of the Niger Coast Protectorate, who had been shot in the right arm and knee, and Ralph Locke, District Commissioner of Warri, who had been shot four times in the arm, and once in the hip

SporaD8:
Not Mad per se.
However, the below quotes made him eternally complicit in Nigeria's troubles and woes,

Thank you

In 1899, Lord Lugard had proclaimed a British protectorate over much of the Sokoto Caliphate. with the failure of numerous diplomatic overtures to the Caliph, in 1900 a military campaign was launched to subdue the caliphate. The British pacification campaign termed Kano-Sokoto Expedition set off from Zaria at the end of January 1903 under the command of Colonel Morland. British officers and N.C.O.s and 800 African rank and file. Apart from a company of mounted infantry and a few gunners, the whole force consisted of infantry. They were supported, however, by four 75-mm. mountain guns, which could if necessary be dismantled and transported by porters, and by six machine guns.

The War



After three previous victorious encounters with British forces, a large British Force from Kano ambushed the Kano cavalry at the great rocks of Kwatarkwashi. After a 6-hour encounter, the death of the Vizier of Kano led the remnant of the cavalry to retreat back to Sokoto, a substantial part of the force however under Muhammad Abbas surrendered to the British and proceeded back to Kano.

At Kano, Muhammad Abbas was proclaimed Emir of Kano. The last of the Kano cavalry were integrated into the Caliphal force of Sokoto

After sporadic fighting outside the walls of the fort, the British managed to penetrate the defensive parameters of the capital. Kano was mostly left defenseless at the time, the Emir was away with its large contingent Cavalry for the Autumn Campaign at Sokoto. Madakin Kano, a local noble rallied whatever troops there were still in the city to defend it. Despite his efforts, the British successfully took over the city after heavy fight wherein the latter sustained 70 casualties


The taking of Kano by the West African Frontier Force signalled the end of the Fulani empire in West Africa. The Fulani people were nomadic cattle-herders and fierce horsemen, who in the early 1800s, imbued with zeal for Islam, established a fundamentalist Muslim state among the Hausas in northern Nigeria under their leader Uthman dan Fodio, Commander of the Faithful. His successors were Sultans of Sokoto, the empire’s spiritual centre to the west of Kano. The empire of emirates owing obedience to the sultan was in decline by the 1880s, when the British, French and German governments began seriously to carve up the interior of West Africa between them. It took them twenty years or so, during which they stopped the slave trade and human sacrifice while encouraging Christian missionary work. A key figure was a forceful British colonial administrator, Frederick Lugard. After experience in India and East Africa, he was in his mid-thirties in 1894 when he was approached by Sir George Goldie, head of the Royal Niger Company, which, to the annoyance of the French, had seized control of the River Niger with its own fleet of twenty gunboats. Goldie recruited Lugard in a race against the French to sign a trading agreement with a key chief in the interior. He was successful, at the cost of a poisoned arrow in the head. In 1897 Joseph Chamberlain commissioned Lugard to raise and train the new West African Frontier Force, recruited from the local tribes, with British officers. Three years later the government terminated the Royal Niger Company’s contract and established separate protectorates over northern and southern Nigeria, with Lugard in charge of 300,000 square miles in the north, still largely unexplored by Europeans. Under the principles agreed at a conference in Berlin in 1885, it was necessary for a colonial power not merely to announce that it had taken over a particular region, but to establish a visible administration there. Other imperialists would then back politely away. British dominance of northern Nigeria was far more theoretical than real in 1900, but Lugard proceeded to make it a reality, more by bargaining and diplomacy with the local rulers than by force. His principle was always that colonial power was best exercised indirectly, through the local chiefs and structures already in place.

By 1902, however, he found it necessary to subdue the principal Fulani emirates. The colonial office was opposed to the use of force, but Lugard was not a man to be constrained by Whitehall. Kano was a major trading centre with a flourishing slave market, defended by mailed horsemen and protected by walls up to 40ft thick and 50ft high. Lugard sent against it a Frontier Force detachment of some 700 African soldiers, their British officers, four artillery pieces and four machine guns. They were led by Colonel T.L.N. Morland, an adventurous Canadian officer (he ended up as General Sir Thomas Morland). The defenders fired from the walls, but the artillery breached a gate and when the storming party formed up, the defenders departed, leaving the city to be taken. The population seemed either unconcerned or positively relieved and the British emptied the town’s noxious jail, which was so small and crowded that prisoners were regularly trampled to death. The Frontier Force went on to take Sokoto the following month after the reigning sultan, Attahiru, had fled. The British installed his brother in his place and caught up with Attahiru, who was cut down by a stray bullet during a skirmish. The Fulani were between a rock and a hard place. Even if they stopped the British, they would be promptly invaded by the French. They made terms with Lugard, who confirmed the emirs in office when they agreed to be guided by British Residents in future. There was to be no interference with Islamic religion and law, but slave trading was banned and domestic slavery was to be phased out. There was more trouble with some of the Fulani emirs, but by 1906 Lugard was fully in control and in 1914 northern and southern Nigeria were merged into Britain’s largest African colony, with Sir Frederick Lugard as Governor-General. In 1922 he wrote: ‘For two or three generations we may show the Negro what we are: then we shall be asked to go away. Then we shall leave the land to those it belongs to, with the feeling that they have better business friends in us.
Lugard to the Queen wrote : He has not placed Educated Nigerians in place of power , as this would keep them from revolts and under economic control "

