Paper long abstract:

Bordering the Atlantic Ocean, Calabar, the capital of Cross River State of Nigeria, derives her historical fame from her cosmopolitan character, being a cross-roads for trade, culture, civilization and administration since the middle of the seventeenth century. Among expatriates of note who lived and worked in this ancient city were researchers, who recorded events as they occurred or as they were told by the aborigines. Over the years, rather than commending expatriate researchers, most local historians do not only criticise and condemn their reseaches for eurocentric prejudices, limitatiions, generalizations and erroneous judgements but also refer to them as garbage of no historical value. Opposed to this general view, this paper argues that studies by expatriate observers and chroniclers of events in Old Calabar remain invaluable in the reconstruction of the early history of this region of Nigeria. Expatriate researchers of this period (1650 - 1960) did not only contribute in placing Calabar on the World map but also ensured that researchers of pre-literate Calabar society are not frustrated by the lack of records or left entirely at the mercy of oral tradition. The paper concludes that if used with a critical eye, researchers and students will find works of expatriate researchers on Calabar indispensable mines of information with which to corroborate and expand existing studies on this cosmopolitan community in which the Efik, the Efut, the Qua and other ethnicities and nationalities lived in relatively peaceful coexistence.