Hetalia - Axis Powers 1. Prologue

Blood of the Kingdoms-Prologue

Eastern Nigeria 1652. The Kingdom of Nri (Heyday of the Nri hegemony)

This was where she belonged. Amongst the markets and people haggling how many cowrie shells were needed to purchase various amounts of meat. Walking past a shopkeeper, the bangles on her arms clinking together as she walked the streets Igbo smiled and waved to her citizens. The dust in the air did not disturb her proud expression as she saw tourists and learned men come. Her large headress, ballooned of air, and wrapped around her head many times did not sway in the harmattan breeze. Her robes caught the sand on the pavements but she did not notice for she was pleased with herself. The muslim countries had likened her capital and her kingdom to Mecca and the Oyibo countries (white-people countries) had likened her city to Rome. It may not have the gleaming towers or spires for that was not the way her people designed their buildings, why go for height when you can go for length. Her ports were large and willing to trade and you never saw a gun or a sword, why would she need to. She barely fought wars, she bought her enemies. She schemed, she plotted and used her silver tongue to make the other kingdoms economically dependent on her. They would never dare attack her for they would lose all their money and no kingdom can last without money.

Though she hated it when people called her old, for she remembered when she was little in the 900s but she flourished she was strong. She was Igbo, the center of the African world, friend to the other Kingdoms, even to Mandinka, weakened from the loss of his once great empire in 1600 and Yoruba, touting his Oyo Kingdom whilst Hausa and Fulani agreed not to make their usual trouble. Life was great and the Oyibo brought great things with their ships. Walking to the docks she found herself standing with the current ruler, Eze Nri Agu. And to her surprise 'Hausa the younger' himself was there. Once again dressed like the Sultans he was so fond of.

Coming close to the old man she noticed him staring at a flag she had never seen before. The ship was clearly European, but she did not spy the Portuguese flag flying over the top of the mast. Clearly this was someone new. Out of the ship came out Yoruba himself, dressed in the manner that the Europeans garbed themselves strangely. His clothes did not go well with the slashes that marred his cheeks many centuries ago.

The man at the top of the ship looked odd for his hair was golden and was sitting down on a chair, dressed in petticoats and a hat with feathers atop it. His years looked as if they had seen things over centuries. This man was clearly a country ancient, older than her. As Yoruba finished his final step on the platform with his strange yellow-haired companion Igbo turned to him.

"Yoruba who have you brought to us. I was not aware that other Oyibos than Portugal would come up the river. Who is this country?" she barked, shaking the bangles in her arms whilst Hausa looked on in curiosity, wearing the robes of a Sultan.

"He comes from above Portugal. I met him in 1553 and we have been trading ever since but he wished to know more about the other kingdoms that were around beside me. Since you Igbo have no quarrel with anyone I thought it best to show him to you and I know that whilst Hausa is in your land he will behave." Yoruba said with a mischievous grin

Hausa bristled, his right hand resting on the scimitar given to him by Egypt sheathed at his hip. The Yellow-haired man whispered something in Yoruba's ear, prompting him to cough with embarrassment.

"Very well." Yoruba muttered before increasing the volume of his voice, "His name...is England and he is part of an Empire that covers many countries known as the British Empire. He says he wishes to open trade negotiations with us.

Lagos, Nigeria 1911

Broken, they three had been broken. Igbo felt helpless as she signed the document, noting the English sloops with their cannons off the coast of the river. The current Eze Nri, Obalike was crying as he signed his part. Her proud religion, her shining capital city that had stood for nearly a millennium was in ruins. Near her Hausa the Younger waved goodbye to his older brother who was being dragged off by France. Yoruba bowed his head and signed his part of the document and once all three had signed, with the lesser kingdoms like Fulani in small print England smiled as he rolled up the document.

"Looks, like everything is in order." He said, "That was 865,000 pounds well spent I say. I should thank Sir Goldie for this investment." Hmm should take a few years to set everything up properly but I assure you, the three, or rather four if you wish to include Fulani will be able to set your differences aside and live well together. Don't look so down all of you, the borders shall be drawn."

As England said that he glanced at Prussia and Germany scoffing at him whilst France disappeared. Germany and Prussia made him feel very uneasy, he did not like having to secretly make an alliance with France but what could he do. He certainly could not let the likes of them have all this rich territory. How smart he felt, convincing France to take the Saharan area and call it Niger, but he would have a better name for this new land of his. He would show his might, that he could take as many African Kingdoms as France could. What to name it, with an idea in his head he whirled around looking at Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba.

"From this day onward, you three live together in a new country, it shall be called...NIGERIA."

...

Historical info

Some things to explain to get the context.

I say Hausa the Younger and Hausa the elder because during the colonial period the Hausa were split between Niger and Nigeria much like Italy was. Since the future stories will not feature the other Hausa as much, this will be one of the few times he will be called the Younger.

The Nri Kingdom was an Igbo Kingdom that ran from 948-1911. It was a rich egalitarian society that instead of using military force, used economics to expand its reach. In its height between the 1400s-1679 it was the center of learning and trade in the West African world and the Europeans respected all the Kingdoms, calling them noble people. It was also one of the few kingdoms in Africa that abolished slavery from the beginning.

The Oyo Kingdom was a Yoruba Kingdom that started in the 1400s and ended in the 1900s due to colonialism. It was a more military power but was great in culture to but respected the Nri enough to not attack.

Mandinka is one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa and once had a great empire that originated in Mali, it stretched from Morocco to upper western Nigeria but collapsed in on itself in 1600 and it had arose in 1200. The Mandinka then retreated to Mali where they shared the land with the Tuaregs and other tribes.

At this time period Islam was running rampant throughout Africa with many Portuguese, Spanish and English missionaries trying to stamp it out. The Hausa kingdom at this time was very powerful but espoused the idea of tolerance to all others and it saw no reason to attack either Yoruba or Igbo.

The Fulani are another large group but they are spread all over Africa very thinly so it is hard to give them a proper country context other than there being a lot of Fulani siblings.

On January 1 1900 Sir George Taubman Goldie, then governor of the Royal Niger Company which by then owned Yoruba and Hausa but not Igbo sold all of the deeds to the British Government for 865,000 pounds. This was as a result of France and Prussia/Germany expanding their own colonization efforts aggressively and all three Kingdoms had very rich land. Once it was sold England defeated Igbo with two methods, conversion to Christianity, and military force. Though by that time the Nri Kingdom knew how to make guns, cannons and sloops thanks to the knowledge of trading with other Europeans over the years, they could not withstand the British and they had been on the decline since 1679 so they were broken easily. Nigeria was started in 1911 when the current Eze of the Igbo signed away the land and three years later in 1914 Nigeria's borders were drawn up.

Unlike the 1600s, the 1900s would see a lot of tension as by the 1800s these three had come to dislike each other greatly.

Also the Igbo are in the Southeast of Nigeria, the Yoruba in the southwest and the Hausa in the North.

This is my first time writing a tale like this so I hope it is nicely received.


	2. 1915

1915: South Eastern Nigeria: Calabar Region: January

Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba watched with blank stares as the funeral procession went through the road. Several people were holding a casket through which the pale face of an old white woman could be seen. Her face was calm with a sad smile on the wizened face with her arms clasped together as her white hair had been folded behind her head. At the head of the procession was Efik, holding his cross in mourning as the people behind him chanted the songs of sadness in the Efik language.

Hausa turned to Igbo, pulling back the turban on his head to allow the dry air of the harmattan wind to blow by him

"Igbo, who was that white woman and why is Efik mourning her?", he asked with a curious expression

Igbo sighed and placed her left hand on her cheek, her bangles clinking together in the wind.

"That woman.", she replied, "Was Mary Slessor. She was a missionary that came all the way from Scotland to spread her nation's branch of Christianity to Efik."

Hausa scoffed, "So?", he said with an air of impunity, "We've had lots of missionaries in the past that came to bring Christianity to this land. What made this woman different?"

Igbo glanced back at Hausa with an air of disdain which Yoruba took notice of and made a mental note as she replied, "She lived with Efik and actually bothered to learn his language unlike the other missionaries. She actually became part of them, though she had the strange practice of caring for twins but Efik respected her. Not bad for a woman to die at 66."

Yoruba glanced as the boats with their lit torches continued along the length of the river and were nearly out of sight. With a sigh he sat down and crossed his legs, careful to lift the hem of his robe so that it would not get dust on it as only his trousers would do. With a backwards glance at Igbo he commented to her, "Are you going to abandon that despicable practice now that England lords over us?"