Ghostwon82221:
God bless you Kalabari people. Your ancestors took good care of Oba Ovonramwen when he was exiled to Kalabar. I will always see you guys as my brothers.

because we are brothers

NoQualmz:
Hi Boo

Hey hi been a while

Ghostwon82221:
1) it is Benin, not Binin and not Bini.
2) Benin did not colonize Lagos, Lagos was part of Benin
3) it is the British who colonized Lagos when they took it away from Benin, Benin people are not foreign to Lagos, it is part of their ancestral lands.
4) Also tell your Yoruba monarchs to carry their original titles and stop copying the title of the one and only Oba.

I am Kalabari, but noted thank you.

Gadafii:
So Lagos was under the kingdom of bini😁☹️

Yes Until the British annexed lagos declaring Lagos Independent and In a message to the Oba of Benin that Lagos would no more pay tax to Binin King.
How Bini got to colonize Eko?

Well their early prince/king who happened to be one of the first sea explorers "founded" eko and installed a king who was only loyal to the Oba of Benin.

Dabronze:
What is the relationship between the Yoruba and Brazilian?

A lot really , we share a lot of culture and a lot of Brazilians live in Nigeria , I wrote a whole topic on this yesterday, Femi Pedro ,Joke Silva and Dj Xclusive are Brazilians in Nigeria.

After Oba Oluwole died in 1841 in an explosion triggered by lighting and gathered gunpowder at the Palace, the throne of Lagos was left vacant. The battle for the soul of West Africa’s most powerful and busiest slave port was between the vigorous Prince Kosoko, the seemly rightful heir to the throne and Prince Akitoye, his uncle. One was a man of the people (Kosoko) while the other was a man for the people also, but a “friend” to the British (Akitoye). Meanwhile, the order had been given to Beecroft to invade Lagos by all means necessary.

Kosoko, having tried to take the throne for himself and failed, went on exile at Port Novo and was asked to return to Lagos, 4 years later. In July 1845, Kosoko seized the throne in a coup. Akitoye was ejected out of Lagos and he went on exile in Badagry.

As the seemly rightful heir to the throne, Kosoko wanted the throne at all cost and was having a field day as one of the biggest slave traders in the West Africa region and he was not going to give up the throne with a fight.

Later on, the British government moved in to have Akitoye restored back to Lagos as the Oba.

Akitoye, who had been the Oba of Lagos from 1841-1845, made several attempts to stop the slave trade in Old Lagos, but sadly, this made him lose popularity amongst his Chiefs. Powerful slave trade merchants and traders wanted him out of the picture, at all costs. They would later aid the ascension of Kosoko to the throne from 1845-1851. While Kosoko was the Oba of the powerful city of Lagos, with its major slave ports situated all around the coast of the city, slave trade in Lagos rose like never before making him lose favour with the British government who wanted to put an end to the slave trade business by all means necessary.

On January 1851, Consul Beecroft, who was the British consul for the Blights of Benin and Biafra, met with Akitoye in Badagry and promised to help facilitate his return to the throne of Eko in return for a treaty banning all slave trade activities, human rituals and other similar activities.

14th of November 1851- the HMS Bloodhound berthed at Badagry with its cargo. This act was to counter the reign and trade policy of Oba Kosoko who was co-operating with the slave traders in Lagos – the likes of the well-known slave trader Domingo Martinez was having a field day in Eko with the backing of Oba Kosoko.

Beecroft proceeded to the shore of Lagos which was heavily guarded by the Brazilians and 100 soldiers of Kosoko. .


After the refusal from Kosoko, Beecroft wasted no time in telling Commander Forbes of the HMS Bloodhound to get ready for battle as he had used up all his options in persuading Kosoko to give up the throne peacefully.

In November 1851, a British party met with Oba Kosoko to present a proposal of British friendly relations along with giving up the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade. The proposal was rejected by Kosoko "on the technical reason that Lagos was under the Oba of Benin and that it was only that Oba who could deal with foreign powers concerning the status of Lagos"

November 23rd of 1851- Beecroft showed Commander Forbes a dispatch from London and it was agreed that they enter the Lagos waters with as large a force as could be gathered. By this time the H.M.S Bloodhound with 23 ships of soldiers and marines were already approaching the east side of Marina, Lagos.

The shore of Lagos at this time was heavily guarded by the Lagos soldiers under the Command of none other than General Oshodi Tapa. The general was not going to allow any white man to take the soul of Lagos, not under his watch. He knew the terrain of Lagos better and he was ready to protect the city that had been his home with his life.

