The slave trade was heaviest in the period 1700–1850, with an average of 76,000 people taken from Africa each year between 1783 and 1792. Some of the treaties contained prohibitions on diplomacy conducted without British permission, or other promises to abide by British rule. In some cases, British assignment of people to ethnic groups, and treatment based along ethnic lines, led to identification with ethnicity where none had existed before.[78]. Other European powers acknowledged Britain's dominance over the area in the 1885 Berlin Conference. Park reached the upper Niger the next year by travelling inland from the Gambia River. Taxes became a source of discontent in the south, however, and contributed to disturbances protesting British policy. The federal government retained specified powers, including responsibility for banking, currency, external affairs, defence, shipping and navigation and communications, but real political power was centred in the regions. [64], Half of all taxes went to the colonial government and half went to the Native Treasury. It was supported not only by the income from huge agricultural surpluses but also by a new range of direct and indirect taxes imposed during the 1950s. The main reason would be that "Nigeria" did not exist as a country until 1914, when the Colony of Lagos and the Northern and Southern British protectorates were amalgamated. Herero Uprising The rinderpest epidemic of 1896 to 1897 had destroyed the cattle of the Herero and … [66], This system, in which the structure of authority focused on the emir to whom obedience was a mark of religious devotion, did not welcome change. A constabulary force was raised and used to pacify the coastal area. These policies met with ongoing resistance[73][74], Much of the colony's budget went to payments of its military, the Royal West African Frontier Force (RWAFF). A.J. It was not a walk over for the British to conquer Nigeria, some individuals and groups resisted the imposition of colonial rule. A lack of interest in extending the NPC beyond the Northern Region corresponded to this strictly regional orientation. Antrobus, Fiddes and Strachey in the Colonial Office promoted amalgamation, along with Lugard. The uprising had the effect of raising the awareness of black people to colonial rule and encouraged them to stand up for their rights and demand an end to colonial rule. The main reason would be that "Nigeria" did not exist as a country until 1914, when the Colony of Lagos and the Northern and Southern British protectorates were amalgamated. As a protectorate, it did not have the status of a colony, so its officials were appointed by the Foreign Office and not by the Colonial Office. Although realistic in its assessment of the situation in Nigeria, the Richards Constitution undoubtedly intensified regionalism as an alternative to political unification. The incidence of slavery in local societies increased. It is not a federal state with federal Executive, Legislature and finances, like the Leewards. In November 1908, Bergheim reported striking oil; in September 1909, he reported extracting 2,000 barrels per day. It represented a substantial element of reformism in the North. The Tiv fought the British from 1900-30; and Igbo resistance was particularly widespread and prolonged. Lugard's success in northern Nigeria has been attributed to his policy of indirect rule; that is, he governed the protectorate through the rulers defeated by the British. The Northern People's Congress was organised in the late 1940s by a small group of Western-educated Northern Nigerians. Total revenues of central and regional governments nearly doubled in relation to the gross domestic product during the decade. While there is some truth to the claim that colonialism brought peace to a … Dike, K. O. [8] British influence in the region began with the prohibition of slave trade to British subjects in 1807. Before 1898, the scramble for Africa by European countries led to the partition of Africa after the Berlin conference of 1884-85. The search for oil, begun in 1908 and abandoned a few years later, was revived in 1937 by Shell and British Petroleum. His objective was to conquer the entire region and to obtain recognition of the British protectorate by its indigenous rulers, especially the Fulani emirs of the Sokoto Caliphate. Nigeria’s first nationalist movements appeared in the 1920s, and resistance to colonial rule grew over the next three decades. major regions. In all three regions, minority parties represented the special interests of ethnic groups, especially as they were affected by the majority. Otherwise, the Governor-General's office was essentially ceremonial. To some extent, competition amongst these companies undermined their collective position vis-à-vis, local merchants. A "house" included the extended family of the trader, including retainers and slaves. These efforts were met with stiff resistance on the part of the Asante kingdom. By 1826–1850 the British Royal Navy was intervening significantly with Lagos slave exports. Among his leading lieutenants were Samuel Akintola of Ibadan and the Oni of Ife, the most important of the Yoruba monarchs. A chief of Bonny in 1860 explained that he refused a British treaty due to the tendency to "induce the Chiefs to sign a treaty whose meaning they did not understand, and then seize upon the country". [39] By 1893, most of the other political entities in Yorubaland recognised the practical necessity of signing another treaty with the British, this one explicitly joining them with the protectorate of