Igbo sharply turned to Yoruba with an angry stare, her dark features furrowing as her words turned icy as she asked, "What practice are you talking about Yoruba?"

Hausa smirked and took a few steps back as Igbo got behind Yoruba who nonchalantly grabbed a flask from his side and took a few gulps of water.

"I mean." he said before pausing to take another swig, "You! Will you stop abandoning twins in the forest? I believe your new religion forbids you from throwing babies to be food for wild animals? Honestly and you hold your head as if you are better than we are sometimes."

Igbo grabbed Yoruba by the hem of his Agabada and pulled him up to her face level.

"Want to continue talking?", she hissed ,"You damn slaver."

Yoruba pushed her arm off him, giving her a look of contempt.

"I admit to once being in the slave trade and yes I did sell your citizens to the Westerners but don't for once second, thing that you are a person without accusation 'Child-killer'. I may have sold people into slavery but I never saw a pair of twins and called them evil just because you thought it was unnatural for someone to have twins."

Igbo and Yoruba stepped back as Hausa put his scimitar in between them.

"Now now.", he said with a cheeky grin, "We can't fight amongst each other or Mr. England will get upset with us."

" ' ' as you call him", Igbo barked, "Is not here right now. He's off with France fighting Germany in Kamerun. I hope he gets blown up by a shell while he's there. Besides Hausa, aren't you warming up to him rather nicely? There is no guarantee that he will win this, 'Great War'."

Yoruba placed his hands on his back applying pressure until he head several cracks and breathed a sigh of content.

"It's true that it seemed like England would lose to Germany especially after what happened at Nsanakang and Garua. But thanks to France winning at Ukoko it looks like Germany could lose that colony. Unfortunately for Kamerun it could be owned by either France or Britain." Yoruba stated

"Though I do hope." he posited, "That Yakurr and Boki would be alright since England took them with him to fight Germany. Which reminds me, Igbo, if this continues England will call you to fight Germany for him."

Igbo spat on the ground with disgust upon hearing this

"He draws our borders without our permission and expects us to fight for him. I hate being part of this British Empire. Only consolation I may have, is killing some Westerners in this war." she spat

Hausa and Yoruba looked at each other and got up and began to walk away, Igbo look at them, cupping her hands to her lips and yelling in the sandy air.

"Where do you think you're going?" she yelled

Hausa looked back with a cheeky smile and yelled back, "Somewhere were we won't get shredded by Gatling Guns, have fun Igbo. Maybe you'll get to practice holding a weapon instead of a cowrie shell."

Igbo sat down and sulked and noted that the last of the funeral procession had dispersed. War, she thought to herself, would she really be called to fight for England? Why were all the westerners suddenly fighting each other and what would happen to her and the others after the war? Musing she drew a pair of faces in the sand, pausing to think about what Yoruba had said to her. Clutching her new crucifix around her neck she sighed and thought,

I guess twins might have to live after all.

August: Gurin

Igbo's ears rang as the sound of the shell hitting the ground sounded through her ears. Feeling dizzy she registered the voices yelling in English and German all around her. Beside her Efik was loading rounds into his Martini-Enfield rifle and gazing over the fort, only to duck down under the sound of machine gun fire as the bullets raced over his head. Panting beside them was the British Captain Derek Pawle. A bullet was lodged in his shoulder and men were trying to tend to his wounds but his shrugged them off and pointed at the other wounded men.

"Captain Pawle where is England, he should be defending us." Igbo screamed over the sound of the machine guns

"He's still in Kamerun, fighting Germany, but Captain von Crailsheim snuck around. I don't know if the fort can hold out against those machine guns with so few of us here."

He was right, Igbo thought, there were hundreds of Germans outside the fort and only a few of them inside to defend. Cursing under her breath she clutched her No. 15 Ball Grenade and chucked it over the fort to the German front, ducking to avoid the rifle fire and smirked as she heard the yells after the explosion. To her side Efik got into a proper firing position and aimed, undaunted at the sound of the rifle in his hands going off as he shot down several Germans. Igbo scoffed, not wanting to be outdone by Efik, grabbed her own rifle and got into a good firing position from where she could not be harmed and fired, steadying herself for the recoil.

Looking out she saw tribesmen from Kamerun aiding the Germans and thought to herself, "This is war, no time to feel sorry for Africans forced to fight westerner's wars."

Steeling herself she aimed at the machine gunners and fired, she missed her target, hitting a white officer in the stomach. Smirking as she took him down she heard a yell coming from the inside of the fort and she and Efik turned to see Captain Pawle dead on the floor, the machine gun fire having ripped through him.

Efik and Igbo looked at each other, well, there was a power vacuum now, who would be the new Captain. As if to answer their thoughts another Briton got up and said overhead

" Lieutanant Joseph F. J. Fitzpatrick here, I will be taking command since Captain Pawle is no longer in action. We shall defend this fort and we shall beat the Germans back do you hear me men?"

Igbo and Efik sighed as the rest of the British contingent cheered and resumed firing at the Germans.

7 hours later Igbo's arm felt numb from all the rifle shots while she and Efik shared a flask of water. The Germans had outnumbered them by a huge margin but they had managed to push them back into Kamerun. Sadly more people from Kamerun than Germans had died in her mind but she pushed it aside as she hoped that she would not have to do anymore fighting for anyone for a long time. Dusting off her army uniform she gazed up as the rainy season began to bear fruit and she hoped this war, this war that was taking place all over the world would end soon.

...

Historical info

Calabar is a region in Southeast Nigeria that borders Cameroon which at this point in time, being a German Colony was called Kamerun by the Germans.

The Efik were another separate Kingdom and people in Nigeria and between the 16th and 19th century would often act as middle men between the Europeans and other Kingdoms.

Yakurr and Boki were also other small but minor kingdoms with history in southeastern Nigeria bur were mostly Kingdoms of fishermen.

Mary Slessor was a Scottish missionary who went to live among the Efik and the Okoyong which lived near the Efiks who live in Calabar, in present day Nigeria. There she successfully fought against the killing of twins at infancy. Mary Slessor was a driving force behind the establishment of the Hope Waddell Training Institute in Calabar, which provided practical vocational training to Africans. She died in January 1915 at the age of 66 and today is nicknamed the Queen of the Okoyong because she was so well liked.

The Igbo people and many others in the southeastern region regularly practiced the killing of twins at infancy by leaving them in the forest to be consumed by the local wildlife or die of starvation due to the belief that twins were evil. Many missionaries rescued the children and raised them in their churches.

During World War I British and French forces launched what was known as the Kamerun campaign to oust the Germans. In 1914 the British forces suffered a lot of major setbacks but it was not until 1915 that the British began to make real headway. Whilst the British were fighting, German forces snuck into Nigeria and attacked one of the outpost. The Germans had brought five machine guns to damage the fort but out of 40 men, they only managed to kill 13. Whilst the British, Igbo and Efik forces that were garrisoned there were able to killed 45 of them. 40 of them African and 5 of them Being German.

The borders of Nigeria were drawn up without the permission of the chiefs and various other leaders in Nigeria.

The Hausa people were the most receiving of the British during the colonial years and it was said that the British would often reward them for their loyalty where the Yoruba was more neutral and the Igbo were more open about their disdain for the British in the early years.

The Yoruba when they were known as the Oyo Kingdom would often capture people from other Kingdoms and sell them on the North-Atlantic Slave Trade, many of those captured were Igbo.


	3. 1916 part 1

1916: February: Western Kamerun: Mora

Igbo found herself stretched out on the soft soil, placing a chewing stick in her mouth and biting on the soft bark whilst her rifle was spread over her stomach. Looking at the sky she sighed with relief knowing that the war in Kamerun was over and that she would not have to do anymore fighting for England. Sitting herself up as noticed Yakurr sleeping on a tree, her long hair floating in the breeze, the fighting was over and there was no more need to bundle it up. Boki and Efik were busy playing a game of Ayo, with Efik winning, having the least amount of seeds left on his side of the board with Boki looking very disgruntled.

Igbo looked over to where England and France were. The two Europeans were discussing something with Beti, one of the Kamerun regions and were shaking their head. Curious Igbo walked over to them, using her tongue to shift the position of the chewing stick in her mouth.

"Excuse me Mr. England," she said, "But where are the Germans?"

France and England gave each other a glance, France sighed and shrugged his shoulders and continued to talk to Beti. England put a hand on Igbo's shoulder, the white palm's touch sending uncomfortable shivers down her spine.

