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. Britain subsequently lobbied other European powers to stop the slave trade as well. 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 superior weapons, tactics and political unity of the British are commonly given as reasons for their decisive ultimate victory. Lagos was the first part of Nigeria to be conquered and declare a British colony in 1861. But by providing for comparable regional governments exercising broad legislative powers, which could not be overridden by the newly established 185-seat federal House of Representatives, the Macpherson Constitution also gave a significant boost to regionalism. 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. [9] Administration and military control of the territory was conducted primarily by white Britons, both in London and in Nigeria. In the 1700s, the British Empire and other European powers had settlements and forts in West Africa but had not yet established the full-scale plantation colonies which existed in the Americas. There were numerous differences of detail among the regional systems, but all adhered to parliamentary forms and were equally autonomous in relation to the Nigerian federal government at Lagos. The NPC platform emphasized the integrity of the north, its traditions, religion and social order. In the Bight of Biafra, the major ports were Old Calabar (Akwa Akpa), Bonny and New Calabar. Rather than seeing themselves as Zulu, Xhoasa, Sotho, etc, nationalist leaders wanted Africans to view themselves as South Africans. By a British Act of Parliament, Nigeria became independent on 1 October 1960. From 1815 to 1840, palm oil exports increased by a factor of 25, from 800 to 20,000 tons per year. Empty cart. British are not always carriers of high economic freedom (see Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Bangladesh, and Nigeria). At first, they lived in small family groups, but gradually these groups developed into a. 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 expectedly more amenable to British interests. When direct Portuguese contacts in the region were withdrawn, however, the influence of the Catholic missionaries waned. The Native Administration was headed by the traditional rulersmostly emirs in the north and often obas in the southand their District Heads, who oversaw a larger number of Village Heads. [57], Egerton also supervised improvements to the Lagos harbour and extension of the local telegraph network. factors that led to the british conquest of nigeriaturkish airlines flight 981 victims. These recourses were considered a necessity to the industrialization of the world . The small contingent of northerners who had been educated abroada group that included Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and Aminu Kanowas allied with British-backed efforts to introduce gradual change to the emirates. 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 . The Northern People's Congress (NPC) was organised in the late 1940s by a small group of Western-educated Northern Nigerians. Therefore, other factors exist to explain the institutional design. By 1903 the conquest of the emirates was complete. 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. Lagos was annexed as a Crown Colony in 1861 via the Lagos Treaty of Cession.[30]. The Deputy Governor served as political administrator for company territory and appointed three officials in Nigeria to carry out the work of administration. factors that led to the british conquest of nigeriaannalise mahanes height. Although Azikiwe later came to be recognised as the leading spokesman for national unity, when he first returned from university training in the United States, his outlook was pan-African rather than nationalist, and emphasised the common African struggle against European colonialism. 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. The goal of activists initially was not self-determination, but increased participation on a regional level in the governmental process. One of the factors that contributed to the success of indirect rule in Northern Nigeria was the use of the existing traditional system of administration. In the north many emirates did not take military action, but the deposed caliph, Atahiru I, rebelled in 1903. The neglect of traditional institutions. While each generated considerable political controversy, they moved the country toward greater internal autonomy, with an increasing role for the political parties. A people with no knowledge of their past would suffer from collective amnesia, groping blindly into the future without guide-posts of precedence to shape their course. In the name of liberating the Igbos from the Aro Confederacy, the British launched the Anglo-Aro War of 19011902. Doctrine of Lapse. In general, the regional constitutions followed the federal model, both structurally and functionally. Most of the fighting was done by Hausa soldiers, recruited to fight against other groups. Robin Hermann, "Empire Builders and Mushroom Gentlemen: The Meaning of Money in Colonial Nigeria". Colonial official A. J. Harding commented in 1913: Sir F. Lugard's proposal contemplates a state which it is impossible to classify. The Colony was ultimately governed by the British Colonial Office in London. Significantly, Macauley's NNDP remained almost entirely a Lagos party, popular only in the area whose people already had experience in elective politics. Despite these difficulties, the Action Group rapidly built an effective organisation. The Crusades and the Reconquista cemented religious intolerance, and the Christians looked to colonization partly as a means of continuing religious conquests. The slave trade was heaviest in the period 17001850, with an average of 76,000 people taken from Africa each year between 1783 and 1792. [73] The colonial government would enact new legislation in reaction to the pandemic including, travel passes for individuals in the colony, increased usage of sanitary practices, and door to door checks on indigenous Nigerian households. 