As an African, you’ll hear about the Great Wall of China 100 times before you ever hear a whisper about the Great Walls of Benin which was “4 times longer”
Here lies the problem.

“Great Benin, where the king resides, is larger than Lisbon; all the streets run straight and as far as the eye can see. The houses are large, especially that of the king, which is richly decorated and has fine columns...

The city is wealthy and industrious. It is so well governed that theft is unknown and the people live in such security that they have no doors to their houses.”
- Laurenco Pinto (ship captain, 1691)

“In contrast, London at the same time is described by Bruce Holsinger, professor of English at the University of Virginia, as:

a city of “thievery, prostitution, murder, bribery & a thriving black market that made the medieval city ripe for exploitation by those with a skill for the quick blade or picking a pocket”

Culled from:

Story of cities #5: Benin City, the mighty medieval capital now lost without trace https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/18/story-of-cities-5-benin-city-edo-nigeria-mighty-medieval-capital-lost-without-trace

This thread is especially for those Africans on here who say we weren’t civilised before the colonisers came.