Lagos. [9] Administration and military control of the territory was conducted primarily by white Britons, both in London and in Nigeria. Webster, Boahen and Idowu are of the opinion that the conquest of Africa was very simple and that it was carried out with ease. At the beginning of the 20. th. Lugard, replacing Egerton as Governor, aborted the project in May 1913. Colonial Nigeria was the era in the History of Nigeria when the region of West Africa was ruled by the United Kingdom from the mid-nineteenth century until 1960 when Nigeria achieved independence. In the south, by contrast, traditional rulers were employed as vehicles of indirect rule in Edoland and Yorubaland, but Christianity and Western education undermined their sacerdotal functions. The most dramatic event having a long-term effect on Nigeria's economic development was the discovery and exploitation of petroleum deposits. In the meantime, public sector spending increased even more dramatically than export earnings. The history of Africa in the first half of the 20. th. nigeria resistance to colonial rule. [70] In the south, he saw the possibility of building an elite educated in schools modelled on a European method (and numerous elite children attended high-ranking colleges in Britain during the colonial years). Britain withdrew from the slave trade when it was the major transporter of slaves to the Americas. As before, Aro merchants dominated trade in the hinterland, including palm products to the coast and the sale of slaves within Igboland. The Action Group was thus the heir of a generation of flourishing cultural consciousness among the Yoruba and also had valuable connections with commercial interests that were representative of the comparative economic advancement of the Western Region. They took the right to rule over it, to levy taxes, to depose kings and to create kings. To raise additional revenues, Lugard took steps to institute a uniform tax structure patterned on the traditional system that he had adopted in the north during his tenure there. The success of the European conquest and the nature of African resistance must be seen in light of Western Europe’s long history of colonial rule and economic exploitation around the world. resistance to the imposition of colonial rule which took place in Ada-mawa, Yola Province, in north-eastern Nigeria in 1914. In elections that year, the NYM ended the domination of the NNDP in the Legislative Council and worked to establish a national network of affiliates. The council was promoted as a device for allowing the expression of opinions that could instruct the Governor-General. Frederick Lugard, who was appointed as High Commissioner of the Northern Nigeria Protectorate in 1900 and served until 1906 in his first term, often has been regarded by the British as their model colonial administrator. The pulpits of the independent congregations became avenues for the free expression of critics of colonial rule. [31], In 1880, the British Government and traders demonetised the Maria Theresa dollar, to the considerable dismay of its local holders, in favour of the pound. Independent Christian churches had emerged at the end of the nineteenth century. A site full of primary sources along with context on African territories’ involvement in the war as well as resistances to colonial powers. The influx of cowrie led to inflation. At the same time, British scientists were interested in exploring the course and related settlements along the Niger River. To the best of the author's knowledge these events have so far not figured in the historical works on this region of Nigeria, and they may thus confirm and make the knowledge already obtained in this field more varied. It was suspended in 1950 against a call for greater autonomy, which resulted in an inter-parliamentary conference at Ibadan in 1950. From January 1914 onwards, the newly united colony and protectorate was presided over by a proconsul, who was entitled the Governor-General of Nigeria. Instead, the companies had to be content with a monopoly of the export trade in these products. [26] To produce all this oil, the economy of the southern region crossed over from mostly subsistence to the production of palm oil as a cash crop.[27]. Although it reserved effective power in the hands of the Governor-General and his appointed Executive Council, the so-called Richards Constitution (after Governor-General Sir Arthur Richards, who was responsible for its formulation) provided for an expanded Legislative Council empowered to deliberate on matters affecting the whole country. The Baule fought the French from 1891-1911. Literature & Language. The seven men who governed Northern Nigeria, Southern Nigeria and Lagos through 1914 were Henry McCallum, William MacGregor, Walter Egerton, Ralph Moor, Percy Girouard, Hesketh Bell and Frederick Lugard. It was not a walk over for the British to conquer Nigeria, some individuals and groups resisted the imposition of colonial rule. Initially, most palm oil (and later kernels) came from Igboland, where palm trees formed a canopy over the densely inhabited areas of the Ngwa, Nri Kingdom, Awka and other Igbo peoples. Ken Swindell, "The Commercial Development of the North: Company and Government Relations, 1900–1906". Despite conquering villages by burning houses and crops, continual political control over the Igbo remained elusive. The proliferation of labour organisations fragmented the movement, and potential leaders lacked the experience and skill to draw workers together. Under Lugard from 1900 to 1906, the Protectorate