| Jaja of Opobo | |
|---|---|
| Amanyanabo | |
Jaja of Opobo, Opobo |
|
| Reign | 25 December 1870–September 1887 |
| Coronation | 25 December 1870 |
| Full name | Jubo Jubogha "Jaja" |
| Birth name | Jubo Jubogha |
| Language | Igbo |
| Born | c. 1821 |
| Birthplace | Orlu |
| Died | c. 1891 |
| Buried | Opobo |
| Predecessor | None |
| Successor | Perekule |
| Dynasty | Jaja |
| Father | Ozurumba |
| Mother | Uru |
Jaja of Opobo (full name: Jubo Jubogha; 1821–1891) was a merchant prince and the founder of Opobo city-state in an area that is now part of Nigeria. Born in Umuduruoha, Amaigbo in Igboland and sold at about age twelve as a slave in Bonny. Jubo Jubogha later took the name "Jaja" for his dealings with the British.
Jaja proved his aptitude for business at an early age, earning his way out of slavery, was enculturated according to Ijaw (Ibani) rituals and eventually established himself as head of the Anna Pepple House. Under Jaja's leadership, Anna Pepple soon absorbed a number of Bonny's other trade houses until an ongoing dispute with the Manilla Pepple House led by Oko Jumbo forced Jaja to break away as Opobo city-state in 1869.[1]
Opobo soon came to dominate the region's lucrative palm oil trade, and was soon home to fourteen of what were formerly Bonny's eighteen trade houses. Jaja also moved to block the access of British merchants to the interior, giving him an effective monopoly; at times, Opobo even shipped palm oil directly to Liverpool, independent of British middlemen.
At the 1884 Berlin Conference, however, the other European powers designated Opobo as British territory, and the British soon moved to claim it. When Jaja refused to cease taxing British traders, Henry Hamilton Johnston, a British vice consul, invited Jaja to negotiations in 1887. When Jaja arrived, the British arrested him and tried him in Accra in the Gold Coast (now Ghana) then took him to London for some time, where he met Queen Victoria and was her guest in Buckingham Palace. After some other turbulent history, he was exiled to Saint Vincent in the West Indies then in Barbados.[2]
In 1891, Jaja was granted permission to return to Opobo, but died en route, allegedly poisoned with a cup of tea. Following his exile and death, the power of the Opobo state rapidly declined.
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King Jaja was exiled in St Vincent in the West Indies and, later, in Barbados.[2] Due to immense civil unrest, alleged to be caused by the presence of King Jaja, by the enslaved people of Barbados and after years of campaigning for his freedom, Jaja was moved to the island of São Vicente, Cape Verde off West Africa, to prevent the possibility of a slave revolt. Jaja eventually won his liberty after years of fighting against his wrongful abduction and consequent exile by the British. It was agreed by Parliament that he could be repatriated to his Kingdom State of Opobo. Jaja was, at that time, an old man and after years in exile in São Vicente, his health had deteriorated. This did not deter him from embarking on a British vessel bound for Opobo. His health had failed and on his way back to his beloved Opobo, Jaja died due to ill health. He was then shipped instead to Tenerife in the Canary Islands, where he was buried. The anger and fury felt by his people due to the chain of events that had preceded, compelled many Opobians to press their demands for the body of their king, which was promptly exhumed and transported back to Opobo where Jaja was buried. Many of his people never forgot their beloved king nor gave up hope that one day he would return. When his body was returned they proceeded to honour him in a manner befitting a much loved and powerful king (Amayanabo) with two years of mourning and with a ceremony immortalising Jaja as a deity.[3]