Oba Ovonramwen

Oba Ovonramwen Nogbaisi was the last independent ruler of the Benin Kingdom, reigning from 1888 until the British invasion in 1897.

Oba Ovonramwen Nogbaisi, also known as "Overami", was born around 1857 as the son of Oba Adolo, a prominent ruler of the Benin Kingdom in present-day Edo State, Nigeria. He grew up in the royal palace, where he was trained in governance, cultural customs, spiritual duties, and the expectations of kingship, preparing him to lead both politically and spiritually. At his coronation in 1888, he took the name Ovọnramwẹn Nọgbaisi, meaning "The Rising Sun which spreads over all".

Many west African ports had grown up around settlements originally established as slave markets. In the later 1800s, the British worked to replace the transatlantic slave trade with what became known as the ‘legitimate trade’ in palm oil. The mechanisation of the textile industry in Manchester and the spread of railways increased demand for palm oil as a lubricant and it was also used in soap.

The Oba of Benin controlled his country's main export of palm oil. In 1893, the British Niger Coast Protectorate was formed, intent on gaining the monopoly of this trade. However, in 1896 the Oba closed all markets to outside trade. The acting British consul-general, Lieutenant James Robert Phillips, decided to deal with the problem. In January 1897, he marched into Benin city with an apparently unarmed group of men.

Despite repeated requests for them to retreat, the British party continued, resulting in military action from the Oba in which all but two of the party were killed. In response, the British organised a punitive raid on the city, sending in 1,500 troops. Several hundred sculptural bronzes, known collectively as the Benin bronzes, were taken as reparation for the killing of Phillips and his men. Many of these are now in private collections and museums around the world. Benin City was captured in February 1897, and Ovonramwen eventually surrendered in August of that year.

Oba Ovonramwen was exiled to Calabar by the British where he lived until his death in January 1914.

 

This photograph of him with armed guards was said to have been taken on a yacht on his way into his exile at Calabar. The photograph once belonged to Tom Singleton Gardner, an agent for the British trading company, The Africa Association Ltd, who lived in New Calabar, southern Nigeria, from around 1890 to 1917. Tom Singleton Gardner died in 1917 from tuberculosis. We know little about what sort of man he was or about his time in west Africa; his diaries are lost. However, photographs such as this, which now belong to his family, provide us with a glimpse of what life was like in west Africa at this time. Although it is possible that Gardner himself took some of these photographs, most are attributed to the black African photographer JA Green, whose studio was in Bonny.

This information was provided by curators from The Whitworth Art Gallery.

Other African monarchs who were exiled by the British:

King Nana Prempeh I (Ashanti Kingdom, Ghana): The British arrested the Asantehene in 1896 and sent him to the Seychelles.

King Cetshwayo (Zulu Kingdom, South Africa): He led the Zulu nation during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. After his defeat and capture, the British sent him into exile.

In 1898, Kabaka Mwanga II of the Kingdom of Buganda (Buganda Kingdom, Uganda), joined forces with Omukama Kabalega, the ruler of Bunyoro (Bunyoro Kingdom, Uganda), who had already been waging a fierce, long-running war against British imperial expansion. The two monarchs led fierce, armed military resistance against British imperial expansion and the imposition of colonial rule over their kingdoms. British forces, aided by local collaborators, captured both kings on April 9, 1899. Fearing ongoing military loyalties and planned rescue operations by forces like Bunyoro's Abarusuura, the British decided to exile the two Kings to a far away land, the Seychelles. Mwanga died in the Seychelles in 1903, while Kabalega died 23 years later while returning to his kingdom after his release.

King Jaja of Opobo (Opobo Kingdom, Nigeria): He was exiled to the West Indies in 1887 after being tricked and arrested by British Consul Harry Johnston on a warship. Jaja died on the way home to Opobo after being granted permission to return and was buried initially on the Spanish island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands.

British colonial authorities routinely used exile, banishment, and forced displacement as strategic political weapons to suppress resistance and neutralise anti-colonial leadership. By exiling key nationalist figures, monarchs, and religious leaders, the British aimed to leave resistance movements leaderless and disoriented. British administrators masked the violence of forced banishment behind administrative terms like "deportation", "relocation", or "administrative detention". New laws and emergency ordinances were regularly drafted ad-hoc to provide a veneer of legality to what was fundamentally a tool of coercive political control.

Source

Look & Laugh, Fela Kuti

With this soulful melody from his 'Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense' album Fela denounces how Nigeria remains stuck in the same troubled state while poverty and government corruption continue. After years of fierce political activism, arrests, and beatings by military regimes, the song explains his choice to step back and simply watch the absurdity of the system. Instead of crying or fighting an unresponsive system, he concludes that he must "look and laugh" at the tragicomic state of society. The track famously ends with Fela and his band laughing out loud together.

I have posted only the opening of the song. The full song in Parts 1 & 2 can be found here

Democracy In Traditional Africa

On this subject of democracy again. This is a subject that is of great interest to me. 

Traditional African societies practiced functioning indigenous forms of democracy, featuring consensus-building, popular participation, and checks and balances, long before modern Western models were formalised. 

