H i s t o r y V i l l e
@HistoryVille
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Nigeria's foremost online History magazine. An innovation of @AmazingAyo. New Videos Every Week: https://t.co/0F0CI7wa7Z 📧 [email protected]
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Joined August 2016
1966: ASSASSINATION OF SIR ABUBAKAR TAFAWA BALEWA. “Who’s there?” A voice queried from inside. However, Ifeajuna replied by kicking the doors open with his boots. “You’re under arrest sir,” Ifeajuna said, pointing his gun at the Prime Minister, who looked startled.
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A father stares at the hand and foot of his five-year-old daughter severed as a punishment for failing to make the daily rubber quota, Belgian Congo, 1904. The man’s name was Nsala. He had failed to make his daily rubber quota, so the Belgian-appointed overseers cut off his.
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. daughter’s hand and foot. Her name was Boali and she was five years old. Then they killed her. But they weren’t finished; they killed his wife too. And because that didn’t seem quite cruel enough, quite strong enough to make their case, they ate both Boali and her mother. .
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The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III was the longest-reigning ruler of the kingdom since his great-grandfather, Oba Atiba Atobatele founded New Oyo in the 1830s.
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. and presented Nsala with the tokens; the leftovers from the once-living body of his darling child whom he so loved. His life was destroyed. #HistoryVille.
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Lagos Lawyer, Moronfolu Abayomi was shot dead in a Lagos courthouse at the Tinubu Square, on August 25, 1923, three months and 15 days after his wedding day. Abayomi's killer was a popular Lagos entrepreneur and "big boy”, Duro Delphonso, from the renowned Delphonso family.
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Bola Ahmed Tinubu was the only presidential candidate since 1999 to lose Abuja (the Federal Capital Territory), Lagos (his home state), Kaduna, Kano and Katsina (the Kardashians) and still win a presidential election.
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In October 1983, Major Daniel Idowu Bamidele heard of coup rumours against President Shehu Shagari and promptly reported to his General Officer Commanding (GOC), Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (who, unknown to Bamidele at that time, was in the thick of the plot). #Thread
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It takes three years of higher education to become a police officer in Norway. The training takes place at a university college and each graduate gets a bachelor's degree in "Police Studies." #HistoryVille
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The Democratic Republic of the Congo was known as Belgian Congo from 1908 until its independence in 1960. DR Congo began as a king’s personal property known as the Congo Free State in 1885, before evolving into a colony as the Belgian Congo in 1908.
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On January 26, 2006, Joyce Carol Vincent was found in her London flat, skeletonised, after being dead for more than two years with the television still running. She had died in December 2003 of, apparently, an asthma attack while watching the television. #HistoryVille
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Bola Ahmed Tinubu's campaign poster as a Senator under the Social Democratic Party (SDP), 1992. Since joining politics in 1992, TInubu has never lost any election he has contested in. #HistoryVille
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On October 31, 1501, former Cardinal Cesare Borgia purportedly hosted an orgy in the Vatican with "50 honest prostitutes" in which his own father, Pope Alexander VI, not only attended but participated in. It was known as the Banquet of Chestnuts.
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They would be married for the next 48 years until Sir Kofoworola Abayomi’s death on January 1, 1979. He was 82. Lady Oyinkansola Abayomi would live to the ripe old age of 93. The Kofo Abayomi Street in Victoria Island, Lagos, is named in his honour. #HistoryVille.
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The first book in the Igbo language (Isoama-Ibo: A Primer) was written by a Yoruba man, Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther (1809-1891) in 1857.
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Bronze medalists, Beatrice Utondu, Faith Idehen, Mary Onyali, and Christy Opara Thompson, at the Olympics Games in Barcelona, Spain, 1992. #HistoryVille
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It was in February 2001, in Okene, Kogi State, when three Nigerian mobile police officers, Benjamin Oyakhire, Jimoh Michael and Gershon Shaba, stopped a bus carrying seven traders and a 17-year-old boy en route to a job interview.
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Islam came to Yorubaland around the year 1440 when Oluaso was Alaafin of the Oyo Empire. Christianity arrived on September 24, 1842, with the Methodists led by Reverend Thomas Birch Freeman. That's a difference of 402 years.
