The last kings of Africa: How Nigeria's tribal monarchs still live in lavish royal splendour

With their brightly coloured robes, ornate thrones and legions of flunkeys attending every whim, they seem every bit the archetypal African kings.

Nigeria's traditional Monarchs may have been stripped of their powers half a century ago, but they appear to have lost little of their regal pomp and splendour as this fascinating series of portraits shows.

Photographer George Osodi toured the west African country extensively for a series of photographs entitled 'Kings of Nigeria' which is due to be exhibited at London's Bermondsey Project in October.

'The easiest way I could approach this was to look at the monarchy structure in the country because they are closer to the people than the governors.'

While their ancestors ruled over vast tracts of Africa, following the abolition of the monarchy in 1963 the regional monarchs were stripped of all their constitutional powers.

But far from fading into obscurity, they mostly remain popular leaders and are held in great regard by their hundreds of thousands of loyal subjects.

And despite lacking any formal powers they continue to wield considerable influence and serve as unofficial intermediaries between their subjects and the Nigerian government.

Source: Daily Mail