PLEASE READ THIS ARTICLE BY NATASHA H. AKPOTI AND TRY NOT TO BE DEPRESSED. WHAT DOES NIGERIA MEAN TO YOU? by Natasha H. Akpoti Nigeria is simply a geographical expression of the imperialists’ greed and spite. Recently, I was on a flight from Dallas to London when I struck an interesting conversation with an American professor of African history. We talked about the human race and countries. America, he said was named after an Italian explorer called Amerigo Vespucci. Amerigo was known to denote his discovered land a “ New World”. So long after her independence, the New World appropriated quite well with the dream of all Americans. “What about Nigeria”? He asked me. “Flora Shaw Lugard coined Nigeria and her inspiration was the river Niger” I replied. “Wrong”. The historian responded. “Republic of Niger was named after River Niger not Nigeria”. That’s what white historians want you to believe. I don’t understand the gullibility of blacks. You have so much information but chose not to research but dwell and believe all the white man says” he added. Nigeria simply means “The Nigger Area” or “Land of the Black slaves”. Nigger was a common derogatory slang used for slaves” He bluntly said. His words hit my heart sharply and I was grateful the cabin lights were dim so he couldn’t see the expression on my face. It was a night flight; we had 9 more hours to our destination so I had all the time to listen. Sipping slowly on my orange juice I beckoned on him to continue. The West African Region identified as Nigeria today was known to have supplied more slaves than any other country. The quality of human “cargo” was supreme and priced much more than slaves from other West African countries. The men were strongly built and were expert cotton farmers. Only wealthy plantation owners could afford slaves from “Nigeria”. Little wonder, slaves from your country were nicknamed “black gold” and the British slave ship named “White Lion” brought them into Virginia. “I am still not convinced” I shot at the grey bearded historian. “Very well, lets start this way” he continued… What gave River Niger its name? I looked blankly at him… It’s the Eur https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwo7kNlBUW2/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=54snauf1fap3