consolidated political control over the area through military conquest and initiated the use of British currency in substitute for barter. [55], Walter Egerton's sixfold agenda for 1908, as detailed on 29 November 1907, in a telegram to the Colonial Office, is representative of British priorities. British staffs in each region continued to operate according to procedures developed before unification. At the urging of Governor Frederick Lugard, the two territories were amalgamated as the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria, while maintaining considerable regional autonomy among the three[which?] [14], European slave trading from West Africa began before 1650, with people taken at a rate of about 3,000 per year. It is not a personal union of separate colonies under the same Governor like the Windwards, it is not a Confederation of States. Catholic missionaries were particularly active among the Igbo; the CMS worked among the Yoruba. In practice, British administrative procedures under indirect rule entailed constant interaction between colonial authorities and local rulers—the system was modified to fit the needs of each region. (This was also reflective of growing pan-Africanism among American activists of the time.) 1. After the Berlin Conference of 1884, Britain announced the formation of the Oil Rivers Protectorate, which included the Niger Delta and extended eastward to Calabar, where the British Consulate General was relocated from Fernando Po. Davies and Nnamdi Azikiwe. Consequently, in 1849, John Beecroft was accredited as consul for the bights of Benin and Biafra, a jurisdiction stretching from Dahomey to Cameroon. The cleavage between the Yoruba and the Igbo was accentuated by their competition for control of the political machinery. Its final leg enabled it to meet another line, constructed 1907–1911, running from Baro, through Minnia, to Kano. In the South, only English had official status. British soap and cosmetics manufacturers tried to obtain land concessions for growing oil palms, but these were refused. Some of them also manned Company stations and served as District Agents.". Newspapers, some of which were published before World War I, provided coverage of nationalist views. So the competitive search for markets and sources of raw materials that was drawn in Europe only affected European attitudes to Africa. Kenya lacked minerals and upon establishment of colonial rule in Kenya, attention was drawn towards farming as the colony’s main economic activity. In the same year, … [56], Egerton also supervised improvements to the Lagos harbour and extension of the local telegraph network. Some of these tribes do not like themselves and are even constantly trying to gain independenc… [11][12], In 1900, the British Government assumed control of the Southern and Northern Protectorates, both of which were ultimately governed by the Colonial Office at Whitehall. Whenever a trader had become successful enough to keep a war canoe, he was expected to form his own "house". Nigerian students abroad, particularly at British schools, joined those from other colonies in pan-African groups such as the West African Students Union, founded in London in 1925. The NCNC backed creation of a midwest state and proposed federal control of education and health services. In the north, appeals to Islamic legitimacy upheld the rule of the emirs, so that nationalist sentiments were related to Islamic ideals. Clifford emphasized economic development, encouraging enterprises by immigrant southerners in the north while restricting European participation to capital intensive activity. Local rulers continued to administer their territories, but consular authorities assumed jurisdiction for the equity courts established earlier by the foreign mercantile communities. For this objective, the Company chose to administer the African inhabitants of the Niger Sudan through their traditional rulers and their political institutions. Developments in colonial policy under Clifford, Emergence of Southern Nigerian nationalism, Constitutional conferences in the UK (1957–58), All of this section to this point is from. In 1916 Lugard formed the Nigerian Council, a consultative body that brought together six traditional rulers—including the Sultan of Sokoto, the Emir of Kano and the Oba of Benin—to represent all parts of the colony. Balewa formed a coalition government that included the Action Group as well as the NCNC to prepare the country for the final British withdrawal. The Royal Navy bombarded Lagos in November 1851, ousted the pro-slavery Oba Kosoko and established a treaty with the newly installed Oba Akintoye, who was a docile nonslave-trading puppet. Awolowo had little difficulty in appealing to broad segments of the Yoruba population, but he worked to avoid the Action Group from being stigmatized as a "tribal" group. On a subsequent expedition to the Sokoto Caliphate, Scottish explorer Hugh Clapperton learned about the mouth of the Niger River, and where it reached the sea, but after suffering malaria, depression and dysentery, he died before confirming it. They wanted self-government, charging that only colonial rule prevented the unshackling of progressive forces in Nigeria and other states. Protestant sects had flourished in Christianity since the Reformation; the emergence of independent Christian churches in Nigeria (as of black denominations in the United States) was another phase of this history. The Lander brothers were seized by slave traders in the interior and sold down the river to a waiting European ship. In fact, by 