Hello again and welcome to my blog – ( that felt sooo weird to write !).

Right then , straight to addressing all the elephants in the room. I’m neither a writer nor historian, what I am is a rather chilled, slightly nerdy young chap with a niche interest that I hope you like as well.

I find history very intriguing . For me it’s like looking up at the stars at night . Each little dot of light represents an entire story , each one a focus in itself and all of them linked by the fabric of space and time. Some of them are even extinct but their light travels on , each twinkle a reminder a similar future – from the past.

So history is not just the trail left by the passing of time but a record and evidence of it -and as time is non linear , our history could very well be our future.

Over the years, not a lot of time/attention has been paid to African history even though it is very much a part of World history. For various reasons it was ignored , relegated and even suppressed with the result that many Africans (I’m Nigerian) know little of the rich stories of her peoples prior to contact with Europeans. So I know more about Operation Barbarossa (WW2) than I do of Operation Tail Wind ( Biafran war) for instance.

I have decided to do somthing about that with Akwilani by joining the growing throng of creators out there, presenting African history one bit at a time. I’ll be putting out regular content on the Akwilani YouTube channel , blogging here and maybe even podcasts.

Why the name Akwilani? Unfortunately , its not that deep . I’ve gone with it primarily because I like the sound of it but its origins come from way back when I was a student at the University Of Lagos. One of my very good friends, Mo used to tease me by calling me Aquilani (Aquilani played for Roma and was instrumental in knocking out Real Madrid ,whom I support , from the champions league – I think the year was 2009?). Anyways, I secretly liked it , plus it helps that it means eagle which is a good thing , I guess.

So thats my name, insignia, mission and passion.
I’m Tayo ”Akwilani” Bastos and I look forward to this epic journey of looking back with you.

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