Episodes

  • The 1897 Benin Punitive Expedition: Loot, Empire and Bronze Legacy

    The 1897 Benin Punitive Expedition: Loot, Empire and Bronze Legacy
    Jul 4 2026
    In February 1897, a British force of 1,200 men sacked the ancient Kingdom of Benin, burning its capital and looting thousands of artworks now scattered across museums worldwide. This episode unpacks the chain of events: the killing of Acting Consul General James Phillips and eight British envoys after they ignored warnings not to enter Benin during a sacred festival, the punitive expedition launched under Admiral Sir Harry Rawson, and the capture and exile of Oba Ovonramwen Nogbaisi. We explore the role of the Oba's monopoly on trade with Europeans, the kingdom's sophisticated governance and artistry—especially the famed Benin bronzes—and the enduring controversy over restitution. Drawing on firsthand accounts from the expedition and modern calls for repatriation, Lucas and Luna discuss what the looting meant for Benin's cultural heritage and why these artifacts remain a flashpoint in debates about colonial legacies. #BeninKingdom #PunitiveExpedition #BeninBronzes #ObaOvonramwen #JamesPhillips #HarryRawson #ColonialLooting #Restitution #Nigeria #Edo #BeninCity #1897 #BritishEmpire #ArtHistory #MuseumRepatriation #CulturalHeritage #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    9 mins
  • Queen Amina of Zazzau: Warrior Queen of Hausaland

    Queen Amina of Zazzau: Warrior Queen of Hausaland
    Jul 4 2026
    Long before the Sokoto Caliphate rose to power, the Hausa city-states of northern Nigeria produced one of West Africa's most legendary military leaders: Queen Amina of Zazzau. In this episode, Lucas and Luna delve into the life and legacy of the 16th-century warrior queen who expanded the borders of Zazzau (modern-day Zaria) through relentless cavalry campaigns. They explore the oral traditions that describe her as a skilled strategist who built fortified walls—known as 'Amina's walls'—around conquered towns, and her role in establishing the trans-Saharan trade routes that brought kola nuts, salt, and slaves to North Africa. The conversation touches on the debate over her historicity, the absence of contemporary written records, and how her story has been reshaped by nationalist narratives in modern Nigeria. They also examine the political structure of the Hausa Bakwai—the seven original Hausa states—and how Zazzau's military innovations influenced the region. This episode offers a nuanced look at a figure who straddles the line between history and legend, and what her story reveals about the power of women in pre-colonial West Africa. #QueenAmina #Zazzau #HausaBakwai #Zaria #WarriorQueen #Hausaland #TransSaharanTrade #PrecolonialNigeria #OralHistory #Cavalry #16thCentury #Nigeria #WestAfrica #FexingoHistory #History #WomenInHistory #LegendAndHistory #MilitaryHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    8 mins
  • Madame Tinubu: Slave Trader, Kingmaker, and the Lioness of Lagos

    Madame Tinubu: Slave Trader, Kingmaker, and the Lioness of Lagos
    Jul 3 2026
    In the mid-19th century, as the British Navy patrolled the Bight of Benin for slavers, one woman controlled the palm oil trade, the salt caravans, and the very lifeblood of Lagos. Her name was Efunroye Tinubu — known to history as Madame Tinubu. Born into a noble Egba family around 1810, she built a commercial empire from Badagry to Abeokuta, married three kings, and bankrolled the war machine that kept Oyo's remnants alive. But she also dealt in slaves, even after the trade was outlawed, and was finally exiled for her role in a plot to restore the slave-trading Oba Kosoko. This episode traces her rise from a cassava trader to the most powerful woman in the Lagos Colony, the alliances she forged with British consuls and Yoruba generals, and the legacy that still divides Nigerians today. We also explore her fierce rivalry with the Saro elite and her final days in Abeokuta, where she died a wealthy chief — but never a queen. #MadameTinubu #EfunroyeTinubu #LagosHistory #ObaKosoko #Badagry #Abeokuta #PalmOilTrade #SlaveTrade #JohnBeecroft #Saro #Egba #Yoruba #BightOfBenin #WestAfrica #19thCentury #WomenInHistory #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    7 mins
  • The 1914 Amalgamation: How Lugard Created Nigeria

    The 1914 Amalgamation: How Lugard Created Nigeria
    Jul 3 2026
    Nigeria's existence as a single nation was not inevitable. In 1914, British High Commissioner Frederick Lugard formally united the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria with the Northern Nigeria Protectorate into one administrative entity. But this merger was a bureaucratic convenience, not a natural union. Lugard, a veteran of imperial campaigns in Uganda, Nyasaland, and the Niger region, had governed Northern Nigeria since 1900 and imposed a system of indirect rule through emirs. Southern Nigeria, with its coastal cities, Christian missions, and educated elite, was culturally and politically distinct. This episode unpacks the amalgamation itself — why it happened, how it was executed, and the immediate frictions it created. We discuss the 1912 Northern Nigeria Lands Committee, the role of colonial secretary Lewis Harcourt, the symbolism of the January 1 flag-raising in Lokoja, and the early protests from Lagos newspapers like the Lagos Weekly Record. We also consider the debate: was Lugard genuinely trying to create a viable state, or simply cutting administrative costs? The episode ends with a question that echoes into the present: can a colonial draft hold? #Amalgamation1914 #FrederickLugard #Nigeria #ColonialHistory #IndirectRule #Lokoja #LagosWeeklyRecord #LewisHarcourt #NorthernNigeria #SouthernNigeria #BritishEmpire #ColonialAdministration #Lugard #NigeriaHistory #WestAfrica #History #FexingoHistory #1914 Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    8 mins
  • Sultan Attahiru Ahmadu: The Caliph Who Died for Sokoto

