Nigeria cultural Heritage

OKEBADAN: A HILL OF HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCES

2013-05-13T04:10:00.001-07:00

There are various accounts of the origin of ‘’Okebadan’’ but there is a common agreement among them with the resolution that Lagelu: Oro Apat a-Maja who was the founder of Ibadan was also the one that established Okebadan.

The first account according to Femi Osofisan in the prologue he wrote for a book [Ibadan Mesiogo] says that dissident soldiers from Oyo, Ife and Ijebu all came to the place called Ebaodan to settle after the sacking of owu which w as as a result of the disintegration of the old Oyo Empire. This new settlement was a savannah land backing the forest of the Egba. Among these dissident was a great warrior called Lagelu from Ife who became their leader as a result of his war expertise. He consulted an oracle on-behalf of the new settlers to enable them know the future of their new settlement and he was told that they should adopt [Eleyele Hill] as their guardian deity. This eleyele hill then became Okebadan hill.

Another account By Late Oba Akinyele in his book’’ Iwe Itan Ibadan Ati die Ninu Awon Ilu Agbegbe re bi; Iwo, Osogbo Ati Ikirun ‘’ says that Lagelu left Ile-Ife to set up his own community as was the order of the day then. According to Professor Bolanle Awe, before Lagelu left, he consulted Ifa Oracle for guidance as was the custom of the Yoruba people and was told to settle where there were many hills which he did, hence the founding of Ibadan. After he had settled along with those that left with him, their neighboring communities waged war against them.

According to late E.A. Adeyemo in an opening address read during a lecture organized by the Okebadan Union on March 17th, 1988 at Mapo Hall, he said that, as an integral part of war tactics of the Ibadan people, they receded and went on to the top of the mountain to plan a counter attack against their enemies. During this period, the people believe that the hill provided them with security, food, shelter and spiritual backing in order to subdue their enemies. As a result, they decided to commemorate the event annually. This was said to have happened at about 1820 and the Odu-Ifa [Ifa divination verse] that was given them was ‘’Ose meji’’ which later became ‘’Ose Olubadan’’as given by Justice Fakeye in a paper he presented at a symposium organized by ‘’Okebadan Union’’ in commemoration of 1988 Okebadan Festival.

Another account given said, Lagelu left Ile-Ife to settle in the present Ibadan, that on arrival, he met some other people but being a great warrior, he settle with them but farther away from them to the savannah part which prompted the name ‘’Eba Odan’’ [beside the Savannah] which later metamorphosed to Ibadan. Within a very short period, the new settlement started witnessing progress and prosperity as an answer to four things that Lagelu requested from Olodumare before settling in Ibadan, viz; prosperity, blessing upon the traders, responsible partners for his children and for himself, good health and long-life. The answer to these request instigated great influxes of people from different parts of Yorubaland to Ibadan. As a result of the size of the new community [Ibadan], the Alafin of Oyo; Sango, decided to make Lagelu the generalissimo of the Yoruba army [Aare Ona Kakanfo].

With the new status of Lagelu, and that of his town, they decided to practice some aspects of Yoruba traditional belief which including egungun festival. It was during the course of egungun festival in a certain year that the costume of a masquerade fell off thereby revealing the identity of the masquerade to the glaring of the children and women that were present. The news got to Sango –the Alafin of Oyo and was furious at the deriding and desecration of the tradition of which he was a custodian. He therefore sent for other Oba like Orangun of Ila, Owa of Ijesaland, Alake of Egba and other important Oba, they deliberated on the issue and decided to wage war against Ibadan, to kill their people including women and children as a punishment for their abomination act. Lagelu got wind of the planned invasion and summoned his warriors and civilians alike to be prepared for the impending ‘’World war’’ as it was tagged. When the battle began, Lagelu people fought gallantly and made it difficult for the allied forces to dislodge them. The war lasted about three years contrary to the expectation of the allied forces, many people were killed and the new settlement was scattered and destroyed.

The remnants which included Lagelu, his children and few supporters were driven to the top of Eleyele hill where they dwelt for years. They lived on top of this hill for years without food, cloth or shelter. They fed on the fruits of ‘’Oro’’ trees [Iryingia gabonensis] which they found on top of the hill and also snails that were in abundance there. This is why part of Ibadan’s praise song says: Ibadan, Omo ajoro sun, Omo ajegbin je ikarahun, Omo afi Ikarahun fo’ ri mu,’’ translated to mean: Ibadan indigenes/offspring of those who ate oro for supper, offspring of those who ate oro for support, offspring of those who ate snails to satisfaction, offspring of those who took hot pap in the snails shell. All these point to the fact that the hill provided them with Oro fruits and snails for food. When they had little peace, they started cultivating the land to plant maize which they used for making pap and because there was no bowl with which to drink the pap, they drank from the snail’s shells. They were on top of the hill for a long time and from there, the children of Lagelu were invading their neighboring villages at night setting their huts ablaze and carted away their properties. Because of these acts of Lagelu’s children, they could not get married because people were afraid of them. This prompted Lagelu to give his consent to his children marrying one another so as to continue the generation.

It was on top of this mountain that their number started to increase and when they discovered that the place could not accommodate them again and the condition of the place not conducive for their children, they decided to come down to settle on the flat surface. The place where they settle was called ‘’Ori Yangi’’. There, they built new houses and establish new market which people patronized. Within short period, the new settlement began to witness influx of people from far and near and there was progress and peace. Upon the observation of the progress recorded within a short period, Lagelu’s children decided to worship Eleyele hill where they dwelt for years. This later became ‘’Okebadan’’ [Ibadan hill] and a festival organized for its commemoration. Their belief was that Okebadan was the factor behind the success and progress recorded in the new community, coupled with the belief that the mountain protected and fed them when they were dwelling on its top.

Not quite long after they had settled at ‘’Ori Yangi’’. Lagelu died at an advanced old age. His children buried his corpse on top of the hill[Okebadan]. With this, their zeal to worship Okebadan became high because the tomb of their ancestor is there. It was also alleged that the hunchback herbalist that consulted the oracle for them when they came to Ibadan and who later ‘’yielded’’ himself as the sacrificial material had his remain buried on top of the hill. As a result of this, it is claimed that the Aboke, [Okebadan priest] during Okebadan festival will have to go to the tomb of the hunchback to offer sacrifice, this was before the shrinewas moved to ‘’oja Iba’’.

OKEBADAN FESTIVAL

The Aboke [the priest of Okebadan] is the one that chooses and suggests the day for the celebration of the festival to Olubadan and his chiefs. The day chosen is usually Thursday and it is always in the month of March because it falls within the rainy season, so as to appease the spirit of the hill to give them abundant rain for their crops. Also Thursday is chosen as it is regarded as the day that Yoruba people worship their deities as denoted by the name of the day ‘’Ojobo’’ [Thursday, the day orisa is worshipped].

After the Olubadan and the council of chiefs had approved the day, announcement is made to the people for necessary preparations. Olubadan provides all the sacrifice materials such as cows, snails, fish, tortoise, dogs, etc. as required by the Aboke.

On the day of celebration, that used to be a work-free day, the people commence the day by thanking their ancestors for keeping them alive to witness the day. Also they used to take cold meal on the day as a reminder of the period their ancestors were on top of the mountain without food. Later in the day, the Aboke performs the necessary rituals at the shrine which has been removed from Okebadan hill to ‘’Oja ‘’ba’’ [Oba market ]. The Aboke, though a man dresses like a woman depicting the presumed feminine nature of the spirit of Okebadan while performing the rites and the people move about rejoicing.

After the rituals, the Aboke for the house of Yade, one of Lagelu’s daughters who led a group of woman warrior and subdued the enemies of Ibadan upon which a crown was taken from one of the communities and torn by her which gave her the ‘’Yade’’[tear the crown]. From her house, the Aboke visits all other chiefs and any chief whose house is not visited, the chief is

During the festival, ‘’embarrassing’’ songs are sang, but they portray the history of Ibadan people. Most of these songs point at the time Lagelu and his people moved about half-naked while others point at war expertise of Ibadan people. Few of the songs are given below;

Baba to nlo Hey old man going

Jawajawa epon you are with dangling scrotum

Okoo tisa Teachers pennies

Kiki sooki Full of chalk

O sobo dandawi She opened her virginal wide

Omode yii sobo dandawi This girl opened her virginal wide

SIGNIFICANCES OF OKEBADAN

One of the significances of Okebadan festival is to pave way for peace and smooth organization of Ibadanland as given by Professor Bolanle Awe in a paper she presented at a seminar organized by the Okebadan Union in 1988 at Mapo Hall Ibadan. She stated that after the performance of the rituals by the Aboke, he moves round the paramount chiefs palaces to pay homage and pray for prosperity and survival.

Similarly, she mentioned that the festival brings peace and harmony among the Ibadan people from far and near. Professor Bolanle Awe further stated that the occasion is used to foster peace, improve sanitation and mutual cooperation among the people to get ready for a healthy reunion and to pray for further blessings upon the community.

Also mentioned was that the festival is believed to increase fertility and paves the way for bumper harvest as deduced from Okebadan songs. This fact was corroborated by the submission of Mrs Kemi Morgan in a paper she presented at the same seminar when she tried to explain reasons for vulgar songs and language used during the festival. She said some of the songs are reminders of the period that Lagelu and his people were going about half naked. She further stated that other songs came about as a result of experience they had when due to panic the children born that period in Ibadan died prematurely, while some pregnant women died even during labor. This situation was said to have caused frigidity among the men making them temporarily impotent. When they could no longer impregnate their women, the oracle was consulted, and were told to be signing songs that will satiate their sexual appetite during the festival and this justifies the significance of Okebadan as an avenue to increase the number of children.

On her part, Mrs Kemi Morgan advanced the significance of using the avenue to thank Olodumare for His protection and for saving the whole town from extinction. She further stated that it is a way of commemorating the past heroes and the founding fathers for what they did to establish Ibadan. She therefore submitted that the celebration is a kind of marking the founder’s day. She said it was the assistance that was given to Lagelu and his offspring in terms of security, protection and provision of food that prompted the people of Ibadan to commemorate the event yearly and not as a form of idol worshiping as enunciated by some critics.

CONCLUSION

The celebration of Okebadan Festival has elicited a lot criticism as it is being regarded as idol worshipping. This insinuation has been debunked by the Ibadan people, saying that they are only observing the tradition of the forebears. They further argued that it is a means of commemorating the critical period in the history when they were living on top of the hill without food and shelter and the provision and protection they got from the hill during the period.

Irrespective of the opinion of the critics, the event of the festival has not been defeated as the festival is still being celebrated every year by the people with pomp and pageantry.

REFERENCES

Adekola Olagoke Alamu, ‘’Okebadan’’ Discussion on the Significance of Okebadan

Festival in contemporary period at a symposium organized by the Okebadan

Union on 17^th March, 1988 at Mapo Hall, Ibadan (1991)

Akinyele, I.B. (1981), Iwe Itan Ibadan Ati die Ninu Awon Agbegbe Re bi Iwo, Oshogbo

Ati Ikirun.