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A successful arms dealer, Francis Arthur Nzeribe sold weapons to both Nigeria and Biafra during the 30-month Nigerian Civil War. As a matter of fact, Nzeribe traded arms in every single place there had been a conflict in Africa.
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At 8:30 p.m., on December 3, 1976, Bob Marley's wife, Rita, was shot in the head during an attempted assassination of her husband. However, she had dreadlocks that were so thick that they saved her life.
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Federal Commissioner for Petroleum, Colonel Muhammadu Buhari at an OPEC meeting in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, December 1978. #HistoryVille
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Azikiwe: "Let us forget our differences.". Bello: "No, let us understand our differences. I am a Muslim and a Northerner. You are a Christian and an Easterner. By understanding our differences, we can build unity in our country.". Federal elections campaign, 1959. #HistoryVille
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37-year-old Nigerian Head-of-State, General Murtala Mohammed, his 31-year-old Aide-de-Camp, Lt. Akintunde Akinsehinwa (at the rear) and 33-year-old Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Professor Bolaji Akinyemi in Lagos, 1975. #HistoryVille
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At 8:30 p.m., on December 3, 1976, Bob Marley's wife, Rita, was shot in the head during an attempted assassination on Marley. However, she had dreadlocks that were so thick, they saved her life. #HistoryVille
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WEST AFRICA'S YOUNGEST PHD HOLDER. Dr. Olaoluwa Hallowed Oluwadara had his Ph.D., at the age of 24, in Mathematics, making him the youngest West African with a doctorate degree. #Thread
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In 2016, Dr. Oluyinka Olutoye carried out a rare operation on a baby at 23 weeks. He brought the baby out of the womb, removed a tumor (sacrococcygeal teratoma) from the baby and then returned it to her mother's womb. The baby healed and grew until she was born again at 36 weeks.
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The Yoruba language is the most widely-spoken African language outside Africa. #HistoryVille
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In March 1962, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa offered Obafemi Awolowo the post of Deputy Prime Minister. He rejected it. In August 1962, Nnamdi Azikiwe offered Awolowo the post of Deputy Governor-General. He also rejected it.
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On April 21, 1994, during the Rwandan Genocide, the United Nations ordered 94% of troops to leave. However, Ghana's contingent of 454 soldiers disregarded the order and stayed throughout the genocide. By standing their ground, they helped save about 30,000 lives. #HistoryVille
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Dasuki arrested Buhari on a Sallah Eve in 1985. His mother died while he was in detention. He couldn't attend her funeral. Buhari arrested Dasuki on a Sallah Eve in 2015. Dasuki's father died while he was in detention. He couldn't attend his funeral. Coincidence? #HistoryVille
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As of 1555, during the reign of Oba Esigie, the Benin Kingdom had an embassy in Portugal. As a matter of fact, most of the Royal Court could speak Portuguese. The Kingdom of Benin is one of the oldest surviving kingdoms in the world, spanning an estimated period of 2055 years.
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On June 28, 2007, President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua (1951-2010) publicly revealed his assets; the first (and to date, only) Nigerian President to do so. He had ₦856,452,892 in assets, ₦19 million of which belonged to his wife. He also had ₦88,793,269.77 in liabilities.
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Israel is the world record holder for violating United Nations resolutions. The Middle Eastern country has broken 65 U.N. resolutions with no consequences. Iraq broke two and got invaded, bombed, and destroyed. #HistoryVille
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Olusegun Obasanjo is the only elected President in Nigerian history to lose in his Ward, Local Government Area, Senatorial District, State and Geopolitical Region in a presidential election in February 1999. #HistoryVille
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As of 1787, when Abiodun was Alaafin of Oyo, there were scholars in his Royal Court who could read, write and calculate in Arabic. #HistoryVille
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The Yoruba people have the highest rate of twin births in the world. Igbó Òrà, a town in Ọ̀yọ́ State, Nigeria, has the highest number of twins in the world. Hardly could one get to a household there without seeing a set of twins.