    Sultan Attahiru Ahmadu: The Caliph Who Died for Sokoto
    Jul 2 2026
    In 1903, after the fall of Kano, the Sokoto Caliphate's last sultan, Attahiru Ahmadu, refused to submit to British rule. Instead of surrendering, he led a 40,000-strong caravan of refugees eastward toward the Mahdi, a journey of over 1,000 kilometers that ended in tragedy at the Battle of Burmi. This episode traces Attahiru's final months: his flight from the British advance, the siege of his fortified camp at Satiru, the desperate battle at Burmi where he was killed alongside his son and thousands of followers. We explore the spiritual ideology of hijra (withdrawal) that drove him, the Mahdist expectations sweeping the caliphate, and the British military campaign that hunted him down. Along the way, we touch on the role of his son Muhammad Bello, the collaboration of rival emirs, and the legacies of this last stand—a moment that marks the end of the Sokoto Caliphate as a sovereign state and the beginning of British colonial rule in northern Nigeria. This is a story of faith, resistance, and the high cost of empire. #SultanAttahiru #SokotoCaliphate #BattleOfBurmi #Mahdist #FulaniJihad #Hijra #BritishColonialism #Nigeria #WestAfrica #1903 #Satiru #MuhammadBello #UsmanDanFodio #Kano #ColonialResistance #History #FexingoHistory #AfricanHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    7 mins
  • The 1851 British Bombardment of Lagos: Ending the Slave Trade

    The 1851 British Bombardment of Lagos: Ending the Slave Trade
    Jul 2 2026
    In 1851, the British Royal Navy bombarded Lagos, deposing Oba Kosoko and installing a rival in a bid to end the transatlantic slave trade. But this intervention, led by Consul John Beecroft and Commander Henry William Bruce, was less a humanitarian crusade than a calculated move to secure palm oil trade and naval dominance. The episode traces the political landscape of Lagos under Oba Osinlokun and Kosoko, the role of Brazilian and Portuguese slave traders, the ex-slave returnees known as Saro, and the 1851 treaty that banned slave exports but opened the door to colonial rule. We also examine how the bombardment set the stage for Lagos's annexation as a British colony in 1861 and its lasting impact on Yoruba politics, including the exile of Kosoko to Epe. Through names like Chief Posu, Madame Tinubu, and Captain Wilmot, this story challenges simple narratives of abolition and explores the messy, contingent origins of British power in Nigeria. #History #FexingoHistory #Lagos #SlaveTrade #Abolition #RoyalNavy #ObaKosoko #JohnBeecroft #HenryWilliamBruce #PalmOil #Saro #MadameTinubu #Yoruba #Epe #Nigeria #Colonialism #1851 #WestAfrica Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    9 mins
  • The 1903 Fall of Kano: West Africa's Last Caliphate

    The 1903 Fall of Kano: West Africa's Last Caliphate
    Jul 1 2026
    In 1903, the British West Africa Frontier Force marched on Kano, the commercial heart of the Sokoto Caliphate. This episode follows the battle that ended the Caliphate's independence. We walk through Kano's ancient city walls, the last stand under Sultan Attahiru, and the British occupation. Along the way, we explore Kano's role as a trans-Saharan trade hub, the Hausa textile industry, and the legacy of the Kano Chronicle. We also consider the contested narrative: was this a liberation from Fulani rule or a colonial conquest? #Kano #SokotoCaliphate #Attahiru #BritishConquest #BattleOfKano #Hausa #Fulani #FexingoHistory #NigeriaHistory #WestAfrica #Colonialism #1903 #KanoChronicle #TransSaharanTrade #HausaTextiles #Lugard #History #MilitaryHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    8 mins
  • The Nri Kingdom: Igbo Priest-Kings and the God of Peace

    The Nri Kingdom: Igbo Priest-Kings and the God of Peace
    Jul 1 2026
    Before the slave trade and British conquest, the Igbo heartland was home to a unique civilization without kings or armies — or so it seemed. The Nri Kingdom, centered on the sacred town of Aguleri, was ruled by priest-kings called Eze Nri, who wielded spiritual authority across a vast network of villages. This episode explores the Nri creation myth, the ritual cycle of the Ifejioku yam festival, and the mysterious bronze artifacts of Igbo-Ukwu that hint at long-distance trade connections. We discuss the controversial theory that Nri's influence was built on the slave trade's disruption, and how the British suppression of the Aro Confederacy in 1901-1902 inadvertently dismantled Nri's authority. Featuring the stories of Eze Nri Ìfíkúánim and the oracle of Ibini Ukpabi, this episode reveals how one of West Africa's most peaceful kingdoms shaped Igbo identity for centuries. #NriKingdom #IgboHistory #EzeNri #IgboUkwuBronzes #Ifejioku #Aguleri #AroConfederacy #OracularNetworks #PrecolonialNigeria #YamFestival #PaxNri #SlaveTradeResistance #BritishColonialism #AroExpedition #WestAfricanHistory #History #FexingoHistory #Nigeria Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    8 mins