Warri Kingdom — A People's Historykingdom.
Seven hundred years of crown, commerce, and coexistence along the Niger Delta. From Ginuwa's arrival to Atuwatse II, with the receipts — maps, treaties, oral histories, palace records.
What you will learn.
Ginuwa's arrival
The founding migration, the marriage diplomacy, and the first crown of Warri.
Sea and kingdom
Portuguese contact, trade, and the Warri Kingdom's maritime economy in the 1500s-1600s.
Palace and protocol
The Olu's house — lineage, succession, and how governance actually worked inside the kingdom.
Colonial pressure
British treaties, oil palm trade, and the 19th-century remaking of the Niger Delta political order.
The 20th century
Oil, nation, and Itsekiri citizenship. How the Warri Kingdom changed without changing.
Contested ground
Land, neighbors, and the modern Warri question. A clear-eyed reading of the 20th century.
Atuwatse II
The Olu who re-opened the palace to the diaspora, and the plan for the next 25 years.
Your family line
Personal capstone — trace one branch of your family tree with primary sources.
What we expect, and what you will walk out with.
Prerequisites
- No prior history background required
- Access to video player
- Readings delivered weekly as PDFs
- Two cohort discussion sessions
Outcomes
- Trace the Warri Kingdom from 1480 to today
- Read a precolonial treaty and its diplomatic frame
- Discuss the relationship between Itsekiri, neighboring peoples, and the British
- Complete a family-history research exercise
You learn from one person for the full term.
TBD
Historian · Warri Kingdom ArchiveThe lead historian-instructor for this course will be named when the first cohort opens at Convention 2026. We are recruiting a senior scholar of Itsekiri history with deep palace and archival access.