Awe Bolanle ‘’ Ibadan, Ife Early Beginning’’ in Lloyd, P.C. et.al.(ed.) (1967). The City of Ibadan, London, Cambridge University Press

Morgan Kemi (nd), Akinyele’s Outline History of Ibadan, Caxton Press (West Africa)

Limited, Part l – lV

Kareem Kolawole Adesina

A.C.T.O (Antiquity)

National Museum, Ibadan.

MUSEUM COLLECTIONS

2013-05-11T10:18:00.003-07:00

Museums all over the world are saddled with the responsibilities of collecting objects (both tangible and intangible heritage) which are of national importance for the primary purpose of conserving, researching, and exhibiting these materials remains of our forebears. These collections convey a significant message or messages which may be historical, religious, economic and technological aspect of man’s heritage and development.

“Museums collect and preserve both tangible and intangible evidence of man’s history, creativity and the physical aspects of the world he inhabits.” (K.N Monin and A.I Okpoko 1990).

According to Burcaw (1975) what determine any kind of museum are the kinds, volume and the quality of objects in its collection and the use to which these collections are put. Collections are the starting point of a museum. The principal function of the museum is to collect objects and specimens for the benefit of the public presently and for posterity.

Material collections in Nigeria is an age long activity of man dated back to the early Stone Age period long before 100,000 years ago. These collections were made for different purposes i.e. economic, social and religious purposes. By 11,000 years ago, late Stone Age hunter/ gatherer find their ways to Nigeria up to at least, the forest fringe (Iwo-Eleru microlithic tools, pottery and skeletal remains). Pottery making was already predominant in the Jos Plateau northern part of Nigeria at about 5^th millennium B.C (Shaw 1978). From the 5^th century B.C. technological and cultural entities like the Nok (terracotta figurines and sculptures), Taruga where there are evidence of iron working and Ife where Terracotta figures were also discovered.

Museum collections varied widely from one museum to another. They range from collections of science, art, specimen, historic objects, and natural history specimen such as zoological garden. Museum collections are mainly for public interest; they serve as reference materials of aesthetic and educational importance and values. In whatever ways we tends to look at these collections, they comprises of both historic and contemporary works of art i.e. artifacts and antiquities. These collections are very precious to the museum professionals, for the primary reason of museum existence depends on the availability of these collections. Therefore, these collections must be well taken care of.

Types of museum collections

1. Archaeological collections

2. Ethnographical collections

3. Scientific collections

4. Natural History collections

5. Zoological Collections

SourceS of collectionS

It most first be understood that what a museum will collect depends on the type and the scope of such museum. Although museum collects virtually all objects that comes it way, each new addition must be well taken care of as well others.

However the following are the various way in which museum acquired its collections.

1. Exchange

2. Purchase

3. Donation / Gift

4. Bequeaths

5. Seizure

6. Loan

7. Excavation

Museum collections grow through various sources but we must be very careful to avoid accepting objects with conditions attached.

WHAT TO CONSIDER BEFORE COLLECTING

Before a museum can embark on collecting objects into it object bank, it must first take into consideration the following.

Orientation of the documentation staff. How informed are those handling the documentation of such collections. Orientation will enable documentation staff to be well equipped with the knowledge and procedure for proper documentation.

Availability of documentation materials. This must be considered before embarking on objects collection. Materials such as stationeries and equipment must be made available.

Availability of storage facility. The capacity of the museum storage determines what the museum can collect. The museum must consider whether or not it has enough space to accommodation any new addition.

Availability OF racks in the store. The racking system in the storage area must be considered. This will determine what the museum should collect. Does the store have wardrobes / cupboards, drawers and boxes of different sizes and shapes? This is because, these collections come in different sizes and shapes, therefore their method of storage must be in conformity to their sizes and shapes.

Availability of conservation laboratory. Conservation laboratory should be provided before collecting objects into the museum. This is because any new addition into the museum is a potential threat to the entire museum collections. Some of these objects maybe infested with any kind of pest / disease and bringing them into the museum without treatment expose the entire museum collections to pest / disease infestation. Furthermore, the general health situation of objects in the storage must be taken into consideration such as the relative humidity, average temperature of the area, the level of sunlight etc these can only be determine by the conservator if laboratory is fully equipped

CLASSIFICATION OF MUSEUM COLLECTIONS

Classification of museum collections can be made according the material the object is made of e.g. wooden, metal, etc. We could also classify them according to their usage e.g. religious, ceremonial, agriculture, housing / shelter, warfare, transport and aesthetic collections.

1. Religious collections: These are generally objects which are used for worship irrespective of the religion. It should however be noted that most of these objects depict traditional religion. The existence of these objects in some part of Nigeria has necessitated the creation of some museums like Essie Museum which comprises of soapstone. Some of these objects of worship include amulets, Ibeji figures, facemask, Islamic manuscripts etc.

2. Housing / Shelter collections: These include collections such as MOTNA, Gida Makama House etc. and other housing related implement like domestic utensils such cooking pot, ancient plates, mats and housing materials like doors, door panels, house post and windows. Koko museum in koko village, delta

3. TRADE: These are collections which are used in trade and trade related activities irrespective of the era of trade. These objects or collections include items like slave trade materials e.g. chains, padlocks, handcuffs, palm oil cans, manila, cowries, beads etc.

4. Ceremonial collections: These refer to objects which are use for traditional ceremonies. They range from traditional drums, Regalia, staff of Office, Musical Instruments, facemask etc.

5. Warfare collections: These are implements which are used during war for protection against the enemies, and they include Dane gun, sword, spear, cutlasses, local shield etc.

6. Agricultural collections: These are agricultural implements such as those of farming, fishing etc.

7. Transport collections: These are collections that depict mobility, they include all forms of transportation e.g. cars, saddles, canoe and rail.

ANTIQUITIES AND ARTIFACTS

Museum collections consist basically of two major types. These are artifacts and antiquities.

Artifacts:

These are objects or collections that are less than a century old but just like antiquities they also have aesthetic, cultural as well as historical values. They are basically objects made by man.

ANTIQUITIES:

1. Antiquities are any objects of archaeological interest in which it is believed to have existed for a century and above.

2. Any relics of early human settlement or colonization.

3. Any work of art or craft including any statue, clay figure, cast in metal, carving, house post, door, ancestral figure, religious mask, staff, drum, ornaments, utensils, weapons, armours, regalias, manuscript or document and if such work of art or craft is of indigenous origin.

4. Any object or work of art fashion before the year 1918.

5. Any object or work of art that is of historical, aesthetic or scientific interest and is or has been used at any time in the performance of any traditional ceremony.

Factors to consider before accepting object into the museum

1. The significance of the object.

2. The Variety

3. The aesthetic beauty of the object. This depends majorly on the type of museum

4. The author or maker of the object

5. The method of production

6. The age of the object

7. The research purpose in which the object will be subjected

ACCESSIONING

As objects are brought into the museum, these objects must been formally and legally accepted into the museum collections. This process of accepting these objects is what is referred to accessioning. When accessioning, object are acquired or received in an ascending order, which is, according to the way in which they were received. These objects will then be assigned accession numbers serially e.g. IB.P.2013.1.1, IB.D.2013.1.2, IB.S.2013.1.3 etc.

This is one aspect of accessioning; the necessary preventive / curative conservation treatment is also part of accessioning. Accessioning of the object continuous right through the process of keeping the object in its respective equipment or rack in a clean storage.

Before any object should be accepted into the museum collections, the following questions should be answered.

Is the object relevant to the museum mission and scope of collecting
Was the object lawfully acquired by the vendor and if of foreign origin, was it imported in accordance with the international law.
Do the owner/ vendor of the object have legal title to the object and therefore have the right to transfer / sell same.
Are there any other parties with interest in the object?
Does the object have any legal obligation or constraint?
Will the object pose any danger or threat to other objects or staff?

DEACCESSIONING

This is the total removal of object or objects in the museum. De-accession is mostly done as a result of a need in another museum or as a result of an object being in a terrible state or condition and such object does not serve the museum purpose any more. You must note that de-accession is different from loan, because it is permanent removal of object or objects from the museum collections. Any museum that is de-accessioning any of its object must ensure that it has more than one of such object or that such object fall out of the scope of the museum.

METHODS OF DEACCESSIONING

1. Exchange with other Museum

Transfer to other Museum
Sale to other Museum
Long-time Loan to other Museum
Gift / Donation to Institution for research Purposes
Destruction

ETHICS OF COLLECTIONS

Collecting ethics deals with the morals which must be observed during any collecting activity. It is the code of conduct that guides professional collecting activity and care of museum collections. This enables the museum professionals to discharge their responsibilities to the collections and public for whom the collections are kept.

The following are the ethics of collections

Management of collection: This constitutes maintenance of the collections. It covers the conservation aspect (both the preventive / curative conservation). Each of these collections has a body of information which makes it important. This information must be properly maintained and kept in an orderly and easy retrievable manner before successful collections can be achieved or else the value of these collections will be diminished.
Accessibility: The Museum must be ready to make easy access to its collections. The public is entitled to have a reasonable access to these collections. Although the museum has a primary obligation of safe-guarding its collections.
Truth in Presentation: When displaying objects in the museum, the exert truth about these collections must told irrespective of religion or cultural affiliation. The exert information must be outline in a summary form.
AUTHENTICITY AND PROVENACE OF OBJECTS

The provenance and authenticity of objects brought to the museum must be investigated before acquisition of such object. This is to ensure that such objects are not stolen. Hence collecting museum, must only acquired objects whose provenance can be established.

Conclusion

It is pertinent to know that museum collections of whatever types have a vital role to play in research. Indeed one of the justifications for any collection is that it forms permanent body of research materials for future generations; therefore without accurate records or information the value of these collections is insignificant. These collections if properly documented constitute research facilities or aid to the museum staff and the general public.

It must however be noted that the value of these collections in the museum is not in the size but its utility.

REFERENCE

Alex, I. Okpoko. 2006. Fundamentals of Museum practice, Afro-Orbis Publication Limited Nsukka.

Bassey W. Andah. 1990. Cultural Resource Management: an African Dimension, Wisdom Publishers Limited, Ibadan.

International Council of Museums (ICOM), 1990. Statues and Code of Professional Ethics. Paris. ICOM.

Kerri H.O. (n.d) Guide to Documentation. National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Lagos.

Lord B., Lord G. 1989. The Cost of Collecting - Collecting management in U.K. Museums. London.

Messenger, P (ed) 1989. Ethics of collecting Cultural Property. New Mexico.

Olaniyi, R. 1982. African History and Culture, London.

Esie Soapstone

2009-06-20T05:14:00.000-07:00

Esie Soapstone

Soapstone head 12th-15th century. This is a soapstone head collected by a German ethnographer and explorer, leo Frobenius in 1912 in the town of offa near Esie.