It is important to note here that two battles were fought for the soul of Lagos in 1851. The first one was in November; it saw the Kosoko army defeating the British army, killing scores of its men. The second one happened a month after, and this involved the introduction of the Canon guns that gave birth to the “Agidingbi” sound.

The gunfire was so loud that it was heard as far away as Badagry. 23 boats with gunners formed a circle around the HMS Bloodhound Naval ship which had docked on the shores of Lagos. Receiving fire from the Lagos army, they proceeded on the attack with caution. The British were ready to engage and so were Kosoko’s5000 armed men who were ready to take back Lagos, bloodthirsty and battle ready.

26th of December 1851-the full slaughter commenced and the big guns of the Teazer and the Bloodhound made Kosoko’s men’s guns look like toy guns. The slaughter was awful. The battle raged for 5 days and finally, Lagos fell into the hands of the British. An Italian consul and trader, Giambattista Scala who visited Lagos after the invasion noted in his journals that the city was in ruins and its population has been reduced from 22,000 to 5000, leaving mostly children and the aged.

28th December 1851- Kosoko was forced to flee to Epe with some of his high-ranking Chiefs who went with him. Leaving his beloved Eko, with most of the city on fire, for Beecroft, Captain Jones and the British forces it was a well-deserved victory, for the people of Lagos, it was tragedy, sorrow, tears and blood.

On New Year’s Day 1852, the now fully-restored Oba of Lagos, Akitoye, signed a treaty with the British in which he banned all slave trade activities in Lagos. Oba Akitoye was on the throne till 1853 when he died (some historians actually would say and believe that he was poisoned). His son, Dosunmu became Oba after Akitoye’s death in 1853. 10 years after the 1851 Invasion of Lagos, Lagos became a British crown colony.
Source :Wikipedia
Culture

ednut1:
There were returnees who became slave traders themselves like seriki abass of badagry

some not all , and yes this is true because basically selling slaves was not immoral or illegal for a really long time

A majority of the Agudas were Catholics, but the community had a significant number of Muslim families and those who still adhered to the traditional religion. Religious differences were not as important nor divisive as they were to indigenous Africans, and they were comfortable marrying from any of the three religions.
Prior to the construction of a pro-cathedral, mass was performed in a bamboo building on Broad St, the plot of land where St Mary Convent was later built on. The first priest was Padre Anthonio, he was in charge of the Catholic church before the coming of French missionaries. The practice of baptism was important to the local community and it was also a way to enter the Aguda community.

A cathedral, the Holy Cross Pro-Cathedral was completed in 1881, financed by funds from the lay congregation. It was designed to be the most significant structure in Lagos colony when completed.
Originally built with one tower, a few years later another tower was added with the structure forming a cruciform structure with two towers. The Church was built by Agudas, but its construction was supervised by French missionaries. Among the builders were the quartet of Francisco Nobre (built one of the towers), Balthazar dos Reis, João da Costa and Lázaro Borges da Silva (master bricklayer) along with their apprentices. This group also built the old Central Mosque called Jamiu Central Mosque.

Brazilian architecture in Nigeria is a legacy of the thousands of freed slaves who returned to Nigeria in the 19th century. Trained as carpenters, cabinetmakers, masons and bricklayers in Brazil, the ex-slaves were notably technically skilled artisans and were known for their exuberant and individualistic style on doorways, brightly painted facades and chunky concrete columns which are rooted in the baroque styles popular in Brazil in the 18th century.

In early 1800s Lagos, the dominant architectural style was mud houses and houses with stilt using thatched leaves as roofing; these houses were usually divided into compartments to hold the extended family. The residence of the Oba and chiefs were much bigger, they had large courtyards, pillars and arches, a mixture of European and indigenous styles. The European influence took root during the reign of Oba Akinsemoyin who invited Portuguese slavers to Lagos,[6]and the slavers in return renovated his palace using imported bricks from Portugal for the structure and roofing slates. In the 1830s, the migration of emancipated returnees began to change the architectural style. Influenced by the symmetrical plans of the Brazilian colonial house, they introduced a new architectural style to Lagos that was soon embraced by wealthy traders. The Brazilian style of architecture became dominant in Lagos Island by the end of the 19th century. The structures were one storey houses built for middle class residents and others were two or three storeys stuccoed buildings (sobrados) built for wealthier clients. The detached storey buildings conferred prestige on the owners. They were built with shuttered windows, had spaces between the top of the wall and the roof and with a compound. A ground floor usually opens to the street and was sometimes used as a storage, store or housing the domestic help. The houses were built for a nuclear family in contrast to the extended family structure of early Yoruba architecture.

This style was prominent in old Lagos during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries but as the city grew, many of the houses have been remodeled or demolished to make way for bigger houses.