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Jack Johnson, the first-ever African-American heavyweight boxing champion, was pulled over and was charged a $50 speeding ticket for over-speeding, but he gave the officer $100 telling him to keep the change as he was going to make the return trip at the same speed. #HistoryVille
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President Goodluck Jonathan appointed more women into cabinet positions than his predecessors (both military and civilian) combined in Nigeria’s 58 years of independence. He equally assigned the most pivotal ministries of the economy to women. #HistoryVille
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Since Oba Eweka in c.1235 AD, when any Oba died in Benin City, the head was cut off and buried at Ile-Ife in a place called Orun Oba Ado, while a bronze replica of the head was sent from Ile-Ife to Benin City, where the rest of the body was buried.
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In 1978, Afrobeat musician, Fela Kuti asked all the ladies in his band if they wanted to marry him, of which 27 of them agreed. Then Fela called 12 priests who presided over the wedding ceremony. After the wedding, he took all his 27 wives to Ghana for honeymoon. #HistoryVille
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"I have no friends. It is a sign of weakness to have friends." — Sani Abacha (1943-1998). Abacha was the first Nigerian soldier and the only Head-of-State to be a full General without skipping a rank. He's also the most successful coup plotter in Nigeria's history. #HistoryVille
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In 2014, when Cristiano Ronaldo was asked to donate his cleats for a charity auction benefitting a 10-month-old child suffering from a brain disorder that can lead to 30 seizures a day, Ronaldo paid the full $83,000 cost of the surgery for young Erik Ortiz Cruz. #HistoryVille
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President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua remains the only Nigerian Head-of-State to publicly reveal his assets without compulsion. Yar'Adua had ₦856,452,892 in assets, ₦19 million of which belonged to his wife. He also had ₦88,793,269.77 in liabilities.
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Killed on January 17, 1961, three days before President John F. Kennedy was sworn in as the President of the United States, Patrice Lumumba's murder has been described as the most important assassination of the 20th century. #HistoryVille .
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As president, Shehu Shagari was a chain smoker. However, he never smoked in public places and he so much respected the Office of the President that he stepped outside the office whenever he wanted to smoke. #HistoryVille
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In 2015, when Turkish photojournalist, Osman Sagirli brought out his camera to snap a picture of this 4-year-old Syriаn girl, Adi Hudea, she thought the photojournalist was holding a weapon, so she raised up her hands in surrender. #HistoryVille
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33-year-old Charles Chukwuemeka Oputa (Charly Boy) performs his hit song ‘'Nwata Miss'’ in Lagos, 1983. #HistoryVille
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Russians hardly smile due in large part to a popular Russian proverb that says: “A smile without a reason is a sign of idiocy.” #HistoryVille
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"It is an irony of fate that the president of the tribunal who, in 1964, felt that I was good enough to take training in the UK is now saddled with the duty of showing me the exit from the force and the world." #HistoryVille. Full story:
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When Joyce Banda became President of Malawi, she sold off the country’s only Presidential Jet and a fleet of 60 Mercedes Limousines. She instead used private airlines for official duties. Banda also announced a 30% cut of her annual salary from £37,000 to £26,000. #HistoryVille
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Belgium and Inter Milan striker, Romelu Menama Lukaku Bolingoli understands and speaks Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Deutsch, English, and Congolese Swahili. #HistoryVille
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The new ₦100 note unveiled in November 2014 is the first digital banknote in the world. At the back of the note is a Quick Response Code (QRC) which when scanned shows the President's face and all information about Nigeria's history.
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MOTIVATIONAL MONDAY: WHO ARE YOU?. There were three ships that were nearby when the Titanic sank on April 15, 1912. The first was known as the Sampson. It was 7 miles away from the Titanic and they saw the white flares signaling danger, but because the crew had been hunting.
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Samsung's safety trucks show the road ahead on the back of the truck so that the driver stuck behind the vehicle can have a better understanding of whether it is safe to overtake or not. #HistoryVille #Fact
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Aliko Dangote with his grandfather and two other businessmen, Kano, c.1977. #HistoryVille
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Jaja of Opobo was killed with a cup of tea in 1891. King Jaja of Opobo (1821-1891), the wealthiest and most powerful monarch in the Niger Delta and sole founder of Opobo, was Igbo.