"Why don't we take a walk Igbo, would you like a pipe?" he said whilst bringing out a spare smoking pipe

Igbo shook her head and let her right shoulder inch downwards so that his hand slid off her. The two began to walk as they saw German weapons collecting sand whilst Beti children gawked at them.

"The Germans have fled to the colony of Rio Muni where they seek protection from Spain since the colony is neutral. Under the terms of agreement we cannot go to Rio Muni and extract them there. It is still our victory however. France and I are going to divide Kamerun between ourselves." he explained whilst blowing out smoke rings

"What will happen to Beti and the other people living in Kamerun?" she asked, "Will they end up split just like the Hausa brothers were?"

"Oh? Yes indeed, after all, this colony is now our property and we may do with it as we wished. I will get the western half of the colony which I shall call...British Cameroon, that will be Cameroon with a C instead of a K and Os instead of a U, needs to sound good and British. France, being the unoriginal one will name his half French Cameroon, because that head full of frog's legs could not think of anything better."

England found himself face first in the soil as a rock hit him in the head, France was on the far end whistling to proclaim his innocence whilst Beti just stood there dumbfounded. Boki and Efik were busy trying to contain their laughter whilst Igbo could not help a smirk cross her face for a quick second but removing it before England saw it.

"As I was saying." he said with a huff as he scraped the mud out of his blond hair, "The western half shall be under my administration. However I don't really have time to dilly dally here in Cameroon as there is still a major war going on in Europe and France and I need to head to the Trenches. Oh that reminds me, I have some decrees to give you when you and the others return to Nigeria, one of which is long overdue."

Igbo paused at that statement and looked at England, continuing to try and clean his uniform. He looks so silly Igbo thought to herself, before listening in closely.

"Ahem, I Arthur Kirkland", he began, "Abolish the slave trade and slavery in Nigeria as of this year. I realize that it is a bit overdue since I made that declaration to other countries in 1833." he finished sheepishly

"What about Hong-Kong?" Igbo asked, knowing full well that despite his declaration of abolition of slavery in 1833 he had still taken a long time to effect that statement for the various colonies. Gold Coast had to wait till 1874, Gambia in 1906 and Sierra-Leone was still pouring in slaves everyday yet England touted himself as the first of the westerners to abolish the slave trade. 'It probably made him feel superior to the United States', she thought to herself.

"Well...Hong Kong and some of the others...are just not ready yet. I...need to raise them up some more, make them a bit more civilized." England said, sitting down in front of Igbo who bit down on her chewing stick hard that it snapped and folded her arms, taking care to single her rifle holster behind her back.

"Oh that reminds me." England gasped with his eyes wide open as he snapped his fingers, "Speaking of Hong Kong you remember Governor Lugard? Right Igbo?"

How could she not, Lugard was England's governor to Hong Kong before leaving for the Hausa Kingdom in 1912 and had established the city of Zungeru as the capital of northern Nigeria before the amalgamation. Once England left for the trenches he would probably try to exert his own power and there would be nothing she or the others could do about it. Especially since Hausa had already made his moves to gain his favour early.

"When you go back, I want you to tell him that I've decided to make Lagos the capital. It's a sprawling city that shows a lot more potential than Zungeru. I see it becoming a trade hub. Hmph I better tell Portugal, that should put a smile on his face. It would also put a smile on Yoruba's face as well." he said with a content grin

Igbo felt stunned, the capital was changing? Hausa certainly would not like that and she doubted Lugard would but he would not defy England. This left Yoruba with a nice new power base, but yet she had nothing to hold on to. She would have to make her own moves before she got left behind by Hausa and Yoruba. She barely paid attention as England shuffled away, humming the song Heart of Oak to himself and joining France. Igbo only started up as she noticed a yawning Yakurr standing behind her with Boki and Efik having finished their game and Efik looking pleased with himself and holding a few pound notes in his hand.

March: Nigeria: Lagos

In the great grand judiciary hall Yoruba could not contain himself as he rubbed the scars on his cheeks together with glee. Turning to Igbo he looked at her again, looking disgruntled whilst trying to maintain a proud appearance in front of him. She is so jealous Yoruba thought to himself.

"So, Eko has now the new capital of Nigeria? Oh this makes things so much fun, now Hausa and Lugard would have to drive over to my area instead of going all the way to Zungeru instead." he roared

"They will call it Lagos, like Portugal did, remember that Yoruba." Igbo stated whilst pacing around the hall, "Remember that, you cannot call it Eko to their faces."

Yoruba waved his hand as if swatting the problem like a fly but paused, yes, the capital was in his territory, but why did Lugard want to see them in Lagos tomorrow with each of their respective leaders? Well it would be interesting to find out anyway.

Two days later

Yoruba stood in his box with Oba Siyanbola Onikepe Oladigbolu I who he still considering the ruler of the Oyo even if they no longer had a Kingdom proper as of 1905. Personally he wished that Siyanbola was so much in the pockets of England. There was nothing to do but be a vassal these days. Glancing over to his right he saw Igbo in her booth with her Eze, Nri Obalike, wearing his traditional red cap. Turning to the left he saw Hausa in his booth with his Emir, Muhammad Abbas, whilst Fulani was looking at Hausa darkly beside her new Sultan Muhammadu Attahiru II who had come into his throne only a year after his father's reign. Edo, the oldest of all the old regions that were there was in his stand with his Oba Eweka II whilst Edo's old rival, Ijaw sat smugly across her corner of the room with his Regent, Ate.

The six of them Yoruba thought, all once the biggest powers at one point in the history of the land and they still had major influence. Maybe Lugard had a sort of plan for them all which was why he needed their rulers as well as the regions themselves to show up.

Finally Yoruba looked at Lugard. He was a tall man with presence, his large brown moustache drooped past both cheekbones, whilst his hair was balding within the middle. Wearing a brown jacket, with cuff-links and looking as a Lord of England would he held a Hausa ceremonial stick in his hand.

"Greetings everyone," Lugard said in Hausa, causing Hausa to smirk whilst the others bristled. Lugard ignored the reactions of the others then switched to English and repeated the same phrase, not caring to address everyone else in their native tongues.

"I have a proposition on how we can all make this two year old country of Nigeria, work between all of us and to everyone's benefit."

All the regions and their rulers started to whisper amongst one another until Lugard raised his hand to ask for silence.

"There is something I realized recently during my travels," he said, ""the typical African ... is a happy, thriftless, excitable person, lacking in self control, discipline and foresight, naturally courageous, and naturally courteous and polite, full of personal vanity, with little sense of veracity ...in brief , the virtues and defects of this race-type are those of attractive children."

Yoruba felt himself seething inside but Siyanbola put his hand on his shoulder and he calmed down. Children were they? Lugard saw all these people and kingdoms, with all their centuries of history as children? Did he not know the accomplishments each of them had done. But of course, he was a European and as far as the Europeans were concerned, the African colonies were nothing more than children that needed a proper upbringing. Demolishing their culture in the process to replace it with their own. Even Hausa looked put off by that statement but maintained his composure. The own who looked like they wanted to tear Lugard's throat the most was Igbo whose Eze was gripping her arms tightly.

Lugard's moustache twitched slightly before continuing on his oratory.

"Now listen closely, because this is important. I plan to make Nigeria a respectable colony and you all with listen to my plan."

To be continued

...

Ayo is a board game in Nigeria that involves seeds. Here are the rules

The game starts by placing 4 seeds in each of the 12 cups on the board, and each player sits with 6 of the cups on their side of the board.  
Choose a player to start.  
For each turn, a player chooses a cup, takes all the seeds in that cup (it will the 4 seeds for the first player, but it may be more or less as the game continues), and goes around the board in a counterclockwise direction, planting one seed in each cup as they go.  
If your last seed lands in your opponent's cup, you can capture all the seeds in that cup, and add it to your bank.  
The game continues until one player can not move, at which point, the one with the most seeds wins.

Sir Frederick Lugard (1858-1945) was a British soldier and governor of Hong Kong from 1907-1912 and governor of Nigeria from 1914-1919. Yes that is an actual quote by him. Lugard was known for favouring the Hausa and Fulani over the other major Kingdoms and tried to block the ability of Igbo, Ijaw, Yoruba and Edo from gaining western education, trying to make sure that Hausa and Fulani had a monopoly on education and business overseas. In early 1916 as you see here, he called a council of the six biggest Kingdoms and their rulers to decide how Nigeria should be properly governed. His decisions will be displayed in part 2.

