The Manilla Tree
A relic of ancient glory. An ensign of the rich and free.
- The manilla tree became the symbol of Opobo as a City State in 1870 and has remained so to this day.
- These cast iron tree-like objects, in various sizes and heights, were used to display the 'manilla-money', the currency historically used for buying and selling.
- The more 'trees' a family displayed, the more wealth, and consequently the more respect, they garnered.
- Traders and merchants across the coast came to know Opobo as a people of means, making the Kingdom an economic force to reckon with.
- Oral history recalls men buying wrappers and jewelry for their wives with manilla, and women later using those goods for bartering. That gave rise to the saying that a woman's wealth is in her box.
