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21/08/2025

The Woman Who Gave Nigerian Women a Political Voice

In 1944, while colonial Nigeria was still struggling under the weight of foreign rule, one woman dared to dream differently.
Her name was Oyinkan Abayomi (1897–1990) a teacher, activist, and fearless advocate for women’s rights.

At a time when politics was seen as the business of men, Oyinkan stood tall and founded the Nigerian Women’s Party the first political party in Nigeria formed by a woman.

Her goal was simple yet radical: to give women a platform in a system that ignored their voices. Through her party, she mobilized women, encouraged education, and demanded political representation long before Nigeria’s independence.

Though her party did not capture state power, her courage planted a seed.
She proved that women were not just companions to history they could be creators of history.

Today, every Nigerian woman who stands in parliament, holds office, or fights for justice walks in the footsteps of pioneers like Oyinkan Abayomi.

She was more than a politician; she was a pathfinder.

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21/08/2025

When Beauty Broke Boundaries

In 1989, a young Nigerian woman stepped onto the global stage and changed history forever. Her name?
Bianca Onoh the woman we now know as Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu.

After winning Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria (1988) and Miss Africa (1989), Bianca carried the pride of a continent into the prestigious Miss Intercontinental Pageant.
Against contestants from across the world, she shone with grace, intelligence, and elegance.

That year, she was crowned Miss Intercontinental 1989, becoming the first African woman ever to win the title.

Her victory was more than a crown.
It was a symbol of how far Nigeria could stand on the world stage a reminder that African beauty, culture, and confidence deserve to be celebrated everywhere.

From pageants to diplomacy, Bianca’s journey shows that history is not only shaped by soldiers and politicians, but also by women who carry their nations in their voice, their stride, and their courage.

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21/08/2025

A River, A People, A Tradition

In the heart of Kebbi State, where the River Sokoto flows into the mighty River Rima, lies one of Africa’s most spectacular cultural events the Argungu International Fishing Festival.

What began in 1934 as a symbol of peace between the people of Sokoto and Kebbi has grown into a breathtaking celebration of unity, culture, and resilience.

Every year, at the sound of a drum, hundreds of fishermen leap into the river, armed with nothing but traditional nets, gourds, and their bare hands. In a matter of minutes, the river erupts into a frenzy of splashes, chants, and laughter, as men wrestle with giant catfish, some weighing up to 75 kilograms.

But Argungu is more than just fishing.
It is a living museum of Hausa heritage filled with music, dance, wrestling, canoe races, and agricultural displays.
It is a reminder that festivals are not just entertainment, but a way of preserving identity, history, and community pride.

The festival’s endurance, from the 1980s (like in the historic photo you see here) to today, shows how traditions can adapt yet remain deeply rooted in culture.

The Argungu Fishing Festival is not just a competition it is a story of a people who turn rivers into heritage, and water into memory.

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21/08/2025

The Forgotten Story of Jos Tin Mines (1904)

Long before oil, it was tin that put Nigeria on the global map.
And the heart of it all? Jos Plateau.

In 1904, British colonialists “discovered” rich deposits of tin in Jos.
By 1907, large-scale mining began, and soon the Plateau became one of the world’s largest sources of tin.

But here’s the catch: the wealth didn’t flow to the local people.
The mines were controlled by European companies, backed by the colonial government. African laborers many forced or paid meager wages worked long, dangerous hours in the pits, digging out minerals that built Britain’s industries and wealth.

Jos changed overnight. Hills were flattened, streams diverted, and foreign miners flooded in. The Plateau’s unique landscape once untouched was scarred by deep mining ponds and tunnels that remain visible today.

During World War I and II, Nigerian tin fueled the British war effort.
Yet, after decades of extraction, what was left for Jos?
Environmental damage, abandoned mines, and communities that never saw the true value of the wealth beneath their feet.

Today, if you drive through Plateau, you’ll still see those gaping mining ponds silent witnesses of a time when Jos was the glittering jewel of colonial Nigeria.

The story of Jos tin mines reminds us of both Nigeria’s natural riches… and the painful truth of how they were taken.

21/08/2025

Ubang: The Nigerian Village Where Men & Women Speak Different Languages

Deep in Obudu, Cross River State, lies a village so unique that linguists and anthropologists call it a living marvel of culture.
Welcome to Ubang the community where men and women speak different languages, yet understand each other perfectly.

