From Odojele Village to London’s Halls of Learning BORN on 13 May 1911, in Odojele Village in Onitsha, present-day Anambra State, Sir Louis Nwachukwu Mbanefo emerged from modest beginnings to become one of the most consequential legal minds of his generation. The son of Odu Mbanefo, a traditional chief, he grew up at a time […]
By CLARA DIKE Queen Amina of Zaria: Rewriting Power and Gender in 16th Century Northern Nigeria A Princess Trained for Power IN the mid-16th century, at a time when political authority across much of West Africa was overwhelmingly male-dominated, a royal daughter in the Hausa city-state of Zazzau would emerge as one of the most formidable […]
History, Dissent and the Nigerian State NIGERIA’S post-independence history is marked by recurring confrontations between the state and dissenting voices from its constituent regions. From the oil-rich creeks of the Niger Delta in the 1960s to the political agitation in the South-East today, the tension between national unity and regional grievances has remained unresolved. Two […]
Norway’s Oil Moment—and the Choice That Changed Everything IN 1969, Norway struck oil in the North Sea. The discovery of the Ekofisk field instantly altered the nation’s destiny. Almost overnight, this modest Scandinavian country found itself sitting on one of the largest offshore oil reserves ever discovered. Wealth on an unimaginable scale had arrived. History […]
Introduction QUEEN Elizabeth II’s long reign—spanning seven decades from 1952 until her death in 2022—left an indelible mark on nations across the globe, particularly those in Africa that transitioned from colonial rule to independence and beyond. Among these, Nigeria’s historical relationship with the late British monarch encapsulates key political, social, and diplomatic shifts that continue […]
Introduction: Historical Memory and Modern Emotion FOR many Igbo people in southeastern Nigeria, the mention of Egypt elicits strong emotions that extend far beyond biblical symbolism or ancient history. This reaction—often perceived externally as rooted in religious narratives about Israelites in Egypt—is actually grounded in a political and historical memory of events during the Nigerian–Biafran […]
Nigeria Before Nigeria LONG before the name “Nigeria” existed, the region comprised a mosaic of independent political entities. The Oyo Empire in the west, the Benin Kingdom in the south, and Kanem-Bornu in the northeast were sophisticated states with centralised governance. Meanwhile, Igbo communities and the Niger Delta city-states operated as self-regulating societies, each with […]
By GODWIN KELECHI The 1966 Coup: A Crisis of Power, Not Grief THE July 1966 coup in Nigeria is often remembered for its tragic toll—the deaths of prominent northern politicians and military officers. Yet, a careful historical analysis suggests that the underlying trigger was not grief over these losses, but the perceived erosion of northern political […]
By CLARA DIKE Early Life and Enslavement KING Jaja of Opobo, born Mbanaso Okwaraozurumba around 1821, occupies a singular place in West African history as a ruler who rose from enslavement to become one of the most powerful indigenous economic actors of the nineteenth century. Born in Umuduruoha, Amaigbo, in present-day Imo State, within the cultural […]
Zong Massacre: A Calculated Crime Beneath Empire’s Veneer IN the annals of the transatlantic slave trade, few incidents illuminate the sheer brutality and systemic dehumanisation of enslaved Africans like the Zong massacre of 1781. On 29 November of that year, the crew of the British slave ship Zong cast scores of men, women and children […]