Notable Brazilian Nigerians
DJ Caise
DJ Xclusive
Adetokunbo Ademola
Adeyemo Alakija
Daniel Pedro
Kojo Annan
Elizabeth Abimbola Awoliyi
Mobolaji Bank Anthony
Bankole Cardoso
Candido Da Rocha
Moses Da Rocha
T.A. Doherty
Bernadine Evaristo
Abimbola Fernandez
Antonio Deinde Fernandez
J.M. Johnson
Jibril Martin
Orlando Martins
Femi Pedro
Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu
Joke Silva

The Malê Rebellion in Brazil, also known as The Great Revolt, was a Muslim slave rebellion in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, in January 1835. The uprising occurred on a Sunday during Ramadan when enslaved African Muslims and freemen rose against the government. Yoruba and Hausa Muslims organized the rebellion, but non-Muslims from various backgrounds also participated. Muslims in Brazil were called Malê in Yoruba which led to the uprising being named the Malê Rebellion.

The rebellion was scheduled to take place on January 25, 1835. Preparation meetings took place in various locations across Salvador. The Muslim leaders in the uprising included Ahuna, Pacifico Licutan, Luis Sanim, Manoel Calafate, and Elesbao do Corma ,Ramirez Pedro ,el Hanandez .

A day before the rebellion was supposed to start; enslaved people began to hear rumors of the upcoming revolution. A former slave, Sabina da Cruz, fought with her husband, Vitorio Sule, and when he left, she went looking for him. She found him at a house meeting with other revolt organizers. They told her about the rebellion and said they would become masters of the land once the uprising started. After leaving the house, she told her friend and freewoman named Guilhermina about the plan rebellion. Guilhermina then told her white neighbor, Andre Pinto da Silveria. Two of Pinto da Silveria’s friends, Antonio de Souza Guimaraes and Francisco Antonio Malheiros, who were present when Guilhermina shared the information, then passed it on to local authorities.

Once the local authorities learned about the rebellion, revolt leaders were ambushed by military forces. When they fired back, the uprising began. The rebels attempted to attack a prison that held Muslim leader Pacifico Licutan to free him, but they failed. An estimated 600 enslaved Yoruba and Hausas then took to the streets of Salvador. They attacked the military barracks that protected the city. However, due to their inferior weapons and their being outnumbered by Brazilian National Guard troops, Salvador Police, and armed white civilians, they were defeated. It was estimated that during the day-long rebellion 80 enslaved people and seven National Guards troops were killed. Approximately 300 rebels were captured. Brazilian authorities sentenced four of the rebels to death, sixteen to prison, eight to forced labour, and forty-five to flogging. Overall, more than 500 Muslim Africans, including most of the surviving rebels, were expelled from Brazil and returned to the African continent Mostly Nigeria and Ghana were they were called Aguda and Tabom respectively as the only word they spoke was "Tabom" which means okay in Portuguese

A ship with Agudas docking in Badagry would be welcomed by crowds of children hailing them as they disembarked from the ship, whereas in the hinterlands strangers were viewed with suspicion.

In some cases, the Oba of Lagos gave them land to build a house and provided men to assist them in their transition to local life.
This notwithstanding, Lagos was different from Bahia. The elder returnees were comfortable, but many of the children were foreign to Lagos. They held on to elements of Bahia culture such as Catholicism and formed a close knit community within Lagos Island. Because of the retention of Catholicism and Western dressing, indigenous Africans called them "black whites" or Agudas

When Agudas arrived from Bahia and Pernambuco, they took up residence on the Eastern parts of Lagos on land provided by Oba Ojulari.
In 1852, this region was demarcated as the Brazilian quarters (what later came to be known as Popo Aguda). During this time, metropolitan Lagos followed the racial and cultural characteristics evident in the city. The Saros lived in Olowogbowo,The Saros who also migrated to Nigeria around the same time were recaptured and freed slaves already resident in Sierra Leone. Many of the returnees chose to return to Nigeria for cultural, missionary and economic reasons. Many, if not the greater majority, of them were originally descended from the Yoruba of western and central Nigeria. Other Nigerian groups forming part of the Sierra Leonean and Gambian Krio population included the Efik, Igbos, Hausa and Nupe.

The returnees mostly resided in the Lagos Colony, with substantial populations in Abeokuta and Ibadan. Some also settled in Calabar, Port Harcourt where they were given land in Kalabari-land and a community called Aguda-ma and other communities . Though many were originally dedicated Anglophiles in Nigeria, they later adopted an indigenous and patriotic attitude on Nigerian affairs due to a rise in discrimination in the 1880s, and were later known as cultural nationalists like Herbert Mcaully,Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti The first woman to drive a car and ride a motorcycle in Africa is a Saro.
It is said they brought pidgin in the Nigerian lingua culture. Femi Pedro, Dj Xclusive, Joke Silva are Agudas or Amaros

Despite the rebellion’s failure, many saw the Malê Rebellion in Brazil as the turning point of slavery in Brazil. Beginning in the 1850s, the slave trade which brought Africans to Brazil was gradually ended. In 1871, the so-called “Free Womb Law” declared all children born to enslaved women would be free. Slavery was officially and finally abolished in Brazil in 1888.

