The Forgotten Era: Nigeria Before British Rule

by Max Siollun, Ben Onwukwe (Narrator)

Much is known about what Europeans did in Africa, yet very little is known about Africa's history before its colonization. In this surprising exploration, Max Siollun uncovers societies that were not part of a backward "Dark Continent," but which instead had rich lore to rival the ancient Greeks and Romans.

Precolonial West Africa had a mesmerizing cast of revolutionaries, intellectuals, innovators, and villainous assassins. These include the family that overthrew three different 1000-year-old empires, the royal court official who engineered the death of four kings, and the young enslaved boy who became the first Black bishop in history, befriending Queen Victoria along the way.

This story of a dynamic and artistic people is a vital listen for those who want to discover a forgotten era of West Africa.

Genres: Africa, Nonfiction, History, Nigeria, African Literature, Audiobook

Audible Audio

Published March 18, 2025

Reviews

[LENGDUNG TUNGCHAMMA · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly wonderful book with captivating storytelling. Max Siollun makes history come alive. He takes a subject that should have been boring and makes it something that holds you down for hours. When Nigeria decides to become a nation, it will be in part because writers like Max Siollun wrote historical narratives that helped Nigerians understand themselves. After reading this, I am finally understanding one of Max Siollun's missions: it is to piece a narrative from all that has happened within the geography called Nigeria. To me, that is one of the most noble agendas of a historian.

[Abdullahi Usman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've just finished my first book of the year (started in December last year). It X-rays Nigerian precolonial societies. The book is an eye-opener, showing that precolonial Nigerian societies were not as 'dark' and 'primitive' as some as some European scholars depicted. Among the book's most interesting revelations is that the famous Danfodio Jihad was not restricted to Hausaland alone. The South-east and Niger Delta were the only regions of pre-colonial Nigeria untouched by the jihad. In fact, the Jihad even spread into present-day Niger, Cameroon and Burkina Faso.

Another amazing takeaway from the book is that the ethnic name “Yariba” was created by Hausa people to refer to the people of Oyo. This name was later popularized by Samuel Ajayi Crowther in his works to refer to the Oduduwan kingdoms that we now call Yoruba people of South-west Nigeria.

Equally interesting part is that the Igbos, like the Hausas, had a writing system before the advent of colonialism called Nsibidi. However, unlike Ajami, traces of which can still be found today, Nsibidi has disappeared into the deep annals of history.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book offers a glimpse of the country we know as Nigeria up to the colonial period. The work covers the region's politics, social organisation, language, scripts (writing), currency, religion, and much more. It was also interesting to learn how some concepts and terms we commonly associate with the country have come about.

I listened to the audiobook edition of this work, and Ben Onwukwe's narration was excellent. Overall, eye-opening and recommended reading.

[Ajike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Required reading for any fan of African, and particularly Nigerian, history. Max Siollun has delivered yet another great book on Nigerian history - I've read every one of his books, and I already cannot wait for the next one!

[Oreoluwa Oyinlola · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first history book.
I learnt so so much. Very very eye opening. I feel lol I have a lot of context now, and I’m more intrigued to learn more. Will be reading more of his books!
You should pick it up.

As sighted on Mr Eazi’s TikTok lol

[Dayo Igun · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came into this year with a plan more about history, but more specifically my own history, which is that of slavery, Nigeria, the Yorubas, and Africa as a whole. This book has kept me on that path and challenged me in ways I did not want to be but needed to be.

If you happen to be a Nigerian, you will come out of reading this with answers to questions you never thought to ask, alongside a plethora of new questions. Questions about culture, about ancestors, about religion.

This book made me question what exactly Nigeria even is but also filled me with so much pride. The author digs as deep as he can with what he has into the rich and deep tapestry that is Nigeria’s pre colonial history.

He attempts to explain the stories of various cultures while weaving in references to contemporary Nigeria and Nigerians; how we got here, the people that led us here, how THEY got here, and what they did. This book has made me love my country, myself, and my people more than I thought possible.

However, this love sits alongside a sadness that I know will never leave me, and a sadness that resides in the minds, hearts, and souls of anyone originating from a country or a people that had the immense “privilege” of being colonised.

This author tries as best as he can, but the truth is a comprehensive history of Nigeria will never exist, part of that is simply due to time, but also as a result of the various wars our ancestors fought amongst themselves.

In all of this though we cannot deceive ourselves, so much of what is gone, not just as relates to written or oral history but something much deeper, our languages, our practices, our soul, our literal people… was deliberately destroyed, branded as evil, or stolen, all of which were done by 🇬🇧 and their imperialist brethren. That is something we all have to grapple with. I cannot but grieve of all of the stories, all the beautiful, disgusting, horrible, and inspiring stories that we will never know because someone pulled up and decided we were savages who held no value.

[Bo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually read all of a book but I didn’t finish the last 30 min of this audio book. Nevertheless it teaches you about random stuff about Nigeria. The reason I say random might be because it was an audiobook and you aren’t as attentive sometimes, but there was no real flow of consciousness that I feel like you need to understand how any of these different groups of people have literally anything to do with eachother, besides being close geographically. You learn a lot of neat facts like the Portugal thing, or the thing about writing, but I was not transformed as a Yoruba 24 yr old reading this in any particular way. I didn’t feel a deeper connection and I don’t feel much more of an understanding of why any of the information I was given is important or particularly interesting. I’ll probably relisten to it one day just cuz I use audible and you only get one credit a month. Maybe when I’m 30 I’ll feel like a refresher on random things about Nigeria.

