1821 - Sierra Leone, Gambia and the Gold Coast form British West Africa. To reduce costs, Lagos was administered first from Freetown in Sierra Leone, along with Gold Coast forts such as Elmina, and later from Accra (in present-day Ghana); only in 1886 did Lagos become a separate colony. [51], Guidelines for running the Nigerian colony were established in 1898 by the Niger Committee, chaired by the Earl of Selborne, in 1898. Missionaries were active: Presbyterians in Calabar and the Church Missionary Society (CMS), Methodists, and Baptists in Lagos, Abeokuta, Ibadan, Oyo, and Ogbomoso. oriented. He said that he did "not consider that their past traditions and their present backward cultural conditions afford to any such experiment a reasonable chance of success". In practice, British administrative procedures under indirect rule entailed constant interaction between colonial authorities and local rulersthe system was modified to fit the needs of each region. Inconsistencies in British policy reinforced existing cleavages based on regional animosities, as the British tried both to preserve the indigenous cultures of each area and to introduce modern technology, and Western political and social concepts. [59], Following the order recommended by the Niger Committee, the Colonial Office merged Lagos Colony and the Southern Nigeria Protectorate on 1 May 1906, forming a larger protectorate (still called the Southern Nigeria Protectorate) which spanned the coastline between Dahomey and Cameroon. The Lander brothers were seized by slave traders in the interior and sold down the river to a waiting European ship. In 1916 Lugard formed the Nigerian Council, a consultative body that brought together six traditional rulersincluding the Sultan of Sokoto, the Emir of Kano and the Oba of Beninto represent all parts of the colony. The NPC, entering candidates only in the Northern Region, confined campaigning largely to local issues but opposed the addition of new regimes. The Governor was, in effect, the coordinator for virtually autonomous entities that had overlapping economic interests but little in common politically or socially. The superior weapons, tactics and political unity of the British are commonly given as reasons for their decisive . Rivalry between the Royal Niger Company and the Lagos Protectorate over the boundary between the emirate of Ilorin and the empire of Ibadan was resolved with the abrogation of the charter of the Royal Niger Company on January 1, 1900, in return for wide mineral concessions. Reasons for the development of the slave trade - BBC Bitesize Its residents were employed in official capacities and were active in business. The essential basis of this system was a money economyspecifically the British pound sterlingwhich could be demanded through taxation, paid to cooperative natives, and levied as a fine. David Ellis, "African and European relations in the last century of the transatlantic slave trade"; in Ptr-Grenouilleau. Local leaders, cognizant of the situation in the West Indies, India, and elsewhere, recognised the risks of British expansion. Until he stepped down as Governor-General in 1918, Lugard primarily was concerned with consolidating British sovereignty and with assuring local administration through traditional rulers. It was British colonialism which was the ultimate cause of the war . 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. To . Order. By the eighteenth century, evidence of Christianity had disappeared. European interpretations of Christian orthodoxy in some cases refused to allow the incorporation of local customs and practices, although the various mission denominations interpreted Christianity in different ways. He was prepared to introduce educational and economic changes to strengthen the north. The 1922 constitution provided Nigerians with the chance to elect a handful of representatives to the Legislative Council. What Britain Did to Nigeria: A Short History of Conquest and Rule by Max Siollun Hurst, 20, 408 pages Join our online book group on Facebook at FT Books Caf Letter in response to this article: As its head, the master trader taxed other traders who were members of his "house"; he maintained a war vessel, a large dugout canoe that could hold several tons of cargo and dozens of crew, for the defense of the harbor. BRITISH CONQUEST, COLONIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION IN NIGERIA - ResearchGate In the South, only English had official status. These courts contained majorities British members and represented a new level of presumptive British sovereignty in the Bight of Biafra. How Britain Conquered And Created Nigeria - Politics - Nigeria - Nairaland Some European traders switched to legitimate business only when the commerce in slaves became too hazardous. Free shipping for many products! 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. Despite the acceptance of European and North American influences, the nationalists were critical of colonialism for its failure to appreciate the antiquity, richness and complexity of indigenous cultures. Political opposition to colonial rule often assumed religious dimensions. However, the British East India Company was able to lay the foundation of an empire in the Indian sub-continent because, from a British perspective, of a fortuitous series of circumstances. In large measure, European missionaries assumed the value of colonial rule in terms of promoting education, health and welfare measures, thereby effectively reinforcing colonial policy. Imperialism, or the extension of one nation-state's domination or control over territory outside its own boundaries, peaked in the 19th century as European powers extended their holdings around the world. European Conquest and Colonization of Africa - 1504 Words | Critical 24. The company negotiated treaties with Sokoto, Gwandu and Nupe that were interpreted as guaranteeing exclusive access to trade in return for the payment of annual tribute. emblemhealth medicare customer service; did cody webster play college