Nana Olomu

Nana Olomu (also written Nanna Olomu; born Eriomala; – 3 July 1916) was an Itsekiri palm-oil merchant and political leader in the western Niger Delta. After inheriting the extensive trading organisation of his father, Olomu, he was chosen by Itsekiri elders as Governor of the Benin River in 1884. The office combined commercial and political authority during the interregnum in the Warri kingship; it was distinct from the position of Olu of Warri.

By the early 1890s, Nana's organisation controlled much of the trade between European firms on the lower Benin River and Urhobo palm-oil producers inland. His authority rested on commercial alliances and credit as well as armed canoes, agents and enslaved labour. British officials initially endorsed his authority but, after installing a more direct administration in 1891, treated the governorship as obsolete and sought to open the hinterland to direct trade. The dispute culminated in the British blockade and bombardment of Nana's fortified town of Ebrohimi in 1894. He escaped, surrendered voluntarily in Lagos, and was convicted on four charges in a consular court without legal representation. He was deported first within the Niger Coast Protectorate and later to the Gold Coast, returning home in 1906.

Early life and commercial rise

Nana was born Eriomala at Jakpa on the Benin River, probably in 1852. He was one of Olomu's younger sons; his mother, Memese, was an Urhobo woman from Evhro (modern Effurun). Olomu later founded Ebrohimi and became the leading Itsekiri merchant on the river. By the early 1870s Nana spoke English and acted as his father's deputy. In 1876 he represented Olomu before a British consul when the family was accused of killing prisoners taken during a conflict near Abraka.

Legacy and collections

Nana's personal flag, inscribed "NANNA", now held by the National Maritime Museum.

Nana is popularly commemorated in Nigeria as a precursor of anti-colonial resistance. Historical studies also place that resistance within the power structures of the nineteenth-century palm-oil trade: his commercial organisation combined extensive regional alliances with monopoly, armed coercion and enslaved labour.

The Koko museum's board has sought the return of objects held in the United Kingdom. In 2025, Ayida argued that restitution should be accompanied by investment in the capacity of local museums rather than delayed on the ground that they lacked resources.