On 4 May 1987, Mallam Ya'u, a Fulani cattle herder in Dufuna village along the Komadugu Gana River in Fune Local Government Area of Yobe State, northeastern Nigeria, struck a hard object while digging a well at 4.5 metres below the surface. What he had fo…

Among the Igbo of southeastern Nigeria, the thunder deity is Amadioha, also known in different regions as Kamalu, Kamanu, Amadiora, and Ofufe. His theological function mirrors Sango in its essentials while differing from it in one profound structural way that…

Wikipedia account of Oranmiyan is precise on the military transformation and its origin. There is no clear evidence that pre-Oranmiyan Ife maintained a permanent standing army comparable to what later emerged in Oyo. His strength and talent in battle made him…

The civilisational argument this entire series has been building across dozens of articles, that the peoples of West Africa, from the Niger Delta to the Gold Coast, from the Nile Valley corridor to the Australian coast, are branches of one root dispersal carr…

Nsukka is one of the most culturally significant regions in Igboland, with a rich history that stretches back centuries. Like many African societies, much of its indigenous history was reshaped by colonialism, the loss of oral traditions, and the gradual eros…

Accelerator Mass Spectrometry is a facility used for radiocarbon dating, helping scientists find the exact age of ancient bones, wood, and artifacts. Across the preceding months of historical investigation on this platform, an extraordinary civilisational por…

Efik people of Nigeria occupy the lower Cross River in what is now Cross River State, centred on Calabar, with communities also spread into southwestern Cameroon around Bakassi. Three theories attempt to explain where they came from, and none of them commands…

Among the Efik and Ibibio peoples of Old Calabar in present-day Cross River State, the birth of twins carried a theological verdict that no family could appeal. Twins were not considered naturally human. The dominant belief held that no human man could father…