Soapstone female figure 12th -15th century. This is one of the largest of the stone carvings. The cutlass that she once held in her right hand and which rested against her shoulder is missing. The strong vertical line on her back and head and the ease with which she sits on her stool with her feet stuck back in its base form the pose of one with authority.

Seated figure 12th – 15th century. An Esie female stone figure, holding a cutlass, that rest on her right shoulder. The elaborate hairstyle consisting of a cluster of triangular or conical tuft is typical of female sculptures. The horizontal rows of three delicately incised marks on the head are found on male and female Esie sculptures.

Seated male 12th -15th century. An Esie male seated figure showed reaching for his quiver. Below the conical hat, the hair styled in the fashion of a woman. The three horizontal marks appear on the temple stone.

Seated male figure 12th -15th century. An Esie seated male figure holding a dagger in his lab. He appears too been wearing an elaborate headdress consisting of shapes resembling four snail shells affixed to a striated conical cap.

Seated female figure 12th – 15th century. An Esie female figure holding a cutlass. The cutlass rests against her right shoulder as a symbol of her office. The delicate scarification marks on her forehead and the heavier marks incised on her chin. The height of her elaborate coiffure is equal to that of her face, emphasizing the importance of the head, typical of so many Esie and later Yoruba figure sculptures.

Seated female figure 12th – 15th century. This is back view of a seated female figure. Four vertical rows of body scarification along the spine which then splay out in a pattern above the waistband of her skirt, t5he vstool consisting of two circular disks connected by a cylinder is typical of most Esie carvings.

Seated male figure 12th – 15th century. The sculpture although a fragment is remarkable among Esie carvings for the rendering of the head, elongation of the jaw line, and the thrust of the chin which is enhanced by the projection of the beard.

Seated male figure 12th – 15 th century. This is one of the largest of the Esie stone carvings, the sculpture of a seated male figure contrasts with other Esie sculptures. It conveys a sense of physical strength and there is an absence of bodily adornment apart from the necklace of the beads and the bow laying the skirt.

Seated male figure. This is one of the largest of the Esie stone carvings

Soapstone figure. This is one of the 800 stone figures found in a bush shrine in northern Yoruba land, where they are still objects of cult. Although its not yet known whether they are of Yoruba origin or whether they were made by Nupe before their conversion to Islam, though there is some internal evidence of Yoruba connections.

Soapstone figure. This is one of the most impressive Esie work of art. It is among the 800 others found in a bush shrine in northern Yoruba land

Soapston figure. This is probably from a figure of a life size. A larger proportion of the heads are broken from their bodies, but this piece does not confirm to the Esie style. It has more affinity with soapstone carvings of the past century or two at Ife about 40 miles to the south on the forehead a dagger is carved in redlief..

Igbo-ukwu

2009-06-20T05:11:00.000-07:00

Bronze roped pot on a stand. This is a leaded bronze pot from Igbo Isaiah, Igbo-ukwu. It was dated to about 9th/10th century.

Bronze vessel in the form of a shell surmounted by an animal dated 9th/10 century.

Bronze pendant representing a ram’s head dated 9th/10th century.

Bronze ornate staff head dated 9th /10th century.

Bronze cylindrical staff dated 9th/10th century.

Copper spiral snake ornament dated 9th /10th century.

Bronze scabbard dated 9th/10 century.

Bronze bowl from Igbo Isaiah in Igbo-ukwu dated 9th.10 century.

Benin Art Corpus

2009-06-20T04:53:00.000-07:00

Bronze head: - this was dated to about b1500AD or a little earlier. The sensitive naturalism of Ife bronze where Benin bronze was thought to have been derived, though some features notably the ears are more styled than Ife bronze. The miniature head which is a unique piece was dated to about half a century or more later.

Bronze heads. This was dated from the end of the early period about the mid sixteenth century. It has rectangular strings of iron inlay, a mark of early period are also present.

Bronze Queen Mother Head. This is a title conferred on his mother by the Oba three years after his accession since the time of Esigie in the early sixteenth century.

Bronze head {Uhumwelao}. This particular bronze head is usually placed at the Royal altar {Aru-erha}. It is an early example of the middle period or classical style. It was dated to about 1550-1650. The head is intended to carry a great weight such as the carved tusks which is mounted on the head.

Bronze head. This was dated from early in the late period probably about 1700 or a little later.

Bronze head of the massive type, with extreme exaggeration of proportion band with flamboyant ornamentation introduced by Oba Osemwede{1816-1848}. It is the most impressive of all the version of the late style, suggesting a fine artistic work.

Fragmented bronze. {Aegis}. This was dated from the transition between the early and middle period and representing the Oba in his divine aspect with mudfish for legs or more specifically the fourteenth century Oba Ohen who after his legs were paralyzed claimed to have become the sea god {Olokun}. The Oba’s arms are supported by two attendant chief.

Bronze head. {Oduduwa mask}. This is used during the new yam festival in the Oba palace. It is still observed annually in the Oba’s palace with the twentieth century bronze mask in place of those removed by the British expedition. There are six known of this highly expressionist style. It was dated to about 1800.

Bronze head {Osun cult head} of the middle period {probably 20th century} surmounted by four ibis and other symbolic character with snake issuing from the nostrils and lachrymatory glands and devouring frog. It belongs to unidentified spirit of the palace. Osun the medicine spirit which personified the life force

Bronze plaque. Pair of bronze plaque of a single figure of a bini warrior. There are about 20 of this style of pair bronze plaques and they appear to be by a single hand. They were the first plaques to be made probably in the late sixteenth century.

Bronze plaque. This is a representation of Oba in a seated position on a cylindrical stool with two chief supporting his arms, one of whom is by custom his son and heir, the Edaiken. There are also Portuguese heads as symbols of his status and power. It belongs to late 16th /early 17th century.

Bronze plaque. There are seven of these known plaques which appear to be by a single artist. It is a fragmentary of a scene of a bini shooting at an ibis on a tree and leopard hunt by the Portuguese hunters.

Bronze altar. A bronze altar representing an Oba attended by two foreign slaves, male and female and behind by shield bearers. It is one of the masterpieces of the late period {about 1750-1800}.

Bronze figure. Two bronze figure of achondroplasic dwarfs, such as used to be kept as tumblers and jesters by the Obas of Benin. They are of the finest of all the Benin Bronze figures and as well as naturalistic in style.

Bronze figure. This is one the Oba’s horn blowers, a fine work of classical or middle period. The skirt is prolong in a hornlike process, stiffened with canes and rising from left hip and secure by shoulder

Bronze stool. This is one of the two solid bronze stools or thrones {Erhe} said to have been made by Oba Tresonyen in the mid eighteenth century. Their iconography is in some way untypical of Benin work. It has one motifs of a grinning human simian face while the central portion incorporates a coiled python as a royal power symbol.

Bronze pendant. A small aegis shaped bronze pendant worn at the waist. It is a presentation of one Portuguese threatening or attacking another over a leopard head. It is of the middle period.

Bronze. A bronze hip mask of transition between early and middle periods. It has a human face metamorphosed in its lower portion into an elephant’s tusk and trunk, and expressionally indicated by its turning into a hand grasping a branch.

Bronze figure. A bronze figure of a warrior armed with a sword and the Bini bow. It is a version of the middle period style.

Bronze figure. Bronze horseman of the middle period. The hat is like those worn by bodyguard of the Fulani Emirs of the northern Nigeria. These figures are commonly said to represent visitors from the north.

Bronze plaque. A bronze plaque representing a warrior seated on a horse holding a spear. The plaque is full of movement indicating a leopard hunter or a warrior in battle.

Ivory Armlets. Pair of ivory armlets, each consisting of two interlocking cylinders carved from a single block of ivory. It has the figure Oba’s carved on the outer cylinder alternate with symbolic double elephant’s skulls protruding from the inner cylinder. They are among the finest ivory of Benin armlet. It belongs to sixteenth century.

Bronze figure. A bronze figure of a man who worn a cross, which may or may not be a Christian cross. The missing right hand would have held an l-shaped iron hammer of a type sacred to Ogun, the god of iron and warfare. The figure may be a Christian convert of the sixteenth century. The Benin traditions say that such figures are emissaries either from the Oni of Ife or attah of Idah.

Bronze Python. Colossal bronze python head from the palace gate ways where it is mounted more than a dozen of these types are known. This one is probably from the middle period.

schedule monuments and site each state of Nigeria

2009-06-20T04:38:00.000-07:00

Abia State:-
1 Chief Okochi house.
2 Obu’s house
3 Omo Oku Temple, Ndi-Ezera Compound Azaga Ohafia.
4 Chief Ochu Kalu’s house Ndi-Okereke Abam near Bende

Adamawa State:-
1 World heritage site, Suku {Hidi Palace}

Bauchi State:-
1 Rock painting site at Dutsen damisa near Gumel
2 Rock painting Dutsen Zane near Gaji
3 Rock painting Shadawanke neae Bauchi
4 Rock painting Shira Azae local Government Area.
5 Carved stone Kwandon-kaya at panshanu
6 Gidan madaki Bauchi.

Borno State:-
1 Rebel’s house Dikwa.

Cross river State:-
1 Old Residency Calabar
2 Old Consulate Calabar.
3 Chief ekpo Bassey’s house Calabar
4 Carved monoliths Emaghabe
5 Carved monoliths Alok

Delta State:-
1 Nanna’s house koko

Edo state:-
1 Chief Ogiamen Benin city
2 Chief Enogie’s house oba sagbo village near Benin
3 Benin city walls and moats

Enugu State:-
1 chief Odo- uwankolo’s palace at ukahe

Jigawa State:-
1 Dutsen mesa-gong and shelter {rock paintings birnin kudu}
2 Rock paintings Dutsen habude at Birnin kudu
3 Rock paintings morofu Birnin kudu
4 Rock paintings Dutsen Zago

Kaduna state:-
1 Steel foot bridge, kufena hill kaduna
2 Habe Mosque at maigma
3 Zaria city wall

Kano state:-
1 Gidan Makama
2 kano city wall
3 Habe Mosque at Bebeji near kano.

