Homeward Bound: the Exile and Return of Ja Ja, Chief of Opobo

Abstract

Between 1870 and 1887, Ja Ja, Chief of Opobo (1821-91) ruled with an iron fist in commercial affairs, in the wake of colonial dominance in West Africa. Asserting British interests before indigenous sovereignty, Consul Harry Hamilton Johnston (1858-1927) deported Ja Ja to the Windward Islands in 1887. Research concerning Ja Ja’s final years remains nonexistent in academia. This project aims to identify, read, and process available manuscripts relating to Ja Ja’s peculiar experience in captivity (1887-91).