Gozie The Sage

Social Conversationalist and Logician

[Gozie The Sage @GozieTheSage]

Let me tell you one of the strangest diplomatic stories in African history.
And I genuinely don't understand why more people don't know about this.

In the early 1600s, the Kingdom of Kongo sent an ambassador all the way to Rome.
His name was Antonio Manuel Nsaku Ne Vunda.

I know you are asking where is the Kingdom of Kongo?

This wasn't some tiny village that suddenly appeared when Europeans arrived in Africa.
The Kingdom of Kongo was a powerful Central African state that had existed for centuries before this story.

Its territory covered parts of what are today Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo and Gabon.
And by the late 15th century, Kongo had established contact with the Portuguese.

This relationship became particularly interesting because Christianity entered the Kongo royal court. The Kongolese ruling elite began converting to Christianity. King Nzinga A. Nkuwu was baptized in 1491. His son, Afonso I, later became one of the most famous Christian rulers in African history.(That's a story for another day).

But here's where our story begins.
More than a century later. In the early 1600s, the king of Kongo,King Álvaro II decided he wanted direct diplomatic relations with the Pope.
Not through Portugal but directly. So he sent an ambassador, Antonio Manuel Nsaku Ne Vunda(also known as Negrita) on a mission to Rome.

And this wasn't a short trip. This man had to cross the Atlantic. He travelled from Central Africa through the Portuguese-controlled Atlantic world. At some point, his journey took him to Brazil.
Then to Portugal.
Then Spain.
And eventually toward Rome.

Remember this was the early 17th century when there were no airplanes, no modern ships, no seamless communication. Every stage of this journey was dangerous.
And the journey took YEARS. Four grueling years due to pirate attacks and political detention by the Spanish crown.

Imagine leaving Central Africa with one assignment: “Go to Rome.”
And then spending years crossing oceans, kingdoms and European courts and pirate attacks just to reach your destination.

Eventually, after this unbelievably long and painstaking journey, Antonio Manuel Nsaku Ne Vunda finally reached Rome.
It was January 1608.
He had finally reached the city where the Pope lived.
He had made it.

But then something happened that sounds like a script written for a movie.

He was extremely sick and by the time he reached Rome, his health had deteriorated badly.
The Pope at the time was Pope Paul V. When the Pope learned that the Kongolese ambassador had finally arrived, he arranged for him to be received.
The African ambassador had finally reached the Pope.
Except...

He barely had any time left.

Antonio Manuel Nsaku Ne Vunda arrived in Rome on 3rd January 1608.
And on 5th January 1608 he died.
After travelling thousands of kilometres across Africa, the Atlantic and Europe. After spending years trying to reach Rome.

He arrived and two days later, he was dead.

[Ebun @kenkenlewu]

My former neighbour texted me last week that he had mistakenly transferred ₦800k to my account.

I quickly checked, saw the money, and confirmed that it was there.

He then forwarded another account and asked me to refund the money there.

I transferred the ₦800k back to the original account I received it from, with the caption: “Money mistakenly received.”

He called me immediately.

“Why would you transfer the money back to my Opay? I gave you an account to send the money to. I can’t withdraw money from that Opay.”

I told him, “Bros, I didn’t receive the money from the account you sent me.”

He got angry and cut the call.

I wanted to forward the transfer receipt to him on WhatsApp, but he had already blocked me.

Last night, the police arrested him...

[Ebun @kenkenlewu]

I took her on a date, started driving her to work every day, but she kept friend-zoning me. I stopped calling her, and after four days, she called and gave me a chance to date her”

Popular Nigerian singer Timi Dakolo shares how his love story with his wife began.

Speaking on The Morayo Show, Timi Dakolo revealed that he first saw his wife, Busola, in church. He got her number, started calling her and even invited her to church.

Despite his efforts, she kept seeing him as just a friend until he stopped calling her for four days. Then she called him and eventually gave him a chance to date her.

Me: 🙄🙄She knew what she was doing.😁

[Gozie The Sage @GozieTheSage]

@kenkenlewu Maturity in the dating market is learning to withdraw your energy when it's not being reciprocated.

[Gozie The Sage @GozieTheSage]

@joe_sttimothy @Wizarab10 Nah Wetin Dem want be that, make man dey Carry the world alone

[Gozie The Sage @GozieTheSage]

@snk573 @GloriousGod01 Exactly!

[Gozie The Sage @GozieTheSage]

@kateisaacedo @GloriousGod01 That's most likely what she's doing

[Gozie The Sage @GozieTheSage]

But here's another part of the story that I find fascinating.
The Pope didn't simply forget him.
Paul V reportedly received the Kongolese ambassador and took his mission seriously.

And Antonio Manuel was given an elaborate funeral.
He was buried in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.
One of Rome's great churches.

