---

1472: Portuguese explorers are the first Europeans to reach the Nigerian coast, naming the area around Lagos “Lago de Curamo.”

For centuries, the history of what would become Nigeria was shaped by internal dynamics and trans-Saharan networks connecting it to North Africa and the Mediterranean.

But in 1472, a new axis of influence was opened—one from the sea. In that year, a Portuguese ship, led by explorer Rui de Sequeira, became the first documented European vessel to reach the Nigerian coastline.

This voyage did not just mark a point on a map; it initiated a new and tumultuous chapter, connecting the region to the rising Atlantic World and setting in motion a chain of events that would forever alter its destiny.

The Portuguese arrival was not an isolated accident. It was the culmination of decades of Portuguese maritime exploration driven by a powerful mixture of motives often summarized as “God, Gold, and Glory.”

Prince Henry the Navigator had spearheaded efforts to navigate down the West African coast, seeking a sea route to the riches of Asia to bypass the Venetian and Ottoman-controlled land routes.

Along the way, they hoped to find the legendary Christian kingdom of Prester John and tap directly into the sources of West African gold.

When de Sequeira’s ship sighted the labyrinth of lagoons and creeks along the Bight of Benin, he gave one of them a name that would endure for centuries: Lago de Curamo.

The name is believed to be a Portuguese rendering of a local name, eventually anglicized into “Lagos” (which means “lakes” in Portuguese).

This act of naming was symbolic of the European approach: mapping, claiming, and imposing their own lexicon on the geography they encountered.

The Portuguese did not find empty shores. They encountered sophisticated, organized societies with established political and economic systems.

Kingdoms like Benin, Warri, and the city-states of the Niger Delta (like Bonny and Calabar) were already thriving. The initial contacts were likely cautious but curious on both sides.

The Portuguese, impressed by the level of organization and the quality of goods, sought to establish trade relations. For the coastal states, these strange new visitors on “floating houses” represented both an opportunity and an unknown quantity.

The early trade was multifaceted. The Portuguese were keenly interested in pepper—the famous “Benin pepper”—which was a valuable commodity in Europe. They also traded for ivory, local textiles, and, most significantly, beads and coral from Benin, which were of exquisite quality.

In return, they offered goods that were novel to the region: copper and brass manillas (bracelets that became a form of currency), cloth, coral from Europe, and, most consequentially, firearms.

This early period was one of relatively balanced diplomacy. The Oba of Benin sent ambassadors to the court of the King of Portugal, and Portuguese emissaries and missionaries were received in Benin City.

The Oba even sent a Benin chief to Portugal, who returned fluent in Portuguese and served as a translator. For a time, there was a mutual fascination and a relationship that, while driven by commerce, contained elements of genuine diplomatic engagement.

However, beneath this surface of exchange, a darker current was flowing. The Portuguese had already been engaged in the slave trade along the Gold Coast (modern-day Ghana).

As they developed sugar plantations on islands like São Tomé and Príncipe off the coast, their demand for labor grew. Initially, the Obas of Benin were reluctant to trade in slaves, often restricting the export of male captives.

But the economic pressure and the introduction of new, disruptive goods like guns began to change the calculus of power.

The arrival of Rui de Sequeira in 1472 was, therefore, a pivotal moment of first contact. It was the crack in the door through which the Atlantic world would eventually flood in. It began an era of new trade goods, new technologies, and new diplomatic links.

But it also sowed the seeds for the catastrophic transatlantic slave trade that would soon dominate the region’s relationship with Europe, transforming societies from partners in commerce into victims of a brutal and dehumanizing system.

The naming of “Lago de Curamo” was the quiet, almost innocent, beginning of a revolution that would bring both connection and calamity to the shores of Nigeria.

---