baseball 0 Home. [8] British influence in the region began with the prohibition of slave trade to British subjects in 1807. The Factors That Led to the Colonization of Africa by the Europeans Britain annexed Lagos in 1861 and established the Oil River Protectorate in 1884. Britain withdrew from the slave trade when it was the major transporter of slaves to the Americas. In 1958 exportation of Nigerian oil was initiated at facilities constructed at Port Harcourt. In the 1850s, quinine had been found to combat malaria, and aided by the medicine, a Liverpool merchant, Macgregor Laird, opened the river. [17] Much of this oil was sold elsewhere in the British Empire. Some African Christian communities formed their own independent churches. The yoruba-Igbo rivalry became increasingly important in Nigerian politics. The Deputy Governor served as political administrator for company territory and appointed three officials in Nigeria to carry out the work of administration. We also understand that the said National African Company (limited) have full power to mine, farm, and build in any portion of our territory. The British penetration of Nigeria met with various forms of resistance throughout the country. Harding, director of Nigerian affairs at the Colonial Office, defined the official position of the British Government in support of indirect rule when he said that "direct government by impartial and honest men of alien race [] never yet satisfied a nation long and [] under such a form of government, as wealth and education increase, so do political discontent and sedition". "The Hidden Hand of Overrule: Political Agents and the Establishment of British Colonial Rule in Northern Nigeria, 18861914". Early nationalists tended to ignore Nigeria as the focus of patriotism. The Nigeria Regiment of the RWAFF, integrating troops from the north and south, saw action against German colonial forces in Cameroon and in German East Africa. The Sokoto jihad and the Yoruba wars stimulated the slave trade at a time when the British were actively trying to stop it. The Reconquista, or reconquest, refers to the 800 years of violence and expulsion of Muslims from the Iberian Peninsula after the failed Crusades. Park reached the upper Niger the next year by travelling inland from the Gambia River. In time they captured Oba Ovonramwen and sent him into exile to Calabar, a town east of Benin. Aside from the possibility of treasure, the European governments aimed to find a passage through the Americas to Asia. The approaches of the two men to colonial development were diametrically opposed. The policy of indirect rule used in Northern Nigeria became a model for British colonies elsewhere in Africa. To establish settled government in the newly won districts; To improve and extend native footpaths throughout the country; To construct properly graded roads in the more populated districts; To clear the numerous rivers in the country and make them suitable for launch and canoe traffic; and. Clifford also believed that indirect rule encouraged centripetal tendencies. 1839 - The Opium Wars between China and Britain, resulting from the trade of opium leading to widespread addictions. Some of them began to migrate back from Sierra Leone in search of home and trade. The Mad Rush Into Africa in the Early 1880s Within just 20 years, the political face of Africa had changed, with only Liberia (a colony run by formerly enslaved African Americans) and Ethiopia remaining free of European control . 2. The country was divided politically, lacking European rivals, and no sense of national unity. The nationalism that became a political factor in Nigeria during the interwar period derived both from an older political particularism and broad pan-Africanism, rather than from any sense among the people of a common Nigerian nationality. Sometimes forced labour was used directly for public works projects. Antrobus, Fiddes and Strachey in the Colonial Office promoted amalgamation, along with Lugard. September 1996. Falola, Toyin, Ann Genova, and Matthew M. Heaton. At first, the trade centered around West Central Africa, now the Congo. In 1912, Lugard returned to Nigeria from his six-year term as Governor of Hong Kong, to oversee the merger of the northern and southern protectorates. [72] 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). Otherwise, the Governor-General's office was essentially ceremonial. Both Africans and Europeans found illegal supplies such as secret stills, obtaining colonial liquor permits, and smuggling. His political platform called for economic and educational development, Africanization of the civil service, and self-government for Lagos. [36], The company, as was common among European businesses in Africa, paid its native workers in barter. British colony and protectorate from 1914 to 1960, Contemporary photograph of the same building, now housing the, Developments in colonial policy under Clifford, Emergence of Southern Nigerian nationalism, Constitutional conferences in the UK (195758), All of this section to this point is from. Military Conquest | West-African Colonial Administration [73], Due to the failure of the sanitation officers in Lagos, the virus would continue to spread throughout the southern provinces throughout September and finally make its way into the hinterlands by October. Mordi, Emmanuel Nwafor. PDF BRITISH CONQUEST, COLONIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION IN NIGERIA - ResearchGate [32] This included a river fleet which it used for retaliatory attacks on uncooperative villages. Most Europeans tended to overlook their own differences and were surprised and shocked that Nigerians wanted to develop new denominations independent of European control. [11], The British led a series of military campaigns to enlarge its sphere of influence and expand its commercial opportunities. He insisted on maintaining the territorial integrity of the Northern Region. Subsequent revisions contained in the Lyttleton Constitution, enacted in 1954, firmly established the federal principle and paved the way for independence. In 1805, he set out on a second expedition, sponsored by the British Government, to follow the Niger to the sea. brighton grey motion loveseat; waterford, ct obituaries; jane wymark children. It was replaced by a new coalition government led by David Lloyd George featuring Conservatives and Lloyd George's supporters in the Liberal Party, while Asquith and the remainder of the Liberals entered opposition.