The Kamerun campaign ended in February 1916 at the Siege of Muni. The German forces fled the British and French armies and stayed in Rio Muni (a Spanish colony) which is known today as Equatorial Guinea. England and France split the country into British Cameroon and French Cameroon. When Cameroon gained its independence in the mid-1900s British Cameroon decided to put things to a vote, the northern Islamic half of British Cameroon would merge with Nigeria and the southern half would merge with French Cameroon to become the modern day Cameroon.

Zungeru was a city in northern Nigeria that was its capital before the amalgamation in 1914 after which the city of Lagos, called Eko by the Yoruba was made capital a few years later.

The Edo people in Nigeria once had a great empire called the Benin Empire which lasted in central Nigeria and was very expansionist and lasted from 1440-1897. Not to be confused with the current country of Benin

The Ijaw were traders who also acted as middle men to the Europeans and had their own Kingdom called the Kingdom of Bonny from 1300-1886.

Each person mentioned was still the ruler of the Kingdoms even under British rule but they had the role of vassals for the most part.


	4. 1916 part 2

1916 part 2

Yoruba raised his eyebrow, what exactly did Lugard have in story for them. Keeping an open ear he listened attentively as Lugard made his speech.

"The first issue is an economic one." Lugard stated unflinchingly but taken note of Igbo's renewed interest at the mention of economics.

"We need to engage in proper trade, now that we do not need to spend so much money in defense against the German colonies. The first step to that, is the transportation of goods. My first objective is for Nigeria to have a decent railway system."

Murmurs from the six danced around the forum. Many of them had not seen the great lumbering machines and were all curious as to how it would turn out. Igbo and her Eze were listening intently and Yoruba sighed, noting that since Igbo did have a lot of farmland that it would be likely that she would have a railway in her region first, but...he thought to himself, he had the biggest ports.

"To the matter of the harbour" Lugard continued as if affirming Yoruba's thoughts, all of them need to be dredged, especially in this...new capital city of Lagos." he said with distaste on his lips and Yoruba gained some slight satisfaction from seeing Lugard squirm.

'Roads shall be built to increase transportation. We cannot have you all simply walking to your destination or going by horse or camel-back, those methods are incorrigibly outdated."

Hausa raised his eyebrow, muttering under his breath, he loved riding camels and they were a favourite pastime of his.

"Next is the question of game. Igbo has been insistent in having a conservation park in her area so...I will submit and let her have her park...on the condition that she must make a game season. Hunting is a man's sport after all."

Lugard smirked as he saw Igbo's face switch from hope to shooting daggers from her eyes at him and picked up his cup of tea.

"Back to the economic issue at hand, this country does not have a bank, how are we to trade and store our funds. We cannot rely on England because his funds have been drying up fighting Germany and Austria-Hungary. Which brings me to what I know will be an unpopular topic amongst all six of you...Taxes."

Yoruba rose from his seat in a rage. Pointing his finger at Lugard he yelled, "You make us fight for you in your Royal West African Frontier Force without pay and you want us to pay taxes to you? Looks like Piracy moved from the seas to the business charter."

Lugard froze, holding his teacup steadily in his hand whilst staring down Yoruba who sat down, content with himself whilst his ruler patted him on the back. Lugard noticed that even Hausa and Fulani did not seem to like the idea of taxes and he noted that he was surrounded by all the kingdoms. Taking care not to show any expressions he set down his teacup and continued as if Yoruba had never spoken at all.

"The taxes will be paid to you. You six will rule your regions but in the end all six of you would have to answer to me. I will make no effort to impose on your language, religion or your culture. Govern as you wish...within the parameters that I set and I'm sure that we can have a good relationship for the next few years."

Yoruba folded his arms, sighing in his mind, at least he would have some sort of influence and power within his own borders but looking over at Hausa and Fulani who were smirking in their corner with their rulers for some reason. Was the fact that Lugard had spoken in Hausa earlier indicated that they would get some kind of special treatment? He thought it was especially strange of Fulani who had personally fought Lugard in 1903 though Lugard had convinced Hausa to fight her for him as well. Guess some people mend their relationships quickly he thought. Or Lugard possibly respected her a bit.

Continuing to muse as the meeting ended Yoruba sighed and wondered how he would approach the idea of taxation to the council. There would be some resistance but maybe he could argue that it would cover the railroads, the new ports and the roads. He would have to work with Igbo and Ijaw for food and fishing ships and he was not exactly looking forward to that. Maybe he would have better luck with Edo, they had been allies and friends in the past.

Sighing he barely noticed a white and black ball hit him in the head. Reeling back and wincing and ignoring the snickers of Hausa and Fulani he picked up the strange ball and noticed a large English man running over to him.

"Sorry Yoruba, my mistake." the man said whilst bowing. Yoruba paused, this white man was bowing to him? Looking up he saw that the others had noticed it and moreover the strange ball that was in his hands.

"Excuse me Oyibo, but what is this ball and what is it for?" Yoruba asked, taking care to use the cultural address for Europeans

"Oh this?" the man perked up whilst saying, seemingly oblivious to the racial slur used against him, "This is a football, the greatest game the world has ever seen. It's very competitive and can sometimes be used to settle arguments. We have tournaments for this in England.

So it was a ball used for sport Yoruba thought, maybe this was what could be needed to ease some of the tensions between everyone and Lugard and moreover between the kingdoms themselves. Holding the ball and holding it up in front of the man whilst the other 5 kingdoms and Yakurr, Boki, Tiv, Efik, Ibibio, Annang, Kanuri and Etsako (the much smaller former kingdoms) came to see the strange sport Yoruba gazed and wondered if it would be best to have the center holding place of this sport be in his new capital city.

"I believe we all would like to learn how to play this...football you call it. Can you coach us Mr-?

"Mulford. Baron Mulford at your service."

...

Historical info

Lugard's reforms created a lot of ripples throughout Nigeria. He imposed taxation on the entire region. However despite his views he did create some benefits for Nigeria starting in 1916. Trains, roads, cars, big harbours and banking started to become the norm as Nigeria started to grow into a huge trading port, using their rubber and other resources to supply the war effort in the trenches now that the Kamerun campaign had ended. Taxation was very unpopular.

The Igbo region of Nigeria was the first part of Nigeria to have big game and conservation parks.

Though Lugard was the governor of Hong Kong before becoming the governor of Nigeria, before the amalgamation of Nigeria he was the governor of the Hausa-Fulani Caliphate from 1899-1907. This is why Lugard had such a knowledge of Hausa as the Hausas accepted his takeover and establishment of the Royal Niger company peacefully. The Fulanis were to happy with Lugard and tried to resist him. However Lugard created an army using well trained Hausa soldiers and forced the Fulani people to submit to him in 1903. Afterwards he quickly made concessions to appease the Fulani people as well as the Hausa making both eventually respect him but not see him as a friend.

Baron Mulford was a Scottish Lord that introduced football in 1916, first to the Yoruba people which through them the sport spread like wildfire throughout the whole country. It was speculated that football helped reduce the tension created by taxation making it Nigeria's most important sport.

The Annang people were immigrants from Ancient Egypt when they fled Alexander's expansion and settled in southern Nigeria but they were not a major kingdom, but just a fishing region in competition with the Efiks for commerce from both the European trade and the Saharan trade. There is evidence of intermixing between the Annang and the Efik people. Parts of the Annang language and writing can be traced to that of ancient Egyptian texts confirming that the Annang were a nomadic group that lived in Egypt for a time before moving.

The Ibibio were another group related to the Annang and to the Efik that is posited as being a product of interaction between the two cultures and forming their own. In Hetalia terms, Annang and Efik are a divorced couple and Ibibio is the estranged child.

Kanuri can be described as the child of Bornu and Kanemba, both which had great empires once. Bornu had an empire that spanned from Northeast Nigeria (where the Kanuri live), Chad and Northwest Cameroon, from 1380-1893. Kanemba had an empire spanning from Lower Libya, Chad, Easter Niger, Northeast Nigeria and Northwest Cameroon from 700-1387 and at one point merged with Bornu to create the Kanem-Bornu Empire but the Kanem half ended their empire leaving Bornu to rule till 1893. The Bornu people no longer exist having being destroyed by the Fulani Caliphate in the 1800s leaving the Kanuri as the last of their legacy.

Etsako is a small ethnic group that lives with the Edo people. Tiv is an ethnic immigrant group from Cameroon.


