Where is opobo in nigeria

The word that was contrived to make it seem as though the British traders were being extorted. But they made no complaints about the comey charges imposed on them in other neighboring city-states. What the British traders sought was free trade. The firms were quite keen to set up shop their factories closer to the fairs so that they could buy the palm oil directly from growers thus bypassing the agents working for King Jaja and his chiefs. His trial took place on 29 November ; he was accused of administering illegal oaths to the native people in his markets ostensibly to frighten them from dealing directly with European Agents.

He was accused of barring trade to the inland districts beyond his jurisdiction, of blocking the highway and sea-lane entrance into Opobo River -thereby flouting the terms and spirit of the Berlin Treaty of When King Jaja was pardoned and released to return to Opobo he died in Santa Cruz, Tenerife in the early hours of the morning of 8 July This is a well-deserved look at his rise to power and reign from a new perspective. The authors have gone further to reveal more about his private life, his closest political aides, personal attendants and family.

Prince Waribo was sent to attend school in Britain, and had died after a game of cricket in the Cheshire village of Frodsham, England in The prince bore a remarkable resemblance to his father, and according to a newspaper report; he was an apt student who gave evidence of rare talent the prince had been entrusted in the care of Mr.

Walter Johnstone partner of Couper, Johnstone and Co. So Jaja is an author who lives in London. He works in publishing. Aspects of British Gunboat Diplomacy is the only book he co-authored with his late father Amaopusenibo E. Following his exile and death, the power of the Opobo state rapidly declined, the land was plagued with slave raids, riots and the British exploited the land for his natural resources.

After many years of clamour and protest his body was properly exhumed and sent back to his beloved Opobo Kingdom where he was laid to rest. By Oludamola Adebowale. The Igbo land in the s was in chaos, as it saw Europeans invade the land for slaves, in exchange for firearms, tobacco, bullets and black slave raiders were invading different….

King Jaja Opobo statue. Photo: Wikipedia. Guardian Life. ART X Lagos staged a triumphant return to the Federal Palace in Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria with the first in-person art fair to take place anywhere on the African continent since the pandemic struck in The physical fair closed on Sunday 7 November amid reports of strong sales, enthusiastic collector attendance and gallery satisfaction…. Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Telegram. The Nigerian art scene features several spectacular artists whose breathtaking works depict individuality.

Bunmi Agusto's works depict…. What's New. The Houston Police Department has retracted their claim that an Astroworld Festival security guy may have been injected with drugs at the event. The Police chief Troy Finner revealed that officers had interviewed the guard who claimed he was hit in the head, fell unconscious and woke up in a medical tent. The initial allegation…. Alec Baldwin is being sued by a crew member over the fatal shooting on the set of his movie Rust that led to the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins last month.

The negligence suit also names armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, whose legal representatives had claimed that she was being "framed" for the death of Halyna Hutchins. In the….

The apology was included in Associated Newspapers appeal against a High Court ruling that it had encroached the Duchess of Sussex's privacy by publishing parts of a letter she….

As the yuletide dawns upon us, ace Nigerian producer, Oladipupo Olugbemi, better known as QueBeats, has released a new party groove dubbed, Bamboo Riddim.

The DJ…. British singer Adele has debuted a new song Hold On off her highly anticipated album 30 in a nostalgic Amazon holiday commercial. She then goes…. The definition of providence; it seems like it accurately describes the nature of my specific career.

It will be quite a struggle for anyone to fill in the shoes of the multi-talented music maestro, Victor Uwaifo. Squid Game creator and director Hwang Dong-hyuk has confirmed that the Netflix TV series would be back for a highly-demanded second season.

Ja Ja was slotted into the lowest rung of the Bonny slave society ladder, that of an imported slave, distinct from that of someone who was of slave parentage but born in the Delta. As a youth, he worked as a paddler on his owner's great trade canoes, traveling to and from the inland markets.

Quite early, he demonstrated exceptional abilities and business acumen, quickly identified with the Ijo custom of the Delta, and won the hearts of the local people as well as those of the European supercargoes. It was unusual for a slave of his status to make the transition from canoe paddling to trading, but Ja Ja—through his honesty, business sense, and amiability—soon became prosperous.