[69]. A third type of organisation that was more pointedly political was the youth or student group, which became the vehicle of intellectuals and professionals. Imperialism and the Conquest and Colonization of Africa by Europeans They were the most politically conscious segment of the population and created the vanguard of the nationalist movement. In the north Frederick Lugard, the first high commissioner of Northern Nigeria, was instrumental in subjugating the Fulani emirs. The National Youth Movement used nationalist rhetoric to agitate for improvements in education. It made anti-slavery treaties with West African powers, which it enforced militarily with the blockade of Africa. The huge African continent (three times the size of the continental United States) was particularly vulnerable to European conquest. [73] In direct reaction to the epidemic, colonial authorities allowed African doctors and medical personnel to work with influenza patients due to the severity of the situation. Other firms applying for licenses were rejected. [72] 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. The palm oil trade was also linked to the Sokoto jihad and the Yoruba wars, because many warriors recognized the importance of slaves not only as soldiers and producers of food to feed soldiers but additionally as producers of palm oil to trade for European dane guns and other goods. [67], The Colonial Office, where Lugard was still held in high regard, accepted that changes might be due in the south, but it forbade fundamental alteration of procedures in the north. 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. The delegation was led by Balewa of the NPC and included party leaders Awolowo of the Action Group, Azikiwe of the NCNC, and Bello of the NPC; they were also the premiers of the Western, Eastern and Northern regions, respectively. Empty cart. Public works, such as harbour dredging and road and railway construction, opened Nigeria to economic development. [11], By the 1880s, the National African Company became the dominant commercial power, increasing from 19 to 39 stations between 1882 and 1893. This was a case of plenty harvest but few hands to cultivate. ", Helen Chapin Metz, ed. Egypt) and titles (e.g. The first factor to be taken into account is that the British by nature are conservative. Vice consuls were assigned to ports that already had concluded treaties of cooperation with the Foreign Office. The election of the House of Representatives after the adoption of the 1954 constitution gave the NPC a total of seventy-nine seats, all from the Northern Region. They never were able to elect sizeable legislative delegations, but they served as a means of public expression for minority concerns. The Norman conquest in 1066 was the last successful conquest of England. By extending the elective principle and by providing for a central government with a Council of Ministers, the Macpherson Constitution gave renewed impetus to party activity and to political participation at the national level. The government was responsible to a Parliament composed of the popularly elected 312-member House of Representatives and the 44-member Senate, chosen by the regional legislatures. An extensive immigrant population of southerners, especially Igbo, already were living in the north; they dominated clerical positions and were active in many trades. Beecroft was the British representative to Fernando Po, where the African Slave Trade Patrol of the Royal Navy was stationed. Uneasy with the amount of latitude allowed traditional rulers under indirect rule, Clifford opposed further extension of the judicial authority held by the northern emirs. Each was under a Lieutenant Governor and provided independent government services. The introduction of the federal principle, with deliberative authority devolved on the regions, signalled recognition of the country's diversity. They were helped by two major factors; the discovery of quinine as a preventive drug against malaria and the armory the British possess which was superior compared to those of the Nigerians. The company's major imports to the area included gin and low-quality firearms. The emirs retained their caliphate titles but were responsible to British district officers, who had final authority. [52], The territory of the Royal Niger Company became the Northern Nigeria Protectorate, and the Company itself became a private corporation which continued to do business in Nigeria. The mud-walled city of Kano was captured in February, and, after a vigorous skirmish at Kotorkwashi, the sultan's capital, Sokoto, fell the next month. "Specifically, the Company sought to secure the cooperation of the traditional rulers in ensuring peaceful conditions for trade. After initially adopting an indirect rule approach, in 1906 the British merged the small Lagos Colony and the Southern Nigeria Protectorate into a new Colony of Southern Nigeria, and in 1914 that was combined with the Northern Nigeria Protectorate to form the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. A.J. History of Nigeria - Wikipedia Most of the fighting was done by Hausa soldiers, recruited to fight against other groups. From Conquest to Independence: the Nigerian Colonial Experience 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. Lugard's governmental model for Nigeria was unique and there was apparently not much planning for its future development. 