Personal flag of Nana Olomu<br><p>Personal flag of Itsekri chief  Nana Olomu (1852-1916). A green wool bunting flag with a  linen hoist with a rope attached. The flag is machine sewn with hand-sewn applied lettering — in red wool 'NANNA', below in white cotton 'ALLUMA'S SON'.  The seam which runs across the white lettering is also hand-sewn.
</p><p>It is said to have been acquired during the 1897 Benin expedition by F. W. Kennedy.
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The title of 'Governor of Benin River' was given to Nana Olomu by the British in 1884. He exerted immense political power through a network of armed traders in palm oil working along the upper reaches of the river and he built a town in the mangrove swamps defended by flintlock guns and brass cannon. Partly through the machinations of a rival chief - Dogho, relations deteriorated with the acting Consul-General Ralph Moor In 1894. Following an attack on HMS 'Alecto's' cutter which was inspecting Nana's fortifications, a British naval expedition captured his town of Ebrohimi. He fled to Lagos Colony, but was tried and exiled to the Gold Coast from 1894-1906. After his return to Nigeria he lived at the town of Koko.
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Unknown author<span style="display: none;">Unknown author</span></div>
1884
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