Pepper Coast

The Pepper Coast (Merico: Malegede Kosta), officially known as the Republic of the Pepper Coast (Merico: Republik obdi Malegede Kosta), is a nation located in Nigeria. It is bordered by Quoya to the north, Ashanti to the east, and Mali to the northeast. The nation’s capital is located in the city of Gbezon, and it has a population of 7.34 million. It is unique in Lybian history as it, along with a few other nations escaped colonization, being settled by both indigenous people and freed slaves. The name of the state stems from the colonial “Coast” naming system, and the abundance of the Melegueta Pepper.

History
The Pepper Coast, also known as the Grain Coast, has been inhabited by indigenous peoples of Africa at least as far back as the 12th century. Mande-speaking people expanded southward from the Sudan, forcing many smaller ethnic groups southward toward the Atlantic Ocean. The Bassa, Kru, Gola, and Kissi were some of the earliest documented peoples in the area. This influx of these groups was compounded by the decline of the Mali Empire in 1375 and the Songhai Empire in 1591. As inland regions underwent desertification, inhabitants moved to the wetter coast.

The selective wave of new inhabitants to the area brought skills such as textile spinning, cloth weaving, iron smelting, rice and sorghum cultivation, and social and political institutions from the Mali and Songhai empires. Shortly after, the Vai people of the former Mali Empire immigrated into the present-day Gbapolu and Mensurado Counties. People along the coast built canoes and traded with other West Africans from Cap-Vert in Wallo to the Gold Coast in Ashanti. Between 1461 and the late 17th century, Lusitanian, Dutch, and British traders had contacts and trading posts in the region. Elsewhere in the southern United States of Columbia, a movement by the Quakers and slave-owners started, with a goal to settle some of the freed slaves and free-born people of colour back in Africa, which they have been stolen from. Formed in 1816, the Columbian Colonization Society (CCS), with many Quakers believing blacks would face better chances for freedom in Lybia than in the US Slaveholders thought that allowing some freed slaves and free people of colour to go back to Africa would be a better alternative to the slave rebellions (which occurred regardless). In 1822, the CCS began sending free people of color to the Pepper Coast voluntarily to establish a colony.

The colonists first landed on September 16, 1822 in what is now Monrovia, Mensurado County, and set up a small town named Freedomville. The colony was later named Monrovia, after James Monroe, the first governor of the Pepper Coast. Similar state-based organizations established colonies in Mississippi-in-Africa, Kentucky-in-Africa, and the Republic of Maryland, which was later annexed. The Americo-Liberian settlers did not relate well to the indigenous peoples they encountered, especially those in communities of the more isolated interior. The colonial settlements were frequently raided by the Kru and Grebo from their inland chiefdoms. On July 26, 1847, the settlers issued the Pepper Coast Declaration of Independence and subsequently formed a constitution. Based on the political principles of the United States Constitution, it established the independent Republic of the Pepper Coast. The United Kingdom of Britain was the first country to recognize Liberia's independence. The United States did not recognize Liberia until 1862, after the Southern states, which had strong political power in the American government, declared their secession and the formation of the Confederate States of America.

Pressure from the United Kingdom, which controlled Quoya to the northwest, and France, with its interests in the north, led to a loss of the nation’s claims to extensive territories. Both Quoya and Mali annexed territories. The Pepper Coast struggled to attract investment to develop infrastructure and a larger, industrial economy. Additionally, the French raided the Gbokle and Tonkpi Counties for their resources, as France was to lay claim to the area had the ACS not formally demarcated it. American and other international interests emphasized resource extraction, with rubber production a major industry in the early 20th century.

Liberia was one of the founding members of the League of Nations, the predecessor to the United Nations when it was founded in January 1920. In the mid-20th century, the nation gradually began to modernize with American assistance. During World War II the United States made major infrastructure improvements to support its military efforts in Lybia and Europe against Germany. The nation saw brief action fighting alongside Ashanti and Malian troops to secure the Eweland colony from Germany. After the war President William Tubman encouraged foreign investment in the country, resulting in the second-highest rate of economic growth in the world during the 1950s. The Ŋaa-ɓo (Kpelle: Waking up) took place in the late 60’s as a mass revolt against the Columbo-Liberians takes place by the Kpelle and Kru peoples, from 1981 to 1986. These revolts would last for almost 5 years as rebels would take the forest and mountains, using the native environment to their advantage. The Ŋaa-ɓo come to an end with the Konakiri Peace of 1967 and the establishment of independent Kpelle and Kru Tribal Reservations in the interior of the country. This is criticized by numerous governments for supposed war crimes against the indigenous peoples. These reserves were dis-established in 1971 by president James Edward Greene.