1885 Western Europeans had mastered the art of divide, conquer, and rule, honing their skills over four hundred years of imperialism and … [30], Captain John Glover, the colony's administrator, created a militia of Hausa troops in 1861. [52] The first five heads of the Nigeria Department (1898–1914) were Reginald Antrobus, William Mercer, William Baillie Hamilton, Sydney Olivier, and Charles Strachey. Native Administration was responsible for police, hospitals, public works and local courts. By the late 19th c… [70] In line with this attitude, he rejected Lugard's proposal for moving the capital from Lagos, the stronghold of the elite in whom he placed so much confidence for the future. Crowther, a liberated Yoruba slave, had been educated in Sierra Leone and in Britain, where he was ordained before returning to his homeland with the first group of CMS missionaries. The Delta streams were called "oil rivers". The British, when faced with dissent, tended to grant political reforms in an effort to dispel the attractiveness of more-radical suggestions. Officials of the Sokoto Caliphate considered these treaties quite differently; from their perspective, the British were granted only extraterritorial rights that did not prevent similar arrangements with the Germans and the French and certainly did not surrender sovereignty. When the colonial government finished building a railway line from the Kenyan coast all the way to Uganda, settler farming was promoted in order to make the railway pay for itself. During his six-year tenure as High Commissioner, Sir Frederick Lugard (as he became in 1901) was occupied with transforming the commercial sphere of influence inherited from the Royal Niger Company into a viable territorial unit under effective British political control. "Specifically, the Company sought to secure the cooperation of the traditional rulers in ensuring peaceful conditions for trade. At the turn of the century, top wages were four bags of salt (company retail price, 3s 9d) for a month of work. With this victory, the British went on to conquer the rest of Yorubaland, which had also been weakened by sixteen years of civil war. The early history of Lagos Colony was one of repeated attempts to end the Yoruba wars. Abstract: This study examines the Theme of Exploitation in African Literature in Chris Egheravba’s Canopy of Thunder and Legacy of Thunder. But the roots of the … His mission failed, but Park and his party covered more than 1,500 kilometres (930 mi), passing through the western portions of the Sokoto Caliphate, before drowning when their boats overturned in rapids near Bussa. Literature on Colonialism An annotated list of literature to use when teaching about colonialism and resistance. There were a variety of responses on the part of African peoples to colonial rule. Nigeria is a country which consists of a lot of tribes. For example, many people in Ibadan opposed Awolowo on personal grounds because of his identification with the Ijebu Yoruba. They received attention from major parties before elections, at which time either a dominant party from another region or the opposition party in their region sought their alliance. Missionary forces demanded prohibition of liquor, which proved highly unpopular. A lot of people might disagree that colonialism had any positive impact on Nigeria, but Nigeria would not even have its name without colonialism. […] They needed special personnel: such officials who knew the local conditions and who could communicate between the Company and the indigenous people. Frequently African armies of 20, 000 were defeated by European-led armies of 2,000 or less. African Resistance to Colonial Rule Benjamin Talton – Temple University. [58], Lugard advocated constantly for the unification of the whole territory, and in August 1911 the Colonial Office asked Lugard to lead the amalgamated colony.[59]. Three of these posts were assigned to representatives from each region, and one was reserved for a delegate from the Northern Cameroons. Crowther was succeeded as bishop by a British cleric. The basic economic units in each town were "houses", family-operated entities that engendered loyalty for its employees. The most striking departure was in the Northern Region, where special provisions brought the regional constitution into consonance with Islamic law and custom. An extensive immigrant population of southerners, especially Igbo, already were living in the north; they dominated clerical positions and were active in many trades. From 1815 to 1840, palm oil exports increased by a factor of 25, from 800 to 20,000 tons per year. Following the defeat of an unsuccessful foray by Consul General James R. Phillips, a larger retaliatory force captured Benin City and drove Ovonramwen, the Oba of Benin, into exile. Colonial Rule in Nigeria and Nigeria’s struggle for Independence in brief. Azikiwe had less interest in purely Nigerian goals than did Davies, a student of Harold Laski at the London School of Economics, whose political orientation was considered left-wing. century, almost the whole of Africa, with the exception of Ethiopia and Liberia, were under European colonial rule. The French had abolished slavery following the French Revolution, although it briefly re-established it in its Caribbean colonies under Napoleon. As a further step toward independence, the Governor's Executive Council was merged with the Council of Ministers in 1957 to form the all-Nigerian Federal Executive Council. In the south the British had to fight many wars, in particular the wars against the Ijebu (a Yoruba