Katsina state:-
1 Old teacher college katsina
2 Gorbiru minaret
3 Tumuli Durbi takushayi

Kogi State:-
1 Ata Ogu tumuli

Kwara state:-
1 Dayspring relics
2 Okuta fort
3 Yashikera fort
4 Otaro stone figure
5 Ijara stone figure

Lagos state:-
1 Iloja bar
2 Oba’s house
3 water house
4 Old secretarial
5 Elephant house
6 No 10 Eleya Street Lagos Brazilian building

Niger state:-
1 Tsoede’s tomb at Gwangade
2 Ikatanbu Palace of the Esu Mohamed at bida
3 Government house at Zongori

Ogun State
1 Sungbo Shrine {groove near Oke-Eri near Ijebu}

Ondo State:-
1 Igbaraoke petroglyha
2 The palace of Deji of Akure

Osun State:-
1 Itayemoo Ile-Ife
2 Osun Shrine Oshogbo
3 Ilajo Stone figure
4 Shrine at Ate Oja Oshogbo

Plateau State:-
1 Stone Built Causeway forof
2 Tading Causeway
3 Batura Causeway
4 Kwadon Kaya
5 First Mining Beacon

River State:-
1 King Jaja Statue Opobo

Sokoto State:-
1 the ancient ruins of Surami City

Monuments and Site in Plateau State

2009-06-20T04:05:00.000-07:00

Stone Built causeway, Bokos. There are three of these schedule monuments in Plateau State. The three bridges are stone causeway and are believe to have been built before the arrived of the present inhabitants {Biron}. According to tradition they have been in existence for three generations. The remains of these causeways can be seeing even today.

Ladia pool, Quan-pam. This is a schedule monument in the state. According to tradition the pool remains dry during the raining season but over flooded it bank during dry season. The pool is encircled with stones where male children are given birth to. It is believed that any male child who refused to walk to these stone will disappear forever. Moreover female children are not allowed to go there.

Dungwan pool, Quan-pam. This is also a schedule monument in the state. Tradition has it that the pool over flooded it bank during dry season. Fishing is not allowed in the pool. It is believed that when a fish from the pool are drown out from the pool the fish will cut itself into pieces and will not cook even if cooked for several hours until it is taken back to the pool.

Nwun pool, Quan-pam. This particular pool usually over flood it bank during the dry season and then disappeared.

Dashit-Manga Bakin Ciyawa, Quan Pam. This one the declared monuments in the state, when the long Chief of Dashit is install, the chief will be taken there to commune with the spirit. The chief will stay there without food and water

Footprint at Chimnlardarg, Quan Pam. This foot prints of a hunter and his dog with his finger print on a rock.

Cave with Tunnel, Quan Pam. This particular cave was believed to have shield the people from the invading Army during inter tribal war.

Footprint on a Rock, Saklang-shandan. This is a horse print on a rock. The rock is believed to sacred and people are not allowed to with shoe and cloths on their body.

Leg Rings Dibbon, Lang tang. These are three ancient leg rings. The rings are so hard to removed when one tries to removed from the ancient legs.

Na-niag {bush cow shang on a rock}, Hamal-shandam. This is a stone in the shape of a bush cow. It is a place where two hunter fought a bush cow which eventually turned rock in order to escaped been killed by the hunter.

Footprint Man and Dog {Kwallak hill} Gasum. This signified the first Tarok to settle in the area.

Bwongbko shot {an old Divisional appeal Court}, Riyon. This is an old divisional court used till 1947. it was declared monument when the court was moved to Jos on the appointment of the first Chief Judge.

Declared Monuments and site in Nigeria

2009-06-20T04:00:00.000-07:00

1 Old Residency Calabar. The house together with its compound was declared monument on the 14th August 1959.The ground floor was used as a divisional office during the colonial era. The first floor is a rest room or house and it is furnished with furniture and fittings. It becomes visually an historic house museum.

2 Rebeh’s house. Fort Diwa, Borno State. This house and the compound thereof were declared monuments on the 13th April 1959. The house was the resident of Rebeh a general who came from Sudan and made himself a ruler of Borno Kokuwa, he established his headquarter at Diwa where a great fort was built and he remains there till the year 1900. The French troupe ousted and killed him at Guja also in Borno State.

3 Rock Painting at dutsen damisa near Gumen in Jigawa State. This was declared a site on the 23rd March 1959 together with an area within the radius of 182 meters as a result of the discovery at geshi where further groups of rock paintings were reported. The paintings are about 8 kilometers from the Geshi and consist of merely cattle figures. They were in a better state preservation than those of the Geshi. Though not of high standard artistically.

4 Obu’s house, Ohafia Abia State- Ndi Anaga meeting house. It was declared monument on the 19th March 1953. The structure is very simple with large verandah closed with earthen walls at both ends and one long longitudinal line with the other side opening towards the compound. The monumentality of the building is due to the magnificent effect of created by free rolls of richly carved post supporting the rolls and dividing the interior into three narrow aisle or passage. The pillars are carved with representation of warriors; masquerade and women carrying loads combine with geometrical or stylized botanical pattern.

5 Chief Okoroji’s house. Arochukwu Abia State. This was declared monument on the 19th March 1953. Very few Aro building survived the last century but the parts that remains represent a highly developed construction skills. They have beautiful found aisles or passages at the front of the house and the interior posse’s highly successful architectural details and decorations. Chief Okoroji who built the house was probably at the height of his prosperity in 1880 but die before the Aro expedition. The plan of the house is simply an inner room, an outer verandah and the most striking features are its height. It was built on the plinth which makes it a very tall building giving the building length of the room from front of the house. The house have an interior verandah, it has low carved timber mound benches. A pair of large chain hangs on the ceiling and rafter is ornamental with rolls of animals’ skull. The inner even has an interesting dome at most dark pitch{darkness} and clouded with fairly hair loom, while the center piece of the room is a shrine made of fine curved manila with flat ends and crown with shape bell around the wall and rolls of china plates, several dishes and cover, filla dishes and bowl. There is also a provision of plates, mugs, bicaks, and taka. The ceiling on the room is huge with variety of lantern and street light. Elsewhere in the room are canon, sword and gun. All of these are miscellaneous European article. They appear to be less than 19th century English and German trade group or souvenirs. There are also some spirant ream type brass manilas of very good specimen. There are also fluid designs of wood carving.

6 Old Teacher Training College. Katsina State. This was declared monument on the 23rd April 1959. the college becomes the most famous and influential educational institution in the Northern Nigeria. The opening of the college in 1921 mark the beginning of the real step forward in the history of education in that part of the country. The house was constructed with local materials used by local craftsmen and in traditional style. They are been used both in character and charm. There are thick wall or great wall and griseous ashes. The thick wall gives then an aura of strength as well as beauty.

7 Foot Bridge at Zungerun Kaduna State. This was declared monument on the 16th February 1956. The foot bridge is an interesting example of Engineering before the coming of railway and the development of roads in Nigeria. The steel bridge was originally erected by late lord lugard at Zungeru but was re- erected in 1954 in Kaduna garden.

8 Gidan Madaki, Bauchi State. This house and the entire compound were declared monument on the 16th March 1953. the house is situated along 45 kilometers from Bauchi-kano road. It was built in 1860 by the celebrated master builder of the century Mallam Baba Gwani of Zaria. The main hall and others built within the compound of the madaki were the handy work of baba Gwani who at about this period 1850 and 1860 was renown in hausa land for his skill in architecture. He dies at Birnin in 1862 at the hand of his patron who will tolerate no other rulers having a house of his kind. The zauri or entrance hall is a room of about 4.5 meters by 8.5 meters and has a roof supported by massive square colors. 9 bys are found there and the roof is constructed with Azara and mound. The baba zauri{main hall} present no less advantage than the site in the ancient tradition and unspoken architectural character, they are among the most appreciated building with sled type doom rooms and very interesting form of classical aisle and ashes. The main hall is filled with and furnished with leather cover door. On the eastern part of the main hall is an ate {room before another part of} and it roof is supported by 1.4 meters beams. The walls surrounding the halls varied in sizes and it is not regular in shape. The southern perimeter walls are approximately 1.3 meters in width by 4.5 meters in height by 6 meters high. Oppositte to this is the Mosque whose interior construction is similar to gida makama of kano state.

9 Petroglyes of Igbaraoke. Near Akure Ondo State. This was declared site on the 19 February 1963. In 1959 during the leveling of a site for a new house in igbaraoke, some 27 kilometers on Akure-Ilesa road in Ondo State, a large rock with engrave design was uncovered. Nothing was known of the significant or the age but it includes what appears to be like a fish as well as a narrow triangular pattern. The rock is opposite the csc school and about 9 meters south west of the main road. It has be fenced and identified as a site.

10 Maigimin at Mushishi Niger State. This was declared monument on the 13th February 1962. this house with the surround land is within 30 meters on either side from the crest of maijimia house. It was declared on the native authority {NA}. it was a house occurred by the first three British army officers to be stationed at mushishi during the initial campaign against Abubarka Esunupe and Abraham the Emir of Katagura in the very period of the last century. The three officers were known as Maijima, Maihakurikai, and maigimima.

11 Sungbo Shrine Ijebu Ode Ogun State. This was declared a site on the 15th December 1964. Sungbo shrine lays in the land of Oke-eri {a quarter in Oke-eri from which the chief priest of the shrine most be choosen. No woman is allowed to approach this shrine for fear of death. The groove is popularly said to a miraculous place. There is a huge cob webs and the grasses there never grow. It is situated in a groove a few yards erede east of the arena which is slept bare of leaves with no other shrine or monuments to mark it suppose site of sungbo burial place. Annual sacrifices are usually made here to Sungbo. Erede is a great earth surrounding the town of Ijebu Ode. History has if that queen sheba pass through here on her way to the southern part of Africa.

12 Iloja Bar at No 6 Ali Street and no 2 Bamgbose street Lagos state. This was declared monument on the 6th April 1966. it is located at the corner of these two street . The building owned by Mr. Olaiya has probably the greatest architectural interest of all building in Lagos. It is in a moderate state of repair but will require a huge amount of money for future maintenance. It was built about 150 years ago and one of the most modern style building built by Nigerian shortly after Lagos became a colony by frees slave family returning from Brazil. It is one of the most striking of the Brazilian style of building with attracting arch doorway and windows, fine iron baluster and statue. The Brazilian style of architecture has influence much of Yoruba land buildings.

13 Habe Mosque at Bebeji, Kano State. This was declared monument on 15th December 1954. The mosque was said to have been built in 1770 in three stages. The northern part was rebuilt 27 years age when the mosque was in great ruins. The mosque is located on the old Kano- Zaria road. the latest report has it that no trace of the ancient mosque remains today as it has been completely pull down and rebuilt in modern style of technology.

14 Tower of Surami, Sokoto State. This was declared monument on the 15th August 1964. it was declared a monument despite the fact that it has been abandon for 300 years. The tower wall still stand between 4.5 meters to 6 meters and the declaration include the line of the main road of the area in line within a distance of 91 meters from the crest of the wall. Mohamed Kaita Saiki of Kabbi whose empire is said to have included Yauri, nupe, Goba, Kano, Katsina, Zaria, and Aggade found Surami in the early 16th century. The town existed for 84 years 4 months and 20 days before it was finally abandon in the 18th century when the capital was move to Birnin Kabbi. As it is within front region, it was been protected from the ravages of Agriculture while trance of house walls and hut foundation are still visible. An ancient baoba tree mark the site of kaita house’s and walls to which the magic of properties where attributed 5 kilometers south of surami is the town of gogu also found by kaita. The place is now the site of model village and the whole area has been cultivated for a considerable period so nothing remains of the defensive walls.
Kaita found a number of settlement ay that period and according to records there are walls of 16 kilometers circumference built of stone with the internal filled with late rite or red mud which is evidence that it was brought from a far distance. It is said that persons condemn to death were throw down form this wall probably with ropes around their neck. The surami wall may be the hand work of the same people who built the famous wall of lobi in the French territory.

