A History of Nigeria Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1928

Excepting the ancient Egyptian art, Nok art work is considered the oldest in all Africa, having flourished circa 1000 BC. And they were excellent sculptures: the terracotta figurines unearthed around the Jos Plateau tin mines can be found in museums all over the world. The sculptures were probably made for religious purposes, but the jewelry, hairstyles, and ornaments depicted on their works indicate that they might have had aesthetic purposes too. Iron was also extracted by the Noks as far back as 500 BC.

But the Noks mysteriously vanished before the birth of Christ, leaving their artwork as their only trace. Historians speculate that they could have mingled with later civilizations like the Yoruba and Benin. This is more than likely as similarities exist between the art forms of the two peoples. Even the origin of the Noks is shrouded in mystery and the name was only borrowed from a nearby village.

Answer: Bayajidda

The legend says that the wandering prince happened upon the city of Daura in what is now northern Nigeria, where a giant python was preventing the natives from drawing water from their well. After killing the snake Bayajidda married the Queen of Daura, with whom he had seven sons. The sons went on to establish the seven Hausa city states, each of which grew rapidly and came to be known for something. For example, Kano was a trading center while Zaria was a military stronghold.

The city-states all had mighty walls to keep their enemies at bay--especially the Kanem-Bornu in the east. When the nomadic Fulani came, no one could anticipate what would happen next.

Answer: Religion

The Fulani were descendants of nomads from the Middle East, and they practised the religion of their forebears - Islam. When they observed that their hosts, the Hausa, were mixing their religion with traditionalism, they were infuriated. These ill feelings reached a climax when in 1804, the Fulani leader and scholar, Usman Dan Fodio, declared a jihad on the Hausa. With the fervour of the early Mohammedans who spread their faith by the sword, the Fulani conquered Hausa land and expanded their kingdom. Dan Fodio became sultan of the new realm, ruling from Sokoto.

Answer: Kanem and Bornu

The Kanem Empire was established before Charlemagne ascended to the position of Holy Roman Emperor in the 9th century, but the Kanem-Bornu (Kanembu) Empire was not founded until seven centuries later. The Saifawa dynasty of Kanem was exiled for improper administration early in the Kanem history. They went south and settled in the Bornu empire. There they were constantly attacked by the plundering Fulani and raided by Arabs from the Sahara. Under the Saifawa leadership, the Bornu attained a measure of stability.

Some centuries after the expulsion of the Saifawa kings, the Bornu army had become more powerful than any of their neighbours' armies. So the Saifawa were able to retake the throne of their ancestors in Kanem's capital of Ghaji, thus establishing the new Kanem-Bornu empire, which flourished from the 16th-19th centuries. They were nearly vanquished in the 19th century by the vicious Fulani, who were on a Jihad. Weakened by the war with the Fulani, they eventually fell to the Ouaddai of Sudan.

Answer: Ile-Ife

One ancient account says that the supreme god, Olodumare, sent his son, Oduduwa, to civilise the primitive world. Oduduwa descended to the Earth with a cock in one hand and a calabash of sand in the other. Pouring the calabash of sand on the waters over the Earth, he had it spread by the cock. The point on which he poured the sand was Ile-Ife, the place of proliferation.

Another account is that Oduduwa was a traveler either from the north or east who settled in Ife and later became its ruler.

Ife was the first of the Yoruba kingdoms, so it played a role in the growth of other kingdoms in Yorubaland and beyond. In their heyday, they were a military might. But one of the Kingdom's most influential work was in the arts. They made use of the 'cire perdue', or lost wax system of sculpting, which was later copied by the Oyo and Benin. However, these two later kingdoms would soon eclipse Ife.

Answer: Gerontocracy

Gerontocracy is the rule of the aged and experienced members of a community, and was practised widely by the Igbos. Each society had a council of elders, consisting of men in their 60s and 70s, who acted as the executive, legislature, and judiciary.

The Nri kingdom was by far the largest Igbo one; hence their need for a more centralized government. The first and most eminent ruler of the Nri was king Eri.

The Nri were skilled bronze workers and produced many bronze ornaments, including the well known bronze pot. None of the Igbo-Ukwu art, as the bronze works are called, would have been found if the Anozie brothers of modern day Anambra in Nigeria had not been digging a cistern pit in their backyard in 1939.

The Nri kingdoms were relatively peaceful, being quite far away from the ravaging Fulani in the North. This peace was soon disturbed by the arrival of Europeans.

Answer: FESTAC 1977

The Kingdom of Benin is probably best known for its intricate bronze artworks, most of which resides in the British Museum (thanks to the looting of the colonists). The bronze mask of Benin was not only a symbol of the Queen Mother and the Kingdom itself, but also of African art in general. This was evident when it was used as the logo for the second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC) in 1977.

Originally known as Igodomigodo, Benin was renamed in the 1400s--its golden age under the ruler, Oba Ewuare. Agriculture was the main source of Benin's wealth, but they soon turned to trading slaves, which could only spell doom. In 1897 the British conquered and looted Benin.

Answer: Their military

The Oyo Empire was very actively involved in the most lucrative trade of the pre-colonial era: the slave trade. As a result they had access to the modern weapons of the time, like guns and gunpowder. This, coupled with their abundance of horses, made them a formidable military might. The 2022 film 'The Woman King' captures some of the fear felt by Oyo's neighbours.

Oyo is said to have been founded by Oranminyan, a prince from Ife, in the 1400s. The empire enjoyed military and trade supremacy for over 100 years between the 15th and 16th centuries, before falling to Tsoede of Nupe--a northern kingdom. But Oyo re-emerged in the 18th century stronger than before It expanded its boundaries beyond the former sizes, conquered most of its neighbours, and even extended to Dahomey (present-day Benin republic) at its height. Unfortunately, Oyo would eventually run out of external enemies and turn inwards on itself. A period of insurrection succeeded the era of conquests.

The ensuing internal strife reached its climax in the 19th century: Alaafin Awole (the king) was impeached. Before killing himself, he smashed a calabash and fired several arrows in different directions. He went on to curse his kingdom; and declare that they would be enslaved and scattered about like his arrows.

The large Oyo empire was soon fractured into numerous small kingdoms. Those northernmost were finished off by the Fulani jihadists. What remained was conquered by the British.

Answer: Portugal

Arriving on the coast of Western Nigeria, they named their landing point Lagos, after the Portuguese word for lagoons. They arrived early in the 15th century while in search of a new trade route to India and the far East. The old route involved crossing through Istanbul which was controlled by the Ottoman Turks.

They decided to trade with the inhabitants, exchanging their weapons and clothes for local crops and hand made crafts. But they soon found a more profitable commodity to trade: slaves.

Answer: Shortage of manpower

The greatest and longest lasting effect of slavery wherever it was carried out was the shortage of able bodied youths to carry out farm work. Communities ravaged by slave traders would be left with the old or disabled and some women. Families lost their breadwinners, who became important factors of production in foreign lands. Apart from the economic problems they faced, those left were emotionally broken; not to mention those taken, who also had to endure the harsh conditions under which they were transported on top.

Fortunately, the Industrial Revolution made slave labour redundant. Some slaves had also become literate enough to know their rights, so the end of slavery was inevitable by the end of the 19th century. Slave trade had already been abolished earlier in 1807 through the work of Christian evangelists like William Wilberforce.