group) in 1892, the Aro of eastern Igboland, and, until 1914, the Aniocha of western Igboland. It should be noted that they also wanted to preserve their integrity e.g. By 1938 the NYM was agitating for dominion status within the British Commonwealth of Nations so that Nigeria would have the same status as Canada and Australia. Although per capita income in the country as a whole remained low by international standards, rising incomes among salaried personnel and burgeoning urbanization expanded consumer demand for imported goods. European traders in Nigeria initially made widespread use of the cowrie, which was already valued locally. It is not a unitary state with local government areas but with one Central Executive and one Legislature. It made anti-slavery treaties with West African powers, which it enforced militarily. They were instrumental in the development of government diplomacy with the traditional rulers; they spread government propaganda among the indigenous people; and they assisted colonial officials in parleying with native forces at war with government troops. Men such as Balewa believed that only by overcoming political and economic backwardness could the NPC protect the foundations of traditional northern authority against the influence of the more advanced south. Most internal problems were concealed, and open opposition to the domination of the Muslim aristocracy was not tolerated. Did you know that the name “Nigeria” was created by a British journalist? Beecroft agreed on condition that the slave trade be abolished, and British merchants have a monopoly in commodities. Nigeria ’s first nationalist movements appeared in the 1920s, and resistance to colonial rule grew over the next three decades. Although his own ambitions were limited to the Northern Region, Bello backed the NPC's successful efforts to mobilize the north's large voting strength so as to win control of the national government. Among the other major parties, the NCNC took fifty-six seats, winning a majority in both the Eastern and the Western regions, while the Action Group captured only twenty-seven seats. Consequently, he may well deserve the epithet of the "father of Nigeria", which historians accorded him. British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston detested slavery, and in 1851 he took advantage of divisions in native politics, the presence of Christian missionaries, and the maneuvers of British consul John Beecroft to encourage the overthrow of the regime. The yoruba-Igbo rivalry became increasingly important in Nigerian politics. In the north, for instance, legislation took the form of a decree cosigned by the Governor and the emir, while in the south, the Governor sought the approval of the Legislative Council. Siollun concludes with what he calls “the mistake of 1914”: his view that the British resolution to join their northern and southern … Siollun’s evenhanded assessment of the roughly 60 years of colonial rule that followed is also absorbing, particularly his description of Nigerian resistance to the various injustices and humiliations inflicted by the British. [76], Oil exploration began in 1906 under John Simon Bergheim's Nigeria Bitumen Corporation, to which the Colonial Office granted exclusive rights. Broadening political participation and expanding educational opportunities and other social services also were viewed as threats to the status quo. The Mahdist uprising of 1905–6 was a revolutionary movement that attempted to overthrow British and French colonial rule, the aristocracy of the Sokoto Caliphate and the zarmakoy of Dosso. The Southern Protectorate financed itself from the outset, with revenue increasing from £361,815 to £1,933,235 over the same period. The Niger Delta and Calabar, which once had been known for the export of slaves, became notable for the export of palm oil. The operations of this force are still not fully known due to a policy of strict secrecy mandated by the British Government. If the emirs accepted British authority, abandoned the slave trade, and cooperated with British officials in modernizing their administrations, the colonial power was willing to confirm them in office. [50], Guidelines for running the Nigerian colony were established in 1898 by the Niger Committee, chaired by the Earl of Selborne, in 1898. In the 1880s, before the colonial administration in Nigeria, Europe had gone ahead of the rest of the world in science and technology. The transfer of responsibility for budgetary management from the central to the regional governments in 1954 accelerated the pace of public spending on services and on development projects. In the last quarter of the l9th century, Africans were subjected to European colonial rule and different methods were used to bring African societies under colonial rule depending on the prevailing circumstances in a given society e.g. Key Events, Characteristics and themes of postcolonial Nigeria Overview Rather than simply organizing a chronological analysis of post-colonial Nigeria, it is more helpful to identify key themes of the “Gatekeeper state” in relation to the historical backdrop of the country and several key events in the late 20th century (Cooper 2002, 173-174). 6. Accordingly, as the volume of trade increased, merchants requested that the British Government appoint a consul to cover the region. He also led the Nigerian National Democratic Party, which dominated elections in Lagos from its founding in 1922 until the ascendancy of the National Youth Movement in 1938.
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