In Nigeria Most were Catholics, but some worshiped African Orishas which they brought from Brazil. Some of the Agudas are also Muslims. Most of them still have Portuguese names. Some common Portuguese family names in Nigeria include Pinheiro, Harnandez , Da Silva, Pedro, and Moreira.
Along with the Saros, they became a rising bourgeoisie. They utilized a western style of dressing, owned race horses and organized waltzes, square dances and musical soirees where Molière was performed. However, with time many began to embrace their heritage and when the children of the returnees were grown, they came to embrace Lagos as their home. The annexation of Lagos that led to the rise of this wealthy class also came with the realisation that the colonists were not leaving soon and any hope of forming a political class was dim. The Brazilians began to cultivate relationships with the traditional authorities in Lagos, while some renewed relationships with Africans in the hinterland by supplying them with weapons. Agudas supplied weapons to the Ijeshas in the war against Ibadan. Beginning in the 1880s, many began to change their names to African ones while the Aurora relief Society was formed to research their culture. Agudas' cuisine in the early 1920s included food considered African in Bahia but considered different from those eaten by indigenes on the Island. They ate pirão de caranguejo during holidays and prepared mungunzá, mingau (porridge) and feijão-de-leite (coconut milk beans) as food staples.[8] In agriculture, the returnees also popularized the use of Cassava as a food crop.

Agudas celebrated Easter with the coming out of Caretas or masked figures, burrinha at Epiphany and Nosso Senhor do Bonfim (Our Lord of the Good End) associated with Obatala was celebrated during yuletide.

Popo Aguda was a close-knit community and residents were known for their thriftiness and a strong work ethic

Ghengis Khan

Genghis Khan was a warrior and ruler of genius who, starting from obscure and insignificant beginnings, brought all the nomadic tribes of Mongolia under the rule of himself and his family in a rigidly disciplined military state. He then turned his attention toward the settled peoples beyond the borders of his nomadic realm and began the series of campaigns of plunder and conquest that eventually carried the Mongol armies as far as the Adriatic Sea in one direction and the Pacific coast of China in the other, leading to the establishment of the great Mongol Empire.


Historical background

With the exception of the saga-like Secret History of the Mongols (1240?), only non-Mongol sources provide near-contemporary information about the life of Genghis Khan. Almost all writers, even those who were in the Mongol service, have dwelt on the enormous destruction wrought by the Mongol invasions. One Arab historian openly expressed his horror at the recollection of them. Beyond the reach of the Mongols and relying on second-hand information, the 13th-century chronicler Matthew Paris called them a “detestable nation of Satan that poured out like devils from Tartarus so that they are rightly called Tartars.” He was making a play on words with the classical word Tartarus (Hell) and the ancient tribal name of Tatar borne by some of the nomads, but his account catches the terror that the Mongols evoked.
As the founder of the Mongol nation, the organizer of the Mongol armies, and the genius behind their campaigns, Genghis Khan must share the reputation of his people, even though his generals were frequently operating on their own, far from direct supervision. Nevertheless, it would be mistaken to see the Mongol campaigns as haphazard incursions by bands of marauding savages. Nor is it true, as some have supposed, that these campaigns were somehow brought about by a progressive desiccation of Inner Asia that compelled the nomads to look for new pastures. Nor, again, were the Mongol invasions a unique event. Genghis Khan was neither the first nor the last nomadic conqueror to burst out of the steppe and terrorize the settled periphery of Eurasia. His campaigns were merely larger in scale, more successful, and more lasting in effect than those of other leaders. They impinged more violently upon those sedentary peoples who had the habit of recording events in writing, and they affected a greater part of the Eurasian continent and a variety of different societies.

Two societies were in constant contact, two societies that were mutually hostile, if only because of their diametrically opposed ways of life, and yet these societies were interdependent.
The nomads needed some of the staple products of the south and coveted its luxuries. These could be had by trade, by taxing transient caravans, or by armed raids. The settled peoples of China needed the products of the steppe to a lesser extent, but they could not ignore the presence of the nomadic barbarians and were forever preoccupied with resisting encroachment by one means or another. A strong dynasty, such as the 17th-century Manchu, could extend its military power directly over all Inner Asia. At other times the Chinese would have to play off one set of barbarians against another, transferring their support and juggling their alliances so as to prevent any one tribe from becoming too strong.

The cycle of dynastic strength and weakness in China was accompanied by another cycle, that of unity and fragmentation amongst the peoples of the steppe. At the peak of their power, a nomadic tribe under a determined leader could subjugate the other tribes to its will and, if the situation in China was one of weakness, might extend its power well beyond the steppe. In the end this extension of nomadic power over the incompatible, sedentary culture of the south brought its own nemesis. The nomads lost their traditional basis of superiority—that lightning mobility that required little in the way of supply and fodder—and were swallowed up by the Chinese they had conquered. The cycle would then be resumed; a powerful China would reemerge, and disarray and petty squabbling among ephemeral chieftains would be the new pattern of life among the nomads. The history of the Mongol conquests illustrates this analysis perfectly, and it is against this background of political contrasts and tensions that the life of Genghis Khan must be evaluated. His campaigns were not an inexplicable natural or even God-given catastrophe but the outcome of a set of circumstances manipulated by a soldier of ambition, determination, and genius. He found his tribal world ready for unification, at a time when China and other settled states were, for one reason or another, simultaneously in decline, and he exploited the situation.