	5. 1917 part 1

Blood of the Kingdoms: 1917 part 1

April 18

Hausa ruffled the book between his fingers, tracing the non-Arabic words as he focused to understand the meaning of the words in the book. As he read the contents of the book he thought to himself, 'Typical Christian missionaries, they preach all these things thinking that they help but yet they destroy."

Hearing the sound of heavy leather boots hitting the marbled floor heading in his direction Hausa walked to the large wooden doorspainted in a shade of white, grabbing the handle and turning the knob and let Lugard in, enjoying the surprised look as Lugard was caught in the act of knocking.

"Mr. Lugard, to what do I owe this visit?" Hausa asked with genuine surprise

Lugard took off his top hat, setting on the hanging rack and sat down in the rocking chair made out of great oak, bringing out his pipe from the left pocket of his brown coat and whipped out a box of matches from the right and set the pipe alight. After a few puffs and relaxing Lugard turned to the book on Hausa's silver table and turned to Hausa, noting the turned pages.

"Are you enjoying the book Samuel George Pinnock wrote?" Lugard asked, making sure to make the proper inflections in the Hausa language.

"The Romance of Missions in Nigeria? No I do not like it." Hausa replied with a stern look on his face

"Oh? Penny for your thoughts then Hausa. It's selling well overseas." Lugard remarked with a bemused look on his face

"I believe that the missionaries in Yorubaland had good intentions but ultimately misguided. Their form of conversion had a destructive bent to it, the Yoruba I know has changed a lot since you colonized this land." Hausa stated, walking over to the chair opposite Lugard and reclining in it, whilst looking out the window at the new telegraph poles and seeing a young paper boy excitedly handing out newspapers.

Lugard turned to look out the framed window and chuckled, which Hausa raised his eyebrow at, for the past few months Lugard had worn a grim look on his face as each newspaper came in especially in November 1916 when he had heard the final report of the Battle of the Somme that had taken place in the trenches. Now here he was, smiling as if he hadn't a care in the world. Lugard coughed and turned back to Hausa, putting a serious look on his face.

"I think you might be a bit biased Hausa about Yoruba's conversion." Lugard posited

"What makes you say that?" Hausa replied curiously

"Well he was Muslim before wasn't he? You once converted him to Islam. So I think you don't like it that you lost a convert. Speaking of change didn't Kanem and Bornu convert you to Islam long ago?"

It was true, his main gripe was his pride in converting Yoruba to the religion of Islam and he felt like the christian missionaries had snatched away one of his accomplishments. He remembered when negotiating the Saharan trade with Kanem and Bornu had preached Islam to him in the 9th century after he had left the Nubian lands to make his own home. After seeing Nok depart his own land to Ife's territory he had settled in the vacant area to establish his Kingdom of Kano. He had liked the words of Kanem and Bornu and had made his decision to fully convert in the 11th century. He had never looked back on that decision and looking at Lugard he understood the points the fair skinned man was making.

"Come now Hausa, you have to respect other people's religions, the Ottoman Empire's millet system was very tolerant of other people's religious beliefs, you are the most powerful group in Nigeria, along with your wife Fulani, be the better person." Lugard said whilst standing up and looking outside the window to see the British surveyors at the new railway station cheering.

Hausa shrugged his shoulders then got up, walking next to Lugard and looked outside, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Why are you happy Lugard? This...Great War has been making you depressed for near a year. What happened, did England and France beat Germany and Austria-Hungary?" Hausa asked

"No, no such luck, but a little help from the United States. He ended his neutrality and joined us in fighting the good fight. Fresh troops are what is needed to batter down our enemies and soon Wilson's men will join our boys in the trenches. I'm in good spirits, and speaking of spirits I would like to play a game of Ayo with you."

Hausa blinked in surprise, Lugard preferred not to play Ayo, always stating that chess was a better strategy game for an uplifted man. He must be in a really good mood, maybe he could see if he could push for a few things. As Lugard set up the board and the banks Lugard murmured to himself.

"Hope the new Colonial Bank hits off well."

Hausa looked up, unsure of what he was saying as all the banks on the board were set up. After flipping a newly minted Kobo coin, after losing the coin toss, Hausa picked his bank and dispersed the seeds all over the board, landing in Lugard's fifth bank, taking it and spreading his pieces all over.

Lugard sternly looked at his board and said out loud, "This indirect rule system seems to work well for Yoruba and the others." then moved his fourth bank and used it to disperse Hausa's first bank.

"Indeed it does." Hausa replied, "They haven't minded the new plumbing and sanitation systems, or the fact that you built prisons and new military posts. Yoruba loves the new harbour and Igbo likes handling the public works and that new Colonial Bank, it'll flourish under her, money is what she is good at after all." Pausing Hausa picked up his 3rd bank and dispersed Lugard's 2nd bank and used the proceeding motion to collect the earnings from his own 4th bank.

Lugard's moustache twitched as Hausa smiled, reveling in his embargo. "Yes well, that is all good and all, but what is more important is how well the others obey the laws of the land. I've decided to send Efik, Ibibio, Yakurr, Edo, Boki and Kanuri to fight for the British in Rhodesia. Whilst Germany may have lost influence in Togoland and Cameroon his East African colonies still need to be addressed." Lugard stated whilst capturing one of Hausa's banks.

Hausa frowned, the war was still ongoing though it was not felt as much in Nigeria has it had been a year ago. Fulani had recently gone to fight in Mozambique and he was worried about her. Sternly he collected 2 banks from his own side.

Lugard continued, "I know you must be worried about Fulani so I think it only appropriate that you help her out in Mozambique. We need all that we can, if not I could always send you to fight in Uganda. Though British East Africa is being handled by Awori and the Congo is being handled by Tiv." With that said, Lugard swiftly maneuvered and captured all of the remaining banks and reclined in his chair.

So that was it, Hausa thought, that was what Lugard had come here for, to make him fight, otherwise he would grow in power. Lugard wanted to balance things between him, Igbo and Yoruba, so this would allow him to grow it seemed.

"It's nothing against you Hausa, Igbo has already fought, do you really want her to have one over you? Yoruba fought in Togoland and he gets to run Lagos, you need to improve your own renown by fighting Germany and those that have sided with him."

Hausa knew he was right, closing the board game, he sighed, he would have to bring out his guns again, but at least once he came back from fighting in East Africa he would gain new perspectives on power plays, maybe even beat Lugard at Ayo.

"So Mr. Lugard, when do I leave for Uganda?" Hausa asked whilst heading to grab his sword.

"Not choosing to fight alongside Fulani or you want your own glory? As to your question, Immediately, Lugard said with a twinkle in his eye.

Hausa nodded and put on his uniform and left the building, ready to go to war.

To be continued

...

Historical Info

Whilst the West African Campaign had ended the East African campaign was still going on with many of the smaller tribes being drafted to fight in Northern Rhodesia, Uganda, the Belgian Congo, Mozambique and British East Africa (Kenya), the larger tribes like the Fulani got drafted in the early months of 1917. Many of these people were listed in the colonial reports which commended the tribesmen for their bravery.

The Kanem-Bornu Empire did introduce Islam to the Hausa who settled in the region after the Kingdom of Nok left for the Kingdom of Ife in the early 6th century. Historical evidence shows that the Yoruba people are descended from the union of the Nok and the Ife. Hausa fully established a Kingdom in 1000 CE called the Kingdom of Kano and met with the Kanem-Bornu empire.

The Saharan Trade was the West African counterpart to the silk and spice trades that took place in the Middle East and Mediterranean areas. Due to this the Hausa had contact with the roaming Tuareg peoples who had no nation of their own but today have become infamous for the situation in Mali that spread across the news in 2012.

Colonial Bank was the first major bank set up in Nigeria in 1917 and had many name changes over the years, its modern name being Union Bank.

The Romance of Missions in Nigeria was a novel written by Southern Baptist Missionary Samuel George Pinnock about the conversion of the Yoruba people to Christianity though today Hausa's Islamic influence shows more.

By this point Railways and Telegraph Polls and Sanitation systems were a common sight in most of Nigeria especially in the North.

Fulani's marriage to Hausa is a reference to the closeness of the Hausa and Fulani people and their near merging into one and the previous Hausa-Fulani-Sokoto Caliphate that was a large empire in its own right.