15 Benin City Walls and Moats, Edo State. This was declared monument on the 1st of June 1961. the declaration as a monument include the site lines within 15 meters on the crest of the walls from the inside and within 30 meters of the crest of the wall from the outside provided at all existing building sited within 15 meters of the crest of walls on the outside shall be deem to be lawfully erected as long as they exist. These are the most impressive city walls from the southern part of Nigeria. At the highest point the wall measured 9 meters high with a surrounding ditches of moats measuring another 9 meters deep giving a total in climb of 18 meters. Unfortunately in the past few years the walls have been extensively demolished and level and used by the public for building purpose.

16 King Jaja Statue, River State. This was declared monument on the 14th of August 1959. It was declared a monument together with the surrounding land within the radius of 30 meters from the statue. King Douglas Jaja was one of the fourth kings from Opbobo section of Vonmimi River State who founded the Opobo town in 1870. He later became the king of opobo town, a position he held until his death in 1887. He was exit to the western India but having spent some years, he was pardon but die on his way home at Temmeriffe on 7th July 1891. He was buried in opobo. The statue was made in England and erected in 1907. The expenses were borne by Chief of opobo and some jaja Europeans friends.

17 Ita Yemoo Ile Ife, Osun State.this was declared monument on the 20th February 1959.ita yemoo is situated on the easthern side of ife-ilesa road on the ilesa end of the town. A stripe of land measuring 480meters by 120 meters following ilesha- ife road from beacon 215c in the southern direction to the point were the inner wall met the ife-ilesha road. In 1987 during the foundation excavation of a new house, some outstanding fine example of ife bronze work were discovered. Fortunately, the then Director of Antiquities Mr. Bernard Fagg happen to be in ile- ife at that time and took immediate step to protect the finds and the site. The department carried out excavation work of the area and the site was found to contain a lot of terracotta’s and pottery. The whole areas later turn out to be an important archaeological site. One piece of pavement was also uncovered and a roof built over it.

18 Carved Stone Figure in Igbajo Osun State. This was declared a site on the 5th of October 1964. it is 60cm high mounted onj a based embedded in the ground and dedicated to esu. It stands on the road side in the center of the town. It is still in good condition excerpt for a deep cut on the left elbow which was said to inflict during one of inter- tribal Wars with ilesha about the middle of the last century. According to Owa of Igbajo, there were two other stone carving, one of which was stolen some 30 years ago, while the other was badly mutilated by fanatical Christian recently.

19 Stone built causeway at Bokos Plateau State. This was declared monument on the 16th February 1956 together with an area of land including the stream within the radius of 91 meters. It also comprises of intricately and painstakingly arranged stone to form bridge over the stream.

20 Stone built causeway at Butura also at Bokos plateau state. This was declared monument on the 16th February 1982. It was declared a monument with an area of land including the stream within the radius of the center of the causeway. It also comprises of intricately and painstakingly arranged stone to form the bridge across the stream. The origin of the stone structure is unknown but evidence suggests that they were there before the Riyon tribes arrived in Bokos in a date considered to be between 150 and 200 years. The present inhabitants of Bokos were capable of maintaining the causeway and putting it in good condition since their ancestors came into the plateau. The remains of some 30 bridge or causeways could still be see as at 1956 including a high level at Bokos 80 kilometers from Jos.

21 Carved Stone Monolith, Alok Cross River State. This was declared a site on the 19th March 1963. These and numerous circle of an interesting carved stone in cross river, two of which are situated on Ogoja-Ikom highway near the village of Alok and Emaghabe. Emaghabe is 178 kilometers while Alok is 179 kilometers. Little is known about the history and significance of these carved stone but they are still reverence and reserved by the local people. The quality of workmanship and reality of such an art form in this region given the stone a significant value although there bare considerable variation in details. These entire monoliths are alike in that they represent dreaded human figures. They appear to have little significance for the present inhabitants who believe that these stone must be graves of the Ntuls ie the priest of the alam people. Presently the stone are no longer carved.

22 Nanna of Itsekiri Palace Koko, Delta State. The house was declared a monument in 1966. It comprises of a big county with rooms arranged round it. Two of these rooms today occupied an exhibition of the various treasures belonging to the exit chief Nanna, who was dethrone by the British at the beginning of the 18th century. The building earth of koko people is the loose type that is made to be stabilized with grey clay common in these areas. The construction generally as well as the wall finishing as could be seen on the palace wall though in the later chalk finish was also introduced. In recent years the building has suffers so much deterioration as well as bastardization by quark restorers.

23 Chief Enogie’s house Obasagbo, Edo State. This building and its entire compound was declared monument on the 4th June 1961. The house is composed of a courtyard which is all that survived of the original building which is probably built in the second half of the 19th century. The courtyard is believed to be the materials of unplanned structure since it was first built. There are many features in the building which indicate direct names of the architecture of Benin. This includes horizontally fluided wall, central inpluvium and carved decoration on timber walls. There are two important features which are not known in Benin. These are symmetry of the plain having the main entrance door and main altar on the longitudinal axis and on the east with very heavy earth pillars measuring 75cm in plain and 240cm high.

CULTURAL HISTORY BEHIND THE NIGERIA ART WORK

2009-04-15T07:11:00.000-07:00

Nigeria is one of the Africa States which acquires her independence in 1960. But the people and their indigenous culture have ancient foundation. Nigeria with Land mass of 925,000 sq km has a popular place above 140 millions persons. It has about 350 indigenous language commodities and several thousands of dialect communities. In spite of this diversity of habitat and language, cultural and political formations, these political and language communities represent specific geo-cultural civilization. With a land area of 22-27% of the total Africa population, which means that one out of four Africans is a Nigerian and at the world Negroid population every fifth or sixth black man is a Nigerian. The history of the black Diaspora from medieval times to present is thus part of the Nigerian story. The African dimensions of this Nigeria story is heavily documented within west and central Sudan, Northern African, the valley (Egypt and Sudan) while overseas dimensions is strongest in Brazil and middle America, the Caribbean and North America. It is however pertinent to know that cultural linguists have proved that the 350 or so languages of Nigeria region belong generally to 3 out of 4 language families indigenous of African. These 3 families area are:-
(1) The Niger – Kordofanian or Niger – Congo family which include language spoken from sense – Gambia in the West through western Africans, central and eastern African to South African. This including all the Bantoid language from the Cameroon regional the republic of South Africa. The cradle of Bantoid and the entire Niger – Congo or at least its Benue – Congo Branch is in the Nigeria area Igbo (Ibo), Igala, Gwayi, Edo ate are part of this language family.
(2) Afro – Asiatic, (Semitic or Erytheaic) family which incidentally include the ancient Egyptian, Berber, Cushitic, Hausa, Kotoko, Angas etc, are members and of course shuwa Arabic which later came into Nigerian region within oral/written historic rather than prehistoric times.
(3) The Nilo Sahara family which being confirmed to the Nilo Sahara – Sahalian fringe could have been generically related to Niger – Congo in what would be a Kongo – Sahara super – family. Kanuri, kanembu and Songhai are the Nigeria member of this family.
(4) The fourth family the Khosian which is confirmed to southern Africa (Tanzania and South Africa – Namibia) is not represented in Nigeria. But the 3 families represent a time depth of 10,000 – 15,000 years of continuous growth and internal diversification.
It is now obvious that the indigenous and pre-mechanical culture group and language communities of the Nigerian are a product of the major dynamics that affected most continental Africa and South – West Asia. One important significance and their ten to thirteen indigenous Nigeria communities and their close affiliates – Edo, Fulani, Gwari, Hausa, Idoma, Igala – Yoruba, Ibibio, Igbo, Kamberi, Jukun, Nupe, Kanuri – Kamembu, Tiv, are enumerated in the millions or multiples of millions rather than in thousands or multiples of thousands. The sculptural traditions of the people are therefore traditions of peoples, densities of populations rooted in great antiquity.
The classical cultures of Nigerians today are celebrated in many forms. One dimension of these developments is the Phenomenon of Urbanization whereby veritable towns and cities, many of them with city walls and elaborate fortification have survived. Such celebrated centers are Birnin, Gazargamo, Birnin Kebbi, Kano, Ile-Ife, Benin, Katsina, Old Oyo, Bida, Sokoto, and Ibadan which was the largest urban centre in black Africa. These urban centers were also the centers of states, kingdoms and Empires. These ranged from city- states of the coast such as Nembe, Bonny, Opobo, etc., imperial centers such as Idah, Kwararafa, Old Oyo, Sokoto and its numerous emirate capitals. But great numbers of these Nigerians communities did not developed dominant urban centers; instead, they operated as commonwealth under unwritten religious, oracular, dynastic, gerotocratic, economics etc. Constitutions. Unlike the mega states, these mini-states did not enter into the great epics-but they were able to demonstrate a resilience and timeless-ness in that their individual identities have been preserved intact whether in Igbo land, Idomaland, the Jos Plateau region, or among the Ibibio, Ijaw, Urhobo, Northern Edo and others.
One important lesson learnt from all the cultures, political and language communities of Nigeria is that artistic creativity in the various media – clay, iron, bronze, brass, wood, straws, textile, leather, stone, bone, ivory, calabash, shell, even glass was never a monopoly of any one of the 350 or so language communities i.e. The pre – mechanical technology available to both the mega and mini states was basically the same – even in such strategic areas as metallurgy, cavalry, weaponry, herbalogy, Architecture, textile, water – craft etc.
It is very clear from the above that the cultural heritage of the people fall into many parts as may be documented for many society of age.
Although a lot have been made about the neglect of most Africa societies of the wheel, the Plough, and even writing. It must also be admitted that these societies was able to function and even achieve excellence without them. One example is the unique complex earth ware in the forms of walls and ditches. The Iya or Iyala of the Benin sub-region of Nigeria.
It is the remains of the largest and most massive earth constructions yet known from the pre mechanical era. It is four to five times longer than the Great Wall of China and with over a hundred times as much materials moved as the great Pyramid and Cheop, these earthworks cover about 6500sq.km (2500sq.miles) of rain forest with a complicated network of enclosures. Their estimated total length is in excess of 16,000km (10,000miles) and with an average ditch bottom to bank cross section of 2.25sq.metres. Their total volume is very probably in excess of 37,000,000 cu.m involving over 150million man – hour of work.
The Nigeria region has been inhabited from early time by Stone Age. (Overlapping with the Paleolithic) population. The Nigerians evidence for early man has not been as clears, diverse and as ancient as in the case in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa etc. The story of man’s culture in Nigeria becomes much clearer of Europe (Asia). From Iwo Eleru, near Akure in Ondo State and just to the North of Benin comes the earliest direct evidence for the presence of Negroid populations in Nigeria. This is dated to 11,300 BC. The lithic industry of these early collectors of the Nigerian forest belongs to the microlithic tradition, pottery (terracotta) was also well known to the makers of the microlithic tools and the later Neolithic populations who were already practicing Agriculture before 3000BC. From Iwo Eleru evidence and the discoveries elsewhere in the West Africa forest and Savannah and from the Sahara in the North, It is observed that modern West Africa populations have been in these homelands throughout the Holocene period. Based on Archaeological evidence and linguistics students statistical analyses. The parent or protolanguage from which West Africa languages are descended have a time of some 10,000 years or even more.