Early struggles
Various dates are given for the birth of Temüjin (or Temuchin), as Genghis Khan was named—after a leader who was defeated by his father, Yesügei, when Temüjin was born. The chronology of Temüjin’s early life is uncertain. He may have been born in 1155, in 1162 (the date favoured today in Mongolia), or in 1167. According to legend, his birth was auspicious, because he came into the world holding a clot of blood in his hand. He is also said to have been of divine origin, his first ancestor having been a gray wolf, “born with a destiny from heaven on high.” Yet his early years were anything but promising. When he was nine, Yesügei, a member of the royal Borjigin clan of the Mongols, was poisoned by a band of Tatars, another nomadic people, in continuance of an old feud

Death of Alexander the Great
By 323 B.C., Alexander was head of an enormous empire and had recovered from the devastating loss of his friend Hephaestion—who was also reputed to be one of Alexander’s homosexual male lovers.

Thanks to his insatiable urge for world supremacy, he started plans to conquer Arabia. But he’d never live to see it happen. After surviving battle after fierce battle, Alexander the Great died in June 323 B.C. at age 32.

Some historians say Alexander died of malaria or other natural causes; others believe he was poisoned. Either way, he never named a successor.

His death—and the bloody infighting for control that happened afterwards—unraveled the empire he’d fought so hard to create.

Why Was Alexander The Great ‘Great’?
Many conquered lands retained the Greek influence Alexander introduced, and several cities he founded remain important cultural centers even today. The period of history from his death to 31 B.C., when his empire folded, would come to be known as the Hellenistic period, from “Hellazein,” which means, “to speak Greek or identify with the Greeks.” Alexander the Great is revered as one of the most powerful and influential leaders the ancient world ever produced.

Sources
Alexander the Great. Ancient History Encyclopedia.

Mass Wedding
In early 324 B.C., Alexander reached the city of Susa in Persia. Wanting to unite the Persians and Macedonians and create a new race loyal only to him, he ordered many of his officers to marry Persian princesses at a mass wedding. He also took two more wives for himself.

The Macedonian army resented Alexander’s attempt to change their culture and many mutinied. But after Alexander took a firm stand and replaced Macedonian officers and troops with Persians, his army backed down.

To further diffuse the situation, Alexander returned their titles and hosted a huge reconciliation banquet.

Alexander Enters Egypt
After rejecting another peace offer from Darius, Alexander set out for Egypt. He was sidelined at Gaza, however, and forced to endure another lengthy siege. After several weeks, he took the town and entered Egypt where he established the city that still bears his name: Alexandria.

Alexander traveled to the desert to consult the oracle of Ammon, a god of supposed good counsel. Legends abound about what transpired at the oracle, but Alexander kept mum about the experience. Still, the visit furthered speculation Alexander was a deity.



Alexander Becomes King of Persia
After conquering Egypt, Alexander faced Darius and his massive troops at Gaugamela in October 331 B.C. Following fierce fighting and heavy losses on both sides, Darius fled and was assassinated by his own troops. It’s said Alexander was sad when he found Darius’s body and he gave him a royal burial.

Finally rid of Darius, Alexander proclaimed himself King of Persia. But another Persian leader, Bessus (also thought to be Darius’s murderer), had also claimed the Persian throne. Alexander couldn’t let the claim stand.

After relentless pursuit by Alexander, Bessus’s troops handed Bessus over to Ptolemy, Alexander’s good friend, and he was mutilated and executed. With Bessus out of the way, Alexander had full control of Persia.

MightySparrow:
He came, he saw, he conquer.

he really did , only Death literally stood in his way

Alexander Enters India


In 327 B.C., Alexander marched on Punjab, India. Some tribes surrendered peacefully; others did not. In 326 B.C., Alexander met King Porus of Paurava at the Hydaspes River.

Porus’s army was less experienced than Alexander’s, but they had a secret weapon—elephants. Even so, after a fierce battle in a raging thunderstorm, Porus was defeated.

One event took place at Hydaspes which devastated Alexander: the death of his beloved horse, Bucephalus. It’s unclear if he died from battle wounds or of old age, but Alexander named the city of Bucephala after him.

Alexander wanted to press on and attempt to conquer all of India, but his war-weary soldiers refused, and his officers convinced him to return to Persia. So Alexander led his troops down the Indus River and was severely wounded during a battle with the Malli.

After recovering, he divided his troops, sending half of them back to Persia and half to Gedrosia, a desolate area west of the Indus River.