A man from the Kingdom of Kongo,
an African diplomat, was buried in one of the most important basilicas in Rome. There is even a monument commemorating him inside Santa Maria Maggiore. So somewhere in Rome, there's a physical reminder of a diplomatic mission that began in Central Africa more than 400 years ago. The monument and black marble bust of Antonio Manuel Nsaku ne Vunda was commissioned by Pope Paul V and sculpted by Stefano Maderno and Francesco Caporale in 1608 to honor the first African ambassador to the Vatican.

And this is why I find African history so frustrating sometimes.
Because we are often taught African history as if Africa only entered global history when Europeans arrived.

As if Africans were sitting around doing nothing until colonialism happened.

That is far from true!

This story also destroys another lazy idea about African history.
That precolonial African states existed in isolation.
They didn't.

The Kingdom of Kongo was involved in diplomacy, Christianity, Atlantic commerce and international politics centuries before the modern African state system. Its rulers were making decisions about how to engage with powerful foreign states.

So the next time somebody tells you African history begins with colonialism, remember Kongo.
Remember the African king who sent a diplomat to Rome.

Remember the man who crossed the Atlantic and travelled through Europe. And remember that he reached Rome, only to have history give him two final days.

That's one of the strangest diplomatic stories I've ever come across.

[Gozie The Sage @GozieTheSage]

Let me tell you one of the strangest diplomatic stories in African history.
And I genuinely don't understand why more people don't know about this.

In the early 1600s, the Kingdom of Kongo sent an ambassador all the way to Rome.
His name was Antonio Manuel Nsaku Ne Vunda.

I know you are asking where is the Kingdom of Kongo?

This wasn't some tiny village that suddenly appeared when Europeans arrived in Africa.
The Kingdom of Kongo was a powerful Central African state that had existed for centuries before this story.

Its territory covered parts of what are today Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo and Gabon.
And by the late 15th century, Kongo had established contact with the Portuguese.

This relationship became particularly interesting because Christianity entered the Kongo royal court. The Kongolese ruling elite began converting to Christianity. King Nzinga A. Nkuwu was baptized in 1491. His son, Afonso I, later became one of the most famous Christian rulers in African history.(That's a story for another day).

But here's where our story begins.
More than a century later. In the early 1600s, the king of Kongo,King Álvaro II decided he wanted direct diplomatic relations with the Pope.
Not through Portugal but directly. So he sent an ambassador, Antonio Manuel Nsaku Ne Vunda(also known as Negrita) on a mission to Rome.

And this wasn't a short trip. This man had to cross the Atlantic. He travelled from Central Africa through the Portuguese-controlled Atlantic world. At some point, his journey took him to Brazil.
Then to Portugal.
Then Spain.
And eventually toward Rome.

Remember this was the early 17th century when there were no airplanes, no modern ships, no seamless communication. Every stage of this journey was dangerous.
And the journey took YEARS. Four grueling years due to pirate attacks and political detention by the Spanish crown.

Imagine leaving Central Africa with one assignment: “Go to Rome.”
And then spending years crossing oceans, kingdoms and European courts and pirate attacks just to reach your destination.

Eventually, after this unbelievably long and painstaking journey, Antonio Manuel Nsaku Ne Vunda finally reached Rome.
It was January 1608.
He had finally reached the city where the Pope lived.
He had made it.

But then something happened that sounds like a script written for a movie.

He was extremely sick and by the time he reached Rome, his health had deteriorated badly.
The Pope at the time was Pope Paul V. When the Pope learned that the Kongolese ambassador had finally arrived, he arranged for him to be received.
The African ambassador had finally reached the Pope.
Except...

He barely had any time left.

Antonio Manuel Nsaku Ne Vunda arrived in Rome on 3rd January 1608.
And on 5th January 1608 he died.
After travelling thousands of kilometres across Africa, the Atlantic and Europe. After spending years trying to reach Rome.

He arrived and two days later, he was dead.

[unique A'wears @AdageorgeA]

This is the best picture I have ever seen

Wow congratulations to this couple

41years together ❤️❤️❤️

[Gozie The Sage @GozieTheSage]

Dear traditional men! Here's what's unrealistic, thinking you will never face financial setback all your life because you are married. Even some athletes and celebrities who earn millions sometimes go broke much later, nah you wey dey do 9-5 without assurance of job security. Mental insanity!

[Sir Dickson @Wizarab10]

You are angry and attacking me because I don't expect disrespect from my own wife due to financial downtime. You call it unrealistic expectation.

Do you know I have no problem with your own wife disrespecting you if something happens to your finances? You already expect and desire it. I just thought you should want better for yourselves. But disrespect is what is realistic and tenable for you.

Can we respect each other's realistic and unrealistic expectation? 🙏🏾

[Gozie The Sage @GozieTheSage]

We need to find these men and whip some sense into them. Cos what level of mental insanity would make you start a relationship with a misandrist let alone staying through the lies, the manipulation, the waste of resources, the uselessness and idleness(refusal to get a job), the extreme dirtiness and desecration of your house and then cheating with an old dude.

Brother you are a problem. She's something I don't have the words to describe.