Esie Soapstone

2009-04-15T07:08:00.001-07:00

Esie Soapstone is a culture that flourished in Kwara state North of Ile –Ife. In Esie there are over one thousand soapstone figures – representing human being, ancestors – beaded, bearded, seated and wearing a great variety of head – dresses and hair – styles. Today, they have become a centre of local religious reverence and worship which is climaxed by an annual festival which takes place in April of the Christian calendar.
During this period, sacrifices are made; prayers are offered at the original temple.
These stone images form the subject of various local myths – one of which asserts that they were humans turned to stone by divine punishment.
It is however explained scientifically that they were made of stone locally quarried and carved. They represent a civilization which had declined before the present political cultures were formed in the area. It is however believed that, these stone images are well above 200 years of age.

Esie Soapstone

2009-04-15T07:08:00.000-07:00

ILE – IFE CULTURE

2009-04-15T07:05:00.000-07:00

Ile- Ife, the cradle of the Yoruba race is located in the present day Osun State. The uniqueness of Ile-Ife or simply Ife in Africa history manifested itself at many important levels in the cosmology of the universe, the centre at which the first man was created or molded in clay and given the breath of life. In spiritual terms Ife had been and remains a holy city, home of Divinities (Orisa) of which the king the Oni is the living embodiment. At the political level, the culture of the region Ile-Ife was the source, the centre from which the kings of the numerous kingdom and empires including Oyo, Benin, Ketu etc were sent to rule. Ife remains the source of the legitimacy of these and other rulers.
From the point of view of the cultural history of Africa, Ile-Ife was an early centre of urban tradition. The dynasty of Oduduwa and other predynastic system before it centered on the Obatala, Orisa Nla are within a time span of one thousand years or more.
The art of Ife combines terracotta, bronze and stone sculptures; these are done in life sizes or naturalistic styles.
The Ife terracuttas represents kings, Queens and commoners (even criminal and victims of human sacrifices) all these are date to between 900AD and 1400AD. As in Nok terracottas which depict animals (rams, elephants, hippos), articulation of beauty through body and facial markings, dress for the body and depiction of kingly crowns bracelets and emblems of royal and cultural authority.
Ife goes beyond its terracotta’s medium the copper, brass/bronze tradition of metal casting by the lost – wax or cire-perdue method has received extensive publicity.
Also prominent among Ife corpus is the stone sculptures. These include obelisks, representations of humans and fish, stools and enigmatic of cult objects, the Ife stone sculpture has northern dimensions especially in the little studied collections from Esure, some 100km. south of north-east of Ile-Ife sculpture have very important extensions in relation to arts of Benin and Owo.

NOK CULTURE

2009-04-15T06:43:00.000-07:00

Nok culture is a prehistorically culture which flourished in the central Nigerian area – a territory extending from the middle of the Jos Plateau western through Abuja to Kagara and southwards to Katsina Nla South of it Benue many discoveries where also made at Ankiring, Wamba, Tare and Jema. The area in which these discoveries have so far been found has already spread to an area of 300 miles by 100 miles lying across the Niger and Benue valley of the ham Jaba culture group at which many of the terracuttas have been discovered. The area has also yielded not only terracuttas and evidence of early iron working but also stone tools of the achulian tradition. These terracottas were initially discovered by European Tin – miners within and around the Tin miming Zone in 1928 from alluvial deposits at a depth of 7n or more. These discoveries help to add a new dimension to Nigeria, African and indeed the world cultural heritage. The Nok people appears likely to have enjoyed an economy and way of life nearly as advance as that of the present inhabitant although at first, it was not clear whether the Nok Terracuttas belong to the Neolithic age or Iron Age. Things become clearer after systematic excavation were carried out at data-able sites such as Nok and Turaga site at which the close and clear terracottas and iron working were demonstrated.
Data from direct Archaeological excavation and move recently from thermohuminiscence have generally been accepted to place the beginning of the Nok culture to at least the fifth 5th millennium (BC) to the 9th millennium BC. For a long time an upper limit data of 200 AD was the only one available. Recently T.L Dates are now available at some Nok Terracuttas which show that, they were still being produced after 600AD. Thus, the Nok Terracuttas were produced over a period of 1100 years (500BC – 600AD) and as long as 1500 years (300BC – 700AD)
One unique feature of the Terracuttas work is that they represent the earliest coherent and articulate tradition of sculpture of a naturalistic system in Black Africa. They help to provide the baseline on which to study subsequent artistic traditions, schools and movements in this region of Africa.
From the foregoing, it is obvious that the great school of Ile-Ife, Benin, Owo, Igbo – ukwu and indeed the prodigious output in wood, stone, ivory, metal and clay of the indigenous civilization of Nigeria can be seen to have an indigenous and ancestry, the Nok Terracuttas being a legitimate and credible prototype.
These Terracuttas have help to add a vital dimension to the study of the history of technology and Africa beliefs systems as they present evidence of an awareness of the landscape and its contents including animals such as elephant, the snake, the monkey and possibly cattle. They depict evidence of technology of production by showing working tools such as the axe or hoe. Elements of basic aesthetics as in bracelets, anklets, and possibly ear and lip – plugs that indicate a society of cultured citizens, a society that was not self – sufficient but produced the surplus that made the pursuit of artistic creativity possible. And the presentation of man is the central subject of its concern as most of their creativity is in human form.The culture also allows us to have a glimpse at instance of disease and bodily deformities as they allow us to see the meticulous attention paid to hair – styles of which some have survived into the twenty century.

Nigerian culture

2009-04-02T05:23:00.000-07:00

Bronzes, which have been dated to about the 9th century ad , were

discovered in the 1930s and ’40s at Igbo Ukwu, near the southwestern

city of Onitsha. (See also African art.) They reveal not only a high

artistic tradition but also a well-structured society with wide-ranging

economic relationships. Of particular interest is the source of the

copper and lead used to make the bronzes, which may have been Tadmekka

in the Sahara, and of the coloured glass beads, some of which may have

come from Venice and India, the latter via trade routes through Egypt,

the Nile valley, and the Chad basin. It is believed that the bronzes

were part of the furniture in the burial chamber of a high personage,

possibly a forerunner of the eze nri, a priest-king, who held religious

but not political power over large parts of the Igbo-inhabited region

well into the 20th century.
History » Kingdoms and empires of precolonial Nigeria

Early Nigerian culture

2009-04-02T05:18:00.000-07:00

The Nok culture

Evidence of human occupation in Nigeria dates back thousands of years.

The oldest fossil remains found by archaeologists in the southwestern

area of Iwo Eleru, near Akure, have been dated to about 9000 bc. There

are isolated collections of ancient tools and artifacts of different

periods of the Stone Age, but the oldest recognizable evidence of an

organized society belongs to the Nok culture (c. 500 bc–c. ad 200).

Pottery head found at Nok, Nigeria. In the Jos Museum, Nigeria. Height

21 cm. [Credits : Frank Willett]Named for the village of Nok, site of

some of the finds, the ancient culture produced fine terra-cotta

figurines, which were accidentally discovered by tin miners on the Jos

Plateau in the 1930s. Initially Neolithic (New Stone Age), the Nok

culture made the transition to the Iron Age. Its people raised crops

and cattle and seem to have paid particular attention to personal

adornment, especially of the hair. Distinctive features of Nok art

include naturalism, stylized treatment of the mouth and eyes, relative

proportions of the human head, body, and feet, distortions of the human

facial features, and treatment of animal forms. The spread of Nok-type

figures in a wide area south of the Jos Plateau, covering southern

Kaduna state southeastward to Katsina Ala, south of the Benue River,

suggests a well-established culture that left traces still identifiable

in the lives of the peoples of the area today. Many of the distinctive

features of Nok art can also be traced in later developments of

Nigerian art produced in such places as Igbo Ukwu, Ife, Esie, and Benin

City.

Nigeria's rich cultural heritage

2009-04-02T04:49:00.000-07:00

Nigeria's rich and varied cultural heritage derives from the mixture of

its different ethnic groups with Arabic and western European cultural

influences. Secret societies, such as Ekpo and Ekpe among the peoples

of the southeast, were formerly used as instruments of government,

while other institutions were associated with matrimony. According to

the Fulani custom of sharo (test of young manhood), rival suitors

underwent the ordeal of caning as a means of eliminating those who were

less persistent, while in Ibibio territory girls approaching

marriageable age were confined for several years in bride-fattening

rooms before they were given to their husbands. These and other customs

were discouraged by colonial administrators and missionaries. Some of

the more adaptable cultural institutions have been revived since

independence; these include Ekpo and Ekong societies for young boys in

parts of the southeast and the Ogboni society found in the Yoruba and

Edo areas of southern Nigeria.

MARRIAGE, FAMILY, AND KINSHIP

2009-04-02T04:32:00.001-07:00

arriage. There are three types of marriage in Nigeria today: religious

marriage, civil marriage, and traditional marriage. A Nigerian couple

may decide to take part in one or all of these marriages. Religious

marriages, usually Christian or Muslim, are conducted according to the

norms of the respective religious teachings and take place in a church

or a mosque. Christian males are allowed only one wife, while Muslim

men can take up to four wives. Civil official weddings take place in a

government registry office. Men are allowed only one wife under a civil

wedding, regardless of religion. Traditional marriages usually are held

at the wife's house and are performed according to the customs of the

ethnic group involved. Most ethnic groups traditionally allow more than

one wife.

Depending on whom you ask, polygamy has both advantages and

disadvantages in Nigerian society. Some Nigerians see polygamy as a

divisive force in the family, often pitting one wife against another.

Others see polygamy as a unifying factor, creating a built-in support

system that allows wives to work as a team.

While Western ways of courtship and marriage are not unheard of, the

power of traditional values and the strong influence of the family mean

that traditional ways are usually followed, even in the cities and

among the elite. According to old customs, women did not have much

choice of whom they married, though the numbers of arranged marriages

are declining. It is also not uncommon for women to marry in their

teens, often to a much older man. In instances where there are already

one or more wives, it is the first wife's responsibility to look after

the newest wife and help her integrate into the family.