Gordian Knot
From Halicarnassus, Alexander headed north to Gordium, home of the fabled Gordian knot, a group of tightly-entwined knots yoked to an ancient wagon. Legend had it whoever unwound the knot would conquer all of Asia.

As the story goes, Alexander took on the challenge but was unable to unravel the knot by hand. He took another approach and sliced through the knot with his sword, claiming triumph.

Battle of Issus
In 333 B.C., Alexander and his men encountered a massive Persian army led by King Darius III near the town of Issus in southern Turkey. Alexander’s forces were greatly outnumbered in men but not in experience or the determination for revenge and to claim Persia’s great wealth, much of it plundered.

As it became clear Alexander would win the Battle of Issus, Darius fled with what remained of his troops, leaving his wife and family behind. His mother, Sisygambis, was so upset she disowned him and adopted Alexander as her son.

By now it was clear that Alexander was a shrewd, ruthless and brilliant military leader—in fact, he never lost a battle in his life. He would build an empire on the back of his motto, “there is nothing impossible to him who will try.”

Battle of Tyre
Next, Alexander took over the Phoenician cities of Marathus and Aradus. He rejected a plea from Darius for peace and took the towns of Byblos and Sidon.

He then laid siege to the heavily fortified island of Tyre in January 332 B.C., after the Tyrians refused him entry. But Alexander had no navy to speak of and Tyre was surrounded by water.

Alexander instructed his men to build a causeway to reach Tyre. All went well until they came within striking distance of the Tyrians. Again and again, Tyrian forces thwarted Alexander’s clever attempts to gain entry, and he realized he needed a strong navy to penetrate their defenses.

He amassed a large fleet, finally breached the city’s walls in July 332 B.C. and executed thousands of Tyrians for daring to defy him; many others were sold into slavery.

From Alexander the great , Ghengis Khan even the African Cathage warrior Hector who conquered territories and made empires Askia the great of west Africa

Good Morning and let's begin



Alexander the Great was an ancient Macedonian ruler and one of history’s greatest military minds who, as King of Macedonia and Persia, established the largest empire the ancient world had ever seen. By turns charismatic and ruthless, brilliant and power hungry, diplomatic and bloodthirsty, Alexander inspired such loyalty in his men they’d follow him anywhere and, if necessary, die in the process. Though Alexander the Great died before realizing his dream of uniting a new realm, his influence on Greek and Asian culture was so profound that it inspired a new historical epoch—the Hellenistic Period.
At age 12, Alexander showed impressive courage when he tamed the wild horse Bucephalus, an enormous stallion with a furious demeanor. The horse became his battle companion for most of Alexander’s life.

When Alexander was 13, Philip called on the great philosopher Aristotle to tutor his son. Aristotle sparked and fostered Alexander’s interest in literature, science, medicine and philosophy.

Alexander was just 16 when Philip went off to battle and left his son in charge of Macedonia. In 338 B.C., Alexander saw the opportunity to prove his military worth and led a cavalry against the Sacred Band of Thebes—a supposedly unbeatable, select army made up entirely of male lovers—during the Battle of Chaeronea.

Alexander put his vigor and bravery on display, and his cavalry decimated the Sacred Band of Thebes.





Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great was an ancient Macedonian ruler and one of history’s greatest military minds who, as King of Macedonia and Persia, established the largest empire the ancient world had ever seen. By turns charismatic and ruthless, brilliant and power hungry, diplomatic and bloodthirsty, Alexander inspired such loyalty in his men they’d follow him anywhere and, if necessary, die in the process. Though Alexander the Great died before realizing his dream of uniting a new realm, his influence on Greek and Asian culture was so profound that it inspired a new historical epoch—the Hellenistic Period.

Where Was Alexander the Great From?
Alexander III was born in Pella, Macedonia, in 356 B.C. to King Philip II and Queen Olympias—although legend had it his father was none other than Zeus, the ruler of the Greek gods.

Philip II was an impressive military man in his own right. He turned Macedonia (a region on the northern part of the Greek peninsula) into a force to be reckoned with, and he fantasized about conquering the massive Persian Empire.


Bucephalus
At age 12, Alexander showed impressive courage when he tamed the wild horse Bucephalus, an enormous stallion with a furious demeanor. The horse became his battle companion for most of Alexander’s life.

When Alexander was 13, Philip called on the great philosopher Aristotle to tutor his son. Aristotle sparked and fostered Alexander’s interest in literature, science, medicine and philosophy.

Alexander was just 16 when Philip went off to battle and left his son in charge of Macedonia. In 338 B.C., Alexander saw the opportunity to prove his military worth and led a cavalry against the Sacred Band of Thebes—a supposedly unbeatable, select army made up entirely of male lovers—during the Battle of Chaeronea.

Alexander put his vigor and bravery on display, and his cavalry decimated the Sacred Band of Thebes.

Alexander Becomes King
In 336 B.C., Alexander’s father Philip was assassinated by his bodyguard Pausanias. Just 20 years old, Alexander claimed the Macedonian throne and killed his rivals before they could challenge his sovereignty.

