West African Diplomacy

The Era of Great Duke Ephraim: Examining the Reign of the Nineteenth-Century “Merchant Prince” Who Consolidated Efik Power

Great Duke Ephraim (often referred to as Duke Ephraim or Ephraim Duker) is remembered in Efik and Niger Delta history as one of the most powerful political and commercial figures of the nineteenth century. His reign in Old Calabar coincided with dramatic economic transitions from the era of the trans-Atlantic slave trade to the expansion…