2026-10-09T11:06:38+00:00 Zend_Feed_Writer https://www.nigeria.archivingafrica.com/ Nigerian Cultural Heritage https://www.nigeria.archivingafrica.com 2020-10-13T20:18:30+00:00 2022-08-04T04:15:22+00:00 https://www.nigeria.archivingafrica.com/items/show/321 Daniel Gdanski<br /> Mungo Park was a Scottish explorer of West Africa. He is thought to be the first successful explorer of Africa and set a precedent for all who followed in his footsteps. Upon one of his journeys, after being attacked by Native African canoers, Park was forced to jump into the river in an attempt to escape. He never resurfaced and drowned. To honor Mungo Park, A House was built and named The Mungo Park in 1886. This house was built by the Royal Niger Company. It was built by the British who colonized Nigeria at the time. This house was the first headquarters of the Royal Niger Company and Nigeria’s first political headquarters in 1900. This house is recognized as a National Monument. It was originally built for business of Palm Kernal. It also was used by government organizations such as local and Delta State governments Orphanages, Women Development Centre, Water Board and now Monument for keeping relics and artifacts to entertain both foreigners and locals. Nowadays, you can go to this national monument and receive a tour along with visiting the art gallery that is attached to it. Numerous historians will visit this site to get a glimpse of the history of Mungo Park and European influence in Africa. The house is made from palm wood following in its horizonal and vertical patterns. Recent accounts show that it is not being maintained and is falling apart. Local officials would like to renovate the house, however, they want to keep the original ambience of the house. It serves as a very important local site. It holds fond memories for residents of the 'big heart.' It is reputed to be named after one of the founders of Asaba. It is a commercial beehive that hosts the now rested Asaba textile mills, the Grand Hotel, monuments attesting to the presence of colonial overlords in the pre independence era, and other majestic looking historical buildings. The town of Asaba rallies upon this site as it tells the history of their people and gives the town a sense of purpose. It is an important site as it, “tells the story of the inter play between Western influences and African culture, including the multiple tales of numerous conflicts, particularly that of trade and investment in pre-colonial era.” The house represents the dawn of European influence among African nations. It represents the spark of trade between European and African nations along with the European cultures that would be brought upon the African people. This European culture brought to Africa attempted to develop the nation and bring about economic prosperity. On the contrary, the house also symbolizes conflicts such as the exploitation that would later come. Europeans tried to rid of African culture, forcing the European culture upon the Native Africans. In addition, Europeans began to seize control over the African lands to abuse their resources along with cultural & religious influences. Mungo Parks' conquest paved the way for European settlements along the West Coast of Africa. These settlements first came from the Portuguese in which they began the trans-Atlantic slave trade. They took all the goods Africa had to offer and then brought slaves from Africa to the New World. Without Mungo Parks conquest, this would not have been possible. This house signifies the first European exploration of Western Africa and all that would come in the future. For more (including 5 images), view the original article. 2020-10-12T16:28:04+00:00 2022-08-04T04:39:51+00:00 https://www.nigeria.archivingafrica.com/items/show/320 Cady Walts Exploration has always been a central part of cultural expansion. Due to its rocky shore and rough land, Africa has been neglected in terms of exploration. Although Africa has been neglected due to its rocky terrain, two brothers, John and Richard Lander gained fames from their discovery of the mouth of the Niger River. The Landers Brothers made their voyage from Bussa to Asada in the 18th century. They set sail to the western part of Africa in hopes to open communication with the people there, form a settlement in the area which had not been done before, and finally open trade between Great Britain and Africa. These brothers were the first people credited with the exploration of the inner part of the Niger River. This famous voyage was particularly important for several reasons. This voyage and exploration led to the opening of West African trade between countries, and this eventually led to the replacement of slave trade. People of this area began to trade more than people, they began to trade resources which they had in the area such as ivory and gold. These new resources were very valuable to the outside world. While trade relations of Africa in general opened and improved, the trade economy in the area of Asaba opened up as well. Along with trade, the men on the expedition had a big goal of bringing Christianity to the people of Western Africa. Due to the famous expedition and the importance of the discovery, a site has been set up in memory of the Lander Brothers, and this site is placed at their landing point. The site is located off a main road, Nnebisi Road. At the site there is an information center, restaurant, and a museum. Inside the information center there is high amounts of information on trade throughout the area, travel, and more modern day information in the tourist realm of the world. On the flip side, the museum which is in the property contain many artifacts and information on the expedition and the aftermath of the expedition. In particular, the boat that the brothers used was donated and is on display in the museum. This is considered the center point of the exhibition. At this site, there is a monument which was built in memory of the two brothers who had such an immense impact on this area. This monument is of an anchor which signifies the spot of their landing. Also on the anchorage monument, there is a cross and this is significant because it shows the spread of Christianity to the area. Also, it is important to add that there is a grave yard at the attraction as well. This grave yard is next to the anchorage monument, and the grave yard is the final resting place of various missionaries who came here in order to spread their religion to the African people. This site teaches us various things about the history of the people of this area. For instance, the small amounts of trade in the area before the landing of these brothers shows how closed off this area was to the rest of the world. Whether this was due to its rough terrain or that these people did not want to trade with outside countries, they were opened up to the world vastly after the landing of these two brothers. Also, over the years Christianity has been one of the largest religions, and it has had a foothold in many areas of the world. Since missionaries went to this area to convert the people, it shows that these people were not followers of the major religion, like European people thought that they should. For more (including 4 images), view the original article.