An examination of the modern idea of statecraft in the light of myths and legends as they were used to shore up the states of ancient Africa. Adiele Afigbo argues that Nigerian historians and historians of Africa as a whole have seen and pursued their historical studies and writing as a part of a larger effort to create, consolidate and run modern states. It is this process that he refers to as statecraft and it is this, he asserts, that has been present in the storytelling practices of Africans since the beginning of recorded history.