	6. Mahiwa

Blood of the Kingdoms 1917 part 2

Mahiwa, German East Africa, October 15: Battle of Mahiwa

Hausa overlooked the plains, feeling the eerie calm as the leaves blew in the wind. Gripping his rifle tightly he heard the footfalls of the German forces and looked over the ridge of the green hills as the saw the German units walking by and Hausa breathed a sigh of relief, not a single African among them. He was tired of fighting fellow Africans especially those that once hailed from Nubia. He liked this war a little though, it had given him ample opportunity with some old friends, Buganda, Toro,Bunyoro, Ankole and Busoga during his brief time in the Uganda Protectorate. The wars in the East African regions were dwindling down and many of the others had already returned home back to Nigeria to tell tales of their bravery fighting against Germans and the African kingdoms that had worked for them, he had seen with a heavy heart the African kingdoms accept the rule of Belgium and Britain and knew that though he fought, he was just putting his friends under British rule. So here all that there was were Germans and their leader of the East African campaign Prussia. Wearing his uniform Prussia was looking around as if expecting a horde of British soldiers to be right on his tail, and he was not wrong. Hausa and Zulu and two other Nigerian Kingdoms had been following Prussia and his German forces under the orders of England and here he was, at Nyangao with his forces cut in half. No more hiding and running, they finally had Prussia where they wanted him.

Hausa looked at their commanding officer Sir Jacob Van Deventer, an Afrikaans man, his Dutch heritage showing strongly on his brow. Ironically though he was in the service of England he barely spoke the language and Zulu and Afrikaans often had to translate for him. Hausa respected the man, he had fought in the second Anglo-Boer war and Yoruba had mentioned him after he was done with the West African campaign and had routed German forces in East Africa earlier, helping put the Germans on the run. Though Hausa felt uneasy, the previous General that he had fought under, General Reginald Hoskins had constantly tried to push the Germans out of Africa but had failed, though Deventer seemed more promising after pushing the Germans 100 miles in July.

Looking at the Nyangao area Hausa noted the passage of time and how long it would take the other half of the German forces under Prussia's command to catch up, they had to cut off this regiment so that they could handle the reinforcements. Looking through a new set of binoculars he saw Prussia talking to Major General Kurt Wahle. Prussia was planning something and he didn't like it, he had heard from French Cameroon the stories of how good a tactician Prussia could be and after running for this long, splitting his force in half seemed like too easy a target, despite the fact that the forces with Hausa, Zulu and Afrikaans outnumbered them 3 to 1, Hausa had learned the hard way from fighting Fula nearly a century ago that numbers are a factor not a winner in war. Looking over he saw Kanuri pushing a cannon a loading up shells to fire at the Germans. Hausa began to tense, he was no stranger to war but this...Great War that was taking place over all the world was nothing like he had expected, clouds of gas that could kill hundreds of soldiers indiscriminately, planes flying over the area dropping supplies and he had heard of a machine being used in the trenches in Europe that bullets could not stop, something called a Tank or another.

Hausa then felt a soft hand pressing down on his left shoulder of his uniform and he immediately calmed down and turned to see Fula smiling at him whilst attaching an old style bayonet to her rifle. She looked undaunted as she loaded the ammunition into the barrel with a relative calm, reminding Hausa that this was the woman who had conquered him in the 1800s, she was no stranger to combat and he sometimes thought she relished it but no matter she was here, and now he had a lot more confidence fighting with her. She gave him one more look as she stood up, no need for words between them as she got into position, placing her sword at the hip of her uniform.

Deventer raised his arm with sword drawn out and that was the signal. Kanuri fired the shell and a sound of thunder erupted on the battled as the earth churned as the shell hit the ground in front of Prussia and his men. Prussia turned to look up at Hausa, Fula, Zulu, Afrikaans and Kanuri as they all charged towards him, firing their rifles as they went. The din of gunfire surrounding him Prussia jumped out of the way of a rifle column and turned to fire his own weapons, grabbing a gatling gun as he did so. A German soldier grabbed the ammo slot whilst Prussia cranked the handle, mowing down several Nigerian soldiers.

Hausa and Fula grunted as they closed in on Prussia whilst Kanuri took a blow to the shoulder. Zulu barreled through like he didn't feel anything whilst Afrikaans steadied himself and kept firing his rifle. Hausa saw Prussia at the Gatling gun and stepping out of the way of a bayonet thrust and cutting down the soldier Hausa leaped into the air and landed on the Gatling gun, the ammo slot hitting the German soldier in the chin and knocking him out. Hausa cocked his pistol at Prussia, firing as Prussia moved his head out of the way, the bullet tearing through part of his uniform swinging in the breeze. Prussia looked up at Hausa with a smile and kicked the Gatling gun with his right leg, causing Hausa to lose his balance and fall off.

Hausa's head rang as his head impacted the ground and in the daze of battle he saw the fuzzy outline of Prussia aiming his rifle at Hausa's chest, a grim look on his face. Hearing a strained yell Hausa saw Fula crash into Prussia, knocking the rifle out of his hand. Recovering quickly Prussia ducked under the swing of the rifle and tackled Fula, rendering them both without rifles. Hausa got up, drawing his sword and brought it downward towards Prussia's face and in a flash of steel Prussia had drawn his sword and blocked the strike. Hausa felt the wind leave his body as Prussia kicked upwards but found himself caught by Fula who drew her own sword. Nodding at each other Hausa and Fula charged at Prussia swords drawn.

Prussia smirked as he managed to parry each blow that Fula and Hausa threw at him, whilst Fula and Hausa were getting slight cuts all over their uniforms. Prussia looked behind him as he heard a yell and spun out of Kanuri's way as he brought his machete down on the spot where Prussia once was, only to have his face meet Prussia's boot. Prussia stepped backwards as Zulu and Afrikaans stepped behind Hausa and Fula who helped Kanuri get to his feet.

"Five against one, it hardly seems fair." Prussia said mockingly, "However I am awesome so I can fight all five of you. Come on unless you are all a bunch of losers."

Fula roared in anger and jumped towards Prussia and Hausa grimaced and the others followed suit. As the blades clanged in the air amid the sound of gunfire and shells all around them Hausa noted the passage of time and noted that no matter what they did they could not fell Prussia, only wound him slightly.

October 18

The five of them were near out of breath after fighting for four days whilst Prussia was covered in sweat but his sword was still steady and beckoning them to continue to come out him. The din of gunfire had lessened now and the German forces had been able to hold their own strongly despite the superior numbers as Hausa had feared. Hausa could barely stand, the blood dripping down his fingers from his sore wrist.

"Very good, you have all been fun. But the fun is now over for you." Prussia said with a crazy gleam in his eyes

Hausa paused as he heard the shrill of birdsong and saw a strange small yellow bird flying towards them and heard the sound he dreaded, the sound of German boots marching towards them. General Lettow-Vorbeck had arrived with reinforcements and Hausa saw the smile on Prussia's face and knew that the tactician had planned this all along. Looking up at Deventer, he gave the man a pleading look and Deventer grunted and called for a retreat. Hausa sighed dejectedly and limped back towards the main camp, away from the battlefield as the British forces pulled back and Prussia and his fellow Germans cheered, with Prussia ignoring the blood running from his forehead.

After an hour of walking Hausa slumped to the ground, giving a thankful look as Fula handed him a bottle of water. Noting Kanuri holding a pair of binoculars, Hausa opened his dry throat and asked.

"What are they doing now?"

Kanuri gazed out and replied, "Looks like they're heading in the direction of Portuguese East Africa, we may have lost but their forces are severely crippled now. I think all we need to do is follow them to Portuguese East Africa and rout them."

Hausa nodded his head in tired agreement and noted their general making plans to follow the Germans. One way or another he would manage to beat Prussia and oust the Germans out of Africa, one less European nation to deal with, he noted.

To be continued

...

History lesson time

As the East African Campaign was dwindling down in the late 1917 the Germans had left most of their territories and were chased by British and Belgian forces. The Battle of Mahiwa was a Pyrrhic victory for the Germany as three contingents of Nigerian soldiers and two contingents of South African soldiers (represented by Zulu and Afrikaans). The battle lasted from October 15-18 with the plan being to cut off the forces at Nyangao before the German reinforcements arrived. Unfortunately the Germans held out, losing a third of their remaining forces in the process and when the reinforcements arrived, the Nigerians and South Africans were nearly boxed in and they made a hasty retreat. Then the German forces then made a beeline for Portuguese East Africa to gather new supplies as the battle had been very draining.

German East Africa comprises of Rwanda, Burundi and upper Tanzania.