Many Nigerian ethnic groups follow the practice of offering a bride

price for an intended wife. Unlike a dowry, in which the woman would

bring something of material value to the marriage, a bride price is

some form of compensation the husband must pay before he can marry a

wife. A bride price can take the form of money, cattle, wine, or other

valuable goods paid to the woman's family, but it also can take a more

subtle form. Men might contribute money to the education of an intended

wife or help to establish her in a small-scale business or agricultural

endeavor. This form of bride price is often incorporated as part of the

wooing process. While women who leave their husbands will be welcomed

back into their families, they often need a justification for breaking

the marriage. If the husband is seen as having treated his wife well,

he can expect to have the bride price repaid.

Though customs vary from group to group, traditional weddings are often

full of dancing and lively music. There is also lots of excitement and

cultural displays. For example, the Yoruba have a practice in which the

bride and two or three other women come out covered from head to toe in

a white shroud. It is the groom's job to identify his wife from among

the shrouded women to show how well he knows his wife.

Divorce is quite common in Nigeria. Marriage is more of a social

contract made to ensure the continuation of family lines rather than a

union based on love and emotional connections. It is not uncommon for a

husband and wife to live in separate homes and to be extremely

independent of one another. In most ethnic groups, either the man or

the woman can end the marriage. If the woman leaves her husband, she

will often be taken as a second or third wife of another man. If this

is the case, the new husband is responsible for repaying the bride

price to the former husband. Children of a divorced woman are normally

accepted into the new family as well, without any problems.

Domestic Unit. The majority of Nigerian families are very large by

Western standards. Many Nigerian men take more than one wife. In some

ethnic groups, the greater the number of children, the greater a man's

standing in the eyes of his peers. Family units of ten or more are not

uncommon.

In a polygamous family, each wife is responsible for feeding and caring

for her own children, though the wives often help each other when

needed. The wives also will take turns feeding their husband so that

the cost of his food is spread equally between or among the wives.

Husbands are the authority figures in the household, and many are not

used to their ideas or wishes being challenged.

In most Nigerian cultures, the father has his crops to tend to, while

his wives will have their own jobs, whether they be tending the family

garden, processing palm oil, or selling vegetables in the local market.

Children may attend school. When they return home, the older boys will

help their father with his work, while the girls and younger boys will

go to their mothers.

Inheritance. For many Nigerian ethnic groups, such as the Hausa and the

Igbo, inheritance is basically a male affair. Though women have a legal

right to inheritance in Nigeria, they often receive nothing. This is a

reflection of the forced economic independence many women live under.

While their husbands are alive, wives are often responsible for

providing for themselves and their children. Little changes

economically after the death of the husband. Property and wealth are

usually passed on to sons, if they are old enough, or to other male

relatives, such as brothers or uncles.

For the Fulani, if a man dies, his brother inherits his property and

his wife. The wife usually returns to live with her family, but she may

move in with her husband's brother and become his wife.

Kin Groups. While men dominate Igbo society, women play an important

role in kinship. All Igbos, men and women, have close ties to their

mother's clan, which usually lives in a different village. When an Igbo

dies, the body is usually sent back to his mother's village to be

buried with his mother's kin. If an Igbo is disgraced or cast out of

his community, his mother's kin will often take him in.

For the Hausa, however, there is not much of a sense of wide-ranging

kinship. Hausa society is based on the nuclear family. There is a sense

of a larger extended family, including married siblings and their

families, but there is little kinship beyond that. However, the idea of

blood being thicker than water is very strong in Hausa society. For

this reason, many Hausas will try to stretch familial relationships to

the broader idea of clan or tribe to diffuse tensions between or among

neighbors.
SOCIALIZATION

Infant Care. Newborns in Nigerian societies are regarded with pride.

They represent a community's and a family's future and often are the

main reason for many marriages.

Throughout Nigeria, the bond between mother and child is very strong.

During the first few years of a child's life, the mother is never far

away. Nigerian women place great importance on breast-feeding and the

bond that it creates between mother and child. Children are often not

weaned off their mother's milk until they are toddlers.

Children who are too young to walk or get around on their own are

carried on their mother's backs, secured by a broad cloth that is tied

around the baby and fastened at the mother's breasts. Women will often

carry their children on their backs while they perform their daily

chores or work in the fields.

Child Rearing and Education. When children reach the age of about four

or five, they often are expected to start performing a share of the

household duties. As the children get older, their responsibilities

grow. Young men are expected to help their fathers in the fields or

tend the livestock. Young women help with the cooking, fetch water, or

do laundry. These tasks help the children learn how to become

productive members of their family and community. As children, many

Nigerians learn that laziness is not acceptable; everyone is expected

to contribute.

While children in most Nigerian societies have responsibilities, they

also are allowed enough leeway to be children. Youngsters playing with

homemade wooden dolls and trucks, or groups of boys playing soccer are

common sights in any Nigerian village.

In many Nigerian ethnic groups, the education of children is a

community responsibility. For example,
Nigerian people at a market. Food plays a central role in the rituals

of all ethnic groups in Nigeria.
Nigerian people at a market. Food plays a central role in the rituals

of all ethnic groups in Nigeria.
in the Igbo culture the training of children is the work of both men

and women, within the family and outside it. Neighbors often look after

youngsters while parents may be busy with other chores. It is not

strange to see a man disciplining a child who is not his own.

All Nigerian children are supposed to have access to a local elementary

school. While the government aims to provide universal education for

both boys and girls, the number of girls in class is usually much lower

than the number of boys. Sending every child in a family to school can

often put a lot of strain on a family. The family will lose the child's

help around the house during school hours and will have to pay for

uniforms and supplies. If parents are forced to send one child to

school over another, many will choose to educate boys before girls.

MARRIAGE, FAMILY, AND KINSHIP

2009-04-02T04:32:00.000-07:00

Marriage. There are three types of marriage in Nigeria today: religious

marriage, civil marriage, and traditional marriage. A Nigerian couple

may decide to take part in one or all of these marriages. Religious

marriages, usually Christian or Muslim, are conducted according to the

norms of the respective religious teachings and take place in a church

or a mosque. Christian males are allowed only one wife, while Muslim

men can take up to four wives. Civil official weddings take place in a

government registry office. Men are allowed only one wife under a civil

wedding, regardless of religion. Traditional marriages usually are held

at the wife's house and are performed according to the customs of the

ethnic group involved. Most ethnic groups traditionally allow more than

one wife.

Depending on whom you ask, polygamy has both advantages and

disadvantages in Nigerian society. Some Nigerians see polygamy as a

divisive force in the family, often pitting one wife against another.

Others see polygamy as a unifying factor, creating a built-in support

system that allows wives to work as a team.

While Western ways of courtship and marriage are not unheard of, the

power of traditional values and the strong influence of the family mean

that traditional ways are usually followed, even in the cities and

among the elite. According to old customs, women did not have much

choice of whom they married, though the numbers of arranged marriages

are declining. It is also not uncommon for women to marry in their

teens, often to a much older man. In instances where there are already

one or more wives, it is the first wife's responsibility to look after

the newest wife and help her integrate into the family.

Many Nigerian ethnic groups follow the practice of offering a bride

price for an intended wife. Unlike a dowry, in which the woman would

bring something of material value to the marriage, a bride price is

some form of compensation the husband must pay before he can marry a

wife. A bride price can take the form of money, cattle, wine, or other

valuable goods paid to the woman's family, but it also can take a more

subtle form. Men might contribute money to the education of an intended

wife or help to establish her in a small-scale business or agricultural

endeavor. This form of bride price is often incorporated as part of the

wooing process. While women who leave their husbands will be welcomed

back into their families, they often need a justification for breaking

the marriage. If the husband is seen as having treated his wife well,

he can expect to have the bride price repaid.

Though customs vary from group to group, traditional weddings are often

full of dancing and lively music. There is also lots of excitement and

cultural displays. For example, the Yoruba have a practice in which the

bride and two or three other women come out covered from head to toe in

a white shroud. It is the groom's job to identify his wife from among

the shrouded women to show how well he knows his wife.

Divorce is quite common in Nigeria. Marriage is more of a social

contract made to ensure the continuation of family lines rather than a

union based on love and emotional connections. It is not uncommon for a

husband and wife to live in separate homes and to be extremely

independent of one another. In most ethnic groups, either the man or

the woman can end the marriage. If the woman leaves her husband, she

will often be taken as a second or third wife of another man. If this

is the case, the new husband is responsible for repaying the bride

price to the former husband. Children of a divorced woman are normally

accepted into the new family as well, without any problems.

Domestic Unit. The majority of Nigerian families are very large by

Western standards. Many Nigerian men take more than one wife. In some

ethnic groups, the greater the number of children, the greater a man's

standing in the eyes of his peers. Family units of ten or more are not

uncommon.

In a polygamous family, each wife is responsible for feeding and caring

for her own children, though the wives often help each other when

needed. The wives also will take turns feeding their husband so that

the cost of his food is spread equally between or among the wives.

Husbands are the authority figures in the household, and many are not

used to their ideas or wishes being challenged.

In most Nigerian cultures, the father has his crops to tend to, while

his wives will have their own jobs, whether they be tending the family

garden, processing palm oil, or selling vegetables in the local market.

Children may attend school. When they return home, the older boys will

help their father with his work, while the girls and younger boys will

go to their mothers.

Inheritance. For many Nigerian ethnic groups, such as the Hausa and the

Igbo, inheritance is basically a male affair. Though women have a legal

right to inheritance in Nigeria, they often receive nothing. This is a

reflection of the forced economic independence many women live under.

While their husbands are alive, wives are often responsible for

providing for themselves and their children. Little changes

economically after the death of the husband. Property and wealth are

usually passed on to sons, if they are old enough, or to other male

relatives, such as brothers or uncles.

For the Fulani, if a man dies, his brother inherits his property and

his wife. The wife usually returns to live with her family, but she may

move in with her husband's brother and become his wife.

Kin Groups. While men dominate Igbo society, women play an important

role in kinship. All Igbos, men and women, have close ties to their

mother's clan, which usually lives in a different village. When an Igbo

dies, the body is usually sent back to his mother's village to be

buried with his mother's kin. If an Igbo is disgraced or cast out of

his community, his mother's kin will often take him in.

For the Hausa, however, there is not much of a sense of wide-ranging

kinship. Hausa society is based on the nuclear family. There is a sense

of a larger extended family, including married siblings and their

families, but there is little kinship beyond that. However, the idea of

blood being thicker than water is very strong in Hausa society. For

this reason, many Hausas will try to stretch familial relationships to

the broader idea of clan or tribe to diffuse tensions between or among

neighbors.
SOCIALIZATION

Infant Care. Newborns in Nigerian societies are regarded with pride.

They represent a community's and a family's future and often are the

main reason for many marriages.

Throughout Nigeria, the bond between mother and child is very strong.