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The Yoruba people fought one of the longest tribal wars in world history from 1877 to 1893. The Kiriji or Ekiti-parapo War was a 16-year conflict that broke out mainly between Ibadan and the combined forces of Ekiti and Ijesha. It was a war that ended all wars in Yoruba land.
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🥺🥺🥺 A Stressed Face. A Happy Brand. Cheers to #HistoryVille on reaching 100k subscribers on YouTube.
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Samsung's safety trucks show the road ahead on the back of the truck so that the driver stuck behind the vehicle can have a better understanding of whether it is safe to overtake or not. #HistoryVille
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Stella Obasanjo with President Bill Clinton and Reverend Jesse Jackson in a world campaign to seek her husband's release from prison, 1996. #HistoryVille
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Ghanaian software engineer, Patrick Awuah resigned from his job at Microsoft in 1997 to build a university that will educate young Africans. He returned to Ghana in 1999 to set up Ashesi University in 2002, now one of the best in the West African country. #HistoryVille
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Luis Suarez was a street sweeper in Uruguay when his girlfriend, Sofia, proposed to him. Sofia was from a rich family while Suarez had a poor upbringing. With three children, they enjoy his success together. #HistoryVille
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As Head-of-State, General Sani Abacha rarely travelled and was always in Aso Rock. Most of the presidential pilots lost their licenses due to his rare travels. #HistoryVille
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When Joyce Banda became President of Malawi, she sold off the country’s only Presidential Jet and a fleet of 60 Mercedes Limousines. She preferred instead to use private airlines for official engagements. Banda also slashed her annual salary from £37,000 to £26,000. #HistoryVille
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Matthew Tawo Mbu was 22 years old when he became Nigeria's Federal Minister of Labour and Welfare in 1954. At 25, he became Nigeria's First High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and also the country's First Chief Representative to the United Nations in 1959.
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The same thing they said in 1975: "Move the capital to Abuja - it will depopulate Lagos." #HistoryVille.
Decentralize the Ports and it will Depopulate Lagos.
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"You cannot run faster than a bullet. There is freedom of speech, but freedom after the speech, I cannot guarantee."- Idi Amin Dada Oumee, President of Uganda, 1977. #HistoryVille
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On March 21, 2007, 30-year-old Christianah Oluwatoyin Oluwasesin was lynched and burnt to death by Muslim students for allegedly desecrating the Qur'an at a secondary school in Gandu, Gombe State, North-East Nigeria.
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Chigozie Obioma, 35, became an Assistant Professor of Literature at the age of 28. His first novel, The Fishermen, is being translated into 22 languages. Born and bred in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria, Obioma is fluent in Yoruba, Igbo, and English languages.
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Even while on his deathbed in 2008, Gani Fawehinmi, a civil rights lawyer, rejected one of Nigeria's highest national award – Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) – in protest of the many years of misrule since the country's independence.
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Nigerian-Cameroonian singer, Nico Mbarga's "Sweet Mother", released in 1976 by a Nigerian recording company, was rejected by three recording labels for being childish. The song, sometimes referred to as Africa's Anthem, then went on to sell over 13 million copies. #HistoryVille
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In 2016, Dr. Oluyinka Olutoye carried out a rare operation on a baby at 23 weeks. He brought the baby out of the womb, removed a tumor known as 'sacrococcygeal teratoma' and then returned it to her mother's womb. The baby healed and she was born again at 36 weeks. #HistoryVille
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The man on the ₦20 note, General Murtala Muhammed was actually from Southern Nigeria, Aviele in Edo State, but he was born in Kano as Murtala Rufai Mohammed and changed names from Rufai to Ramat (his mother's name) when he became Head of State on July 29, 1975.
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When a terrified Ibrahim Babangida was almost killed by coup plotters on April 22, 1990, it was Sani Abacha who saved the life of the Commander-in-Chief and fought the coup plotters to the very end.