The others mentioned were all ancient kingdoms in Tanzania and Burundi that signed a treaty with Germany during the early colonization years to allow the Germans to non-violently take over their kingdoms as long as the people benefited from it. The Battle of Mahiwa was a disaster for the British forces but it showed how determined the Germans were to keep their colonies.

I choose to use Prussia because Kurt-Wahle was an East German general.

In the early 1800s the Fulani people conquered the Hausa but later formed a cultural merging of an alliance that is still present to this day, the two have intermixed so much that they are harder to distinguish with each generation like successive generations in a marriage. The Fulani empire, later the Hausa-Fulani Sokoto Caliphate destroyed the Bornu Empire leaving on the Kanuri people.


	7. Mahenge

Blood of the Kingdoms 1917: Part 3

Fulani

November 1917: German East Africa: Tanganyika.

Fula stared up into the sky, hearing the whispers of the African winds, feeling the breeze wrap around her face. Glancing down at the photo in her hand of a large Zeppelin that had the title Zeppelin LZ 104. She had heard of these crafts but had never seen them in person but from the photo from British Intelligence that had been handed to her it certainly was a massive vessel and she wondered how the Germans managed to keep such a bulky device in the air. She had been told by Van Deventer that the airship was carrying supplies towards towards Prussia and his General-Major, Lettow-Vorbeck. If that was true the Germans could easily rout the forces that they had and strike back hard, prolonging this 3 year Great war. Though she personally enjoyed battle, she did not like the way they had been fighting this war, gases, bombs and soldiers dropping like flies and she had even hard that in the trenches a great armored machine had been built that could withstand all shots fired at it, Fula remembered the name, tank. They had been chasing the East German forces for half a month and they were proving to be annoyingly elusive but they had finally used the information to find out where the drop-off was to be planned, that was where the Germans were going to be. Ruffling her grey uniform and picking at the silver buttons she donned her military cap and walked up to meet Van Deventer who was discussing strategy with Kanuri.

Hausa and Afrikaans had been sent to find other German units running around in Portuguese East Africa, leaving her with just Kanuri and Zulu. She still felt a little uncomfortable around Kanuri at times, she would feel his glares at the back of her neck and she knew why. In the 1800s during her period of conquest, she had slain his father Bornu in front of him and then declared that he was now part of her empire. Kanuri often tried to hide his distaste from her but she knew, she would feel the same in his place. Zulu she was glad that she was here with her, Zulu was strong and famed in Africa for her fights against the Dutch forces. Wearing the black uniform of the South African divisions Zulu stared at the great white limestone plateau that stretched before them. There lay the German encampment, waiting for the great air machine to arrive and resupply them. Not today, if Fula had anything to say she would finally get back at Prussia for defeating her. She felt her pride had been wounded, he alone had taken on her, her husband, Kanuri, Zulu and Afrikaans, but now she would not have to worry about him hurting her husband.

Standing right next to the tall Zulu and the much shorter Kanuri she looked behind her at the troops, Van Deventer nodding. Slowly they trekked, lifting the heavy machinery as to not alert the Germans camping at Mahenge to their position. As they got into view she saw Prussia having a laugh with Lettow-Vorbeck. Looking at Zulu she motioned to Kanuri to man the guns again, checking to make sure her hair bands were tight, she picked up her Winchester, raised it to chest level and fired.

Once again the air thundered and crackled as the surprised Germans were caught off guard. Prussia quickly grabbed his own German rifle as he fired back. Fula saw him and he caught sight of her, smirking as he did so. Annoyed Fula charged through, letting Zulu and Kanuri take care of the fleeing German forces. Standing on the thick limestone she aimed her rifle at Prussia who quickly glanced to see Lettow-Vorbeck sound the call for a retreat.

"You never give up do you? Wasn't your last loss a good hint?" Prussia asked with a condescending tone.

Scowling Fula aimed her rifle dead sights on his face, "I had something else to worry about. I've got you now Prussia and you're not going anywhere."

Prussia threw his silver hair back and laughed loudly, "Excuses little girl, that is all I hear. It takes a great and awesome person to understand when they have lost. One more thing, you don't have me, your masters do. Do you chase me so much because I'm the only one of the what do you Nigerians call Oyibos that you can hit?"

Fula growled and fired, Prussia swerved out of the way and smacked her in the face with the butt of his rifle. Fula felt her head ring as the back of her head hit the cold limestone floor, she looked up to see Prussia pointing the rifle at her. Prussia looked ready to pull the trigger but turned his head to the left to see Kanuri and Zulu pointing their weapons at either side of his face. Smiling Prussia backed away and dropped a canister of gas at their feet before running away. Kanuri and Zulu backed away as a piercing sound erupted from the canister as it burst open into a bright light. As the ringing died down Fula was able to regain her senses.

Her pride wounded Fula sat up and to her surprise Kanuri held out his hand to her. She warily took it and he pulled her up roughly before walking to attend to the wounded. Wiping the blood from her lips she stood still as Van Deventer came up to her, expressionless.

"Good news and bad Fula. The Germans escaped again, but that Zeppelin will not be delivering any supplies too them and we can keep chasing the German forces."

Fula could accept that, she did not like Prussia and she would chase him until she finally beat him.

...

History info

History Info

LZ104 is a famed German Zeppelin that had one of the longest trips for any airship in this time, flying from Bulgaria almost all the way to Tanganyika (Tanzania). Or rather it was meant to, the German forces that had fled after Mahiwa stationed themselves on a giant Limestone Plateau at Mahenge, but they were ambushed by the British Nigerian and South African divisions. The Zeppelin was forced to turn around and return to Bulgaria once the Germans told them that they had relocated to the mountains which would have been impossible for the Zeppelin to land in. Ironically no one expected the Zeppelin to return. The Zeppelin had traveled over 4,200 miles in under 95 hours, a marvel for its time. The Zeppelin then got refitting for bombing and was in use until its mysterious crash in April 1918. From then on the German forces would continue to lead the chasing forces on a wild goose chase up until the end of the war.


	8. Egba and Oyo

Blood of the Kingdoms: 1918 Part 1

Oyo-Yoruba

Lagos: Nigeria

Oyo-Yoruba impatiently drummed his finger on the wooden table, taking note of all the little broken off pieces. Ruffling his fuzzy hair he mused to himself as he opened and closed the ayo board game. Sighing, he prepared to get up when he heard singing beyond the door. Sitting back down he let a smile reach his lips as his younger brother Egba came strolling in singing his anthem whilst holding a bundle of papers in his hand.

"Lori oke o'un petele Ibe l'agbe bi mi si o Ibe l'agbe to mi d'agba oo Ile ominira. Maa yo, maa yo, maa yo o; l'Ori Olumo; Maa yo, maa yo, maa yo o; l'Ori Olumo  
Abeokuta ilu Egba Un ko nii gbagbe e re Un o gbe o l'eke okan mi Bii ilu odo oya Emi o f'Abeokuta sogo Un o duro l'ori Olumo Maayo l'oruko Egba ooo Emi omoo Lisabi E e. Emi o maayo l'ori Olumo Emi o s'ogoo yi l'okan mi Wipe ilu olokiki o L'awa Egba n gbe E e."

As Egba finished, he grinned and bowed with Oyo furiously clapping. Oyo always loved to hear Egba sing, he was always singing for him back in medieval times and would come to sing for him even when his empire had declined. Turning his attention to the papers in his hand he cocked his head. Egba laughed and Oyo gave him a questioning look then realized he could not feel his cap on his hair anymore. Bending down while kicking out a chair Oyo picked up his cap and placed it back on his head. Coughing he clapped his hands and the servants brought them some Lafu and Ewedu Soup with Wara in their drinking glasses. Egba looked at the food hungrily saying with bulging grateful eyes to Oyo.

"My favourite, Oyo, you shouldn't have."

Oyo smiled and dipped his fingers into the Lafu, letting the Amala stick to his fingers as he dipped it into the soup before taking the food into his mouth.

"Well, I heard you were working hard on a new project", he replied with a gulp, "Besides, I came back from the front lines of the Great War and I am starved for the company of those I can talk to in the same language."

Ebga nodded his head in agreement, letting the liquefied cheese flow down his throat from the drinking glass. "It must have been hard", he said wiping the liquid from his lips, "Tell me what it was like, to see so many people from all over the world fighting."

Oyo sighed and thought back, letting the images play in his head he looked at Egba who looked very eager to listen.

