How we work
Every piece starts from primary and reputable secondary sources, is written in plain English for a reader who may be coming to this history for the first time, and carries a references list so you can go and check it yourself.
Sources over shortcuts
Every claim is built on named, checkable sources: historians, primary documents, museums and archives, not a half-remembered version of the story.
History is contested, and we say so
Where accounts genuinely disagree, colonial-era records versus oral history, for instance, we say so plainly instead of picking one version and presenting it as settled fact.
Written for zero prior knowledge
You do not need to already know the history to follow along. We explain who, what, and why as we go, with no assumed context and no jargon left unexplained.
Corrected in public
If we get something wrong, we fix it and say so. History deserves the same standard of accuracy as any other reporting.
How we research and fact-check
Every article follows the same process. We start from primary sources where they exist, colonial and pre-colonial records, archaeological findings, oral histories, and academic research, and reputable secondary sources such as peer-reviewed journals, university presses, and established institutions (national archives, museums, encyclopaedic references). Before publishing, every date, name, and claim is checked a second time against a named, current source. Where accounts genuinely differ, we say so rather than flattening the disagreement into a single tidy version.
We write in formal-but-warm British English, a knowledgeable-friend tone, never listicle-y. Where a named reviewer has checked a piece, we credit them at the top; otherwise the article carries a note confirming it was written and fact-checked by our editorial team against cited sources.
The sources we trust
Our research leans on sources chosen for reliability, not convenience. In particular:
- Academic journals and university presses covering West African and Nigerian history
- National archives, libraries and museums, Nigerian and international, including institutions holding relevant colonial-era records
- Established encyclopaedic and reference sources such as Britannica
- Documented oral history and the work of recognised Nigerian and Africanist historians
We credit every source and link to it wherever it is publicly accessible.
A note on images
Where we use a historical or archival photograph, we credit the source and, where relevant, the licence it is published under (for example, Wikimedia Commons or a public-domain archive). Get in touch if you believe an image is credited incorrectly.
Get in touch
Spotted something we got wrong, or want us to cover a topic? Email hello@nigeriangist.com. We read everything.