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. Newspapers, some of which were published before World War I, provided coverage of nationalist views. [9] Administration and military control of the territory was conducted primarily by white Britons, both in London and in Nigeria. British soap and cosmetics manufacturers tried to obtain land concessions for growing oil palms, but these were refused. The CMS initially promoted Africans to responsible positions in the mission field; for instance, they appointed Samuel Ajayi Crowther as the first Anglican Bishop of the Niger. Lagos was the first part of Nigeria to be conquered and declare a British colony in 1861. At the same time it is feasible by degrees to bring them gradually into approximation with our ideas of justice and humanity. British Colonize Nigeria Essay - 979 Words | Bartleby [17] In 1767, British traders facilitated a notorious massacre of hundreds of people at Calabar after inviting them onto their ships, ostensibly to settle a local dispute. Separate legislative bodies, the houses of assembly, were established in each of the three regions to consider local questions and to advise the Lieutenant Governors. During World War II, three battalions of the Nigeria Regiment fought against Fascist Italy in the Ethiopian campaign. The protectorate was organised to control and develop trade coming down the Niger. penn wood high school alumni; picture of shawn westover; microblading nickel allergy Because of the hazards of climate and tropical diseases for Europeans and the absence of any centralized authorities on the mainland responsive to their interests, European merchants moored their ships outside harbours or in the delta, and used the ships as trading stations and warehouses. The Conquest (La Conqute) is a term used to describe the acquisition of Canada by Great Britain during the Seven Years' War.It also refers to the resulting conditio A Review of "What Britain Did to Nigeria" by Max Siollun - Foreign Affairs It was colonized by the British in 1884 and the colony is established at the Berlin conference which divides Africa by European powers. Whereas Lugard had applied lessons learned in the north to the administration of the south, Clifford was prepared to extend to the north practices that had been successful in the south. . His government guided the country for the next three years, operating with almost complete autonomy in internal affairs. European traders in Nigeria initially made widespread use of the cowrie, which was already valued locally. Recovery came quickly and improvements in port facilities and the transportation infrastructure during World War I furthered economic development. The primary motives of European explorers were economic. 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. [19], The company considered itself the sole legitimate government of the area, with executive, legislative and judicial powers all subordinate to the rule of a council created by the company board of directors in London. These organisations were primarily urban phenomena that arose after numerous rural migrants moved to the cities. The first missions were opened by the Church of England's Church Missionary Society (CMS). The British High Commissioners could depose emirs and other officials if necessary. British staffs in each region continued to operate according to procedures developed before unification. British colonialism created Nigeria, joining diverse peoples and regions in an artificial political entity along the Niger River. PhD dissertation accepted at the Graduate Programme in History, York University, Ontario. However, development of the Nigerian oilfields slowed when Bergheim died in a car crash in September 1912. Other Protestant denominations from Great Britain, Canada, and the United States also opened missions and, in the 1860s, Roman Catholic religious orders established missions. These recourses were considered a necessity to the industrialization of the world . Northern leaders committed to modernization were also firmly connected to the traditional power structure. June 30, 2022 . 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".[14]. Davies and Nnamdi Azikiwe. The receding British presence enabled local officials and politicians to gain access to patronage over government jobs, funds for local development, market permits, trade licenses, government contracts, and even scholarships for higher education. What are the factors that attracted the British to conquer India Final Conquest Verse By Verse Study of The Book Revelation DVD Robert It, therefore, hired native intermediaries who could conduct diplomacy, trade and intelligence work in the local area. Portuguese Roman Catholic priests who accompanied traders and officials to the West African coast introduced Christianity to the Edo Empire in the fifteenth century. African Resistance to European Imperialism: Conflicts & Impact Europeans, with an eye to colonization and conquest, restricted the sale of the new weaponry to Africa maintaining military superiority. The High Commissioner will be guided by all the usual laws of succession and the wishes of the people and chief but will set them aside if he desires for good cause to do so. In the 1920s, Nigerians began to form a variety of associations, such as professional and business associations, like the Nigerian Union of Teachers; the Nigerian Law Association, which brought together lawyers, many of whom had been educated in Britain; and the Nigerian Produce Traders' Association, led by Obafemi Awolowo. The conference drafted the terms of a new constitution. The Treasury used a planned budget for payment of staff and development of public works projects, and therefore could not be spent at the discretion of the local traditional ruler. Spain was driven by three main motivations. British influence in the Niger area increased gradually over the 19th century, but Britain did not effectively occupy the area until 1885. Out of reverence for traditional kingship, for instance, the Oba of Benin, whose office was closely identified with Edo religion, was accepted as the sponsor of a Yoruba political movement.

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