"Well..." he began, "It was unlike anything I have ever seen, machines flying in the sky dropping explosives on people. Bottles of gas that turn a man's face inside out. I don't envy Hausa-Kano, Fula and Kanuri chasing Prussia all across East Africa, I'm done with metal guns on wheels that can shatter buildings."

Egba interjected saying, "I believe those are called tanks."

Oyo shook his head, slightly annoyed that he had been interrupted. "I really don't want to talk about the Great War anymore, I invited you so that we could have a nice conversation and talk about the old times. Why don't you sing another song, that would improve the mood, but do it in English, let's see how well you can sing in it."

Egba frowned and paused for thought, when he was ready he began,

" Egba ile ibe nigbagbo ti se wa, Egba ile ibe nigbagbo ti se wa  
sa wa Egba lo ni jesu o  
Here goes another short one  
Awa lo mo abeokuta, ilu rere ilu olola  
ilu to duro lase oluwa, Egba omo lisabi."

Oyo laughed as Egba sulked, "I only heard one verse in English out of all that, don't grumble I still enjoyed it. Keep it up, it's always fun to make Lord Lugard's face red and I can never get enough of you doing that."

Egba replied with joined laughter, "He's always mumbling about trying to overturn the fact that Sir Gilbert Carter recognized me as an independent in 1893 and let me have my own government and anthem. I accepted the Nigerian amalgamation willingly so Lugard can turn as red as a pimple for all I care, I will sing high."

Oyo frowned, it wasn't good to talk about Lugard where whispers could hear but he declined to comment, he was enjoying Egba's company and he was not about to ruin it.

Oyo, "So Egba, how is the Ransome-Kuti family?"

Egba paused and let his drink swirl in his hand, careful not to let his long cap fall into his drink.

"They are fine," he replied, "Spoke to Josiah Jesse Ransome-Kuti the other day. He's proud to be the first Nigerian to use a double-barreled name. His wife, Bertha Amy Olubi is very pretty and I saw their three children. Grace, Azariah and Israel. I think the father expects too much, if you name your child Israel you expect them to become a reverend or something of the sort."

Oyo replied with a smile, "With how pious I've heard the boy is, I would expect he will live up to his name, Israel Oludotun Ransome-Kuti, what a name indeed."

Oyo noticed Egba glancing at the papers on the table and decided to ask about that later, for now he would continue talking for as much peace as he could have.

"So Egba," he began, "Do you remember the kingdom Dahomey?"

Egba gave a very cheeky grin, "Oh yes I remember her, I remember the first time fighting her in 1851 and 1864 after hearing that her King had ordered the army to be completely comprised of women. You were right about Fon being a very good and attractive fighter, I can see why you wanted her as a vassal."

Oyo gave an embarrassed cough, his dark cheeks turning a slight shade. That was an old relationship and besides, she was under France in French West Africa. Oyo paused and thought about how that sounded in his head.

Oyo snapped back as he heard Egba say, "Speaking of vassals, while you belonged to the Songhai Empire did you ever meet Ibn Battuta the famous explorer way back in the 14th century?"

"Yes I did." Oyo replied, "I was being asked to do a task for Songhai and the Berber man came along the Niger river mistaking it for the Nile. He was very nice and I wished him well on his dream to see the world. Funny enough I read about him in the 19th century and saw a quote he said that made me smile."

Egba leaned in with curiosity, "Well, what did he say?"

Oyo gave a wistful smirk, "I have-praise be to Allah-attained my desire in this world, which was to travel through the earth, and I have attained this honor, which no other person has attained." Oyo paused for a minute, "What made you think of him?"

Egba snorted with derision, "Lord Lugard was going on about Marco Polo and his accomplishments the other day, he didn't seem to like the fact that there was an African that accomplished three times more than Marco Polo did."

Oyo chuckled, so that was it then. Taking a look at the papers he reached his hand out after wiping it with a napkin.

"Is that it?" Oyo asked, "The country's first Newspaper?"

Egba grabbed it, beaming with pride, ignoring his cap flopping down the side of his face, "Yes it is, I was wondering when you would get to that. I made it myself, I call it Iwe Irohin, I plan to get the best news out there possible. If nothing else in this country I can make a good journalist."

Oyo marveled at the pages in his hands, seeing the articles, football seemed to be flourishing among the tribes. Nri-Igbo was protesting about women's rights, nothing new there.

Egba watched Oyo reading feeling proud of himself. Oyo paused his reading and looked at his brother's smiling face.  
"Well, this is very well written." Oyo complimented, "I like the style and the stories, I guess this is the source of the probing questions. Though I have to say, I haven't seen you this excited since you broke away from me in the 19th century to become your own kingdom, despite how short lived England made it."

Egba frowned, "There was no need for that jibe. Besides, it was either leave or get beaten down by Fula after you threw her brother Ilorin out of the house."

Oyo, "I apologize Egba. I didn't mean to insult. Besides I'm happy for you, looks like you can find your place in this world, I am yet to do something unique, sure I have trading ports but so do Ijaw and Itsekiri, mine is just bigger."

Egba kept silent as Oyo went back to looking at the paper. Oyo paused again as he came to the economics section. It seemed that they had been exporting more goods to England for the war effort, in around 2 million pounds increase. He noticed a footnote, talking about increased and unfair taxation on the people. He looked up at Egba.

"Egba." He said with a worried glance, "You need to remove this footnote before Lugard sees this. Have you been talking to Nri-Igbo? Not good to heed advice from that tortoise woman."

"No I have not!" Egba stated, "I'm right though, England is overtaxing us because they cannot pay for war and it does not take an economist like Nri-Igbo to see that once the war is over, a lot of economies are going to suffer for it."

Oyo placed a hand on Egba's mouth and waited until he calmed down.

"That taxation also goes to the building of those new hospitals over the country Egba, be careful what you say. I'm your brother so I'm giving a fair warning. I don't want you to end up like Ketu-Yoruba. He spoke back and he got shipped off to Brazil."Oyo said in hushed tones

Egba looked at Oyo, downcast, "I expected a bit of support from the one person in our family that was one of the best soldiers."

Oyo looked at the ground, wanting to be swallowed up by the tiles on the floor, "No one is strongest forever, I may have been a strong warrior once, but now we have a temporary leader. But things are not as bad as they seem, I don't like the taxes either, but unlike you I see where they go and how much they can improve our lives. We need England to win otherwise we would have an unfamiliar master."

Egba softened up, "You do have a point, I'll keep my thoughts to myself for now. As for the war, I believe England and his allies will soon win, all Germany, Austria-Hungary and Prussia can do is run now. Trust me on this one. In the meantime, I'll head back to Abeokuta to print some more newspapers. I'll continue to keep in touch, thank you for your hospitality and I hope this country does become strong while England grows weak.

Egba left through the doors, making Oyo-Yoruba sigh, signaling to the servants to take away the food and pondered on what Egba said. If England's economy would indeed fall, what would that mean for the Nigerians. Would his ports shut down? Shaking his head, he sat down and closed his eyes, drifting into sleep.

...

History Info

The Egba are a subgroup of the Yoruba people, much like the Oyo are. Egba was once part of the Oyo Kingdom but broke apart from them when things started to go sour for the Oyo Kingdom. They were the first to print Newspapers in Nigeria and have a huge journalism industry and their capital is in Abeokuta. They were given free range to run their government the way they wanted from 1893-1914 and they accepted the amalgamation of Nigeria willingly though it was well known that the Egba did not like the rule of Lugard. The Egba spoke out against heavy taxation in the region. The foods depicted are very popular in the Egbaland. They were also able to hold off the military advances of the female run Dahomey kingdom's military. That is the actual national anthem of the Egba people.

The Ransome-Kuti family is one of the most notable lineages in Nigeria, producing artists, writers, singers, activists and politicians. Both Wole Soyinka and Femi Kuti are part of this lineage that is still highly regarded well today.

Ilorin is a Fulani subgroup that once sacked the kingdom of Oyo and instructed him on use of guns since for the longest time the Oyo refused to use guns in their tactics. Oyo then repelled Ilorin who called Fula for assistance. Fula would proceed to crush the Kingdom of Oyo.

Fon is the group that ran the Dahomey Kingdom. They were unique in having an Amazonian military and were described as the amazons of Africa and for a time they were a vassal for the Oyo Kingdom.

Ibn Battuta is one of history's most famous explorers who traveled through the entire Muslim world and visited East Asia, West Africa and many other places, accomplishing three times more than his contemporary, Marco Polo.

Tune in for the second part to see Egba's thoughts on taxation.


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