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‘The story of export trade in palm oil in Nigeria will not be complete without the mentioning of the pioneering role made by Jaja of Opobo who put his life on the line to rightfully protect his economic and political interests and by extension, the economic interests of his people.’
The story of Mbanaso Okwarazurumba, also known as Jubo Jubogba and Jojo Mbam – Jaja of Opobo represents the story of a rural slave boy who bought himself out of slavery. His story has a tinge of religion, economy and politics – it is akin to Joseph’s in the Holy Bible (Joseph, a slave boy became a prime minister in Egypt); Jaja was a successful merchant who rubbed shoulders with white merchants and colonial masters; he was a political petrel in the Oil Rivers, the area now referred to as the Niger Delta.
First known Nigerian richest man
Jaja of Opobo ( 1821–1891) was the first known Nigerian richest man, nationalist, a merchant prince and the founder of Opobo city-state which now forms part of Nigeria`s River State. He was a savvy political and military strategist, brought to the Bonny Kingdom as a slave. Jaja was perhaps the most troublesome thorn in the flesh of 19th-century British imperial ambition in southern Nigeria.
Birth
Jaja was born about 1821 at Úmuduruõha, Amaigbo village in the Orlu district, now Imo State of Eastern Nigeria. He was the third son of his parents. According to different oral sources, Jaja was sold into slavery in the Niger Delta under circumstances which are far from clear. One version of the oral traditions says that he was sold because, as a baby, he cut the upper teeth first, an abominable phenomenon in traditional Igbo society. Another version claims that he was captured and sold by his father’s enemy. Regardless, he was bought by Chief Iganipughuma Allison of Bonny, by far the most powerful city-state on the Atlantic coast of Southeastern Nigeria before the rise of Opobo.
Export trade in palm oil
The story of export trade in palm oil in Nigeria will not be complete without the mentioning of the pioneering role made by Jaja of Opobo who put his life on the line to rightfully protect his economic and political interests and by extension, the economic interests of his people. Nigeria played a leading role in the past in palm oil production and trade. It is currently striving to bounce back to reckoning. Stories on palm oil production and trade are currently trending on Nigeria’s media space.
According to historical account, until the end of the 19th century, the Delta communities played a crucial role in European and American trade with Nigeria. Acting as middlemen, these communities carried into the interior markets the trade goods of European and American supercargoes stationed on the coast and brought back in exchange, the export produce of the hinterland, basically palm oil. As the Delta is dominated by saline swamps and crisscrossed by a labyrinth of creeks and rivers, the canoe was indispensable for trade.
Canoe House
The Delta society was organised in Canoe Houses. A Canoe House was the pivot of social organisation and also, a cooperative trading unit and a local government institution.
It was usually composed of a wealthy merchant (its founder), his family, and numerous slaves owned by him. A prosperous house could comprise several thousand members, both free and bonded, owning hundreds of trade canoes. In this intensely competitive society, leadership by merit – not by birth or ascriptions – was necessary if a house was to make headway in the turbulent, cut-throat competition that existed between houses. Any person with the charisma and proven ability, even if of servile birth, could rise to the leadership of a house, but could never become king. Jaja achieved this, and much more.
Rival houses
Finding young Jaja too headstrong for his liking, Chief Allison made a gift of him to his friend, Madu, a chief of the Anna Pepple House, one of the two houses of the royal family (the other being the Manilla Pepple House). Jaja was slotted into the lowest rung of the Bonny slave society ladder, that of an imported slave, distinct from that of someone who was of slave parentage but born in the Delta.
According to records, as a youth, he worked as a paddler on his owner’s great trade canoes, traveling to and from the inland markets. Quite early, he demonstrated exceptional abilities and business acumen, quickly identified with the Ijaw custom of the Delta, and won the hearts of the local people as well as those of the European supercargoes. It was unusual for a slave of his status to make the transition from canoe paddling to trading, but Jaja – through his honesty, business sense, and amiability – soon became prosperous.
Bonny politics
He shunned Bonny politics for a long time, concentrating his immense energies on accumulating wealth through trade, the single most important criterion to power in the Delta. At the time, Bonny politics were volatile as a result of the irreconcilable and acrimonious contest for supremacy between the Manilla Pepple House and the Anna Pepple House to which Jaja belonged. Coincidentally, both houses were led by remarkable characters of Igbo slave origins – Oko Jumbo of the Manilla House and Madu (after him Alali his son) of the Anna House.
Rise to leadership position
In 1863, Alali died, bequeathing to his house a frightening debt of between £10,000 and £15,000 owed to European supercargoes. Fearing bankruptcy, all of the eligible chiefs of the house declined nomination to head it. It was therefore a great relief when Jaja accepted to fill the void. With characteristic energy, he proceeded to put his house in order by reorganising its finances.
Conscious that the palm-oil markets in the hinterland and the wealth of the European trading community on the coast constituted the pivot of the Delta economy, he ingratiated himself with both sides. In a matter of two years, he had liquidated the debt left behind by his predecessor and launched his house on the path of prosperity. When less prosperous and insolvent houses sought incorporation into the Anna House, Jaja gradually absorbed one house after another.
Jaja became more and more powerful as the years passed by. He forbade the British traders having direct access to the hinterland. They must trade through him he insisted – he and his followers must be middlemen.
The British had their way
But the British overlords eventually had their way. In July 1884, fearing German intrusion in the Delta, the British consul, Edward Hewett, rushed to the area, foisting treaties of protection on the indigenous sovereignties. With a veiled threat from a man-of-war, Jaja too was stampeded into placing his kingdom under British protection.
The following year, European powers entered into the Treaty of Berlin which set the stage for the scramble and partition of Africa among themselves, without regard to the wishes of Africans. The treaty provided for free navigation on River Niger and other rivers, such as the Imo, linked to it. On the basis of this, the British consul asserted that British firms were within their rights to trade directly in the interior palm-oil markets.
Oil Rivers protectorate
That same year, 1885, Britain proclaimed the Oil Rivers Protectorate, which included Jaja’s territory. Sending a delegation to the British secretary of states for the colonies to protest these actions by right of the treaty of 1884, Jaja’s protest fell on deaf ears. A man of his word, he was shocked at Britain reneging on her pledge. Under a threat of naval bombardment, Jaja signed an agreement with the British consul in July 1887 to allow free trade in his territory.
Jaja’s demise
Jaja was deported to the Gold Coast, tried, and declared guilty of actions inimical to Britain’s interest. He was eventually deported to the West Indies, at St. Vincent Island. He made repeated appeals to Britain to allow him return to Opobo. His request was granted but he died on the Island of Teneriffeen en route to Opobo.
Today, an imposing statue of Jaja stands in the centre of Opobo with the inscription: ‘A king in title and indeed. Always just and generous.’
SIAKA MOMOH