[Atlas_ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gave a beautiful and comprehensive perspective into pre colonial Nigeria and its diverse cultures and peoples. It also gives insight into solving the nations currently ethnic problems, because what stood out to me the most was that most pre-colonial states were multi ethnic and these groups lived relatively peacefully amongst themselves. Many would say Nigeria today is rather ungovernable but a quick glance at how some of these pre colonial societies governed themselves could serve as good reference for the future. It also showed that these people had sophisticated social and political systems and structures that served them well for centuries, while debunking claims that depicted Africa as non sophisticated before the arrival and of Europeans.

[Dakota Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mostly enjoyable book with a few flaws that really impacted it. First the good- I learnt a fair about Nigeria and this is a hugely important book in covering an undiscussed topic. But it fell into the trap of name after name after name after without enough context- think history textbook almost. Another flaw that makes me question the authors bias is the omission of homosexuality save one mention arguing that in the type of woman/woman marriage mentioned that they were not lesbians cough cough ok buddy.

[Desmond Chidozie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptional piece of work by Max Siollun. I have been read a couple of his previous works and this is yet another masterpiece.

It's eye opening to get a glimpse of how Nigeria was before the colonial rule. Contrary to popular belief, we were actually a civilised people in our own way and the first visitors were most time amazed by some of our developments. It was great to gain these insights into Nigeria's past

It was a great read and would recommend.

[S.S.]

DNF @ 7%

A bit too academia-like for me. Also side note, there was a small part where the author mentioned a bunch of "national heroes" or whatever and included Ben-Gurion, you know, that guy from the settler state "Israel" which, 🤢ew

[Firdaws · Rating 5 out of 5]

one thing Max Siollun has always done is leave you more knowledgeable about Nigeria and its history. The people we are today start to connect and make sense. Materials like these are really important in preserving our history and hopefully starting a conversation. A wonderful read indeed.

[Mochee's Kid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gee, man. How do I review this book?

I'd like to prefix this review by first stating that I thoroughly enjoyed Mr Siollun's books on the involvement of the military in Nigerian politics. Everybody with any interest in modern Nigeria MUST read: Oil, Politics and Violence; Soldiers of Fortune; and Nigeria's Soldiers of Fortune.

Okay, to "The Forgotten Era". I must confess that I didn't have very high expectations when I picked up this book. Nigeria is such a large, vast country with hundreds of different complex cultures. In precolonial times, the area hosted many of West Africa's most remarkable societies: the rich Hausa city-states, the successor Empire of Sokoto, the Borno Empire, the Borgu states, the Kingdoms of the Nupe, the Igala and the Jukun (thought to be synonymous with the mysterious Kwararafa Kingdom), the Yoruba states - including the venerable Ife Kingdom and the Oyo Empire, the Benin Empire, and such "stateless" (hate this word, by the way) but nevertheless remarkable societies as the Igbo, with their Igbo-Ukwu culture and their Nri and Aro hegemonic systems. As a reader who loves detail, I didn't think that a 336-page book with large print was going to do justice to such vast histories. So I was prepared for condensed narratives and simplifications. And if that was the only problem here, I would have been fine with the book.

But there were other things.

The decision to reduce all of Nigerian prehistory (thousands of years of social evolution) to two and a half pages on Nok culture, which he placed in a prelude, and therefore outside of the main body of his book and which he termed 'ground zero', seems like a very strange decision. Seems to me that a Nigerian history book named "The Forgotten Era" would place some emphasis on the truly forgotten phases of our history - the stone age and the early iron age, prior to the creation of the state systems of remembered oral traditions. Now, one might argue that there isn't any information about these very early periods on which a historical reconstruction can be based; and I will contend that archaeologists like Shaw, Connah, Hartle, etc and historical linguists like Armstrong and Newman have turned up some body of work upon which historians have based a working synthesis of Nigerian prehistory. I wish that synthesis had been reflected in this work - it wasn't at all. The book skips over thousands of years of social and historical developments and begins with the urban societies of Hausaland, Yorubaland and Benin that are anything but forgotten.

Some of the chapters were also written in a confusing non-chronological fashion. This was most apparent (to me at least) in the chapter on Benin, where the author darts back and forth - in one section, you are reading about events from the 19th century, in the next, he is talking about something from the 16th century, then in the next the 14th century, and in the one after that, the 17th century. At the end of the chapter, there's this confused mass of information in your head that you can't unentangle in a meaningful chronological fashion. I thought that was a major flaw.

There are also a few historical and technical inaccuracies: for example, Crowther was not the first black bishop, as he writes. There was a black bishop from Kongo more than 300 years before Crowther. What Crowther was was the first West African bishop and the first Anglican Bishop (the Kongolese was Catholic). The author's use of the term "ivory terracottas" repeatedly in the book indicates that he is unaware of what terracotta really means. Terracotta refers to objects made out of clay and then fired to make them more durable. And since ivory has nothing to do with clay, "ivory terracottas" makes no sense.

Another observation (and the last observation) I'd like to make is about the author's decision to use the term 'Oduduwans' for the people we now know as the Yoruba. I get his point - a Yoruba pan-ethnic consciousness did not exist prior to the latter part of the 19th century. But this is equally true of the Hausa and the Igbo, and if he wasn't going to coin the term "Bayajiddans" for the Hausa or the term "Bia-speakers" for the Igbo, I do not understand why he would apply this piece of over-correctness to the Yoruba. Historians use anachronistic terms all the time to refer to ethnic, linguistic and political groups, and as long as it is explained to the reader that the ethnonym being used is fairly modern, I don't think it is something to sweat over. Just say Yoruba. Not only was it unnecessarily pedantic, it was equally cumbersome and inelegant, and no more accurate that saying Yoruba.

It was fun reading this book, but it's not a keeper for me. I only gave it 3 stars because I generally like Siollun's writing style. Will probably be selling my copy on ebay.