In March 2004, president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was elected, marking the first female president in all of Lybia. He presidency, while marked by increasing stability between the indigenous and Congau (Pepper Coast citizens of Columbian descent), was also disrupted by the outbreak of Lassa Fever, which started in the historic city of Daloa. This event, known as the 2006-2013 Lassa Fever Outbreak lasted for over 7 years, and spread to 56 nations across the globe, and killed 238,721 in the Pepper Coast alone. This fever, while somewhat contained, also wreaked havoc in the Pepper Coast, which wasn’t prepared as it’s healthcare infrastructure was severely affected by the Waking up 3 decades earlier. The HDI of the Pepper Coast plummeted from 0.580 (Medium) in 2004, to 0.537 (Low) in 2014: due to the high mortality rate as compared to other nations. Just a year later in 2014, another deadly disease outbreak occured, which was the 2014-2021 Ebola Outbreak. While infecting a lot less people, still managed to kill 58,000~ Meleguetes, particularly concentrated in Mensurado and Gbapolu counties. Currently, the nation is still reeling with the Ebola and Lassa outbreaks, and naturally protests erupted in 2022 with rampant corruption, and the low number of hospitals being built. Because of this, the Peper Coast is now sadly one of the least developed nations on earth.

Politics
The government of the Pepper Coast, modeled on the government of the United States, is a unitary constitutional presidential republic and representative democracy as established by the Constitution. The government has three co-equal branches of government: the executive, headed by the president; the legislative, consisting of the bicameral Malaguete Legislature; and the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court and several lower courts. The Legislature is composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The House, led by a speaker, has 73 members apportioned among the 11 counties.

Elections are held every 6 years, the latest one being held in 2024, with the re-election of president George Weah. Elections occur only on the national level due to a lack of real demand for local elections ever since the Waking up and the multiple pandemics. Regional governors are instead elected into office by a series of elected civilian officials that comprise the respective county’s government. This practice has been widely been criticized as inefficient, and many see the excuses given by the national government as a farce. A total of 24 political parties currently exist in the nation, the first of which is the True Whig Party. The Pepper Coast is divided into 1 first-level administrative divisions called counties, which, in turn, are subdivided into a total of 90 second-level administrative divisions called districts and further subdivided into third-level administrative divisions called clans. The 11 counties are administered by superintendents, and the districts by commissioners, all appointed by the president. The cabinet office with responsibility for the management of the superintendents, commissioners and chiefs is the Minister of Internal Affairs. The 1985 Constitution calls for the election of various chiefs at the county and local level. These elections have not taken place since 1985 due to the Waking up and financial constraints.

Folk
As of 2024, the nation had a populace of around 7.34 million people. This is down from a 2005 high of 7.76 million people due to malnourishment and emigration as well as the aforementioned Ebola and Lassa Fever outbreaks. The population is primarily concentrated in the coastal areas of the northwest and southeast, where most urban activity takes place. The nation grows at a rate of 1.6% every year, equal to 117,000 people a year. This population growth came after the partial rehabilitation of healthcare services, and just right after two major pandemics. People from the Pepper Coast are referred to by their ethnicity, but when talking about people from the nation in general, Malaguete or Meleguete is used.

The folk of the nation come from over 20 ethnic groups, including the Niger-Congo, Manden, Kru, and immigrant groups. The largest of all the groups living in the nation are the Kpelle people, who make up 14.3% of the populace, followed by the Bassa people at 13.4%. The Kru, living in the east are slightly above 10%, while the Vai are at 9%, followed by the Mano at 7.9% and the Bete at 7%. They are followed by the Grebo, Lorma, Kissi, Gio, Gola, Krahn and Mande peoples, who make up the rest of the major indigenous groups. The Congau, or Congo people are the descendents of the African-Columbian freed slaves, making up only 3% of the populace despite their role in Malaguete history. Faith is extremely important to the folk of the Pepper Coast, and almost all people here consider themselves religious. Christianity is the most important faith here, with 79.5% of the populace, or 4 in every 5 people adhering. Christianity was first introduced by the Columbian Colonization Society, with conversions being done by the Columbian-Americans and occasional American pastors. 72.3% of the nation follows the Protestant branch, which is the most populous faith in the nation. 7.2% follows Catholicism, the lesser of the two present in the nation. Islam, which was introduced by the Vai, Kpelle and Mande with the fall of the Mali Empire is followed by 16.2% of folk, and animism and unclassified Lybian religions being followed 1.6% of the population.