For a long while, Ja Ja turned his back on Bonny politics, concentrating his immense energies on accumulating wealth through trade, the single most important criterion to power in the Delta. At the time, Bonny politics were volatile as a result of the irreconcilable and acrimonious contest for supremacy between the Manilla Pepple House and the Anna Pepple House to which Ja Ja belonged.

Fearing bankruptcy, all of the eligible chiefs of the house declined nomination to head it. It was therefore a great relief when Ja Ja accepted to fill the void. With characteristic energy, he proceeded to put his house in order by reorganizing its finances. Conscious that the palm-oil markets in the hinterland and the wealth of the European trading community on the coast constituted the pivot of the Delta economy, he ingratiated himself with both sides.

In a matter of two years, he had liquidated the debt left behind by his predecessor and launched his house on the path of prosperity. When less prosperous and insolvent houses sought incorporation into the Anna House, Ja Ja gradually absorbed one house after another. By , his remarkable success had become common knowledge throughout Bonny. The British consul to the area, Sir Richard Burton, had cause to remark that although Ja Ja was the "son of an unknown bush man," he had become "the most influential man and greatest trader in the [Imo] River.

Burton's words proved prophetic. Ja Ja's successes incurred the jealousy of opponents who feared that, if left unchecked, his house might incorporate most of the houses in Bonny and thereby dominate its political and economic arena. Oko Jumbo, his bitterest opponent, was determined that such a prospect would never materialize.

Meanwhile, two developments occurred in Bonny, serving to harden existing jealousies. First, in , Christianity was introduced into the city-state, further polarizing the society. While the Manilla House welcomed the Christians with a warm embrace, the Anna House was opposed to the exotic religion. Not surprisingly, the missionaries sided with the Manilla House against the Anna House. Second, in , King William Pepple died and, with this, the contest for the throne between the two royal houses took on a monstrous posture.

Three years later, in , Bonny was ravaged by fire, and the Anna House was the worst hit. In the discomfiture of his opponent, Oko Jumbo saw his opportunity. Knowing that the fire had all but critically crippled Ja Ja's house, he sought every means to provoke an open conflict. On the other side, Ja Ja did everything to avoid such a conflict, but, as Dike states, "Oko Jumbo's eagerness to catch his powerful enemy unprepared prevailed. On September 13, , heavy fighting erupted between the two royal houses.

Outmatched in men and armament, though not in strategy, Ja Ja pulled out of Bonny, accepted defeat, and sued for peace with a suddenness that surprised both his adversaries and the European supercargoes. Peace palaver commenced and dragged on for weeks under the auspices of the British consul. This was exactly what Ja Ja planned for. It soon became doubtful if the victors were not indeed the vanquished. Ja Ja had sued for peace in order to gain time to retreat from Bonny with his supporters with little or no loss in men and armament.

A master strategist, he relocated in the Andoni country away from the seaboard at a strategic point at the mouth of the Imo river, the highway of trade between the coastal communities and the palm-oil rich Kwa Iboe and Igbo country. There, he survived the initial problems of a virgin settlement as well as incessant attacks of his Bonny enemies. In , feeling reasonably secure, Ja Ja proclaimed the independence of his settlement which he named Opobo, after Opubu the Great, the illustrious king of Bonny and founder of Anna House who had died in As Dike writes:.

Kingship was impossible of attainment for anyone of slave origins in Bonny. Instead he sought another land where he could give full scope to his boundless energies. Long before the war of , Ja Ja had been carefully planning to found his own state. The war merely provided him with the occasion to implement his design.

In naming his new territory Opobo, Ja Ja was appealing to the nostalgia and historical consciousness of his followers while giving them the impression that he was truly the heir of the celebrated king. That this impression was widespread and accepted by most Bonny citizens may be judged from the fact that of the 18 houses in Bonny, 14 followed Ja Ja to Opobo. To no avail, the British consul tried to coerce Ja Ja to come back to Bonny.

Against the admonition of the consul, and in the face of Bonny's displeasure, many British firms began to trade openly with Opobo while others transferred their depots there. By May of , the Ja Ja revolution had driven the death-knell on Bonny's economy. The city-state fell from grace to grass as Opobo, flourishing on its ashes, became in Ofonagoro's words, "the most important trade center in the Oil Rivers," and Ja Ja became "the greatest African living in the east of modern Nigeria.