Chapter 1 SYNOPSIS

After the successful British invasion of Benin and the capturing of the emperor Ovorunwem in 1897, the resolve of the other Kings of the Niger river to rid their lands of the British was destroyed as none of them would believe great Benin would fall.

Although it seemed like all hope was lost, some of the royal families weren't going to give up. To them they would rather lose their heads than bow to foreign powers they termed "the white men". In the east of the land of the Niger river, the royal families of unified Arochukwu and the towns of Ekemeku were still engaged in active warfare against the British, in the north of the Niger river, the sultans of Sokoto and Kano repelled British forces from their lands on several occasions.

While most of the Kings and Chiefs were engaging in open warfare against the British, some of them refused to sacrifice the lives of the people for their cause though this didn't mean they gave up fighting. The Nkuku (king of kings) of Annang arranged a meeting to send some of their men to England to learn the ways of the British. To make sure the other rulers would join heads together to achieve this common goal, he decided to send his first son, Akaninyene to Europe as this would prove to the other kings he had a lot to lose.