From birth, children in Ubang are immersed in the female version of the language, shaped by mothers and female caregivers.
Around the age of 10, boys naturally shift to the male lexicon, a rite of passage marking maturity. Speaking the “wrong” gender language is seen as unusual and culturally unacceptable.

Despite this linguistic split, communication flows seamlessly.
A simple word like “water” is called amu by women, but bamuie by men. “Stone” becomes koka for women and okai for men, while “yam” is ketung for women and iri for men.

This extraordinary dual-language system isn’t just a curiosity it’s a cultural cornerstone, steeped in myth and tradition.
Oral stories say that God blessed the Ubang people with two languages, a divine gift that has survived generations. Anthropologists describe it as a rare example of a dual-sex culture, where male and female spheres are linguistically distinct yet intertwined.

Today, modern influences and the rise of English pose challenges, but Ubang remains a living testament to Nigeria’s rich linguistic and cultural heritage.

In a world that often pushes for uniformity, Ubang reminds us that diversity even in the way we speak is a treasure worth preserving.

21/08/2025

The Royal Niger Company – The “Company” That Once Owned Nigeria

Before Nigeria was a country, before the Union Jack was raised in 1914, the land and its people were not directly ruled by Britain… but by a company.

Yes a company once owned Nigeria.

In 1886, the British government granted a charter to the Royal Niger Company, led by Sir George Goldie.
With this, the company was given the power to sign treaties, collect taxes, run its own army, and even administer justice across vast parts of what would later become Nigeria.

Through cunning deals and sometimes outright force, the company took control of trade along the River Niger palm oil, ivory, and other resources flowed out, while weapons and goods flowed in. By 1899, the Royal Niger Company controlled over 400 treaties with local chiefs.

But here’s the shocking part: the company wasn’t ruling for Nigeria’s benefit. It was all about profit.
Every sack of palm oil, every tusk of ivory, every tax paid by an African went straight into private pockets in London.

In 1899, the British government “bought back” Nigeria from the company paying £865,000 (worth hundreds of millions today).
And just like that, Nigeria passed from the hands of businessmen to the hands of the British Empire.

Think about it: before we were a colony, we were a business transaction.
Nigeria was treated not as a nation, but as a commodity.

The legacy of the Royal Niger Company is a reminder that colonialism was never about development it was about profit, power, and control.

21/08/2025

21/08/2025

The Lost Glory of Kano’s Groundnut Pyramids

Once upon a time, before oil ruled Nigeria, there stood giants in the North.
Not giants of flesh and bone but giants of groundnuts.

In the 1940s to 1960s, Kano became world-famous for its groundnut pyramids.
These massive structures, stacked like mountains in the city, were built from millions of groundnut sacks awaiting export.
From a distance, they looked like mighty pyramids rising from the earth symbols of Nigeria’s wealth, strength, and agricultural pride.

The groundnut trade fed families, built schools, funded infrastructure, and connected Northern Nigeria to the global market.
Kano thrived.
The pyramids weren’t just piles of nuts; they were monuments of hope a reminder that Nigeria could stand tall through the sweat of its farmers.

But then came oil.
As the black gold took center stage, agriculture faded.
The pyramids disappeared, the warehouses went silent, and with them, an era of abundance.
Today, many Nigerians have only seen these pyramids in black-and-white photographs, like ghosts of a forgotten prosperity.

Imagine if we had preserved that spirit of farming and combined it with today’s technology.
Would Nigeria still be called “the giant of Africa” not just in name, but in reality?

The groundnut pyramids remind us of what we once had… and what we can still rebuild.

21/08/2025

Plateau State Nigeria’s Tower of Babel

When you step into Plateau, something extraordinary happens.
A short journey from one village to the next can feel like crossing into another country.

In Berom land around Jos, you’ll hear the rich tones of Berom.
Drive a little further, and the language switches to Afizere (Jarawa).
Not far from there, another community speaks Ngas, then Mwaghavul, then Tarok, then Ron and the list goes on. In total, Plateau is home to over 40 distinct languages.

This isn’t just a Nigerian record it’s a global marvel.
Linguists consider Plateau one of the most linguistically diverse places in the world.

How did this happen?
Hundreds of years ago, Plateau’s mountains, rocks, and valleys became a natural refuge. Groups fleeing slave raids, wars, and political unrest migrated here for safety.
Each community settled in its own rocky enclave, often separated by deep valleys and high ridges.
Geography acted like a wall keeping communities apart long enough for their languages to grow distinct.