[Talk2veee @talk2veee]

We met online and this girl start gravitating towards me Yes, she’s a fine girl and all of that but when I went through her page I started seeing all manner of things she was saying about men.

Men this, men that. She always had something negative to say about men and immediately I thought to myself,
“Is this not a ticking bombb waiting to explode?” So I drew myself back.

She would come back and check up on me: “Oh, you’ve forgotten about me?” “It’s like you have a girlfriend.” “It’s like you have someone else.” She was even the one who said she wanted to visit me. When she eventually came, at some point I literally had to beg her to go back home.
But let me not complain too much. Let me go straight to the point.
We eventually started dating. She was the one who asked me if it was okay for her to be my girlfriend. And I told her plainly, “My fear is what I see you write online. It actually scares me. The things you say make it look like you hate mennn
She told me, “No, what I write online and my personality are two different things. I’m only doing it for content.”

About two months into the relationship, she came to tell me she was pregnant. Okay. Every effort I made for us to go to the hospital and do the necessary things became one story after another, while I kept sending money back to back.
Then one day, we were going out together and I noticed bl00d on her trousers. I asked her, “Why am I seeing bl00d on your trousers when you’re pregnant?
That was when she casually told me, “Oh, I forgot to tell you. I had a miscarriage.
I said, “You forgot to tell me? And I’m only finding out because I happened to see bl00d on your clothes?

Anyway, that passed and we continued the relationship.
After that experience, I made up my mind that I wasn’t going to have s**cxxwithout protection anymore. And to be completely honest, throughout the time we were together, she was usually the one initiating s***x . I hardly ever initiated it.
At some point I even joked to myself, “Well, maybe the thing is too good and she cannot do without it.” ��� I’m a cheerful giver anyway.
Outside of that, I gave her money and tried my best to take care of her.
As the relationship continued, I started noticing other things. She couldn’t cook. Whenever she came to my apartment, I would clean the entire place myself, only for her to come and messs everywhere up again.
Even during her period, I would find used pads around and bl00d stains on the chair or bed. I kept trying to talk to her calmly: “Babe, these are things you need to be more careful about.”
My white chair in the parlour still has stainss we tried and tried to scrub out. That chair cost me over three million naira. Till today, there are places where those stains refused to completely come out.

My guys came around and I asked her, “Okay, you can cook noodles, right?”She said yes.

My people, the noodles that came out that day I kid you not. If I’m lying, I can tag some of my guys who were there. Not one person could eat it.
But did I fight her because of it? No.

We laughed about it. I told her, “Babe, you’re terriblee at cooking.” We laughed, threw the food away and moved on.
Later, she requested a phone and I bought it for her. I would constantly encourage her: “Babe, try and get something doing. At least have something going for yourself.
She didn’t want to work. She didn’t want to do anything. Every day there was a different story, a different problem and a different reason.
Even with all these things, I stayed.
But the major problem came when she started cheatingg.

I caught her cheatingg with a man in his sixties about 65 years old. This is someone whose wife I know, whose church I know, whose children I know. She started seeing this man while we were together.

That was where I drew the line. I ended the relationship in June.
Since June, this girl has continued trollingg me, insultingg me and looking for different ways to reach me. I blocked her, she would use another number. Block that one

[Gozie The Sage @GozieTheSage]

We need to find these men and whip some sense into them. Cos what level of mental insanity would make you start a relationship with a misandrist let alone staying through the lies, the manipulation, the waste of resources, the uselessness and idleness(refusal to get a job), the extreme dirtiness and desecration of your house and then cheating with an old dude.

Brother you are a problem. She's something I don't have the words to describe.

[Glorious God @GloriousGod01]

My friend has been married for 4 years without a child. Both are young and beautiful, both under 28.

Last year his wife finally conceived.

She had one request. A push gift. She wanted her own car.

She delivered via CS last month. It was a long, tense delivery and he spent a fortune.

Three days later, she asked for the car. He told her he could not afford it right now.

She said she would not feed the baby until he bought it. Right there in the hospital. The nurses had to beg her.

At home, things got worse. He would return from work to find the baby crying alone. She stopped breastfeeding unless he begged. She withheld care like a weapon.

Then she disappeared for 2 days. He found out she was at her mother's place. The baby was seriously ill. He went to beg her to come back.

She refused until he agreed to buy the car.

She came back.

A few days later, they lost the baby girl. She never recovered from the illness.

He sent her out immediately. She came back with her mother to beg.

He arrested both of them.

Above all, love God.

[Gozie The Sage @GozieTheSage]

@0neCHAD I no know 😂

[_Kangchi_😎 @_Kangchi_8]

Masquerade in disguise 😭😭

[Gozie The Sage @GozieTheSage]

@_Kangchi_8 Guy no now😂😂😂

[Gozie The Sage @GozieTheSage]

@_VozDeMel Just ask!

[Gozie The Sage @GozieTheSage]

@Wizarab10 Our daddy is giving advice fit for his generation, when arranged marriages were sustainable. Now we get to choose who to partner with and it stays a partnership.