During the first few years of a child's life, the mother is never far

away. Nigerian women place great importance on breast-feeding and the

bond that it creates between mother and child. Children are often not

weaned off their mother's milk until they are toddlers.

Children who are too young to walk or get around on their own are

carried on their mother's backs, secured by a broad cloth that is tied

around the baby and fastened at the mother's breasts. Women will often

carry their children on their backs while they perform their daily

chores or work in the fields.

Child Rearing and Education. When children reach the age of about four

or five, they often are expected to start performing a share of the

household duties. As the children get older, their responsibilities

grow. Young men are expected to help their fathers in the fields or

tend the livestock. Young women help with the cooking, fetch water, or

do laundry. These tasks help the children learn how to become

productive members of their family and community. As children, many

Nigerians learn that laziness is not acceptable; everyone is expected

to contribute.

While children in most Nigerian societies have responsibilities, they

also are allowed enough leeway to be children. Youngsters playing with

homemade wooden dolls and trucks, or groups of boys playing soccer are

common sights in any Nigerian village.

In many Nigerian ethnic groups, the education of children is a

community responsibility. For example,
Nigerian people at a market. Food plays a central role in the rituals

of all ethnic groups in Nigeria.
Nigerian people at a market. Food plays a central role in the rituals

of all ethnic groups in Nigeria.
in the Igbo culture the training of children is the work of both men

and women, within the family and outside it. Neighbors often look after

youngsters while parents may be busy with other chores. It is not

strange to see a man disciplining a child who is not his own.

All Nigerian children are supposed to have access to a local elementary

school. While the government aims to provide universal education for

both boys and girls, the number of girls in class is usually much lower

than the number of boys. Sending every child in a family to school can

often put a lot of strain on a family. The family will lose the child's

help around the house during school hours and will have to pay for

uniforms and supplies. If parents are forced to send one child to

school over another, many will choose to educate boys before girls.

POLITICAL LIFE

2009-04-02T04:13:00.000-07:00

Government. Nigeria is a republic, with the president acting as both

head of state and head of government. Nigeria has had a long history of

coups d'états, military rule, and dictatorship. However, this pattern

was broken on 29 May 1999 as Nigeria's current president, Olusegun

Obasanjo, took office following popular elections. Under the current

constitution, presidential elections are to be held every four years,

with no president serving more than two terms in office. The Nigerian

legislature consists of two houses: a Senate and a House of

Representatives. All legislators are elected to four-year terms.

Nigeria's judicial branch is headed by a Supreme Court, whose members

were appointed by the Provisional Ruling Council, which ruled Nigeria

during its recent transition to democracy. All Nigerians over age

eighteen are eligible to vote.

Leadership and Political Officials. A wealthy political elite dominates

political life in Nigeria. The relationship between the political elite

and ordinary Nigerians is not unlike that between nobles and commoners.

Nigerian leaders, whether as members of a military regime or one of

Nigeria's short-lived civilian governments, have a history of doing

whatever it takes to stay in power and to hold on to the wealth that

this power has given them.

Rural Nigerians tend to accept this noble-peasant system of politics.

Low levels of education and literacy mean that many people in rural

areas are not fully aware of the political process or how to affect it.

Their relative isolation from the rest of the country means that many

do not even think of politics. There is a common feeling in many rural

areas that the average person cannot affect the politics of the

country, so there is no reason to try.

Urban Nigerians tend to be much more vocal in their support of or

opposition to their leaders. Urban problems of housing, unemployment,

health care, sanitation, and traffic tend to mobilize people into

political action and public displays of dissatisfaction.

Political parties were outlawed under the Abacha regime, and only came

back into being after his death. As of the 1999 presidential elections,

there were three main political parties in Nigeria: the People's

Democratic Party (PDP), the All Peoples Party (APP), and the Alliance

for Democracy (AD). The PDP is the party of President Obasanjo. It grew

out of support for opposition leaders who were imprisoned by the

military government in the early 1990s. The PDP is widely believed to

have received heavy financial assistance from the military during the

1999 elections. The APP is led by politicians who had close ties to the

Abacha regime. The AD is a party led by followers of the late Moshood

Abiola, the Yoruba politician who won the general election in 1993,

only to be sent to prison by the military regime.

Social Problems and Control. Perhaps Nigeria's greatest social problem

is the internal violence plaguing the nation. Interethnic fighting

throughout the country, religious rioting between Muslims and

non-Muslims over the creation of Shari'a law (strict Islamic law) in

the northern states, and political confrontations between ethnic

minorities and backers of oil companies often spark bloody

confrontations that can last days or even months. When violence of this

type breaks out, national and state police try to control it. However,

the police themselves are often accused of some of the worst violence.

In some instances, curfews and martial law have been imposed in

specific areas to try to stem outbreaks of unrest.

Poverty and lack of opportunity for many young people, especially in

urban areas, have led to major crime. Lagos is considered one of the

most dangerous cities in West Africa due to its incredibly high crime

rate. The police are charged with controlling crime, but their lack of

success often leads to vigilante justice.

In some rural areas there are some more traditional ways of addressing

social problems. In many ethnic groups, such as the Igbo and the

Yoruba, men are organized into secret societies. Initiated members of

these societies often dress in masks and palm leaves to masquerade as

the physical embodiment of traditional spirits to help maintain social

order. Through ritual dance, these men will give warnings about

problems with an individual's or community's morality in a given

situation. Because belief in witchcraft and evil spirits is high

throughout Nigeria, this kind of public accusation can instill fear in

people and cause them to mend their ways. Members of secret societies

also can act as judges or intermediaries in disputes.

Military Activity. Nigeria's military consists of an army, a navy, an

air force, and a police force. The minimum age for military service is

eighteen.

The Nigerian military is the largest and best-equipped military in West

Africa. As a member of the Economic Community of West African States

(ECOWAS), Nigeria is the major contributor to the organization's

military branch, known as ECOMOG. Nigerian troops made up the vast

majority of the ECOMOG forces deployed to restore peace following civil

wars in Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, and Sierra Leone. Public

dissatisfaction with Nigeria's participation in the Sierra Leonean

crisis was extremely high due to high casualty rates among the Nigerian

soldiers. Nigeria pledged to pull out of Sierra Leone in 1999,

prompting the United Nations to send in peacekeepers in an attempt stem

the violence. While the foreign forces in Sierra Leone are now under

the mandate of the United Nations, Nigerian troops still make up the

majority of the peacekeepers.

Nigeria has a long-running border dispute with Cameroon over the

mineral-rich Bakasi Peninsula, and the two nations have engaged in a

series of cross-boarder skirmishes. Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, and Chad

also have a long-running border dispute over territory in the Lake Chad

region, which also has led to some fighting across the borders.

HISTORY AND ETHNIC RELATIONS

2009-04-02T03:11:00.000-07:00

Emergence of the Nation. Every ethnic group in Nigeria has its own stories of where its ancestors came from. These vary from tales of people descending from the sky to stories of migration from far-off places. Archaeologists have found evidence of Neolithic humans who inhabited what is now Nigeria as far back as 12,000 B.C.E.

The histories of the people in northern and southern Nigeria prior to colonization followed vastly different paths. The first recorded empire in present-day Nigeria was centered in the north at Kanem-Borno, near Lake Chad. This empire came to power during the eighth century C.E. By the thirteenth century, many Hausa states began to emerge in the region as well.

Trans-Sahara trade with North Africans and Arabs began to transform these northern societies greatly. Increased contact with the Islamic world led to the conversion of the Kanem-Borno Empire to Islam in the eleventh century. This led to a ripple effect of conversions throughout the north. Islam brought with it changes in law, education, and politics.

The trans-Sahara trade also brought with it revolutions in wealth and class structure. As the centuries went on, strict Islamists, many of whom were poor Fulani, began to tire of increasing corruption, excessive taxation, and unfair treatment of the poor. In 1804 the Fulani launched a jihad, or Muslim holy war, against the Hausa states in an attempt to cleanse them of these non-Muslim behaviors and to reintroduce proper Islamic ways. By 1807 the last Hausa state had fallen. The Fulani victors founded the Sokoto Caliphate, which grew to become the largest state in West Africa until its conquest by the British in 1903.

In the south, the Oyo Empire grew to become the most powerful Yoruban society during the sixteenth century. Along the coast, the Edo people established the Benin Empire (not to be confused with the present-day country of Benin to the west), which reached its height of power in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

As in the north, outsiders heavily influenced the societies of southern Nigeria. Contact with Europeans began with the arrival of Portuguese ships in 1486. The British, French, and Dutch soon followed. Soon after their arrival, the trade in slaves replaced the original trade in goods. Many of the coastal communities began selling their neighbors, whom they had captured in wars and raids, to the Europeans in exchange for things such as guns, metal, jewelry, and liquor.

The slave trade had major social consequences for the Africans. Violence and intertribal warfare increased as the search for slaves intensified. The increased wealth accompanying the slave trade began to change social structures in the area. Leadership, which had been based on tradition and ritual, soon became based on wealth and economic power.

After more than 350 years of slave trading, the British decided that the slave trade was immoral and, in 1807, ordered it stopped. They began to force their newfound morality on the Nigerians. Many local leaders, however, continued to sell captives to illegal slave traders. This lead to confrontations with the British Navy, which took on the responsibility of enforcing the slave embargo. In 1851 the British attacked Lagos to try to stem the flow of slaves from the area. By 1861 the British government had annexed the city and established its first official colony in Nigeria.

As the nonslave trade began to flourish, so, too, did the Nigerian economy. A new economy based on raw materials, agricultural products, and locally manufactured goods saw the growth of a new class of Nigerian merchants. These merchants were heavily influenced by Western ways. Many soon became involved in politics, often criticizing chiefs for keeping to their traditional ways. A new divide within
Central Ibadan, the second-largest city. Nigeria is the most densely populated country in Africa.
Central Ibadan, the second-largest city. Nigeria is the most densely populated country in Africa.
the local communities began to develop, in terms of both wealth and politics. Because being a successful merchant was based on production and merit, not on traditional community standing, many former slaves and lower-class people soon found that they could advance quickly up the social ladder. It was not unusual to find a former slave transformed into the richest, most powerful man in the area.

Christian missionaries brought Western-style education to Nigeria as Christianity quickly spread throughout the south. The mission schools created an educated African elite who also sought increased contact with Europe and a Westernization of Nigeria.

In 1884, as European countries engaged in a race to consolidate their African territories, the British Army and local merchant militias set out to conquer the Africans who refused to recognize British rule. In 1914, after squelching the last of the indigenous opposition, Britain officially established the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria.

Introduction to Nigeria culture

2008-12-13T04:44:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my blog site

Nigeria which is one of the largest Africa country is endowed with colourfull, captivating and rich cultural heritage. These are express in the form festivals and ceremonies. These either come as a result of ascription, borrowed or even learned. There are various cultural heritage that cut across all the geopolitical zone in Nigeria. this particular distinct Nation from every other Nation in the world.