2,030 Abibisika (Black Gold) Points

Rank: Unranked Obibini

Jaja KIng of Opobo (c.1821 – 91) and whose real name is Mbanaso Okwaraozurumba was born in the Amaigbo village group in southwestern Nigeria and is one of the most famous resistors of the British Colonial takeover of Nigeria. He was sold as a slave at the age of 12 to a chief in the coastal trading state of Bonny. Through his prowess, as a trader, particularly in palm oil, he rose to become the head of the Anna Pepple House which was an extremely wealthy and powerful house in Bonny in 1863.

His success as a trader had roused the ire and competition of other houses, in particular the Manilla Pepple House headed by Oko Jumbo. Around 1869, war broke out between the two houses with the result that Jaja fled inland, establishing a new trading state, which he named Opobo. From the hinterland he cut off Bonny’s access to palm oil markets and over time, he turned Opobo into a wealthy trading state of its own.

In 1884, Jaja had signed a treaty of protection with the British guaranteeing them free trade in his realm. Not intending to live up to an agreement that would erode his competitive advantage, he quickly abrogated the terms of the treaty therefore provoking the anger of the British. Around 1887, the acting British consul Henry Hamilton Johnston tricked Jaja on board a gunboat, ostensibly to negotiate a peaceful end to hostilities.

Once on board, Jaja was arrested and then taken to Accra, whence he was banished to the West Indies. He was in the end allowed to return Opobo in 1891 but died under suspicious circumstances on the voyage home. His body eventually was returned home and buried in Opobo.