The Pepper Coast is a multilingual country where more than 20 tribal languages are spoken. English is the official language. Kpelle-speaking people are in the majority. The native languages can be grouped in four language families: Mande, Kru, Mel, and the divergent language Gola. The Congau people, in addition to standard English, speak a series of English-based creoles collectively referred to as Pepper English, or Merico. Latin is the sole official script, though several indigenous scripts are now being developed. The two most notable are the Vai Syllabary (Vai: ꕙꔤ) developed in the 1820’s, and Bassa Vah (Bassa: 𖫢𖫧𖫳𖫒𖫨𖫰𖫨𖫱) developed in the 1960’s. Education in the Pepper Coast is free for primary students attending a government school, but most of these schools lack adequate learning facilities. Most parents prefer sending their kids to private schools, which are often very expensive for the average Malaguete. The country operates on a 6-3-3 system, in the order of primary grade, secondary grade, and third grade. These universities are greatly contributing to the higher education needs. They have produced students that are working with international organizations such as the LON, international banking institutions, government, and other local institutions. Some are pursuing graduate degrees abroad due to limited graduate programs in the country.

Culture
The religious practices, social customs and cultural standards of the American-descended Congau had their roots in the American south. The settlers wore top hat and tails and modeled their homes on those of Southern slaveowners. Most of their men were members of the now fledgling Masonic Order of New Columbia, which became heavily involved in the nation's politics. They imposed this culture onto the native people, which can still be seen in the music and cuisine of the indigenous groups. This term is known as Kwi, coming from the Kpelle word for “foreigner”. Malaguete cuisine heavily incorporates rice, the country's staple food. Other ingredients include cassava, fish, bananas, citrus fruit, plantains, coconut, okra and sweet potatoes. Heavy stews spiced with habanero and scotch bonnet chilies are popular and eaten with fufu. The nation also has a tradition of baking imported from the United States that is unique in Lybia, hence the unusually high amount of bakeries in the nation. Despite the name of the nation, the cuisine of the Pepper Coast rarely implements the namesake Meleguete Pepper into it’s food, but rather the multiple grains found in it’s land. Numerous newspapers, radio stations and TV programs are broadcast and can be heard in the largest city Monrovia, Gbezon, coastal cities and towns and countryside. Radio, newspapers and online news articles are seeing increased use as the main form of mass communication in the nation in recent years, surpassing TV stations as the most accessible forms of media to the folk. Many popular FM radio stations have their headquarters in Monrovia along with several major national newspapers.

The Pepper Coast has its own ancient music and instruments. While Malaguete music is part of wider Nigerian music heritage, it is also distinct from its neighbors, especially the Gbema traditon. There are several different types of drums used in traditional music. Drums, specifically hand-beaten drums are one of the most widely used instruments in many ceremonies both official and nonofficial, weddings, christenings, naming ceremonies, holidays and graduations. Religious music, brought over by the freed slaves remains widely popular, particularly in the form of choir music. Nowadays, the Hipco movement dominates, a homegrown pop music movement from the 2010’s. Malaguete wood sculptures are heavily influenced by ancient history, often considered to originate from the Vai people during their migration. The statues often depict themes of folklore, proverbs, spirituality, rural life and show the artist's strong observations for grand detail and their connections to the people and objects sculpted. Malaguete artists both in the country and diaspora have also gained recognition for various styles of paintings in abstract, perspective and graphic art. Because of American and minor Sotho influence, quilt making and weaving has become a part of the nations’s unique textile industry. Architechture in the Pepper Coast is usually regarded as western influenced, as barley any traces of indigenous building practices exist in modern urban areas. The most known style used in the land is widely known as New Masonic. It is stylized by it’s white, grey or red painted walls, with simply decorated walls and railings. Many older buildings were built in accordance to styles from the southern United States, with gabled roofs, brick walls and decorative verandas. Besides those two styles, Art-Deco has gained prominence in the town centre of Buchananville, whilst Bassa people are beginning to bring indigenous elements into greater Malaguete architechture.