AFRICA IN HISTORY
King Jaja of Opobo
(1821-1891)
Born in Igboland and sold as a slave to a Bonny trader at the age of
twelve, he was named Jubo Jubogha by his first master. He was
later sold to Chief Alali, the head of the Opubo Annie Pepple Royal
House. Called Jaja by the British, this gifted and enterprising
individual eventually became one of the most powerful men in the
eastern Niger Delta.
The Niger Delta, where the Niger empties itself into the Gulf of
Guinea in a system of intricate waterways, was the site of unique
settlements called city-states.
From the fifteenth to the eighteenth century, Bonny, like the other
city-states, gained its wealth from the profits of the slave trade.
Here, an individual could attain prestige and power through success
in business and, as in the case of Jaja, a slave could work his way
up to head of state. The House was a socio-political institution and
was the basic unit of the city-state.
In the nineteenth century—after the abolition of the slave trade in
1807—the trade in slaves was supplanted by the trade in palm oil,
which was so vibrant that the region was named the Oil Rivers area.
The Houses in Bonny and other city-states controlled both the
internal and external palm oil trade because the producers in the
hinterland were forbidden to trade directly with the Europeans on
the coast; the Europeans never left the coast for fear of malaria.
Astute in business and politics, Jaja became the head of the Anna
Pepple House, extending its activities and influence by absorbing
other houses, increasing operations in the hinterland and
augmenting the number of European contacts. A power struggle
ensued among rival factions in the houses at Bonny leading to the
breakaway of the faction led by Jaja. He established a new
settlement, which he named Opobo. He became King Jaja of Opobo
and declared himself independent of Bonny.
Strategically located between Bonny and the production areas of the
hinterland, King Jaja controlled trade and politics in the delta. In so
doing, he curtailed trade at Bonny and fourteen of the eighteen
Bonny houses moved to Opobo.
In a few years, he had become so wealthy that he was shipping
palm oil directly to Liverpool. The British consul could not tolerate
this situation. Jaja was offered a treaty of "protection", in return for
which the chiefs usually surrendered their sovereignty. After Jaja's
initial opposition, he was reassured, in vague terms, that neither his
authority nor the sovereignty of Opobo would be threatened.
Jaja continued to regulate trade and levy duties on British traders,
to the point where he ordered a cessation of trade on the river until
one British firm agreed to pay duties. Jaja refused to comply with
the consul's order to terminate these activities, despite British
threats to bombard Opobo. Unknown to Jaja, the Scramble for
Africa had taken place and Opobo was part of the territories
allocated to Great Britain. This was the era of gunboat diplomacy,
where Great Britain used her naval power to negotiate conditions
favorable to the British.
Lured into a meeting with the British consul aboard a warship, Jaja
was arrested and sent to Accra, where he was summarily tried and
found guilty of "treaty breaking" and "blocking the highways of
trade".
He was deported to St. Vincent, West Indies and four years later, he
died en route to Nigeria after he was permitted to return.
Ironically, Jaja's dogged insistence on African independence and
effective resistance exposed British imperialism and made him the
first victim of foreign territorial intrusion in West Africa. The fate of
Jaja reverberated through the entire Niger delta. Amazed at this
turn of events, the other delta chiefs quickly capitulated.
In addition, the discovery of quinine as the cure for malaria enabled
the British traders to bypass the middlemen and deal directly with
the palm oil producers, thus precipitating the decline of the city-
states.
King Jaja's downfall ensured a victory for British supremacy, paving
the way for the eventual imposition of the colonial system in this
region by the end of the century.
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