By the 1800s, early explorers were stunned. They noted that within a few hours’ walk, they could encounter multiple groups who could not understand each other.
Some villages just a hill apart spoke completely different languages.

But here’s the beauty: language diversity did not bring division.
Instead, Plateau communities built bridges. Hausa emerged as the common trade language, while intermarriage, festivals, and markets wove them together into one cultural fabric.

Today, Plateau is living proof that diversity can be a source of unity, not conflict.
Every language carries centuries of history of migration, survival, and identity.

Imagine standing in Jos main market on a bustling morning: one trader bargaining in Berom, another answering in Afizere, a third haggling in Tarok, and a fourth adding Hausa to the mix so everyone understands.
In that single moment, you are standing inside history a living Tower of Babel, not of confusion, but of cultural strength and resilience.

Plateau is more than a state.
It’s a classroom of human history, carved in stone and spoken in many tongues.

21/08/2025

A Land Where Every Hill Speaks a Different Tongue.

Step into Akoko-Edo, a rocky, hilly region in northern Edo State, and you’ll discover one of Nigeria’s best-kept secrets villages so close to each other, yet they speak completely different languages.

In Igarra, you’ll hear the language of the Igarra people.
Just a few kilometers away in Ososo, the words change entirely.
Move further to Ibillo, and again you’re in another tongue.
All of them belong to the Edoid family, but they are mutually unintelligible.

Yet, these communities live as one.
Shared markets, marriages, and festivals bind them together and they also interact with their Yoruba-speaking neighbours just across the border in Ondo State.

Why so many languages in one small place?
Historians say Akoko-Edo was a refuge for migrating peoples, who settled among the rocks and hills centuries ago.
The geography kept them isolated long enough for their speech to evolve into distinct languages.

Today, Akoko-Edo is living proof that diversity does not mean division.
In one local government, you can hear more linguistic variety than in some entire countries.

Imagine standing on a hilltop and hearing three different villages each with its own language echoing across the valleys.
That’s Akoko-Edo.

21/08/2025

How Our Ancestors Controlled ‘Sugar Disease’ Without Doctors…”

In the 1700s, there were no hospitals, no injections, no pharmacies.
Yet our forefathers faced the same health struggles we talk about today including what we now call diabetes.

Back then, people understood sickness differently.
They may not have called it “diabetes,” but they recognized symptoms: constant thirst, frequent urination, weight loss, and fatigue.
And they had their own ways of managing it.

Here’s how they survived without modern doctors:
• Natural diet: Their meals were mostly unprocessed millet, guinea corn, beans, yam, cocoyam, vegetables, and little or no refined sugar.
This kept blood sugar naturally low.
• Herbal medicine: Healers used plants like bitter leaf, neem, mango leaves, and okra water to control “sugar in the body.”
These remedies are still used today in some villages.
• Active lifestyle: Farming, hunting, and walking long distances acted as natural exercise, keeping the body strong and balanced.
• Spiritual healing: Some communities also believed certain illnesses were linked to spiritual imbalance, so prayers, sacrifices, and rituals were part of treatment.

While modern science now gives us clearer explanations, the wisdom of our ancestors reminds us of a simple truth: health begins with what we eat and how we live.

Do you think modern Nigerians have forgotten this ancient wisdom by embracing too much sugar and processed food?

21/08/2025

When Shells Were More Valuable Than Money…

Long before paper money or coins ever touched Nigerian soil, a tiny seashell ruled the markets. It was called the cowrie.

For centuries, cowries were the main currency across West Africa.
Traders used them to buy food, pay taxes, and even settle dowries.
A man’s wealth was often measured by the bags of cowries he owned.
They were light, portable, and beautiful the perfect symbol of value.

But cowries were more than money.
They carried spiritual meaning, used in divination, rituals, and even as protective charms.
To many cultures, they were the voice of the gods, whispering secrets about destiny and fortune.

Then came colonialism.
By the early 20th century, the British introduced coins and paper notes, slowly pushing cowries out of the marketplace.
What was once a treasure of trade became a symbol of memory.

Today, cowries live on as jewelry, decoration, and cultural identity.
From necklaces to waist beads, they remind us of a time when Africa’s wealth was not in foreign notes, but in shells drawn from the sea.

The story of the cowrie is the story of African creativity turning something simple into something priceless.