A Picture Capturing a Tranquil View of Ibadan in 1972
This old picture offers a distinctive viewpoint of a location in Ibadan in 1972 and a glimpse into the city at that time.
Throwback to these Image of Lagos Baddies in the 1950s
An iconic image from the 1950s that shows the elegance of three stunning and stylish ladies in Lagos.
Establishment of UTC Stores and its Expansion to the Nigerian Market
An old photo of Union Trading Company PLC, also referred to as UTC PLC, was publicly listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 1961 and was a diversified company formed in Switzerland. Swiss traders who were connected to the Basel Mission and the Basel Trading Company created it with the intention of donating a portion of their profits to the mission’s operations. Before entering the Nigerian market, the traders had prior business interest in Ghana and India. Before the First World War, the corporation had a successful cocoa business in Ghana. Years later, in 1932, the group opened a subsidiary in Nigeria. Through trade and acquisitions, the company expanded into Nigeria, where it established a number of subsidiaries, including HF Schroeder, UTC Foods, Dorman Long Nigeria, Amalgamated Metal Containers, and a motors division. UTC’s revenues soared from 150 million francs to around 1.5 billion francs during Nigeria’s oil boom, which followed World War II and led to a rise in merchandise importation into the country.
Actor Ramsey Noah Reminisces on Filming as an 8 Year Old
Ramsey Noah, a Nigerian actor, has revealed several secrets that we were unaware of for years. Ramsey Noah revealed that he was the brand’s eight-year-old face when sharing a picture of Blue Band margarine. Filming today is more comfortable, the renowned actor claims, after realizing how tiresome the brand’s commercial video production was. He stated, what do you think? That’s me when I was the 8-year-old brand ambassador for BLUE BAND. God had obviously planned for me to be the center of attention from the moment I was born. I realized how comfortable filming today is when I think back on how tiresome the commercial’s still and video shoot was. The camera was enormous, and the lights were so big that they could cook croaker fish with their heat. It wasn’t humorous at all that they had to take off my clothes more than four times to iron off the perspiration because I was perspiring so much. And now that it has happened, I am filled with nostalgia for it and the development of our industry since then.
Yan Tatsine Group, a Terrorist Group in the 20th Century Before the Birth of Boko Haram
Fewer people are aware of the Yan Tatsine organization, which terrorized Kano from the early 1970s until the late 1980sbut many of us are aware of Boko Haram’s history of terrorizing northern Nigeria. Maitatsine, who led the terrorist group Yan Tatsine in 1972, was accountable for several violent occurrences in Kano that caused around 16,000 deaths among people in northern Nigeria. Mohammed Marwa, aka Maitatsine, is notoriously known as the most wanted criminal in Nigerian history.The individual who doesn’t run away from his own terrorism lived as a terrorist in the city rather than in a secret cave or jungle. The man attempting to establish his own metropolis, which is more akin to a Northern Pablo Escobar. Mohammed Marwa, a notorious Muslim preacher in Nigeria, was better known by his moniker, Maitatsine. He is referred to as “the one who damns” in Hausa, “Maitatsine,” because of his public statements full of curses directed at the Nigerian government. The Yan Tatsine were his hardline supporters. His birthplace was Marwa, in the northern region of Cameroon. Following his schooling, he relocated to Kano, Nigeria, circa 1945, and quickly gained notoriety for his contentious sermons on the Qur’an. Maitatsine advocated against the use of watches, bicycles, vehicles, radios, and having more money than one needs. He was exiled by the British colonial rulers, but he soon returned to Kano upon independence. He had a significant and growingly radical fan base by 1972 under the name Yan Tatsine.He was detained by Nigerian police once more in 1975 on charges of slander and public abuse of political authority. However, during that time, he started to win approval from religious authorities, particularly after performing the Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. In the 1970s, the number of altercations between his supporters and the police rose along with his following. Young people, unemployed immigrants, and people who believed that mainstream Muslim educators were not doing enough for their communities were the major audiences for his sermons. The Nigerian army was brought in by Yan Tatsine’s ongoing attacks on police and other religious leaders by December 1980. Approximately 5,000 individuals were killed in further armed conflicts, notably Maitatsine. Shortly after being hurt during the fights, Maitatsine passed away from either a heart attack or his wounds. The Sunday Trust magazine said in 2010 that Maitatsine’s remains were burned by the Nigerian military and are currently housed in a bottle…
Alayeluwa Oba Okunade Sijuwade CFR, the fiftieth Traditional Ruler of Ife
From 1980 until his passing in 2015, Alayeluwa Oba Okunade Sijuwade CFR (born on January 1, 1930, and died on July 28, 2015) served as the fifty-first traditional monarch, or Ooni, of Ife, with the regnal title Olubuse II. He served as the traditional head of the Ife town in Osun State, Nigeria, which is home to the Yoruba Kingdom of Ile-Ife, a traditional Yoruba state. On December 6, 1980, he was crowned in front of the Emir of Kano, the Oba of Benin, the Olu of Warri, and the Amayanabo of Opobo, in addition to representatives of the Queen of England. Image Info: Ogiame Atuwatse II, the Olu of Warri Kingdom (reign 1987 -2015) and the Ooni of lle ife, Olubuse Il, Alayeluwa Oba Okunade Siuwade CFR.