He also quashed rebellions for independence in northern Greece. Once he’d cleaned house, Alexander left to follow in his father’s footsteps and continue Macedonia’s world domination.

Alexander appointed the general Antipater as regent and headed for Persia with his army. They crossed the Hellespont, a narrow strait between the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara, and faced Persian and Greek forces at the Granicus River. Victory went to Alexander and the Macedonians.

Alexander then headed south and easily took the city of Sardes. But his army encountered resistance in the cities of Miletus, Mylasa and Halicarnassus. Under siege yet not beaten, Halicarnassus held out long enough for King Darius III, the newest Persian king, to amass a substantial army.

MadarasBlade:
What is the cost of living in Bulgaria? Why do you people calculate like this? Nawa

I really don't know.

sweetonugbu:
ok

how's your day ? Please don't forget to smile youhave a wonderful wonderful day

LordReed:
wonderfully well. you?

Great really , Thank you

LordReed:
SM is not worth the mental exhaustion. It's heady when you first get into it but you learn that it's not that deep, people are mostly catching cruise, why bother your head over people's vanity.

True there Lord , how are you this evening?

Hmm comical thread I see why I disdain this thread the aparty of emotions on frequents here is saddening incredible even , like yeah they died so what , good thing I never retun here though



To reader; Please run NAIRALAND IS REALLY REALLY MENTALLY EXHAUSTING BAD NEWS ON A DAILY DOES THAT TO YOU .Love and light to those who listen
It's addiction but you have to radically decide to dump here , you deserve better really

Mehn I forgot how I hated arguments on this forum wow

Rescued and thriving under the care of non believers. Leaving a permanent stain of shame on Nigerians. All this is done not by Juju but by believers in juju. Two different things.

It is one of the things used by biased world to down grade the Nigerian to an superstitious person who makes no effort to achieve anything in life and blaming his failures on others using Juju against him.


please I am not trying to bring your whole morally founded ego of religion down but it is necessary to be abruptly woken , white people well in the past did not love us so why would they give us religion? Because they live us?

In other non superstitious fear filled countries they are called illustrations or magic shows.

They can make elephants disappear. Walk though walls and cut their assistants in half. There they stopped claiming supernatural abilities hundred of years ago. They even correct you if you call it magic.

In Nigeria and Africa in general. People still believe in the same cheap illustrations any professional magician in Europe will recognize. it is as if the African is incapable of performing the same illustrations for his customers.

Edit: I am closing the comments because the similar comments keep popping up and I keep having to repeat myself. I am therefore summarizing them here.

Cultural believes: It is very hard to disregard what you were brought up to believe, I respect that. I was brought up in an family that encouraged analysis of what we hear. My analysis is that Juju is nothing more than parlour tricks reinforced by popular culture.

Juju power not yet discovered : like radio waves as someone kept it. False premise, Since the universe came into existence, there was sound. You talk and I hear. The discovery of sound waves and waves in general just told us how it happens. Now if you showed me a woman flying without wings and show me how it is done, only than can you compare a known phenomenon’s science, with nothing ever proven.

The power of Juju had been observed : Common example been given is “bulletproof” charms. I have them done on me. Even poison and knife proof. It was part of my tribal age group initiation. Am I going to try it out? No.

Please explain this bulletproof in terms of a handful of British soldiers and delta locals conquering the Ancient kingdom of Benin with all its most powerful Juju and thousands of soldiers. Now apply it to the rest of present day Nigeria.

A friend and I were told a story in secondary school by another boy on how his family was protected against bandits by Juju. Decades later my friend repeated The same story, only the subject was his family with no mention of the person who told it to us originally . This is how myth over the history of humanity normally forms.

You are a Christian and believing in Juju is part of it: Again false premise. Most Christians do not know what Juju is.

African traditional religion from where Juju originated does not acknowledge any of the Christian believes. So how is it anti God or pro Devil when it is something they do not believe in?

Someone started quoting scriptures for mention of witches. The witches have nothing to do with Nigerian Juju. It is a religion older than Christianity and goes back to the druids of old. Naturally they will appear in the Bible. But here is the thing. Witchcraft or Wiccans are an recognized religion freely practiced today. Protected by law in most developed countries. They do not believe in gods of any kind and worship the earth as an entity we live on. The witches of old and new would find Nigerian witches and what is attributed to them very funny. Right out of Hollywood or Nollywood.

Please research. You want to use witchcraft as an example. Read up on them first.

Many people claim to see the same thing: It is called Mass hysteria. If you are told a powerful juju lives on a lane. Every smell, sound or sight will be the juju to the believer. No different from the Monkey man of India or the disappearing privates epidemic that keeps popping up in Nigeria.

The image of Nigerian juju in the outside world is that of human traffickers using it to scare their victims, but does not protect them from been arrested. Ritual murders with the practitioners in jail and Nigerian “witch” children abused and abandoned by family and society.