Pre-colonial territories that occupied modern-day Nigeria recorded huge historic feats that are scarcely known today. The Benin Empire located in today's southern Nigeria, for instance, was arguably the oldest and most developed African state about a millennium ago at a time London was notorious for theft and murder.

The Benin walls are considered the largest man-made structure in the world and the world's largest earthwork prior to the mechanical age. This amazing monument according to New Scientist's Fred Pierce, was at a point “four times longer than the Great Wall of China, and consumed a hundred times more material than the Great Pyramid of Giza”. According to Pierce, they are perhaps the largest single archaeological phenomenon on the planet.

The 'Benin Massacre' in the late December of 1896 is popular for perhaps the most brutal defeat suffered by a British-led invasion force in Africa which had left all but two men dead.

Many still eulogize the enormous potential of these empires had the whites not invaded. Others doubt their chances of survival without an interaction with western education and it's perceived superior technology.

They cite instances like the barbaric taboo killings of twins in the east before the whites came and the north's reluctance to outlaw slavery until 1936 even after the colonial masters had abolished it. This is considered a fallout of the North's resistance to western education which partly had culminated into Nigeria's worst nightmare.

However, What certainly remains enviable from the pre-colonial nations is their system of government that ensured security and public prosperity with limited resources and technology.

Do you think pre-colonial west African empires like Oyo, Benin, Ashanti and others would have fared better today if they were not invaded by Europe?

D term civilization has been erroneously used to downgrade our culture & value system...
Progress/Growth is a natural phenomenon. This implies that left on our own, we certainly would have made progress in our civilization and cultural systems...
Take China as a case study

They interrupted our progress but we shall soon return to our regularly scheduled programming.