While Western political thought often traces democracy exclusively to ancient Greece and Enlightenment Europe, historical and anthropological evidence shows that many pre-colonial African societies possessed robust mechanisms for accountable leadership and community governance. 

Many societies, such as the Igbo in Nigeria or the Chewa in Malawi, prioritised deep discussion until general agreement or consensus was reached, rather than relying on a simple 51% majority that alienates minorities. 

Centralised systems like the Oyo Empire utilised councils of elders and chiefs (such as the Oyomesi) with the power to check royal overreach, sometimes compelling a ruler to abdicate if they lost the confidence of the people. 

The Oromo people of East Africa practiced the sophisticated Gadaa system, a democratic socio-political model that rotated leadership and administrative power every eight years without ballots, ensuring a peaceful transfer of authority. 

Historically, there were significant checks and balances on the power of the Kabaka (King) of Buganda. While the Kabaka held vast centralised authority, he was not an absolute autocrat free from accountability.

Many communities operated without rigid state hierarchies. Village assemblies allowed adult members (varying by local custom) open forums to debate community matters, manage resources, and hold leaders accountable.

European colonial powers frequently dismissed these indigenous systems as "primitive" or "stateless," imposing authoritarian or direct-rule bureaucracies that dismantled traditional mechanisms of accountability. When Western-style representative democracy was later introduced during decolonisation, it was often decoupled from local history and traditions. 

Scholars emphasise that recognising pre-colonial African democracy counters the narrative that Africa was a passive recipient of political freedom, framing modern democratic aspirations on the continent as a revival of ancient communal traditions rather than a mere imitation of the West. 

Afrofuturism, Africa at the forefront of avant garde design

Burkino-Faso-born architect, Diébédo Francis Kéré, became the first African to win the prestigious Pritzker Prize, which is often referred to as the Nobel Prize of architecture. His highly esteemed work, including permanent and temporary structures, have been erected in his country of birth, but also across Africa, Europe and the United States.

Mr Kéré, 61, was elated to receive what is considered architecture's most renowned award, telling the BBC he was "very happy, very proud. It was a huge surprise."

Diébédo Francis Kéré is a respected authority in the field of architecture. He worked as a lecturer at his alma mater Technical University of Berlin, teaching how to design buildings ecological and socially adequate to their environment. In the summer of 2012 Kéré lectured at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, and in autumn 2012 he was a visiting professor at Harvard. In February 2013 he began teaching at the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio. In 2017 Kéré took over the newly created professorship for Architectural design and Participation at the Technical University of Munich. He was a visiting professor at the Yale School of Architecture. In 2021 Kéré took a position as guest professor at the Bauhaus University in Weimar, Germany.

He is the Principal & Founder of Kéré Architecture, leading this internationally renowned, Berlin-based architectural firm which he founded in 2005. The studio specialises in socially-engaged, climate-responsive, and sustainable design across multiple continents. 

He is a Professor of Architectural Design and Participation at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), where he he holds a permanent professorship and has been teaching and leading research into participatory building methods. 

Kèré is also the President & Founder of the Kéré Foundation. He directs this non-profit organisation (originally Schulbausteine für Gando) dedicated to implementing sustainable public infrastructure, healthcare, and educational facilities in marginalised communities, specifically in his home country of Burkina Faso. 

He is the Director of the Tenkodogo Training Centre where he oversees an expanded architectural training and research hub in Burkina Faso, focusing on teaching global craftspeople and architects how to build energy-efficient structures using local, vernacular materials.

He is one of National Geographic's 2026 Changemakers. 

Some of his active projects include:

•The Benin National Assembly building (under construction).

•The Las Vegas Museum of Art in downtown Las Vegas (designed in collaboration with SOM).

•The Ineza Clinic in rural Burundi.

•The newly completed Goethe-Institut in Dakar, Senegal.

The story of West African architecture is being rewritten on the global stage, and for a fellow West African, there is no greater beacon of this transformation than Diébédo Francis Kéré. His rise to the pinnacle of global architecture is more than a personal triumph; it is a profound cultural validation. His work serves as a masterclass in how to honour our roots while shaping the future. For an aspiring creative from the same soil, Kéré is not just an inspiration—he is a blueprint for how we can redefine our continent's identity through design. Seeing his work teaches me that our heritage is not a limitation; it is our greatest asset. 

Kéré’s philosophy redefines the very purpose of an architect from an isolated artist to a community collaborator. In many West African cultures, community and collectivism—the spirit of Ubuntu or Kapital—define daily life. Kéré seamlessly weaves this cultural fabric into his building process. He does not just deliver a blueprint; he invites the community to gather, learn, and build together. By training local men and women in advanced brickmaking and construction techniques, he ensures that the process of creation leaves the community richer in skill and pride. This teaches us that architecture is not merely about erecting beautiful objects; it is about creating spatial dignity and fostering social equity.

Diébédo Francis Kéré inspires me because he represents a bridge between what was, what is, and what can be. He has shown me that as West Africans, we have a duty to create spaces that breathe with our climate, speak our cultural languages, and respect our economic realities. He has paved the way, proving that our stories, our materials, and our communal values are worthy of world-class celebration.

NIGERIA: The Giant and Heartbeat of a Continent | 1 Hour Full Documentary

 By Africa Revealed 

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