African History

African urbanization scholars, everyday Nigerians, and policymakers have a responsibility to do more than just honor the man who pioneered modern building regulations. The African continent has a responsibility to Akin Mabogunje to work toward his goal of creating truly welcoming urban environments. In Kano State on October 18th, 1931, Professor Akinlawon Ladipo “Akin” Mabogunje entered this world. He specialized …

Archaeological findings and historical documents have indicated that the ancient city of Meroe was the capital of the kingdom of Kush, which is now in present-day Sudan. Kush was a northern African kingdom whose influence spread between c. 1069 BCE and 350 CE. Although the wider region around Kush, which was later called Nubia, was inhabited as far back as …

Stolen during the colonial era, dozens of Benin bronzes that once adorned the Kingdom of Benin’s royal palace will be on display in Berlin for the final time on Saturday before being repatriated to Nigeria. The renowned pieces of African art and their turbulent journey up to the exhibition at the Humboldt Museum reflect Germany’s gradual reckoning with the colonial …

The Kanem-Bornu Empire was an African trading empire that was ruled by the Sef (Sayf) dynasty that controlled a large swathe of the regions around Lake Chad from the 9th to the 19th country. Much of its territory, at various times of its existence, includes what is today known as southern Chad, northern Cameroon, north-eastern Nigeria, eastern Nigeria, and southern …

In this article, we are going to delve into the interesting history of the Benin art of the medieval ages. Being art is the art ascribed to the kingdom of Benin or Edo people which existed right from 1440—1897, a precolonial west African empire that was located in what is today known as the south-south region of Nigeria. The art …

Although this might come to you as a surprise, there is well-documented evidence that the City of Ile fie, an ancient urban center, and the cradle of Yoruba civilization located in present-day Osun state, south-western Nigeria, was first paved by a woman around 1067 BC. Ile-Ife was first occupied at least since the 1st millennium CE, and it became the …

Yoruba Metal Art: There is well-documented evidence that iron smelting and forging technologies may have existed in West Africa among the Nok people of Nigeria as far back as the 6th century BC. From 1400 to 1600, iron technology appears to have played a crucial role in the fundamental social assets that engendered the growth of significant centralized civilizations within …

While western and Chinese tech billionaires and captains of industries are considered some of the world’s richest men today, the title of the richest man that ever walked the face of the earth belongs to a little-known ancient ruler in a part of the world that is today associated more with endemic poverty than unimaginable riches. His name was Mansa …

The mysteries of the world we live in are often in plain sight, and many times humans overlook them, as they chase other flimsy trends and social conditioning. The Vadoma people are the only ancient African ethnic nationalities in the world who have this rare and unique type of toes. Their people are also known as the Bantwana people – …

The Amazons of Dahomey are the world’s only documented female army and one of the world’s unsolved mysteries. While the West turns their story into fetishized cinema, their homeland has immortalized them in bronze. The ‘Esplanade des Amazones’ is a public square in the Benin capital of Cotonou. It is home to the ‘Amazon,’ a 30-meter-tall statue dedicated to the …