Colonel Achuzie AKA “Hannibal” the Man who recaptured Onitsha from the Nigerian Army
Major Achuzia was an unsung hero. The Biafran 4th Commando Brigade carried out Operation Hiroshima as a military operation to retake Onitsha from the Nigerian 2nd Division. Joseph “Hannibal” Achuzia was a Nigerian aeronautical engineer with British training who was a major in the Biafran Army. He was born in Asaba in 1929 and passed away there on February 26, 2018. Before enlisting in the Biafran Army in May 1967, Achuzia worked as an engineer for the Portharcourt-based Shell Petroleum firm. He was one of the leaders and founders of the Portharcourt citizen militia, and after it was dissolved, he became a colonel in the Biafran army. By January 1970, when the civil war ended, he had a son and a British wife, but left for the southeast due of concern for anti-Igbo feeling among his comrades. Achuzia rose to the rank of Major and assumed command of the Biafran 11th Battalion, which was tasked with protecting the region between Atani and Ndoni from an impending Nigerian onslaught, following the forced withdrawal of Biafran soldiers into Onitsha on September 20,1967, due to the River Niger Bridge. Following eight days of brutal house-to-house warfare that led the Biafran 18th Battalion under Colonel Assam Nsudoh to flee From Onitsha, the 11th Battalion under Major Achuzie connected with the18th Battalion east of the city and prepared a counteroffensive. In a concerted pincer operation, the 11th Battalion, led by Maj. Achuzie, swung north along the New Market Road, and the 18th Battalion swung south along the Old Market Road. Achuzia’s forces killed or captured most of the 5,000-man Nigerian 2nd Division army that was stationed at Onitsha. In the days after the Biafran assault, the Nigerian 2nd Division launched two different counterattacks, but both were repulsed by the 11th and 18th Battalions based in Onitsha. On January 19, 1968, President Ojukwu gave Achuzia complete command over the Biafran 11th Division after Murtala Mohammed’s Nigerian 2nd Division arrived in Awka, providing Nigerians with a straight path to Onitsha. After holding off the Nigerians for two months under Maj. Achuzie’s command, the 11th Division would ultimately lose the fight in less than twenty-four hours after the Nigerians began an onslaught on March 20 and broke through the Biafran defensive lines encircling the city. Despite suffering significant casualties, the Nigerians were…
Female Hostess in the 1960s
A female employee at a Lagos, Nigerian airport
Bola Ige Captured in a Picture with Friends in the 1930s
Chief James Ajibola Idowu Ige, SAN, born on September 13, 1930, and slain on December 23, 2001, while holding the position of Nigeria’s Justice Minister, are pictured from left to right. He was a politician and attorney from Nigeria. He held the position of Nigeria’s Federal Minister of Justice from January 2000 until his murder in December 2001. Prior to this, from 1979 to 1983, he presided over Oyo State as governor of the Second Republic of Nigeria. From left to right, we have Tamunobere Oforiokuma, who was born in Calabar on January 12, 1931, and is currently living, previously the Federal Ministry of Finance’s Acting Permanent Secretary. This photo shows Akin Mabogunje (October 18, 1931 – August 4, 2022; later Professor of Geography, University of Ibadan) and Caleb Olaniyan (1930-2009), who later served as Professor of Zoology at the University of Lagos. Michael Adebayo Ifaturoti (1926 – February 21, 2007), who is currently known as O’dua Investments Company, is pictured here. He eventually served as Chairman of the Western State Public Service Commission and later WEMABOD.
Brief Background of His Royal Majesty, Omo N’Oba N’Edo, Uku Akpolokpolo Oba Ewuare II
Prior to ascending to the position of Oba of Benin, Eheneden Erediauwa studied at Immaculate Conception College in 1968 and Edo College in Benin City, Nigeria, from 1965 to 1967. He received his A-Level diploma from London’s South Thames College. He earned a degree in Economics from the University of Wales in the United Kingdom and a master’s degree in public administration from Rutgers University Graduate School in New Jersey, in the United States. He was employed at the UN from 1981 to 1982. In addition, he represented Nigeria as an ambassador to Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and the Finnish Republic. Additionally, he served as Nigeria’s envoy to Italy. When Ewuare was anointed Oba, he was wed to Princess Iyayiota (Obazuwa N’erie), Queen (Oloi) Iroghama (Obazuaye N’erie), and Princess Ikpakpa (Ohe N’erie). Later, he married other women.