Jaja Of Opobo: Sold Into Slavery, Became A King, Then Sent Into Exile

An enslaved boy in Bonny grew up to establish Opobo and become one of the Niger Delta's most powerful traders - then the British removed him from his own kingdom. Jaja's life really did take all those turns. The part that gets me is the oil - not crude oil, palm oil. Long before oil wells, people were already fighting over who could reach the inland markets and control the trade.

But Jaja wasn't a spotless hero either: his own trading system depended on unfree labour. That makes the story more interesting, not less. We put together this short trailer for our film, using historical images and AI narration. How much of his story did you learn in school? [Short trailer video: "Jaja of Opobo: Enslaved. King. Exiled.", full video on Feedcover]