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At the Battle of Oṣogbo in 1840, the Ibadan Army defeated the Fulani, slaughtered them all the way to Offa, near Ilorin, present-day Kwara State, and captured their horses which they eventually used as food. #HistoryVille
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41st Vice President of the United States, Nelson Rockefeller died of a heart attack at the age of 70 on January 26, 1979, while, allegedly, having sex with his assistant. The New York magazine then wrote: "Nelson thought he was coming, but he was going." #HistoryVille
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In 2014, Chinese millionaire, Xiong Shuihua bulldozed all the huts in his village, Xiongkeng, and built luxury flats in their place. He then gave the keys to all the residents for free. Elderly residents on a low income were also given free meals. #HistoryVille
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Former President Goodluck Jonathan, who clocks 63 today, donated $3.5m and sent 591 volunteers to Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone to combat Ebola in 2014. He successfully eliminated the plague in Nigeria without the help and support of any foreign government. #HistoryVille
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In 1952, Mallam Umaru Altine became the first elected Mayor of the Enugu Municipal Council. A post he held till 1958. A Fulani cattle rearer from Sokoto, Mallam Altine, who was married to an Igbo woman, Esther Ozueh, was elected for two terms.
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Tokunbo Awolowo, daughter of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, presents a bouquet of flowers to Queen Elizabeth II of England, Ibadan, 1956. #HistoryVille
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“Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.”- Chinua Achebe, 1994. #HistoryVille
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TODAY IN HISTORY (NOVEMBER 16). 1930- Nigerian author and writer, Chinualumogu Achebe is born in Ogidi, present-day Anambra State. “Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter,” Achebe, 1994. #HistoryVille #OnThisDay
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In July 1324, on his way to Mecca, Mansa Musa of Mali stopped over in Cairo, Egypt, where he spent so much gold and donated so much money to the poor, that the sudden influx of gold led to a super-inflation, with the price of goods skyrocketing. More:
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The first book in the Igbo language (Isoama-Ibo: A Primer) was written by a Yoruba man, Samuel Ajayi Crowther (1809-1891) in 1857.
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If you die while working for Google, the company will pay your surviving spouse 50% of your salary for 10 years. That's not all. Each of your children will receive $1,000 (₦390,000) a month until they reach the age of 19 (or 23 if the child is a full-time student). #HistoryVille
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An 83-year-old Muslim cleric, Abubakar Abdullahi hid 262 Christians in his home and mosque during an attack from herdsmen on farmers in Barkin Ladi, Plateau State, June 23, 2018. The cleric refused to give them up when their attackers asked about their whereabouts. #HistoryVille
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"You cannot run faster than a bullet. There is freedom of speech, but freedom after speech I cannot guarantee."- Idi Amin Dada Oumee, President of Uganda, 1977. #HistoryVille
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Sultan Abubakr Keita II of the Mali Empire, the predecessor of Mansa Musa, "discovered" America 180 years before Christopher Columbus did.
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Sultan Abubakr Keita II of the Mali Empire, the predecessor of Mansa Musa, discovered America 180 years before Christopher Columbus did.
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On April 21, 1994, during the Rwandan Genocide, the United Nations ordered 94% of troops to leave. However, Ghana's contingent of 454 soldiers disregarded the order and stayed throughout the genocide. By standing their ground, they helped save about 30,000 lives.
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Bob Marley never won a Grammy award when he was alive but his children have collectively won 13. #HistoryVille
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ON BABANGIDA AND VATSA: A TALE OF FRIENDSHIP AND BETRAYAL. On December 23, 1985, the Vatsa family had concluded plans to travel to Calabar. Typically, they spent the Yuletide in the Cross River State capital (Sufiya was Efik), Eid al-Fitr in Minna, Niger State (Vatsa was Nupe).
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Bamidele's words to the tribunal were:. "I heard of the 1983 coup planning, told my GOC General Buhari who detained me for two weeks in Lagos. Instead of a pat on the back, I received a stab. How then do you expect me to report this one?.
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A young Ishaya Audu as a medical doctor in 1957. A Hausa Christian, Ishaya Audu was the first Professor of Medicine from Northern Nigeria and was also the first indigenous and longest-serving Vice-Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, for 9 years (1966-1975).
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