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. [11] [12] For some time, missionaries operated in the area between Lagos and Ibadan. factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria. 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. FACTORS THAT LED TO NATIONALISM IN NIGERIA. 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.[84]. . Quiz. Taxes became a source of discontent in the south, however, and contributed to disturbances protesting British policy. [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. The Action Group consistently supported minority-group demands for autonomous states within a federal structure, as well as the severance of a midwest state from the Western Region. [59], Lugard advocated constantly for the unification of the whole territory, and in August 1911 the Colonial Office asked Lugard to lead the amalgamated colony.[60]. Colonial Nigeria was ruled by the British Empire from the mid-nineteenth century until 1960 when Nigeria achieved independence. June 30, 2022 . 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. Another court was established in 1856 at Calabar, based on an agreement with local Efik traders which prohibited them from interfering with British merchants. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to see among other things the British interest in the area referred to as Sokoto Caliphate, the crises and conflicts that ensued, the resistance put up by the people and the eventual conquest of the caliphate. He aroused political awareness through his newspaper, the Lagos Daily News. British soap and cosmetics manufacturers tried to obtain land concessions for growing oil palms, but these were refused. [19] This scenario provided an opportunity for naval expeditions and reconnaissance throughout the region. Although the capital was not moved, Lugard's bias in favour of the Muslim north was clear at the time. Its final leg enabled it to meet another line, constructed 19071911, running from Baro, through Minnia, to Kano. Columbus, in his voyage, sought fame and fortune, as did his Spanish sponsors. "Separatist Agitations in Nigeria Since 1914." Hon. Adam Smith wrote in 1776 that the African societies were better established and more populous than those of the Americas, thus creating a more formidable barrier to European expansion. [27] 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.[28]. brighton grey motion loveseat; waterford, ct obituaries; jane wymark children. Description. These schools would teach "the basic principles that would and should regulate character and conduct". 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. In 1900, the Southern Nigeria Protectorate and Northern Nigeria Protectorate passed from company hands to the Crown. Resistance was strong in western Igboland, where a series of wars were waged against the British. The British and the French fought the Carnatic Wars, which the British won decisively - making the British the foremost colonial power. From 1790 to 1807, predominantly British slave traders purchased 1,0002,000 slaves each year in Lagos alone. The British also created "divide and rule" policies, pitting Hindu and Muslim Indians against one another. [21], Whether British conquest of Nigeria resulted from a benevolent motive to end slavery or more instrumental motives of wealth and power, remains a topic of dispute between African and European historians. It was colonized by the British in 1884 and the colony is established at the Berlin conference which divides Africa by European powers. Britain annexed Lagos in 1861 and established the Oil River Protectorate in 1884. Borno capitulated without a fight, but in 1903 Lugard's RWAFF mounted assaults on Kano and Sokoto. The essential basis of this system was a money economy specifically the British pound sterling which could be demanded through taxation, paid to cooperative natives, and levied as a fine. The Niger Delta and Calabar, which once had been known for the export of slaves, became notable for the export of palm oil. British Colonizing in Nigeria. They selected an increasingly high proportion of African clergy for the missions. Northern leaders committed to modernization were also firmly connected to the traditional power structure. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Final Conquest Verse By Verse Study of The Book Revelation DVD Robert Jeffress at the best online prices at eBay! By 18261850, the British Royal Navy was intervening significantly with Lagos slave exports. 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. (This was also reflective of growing pan-Africanism among American activists of the time.) The colonial economic policies in Nigeria, for instance, discouraged indigenous industrialization, but promoted export crop and mineral production to feed the British factories. Political activists in the southern areas spoke of self-government in terms of educational opportunities and economic development. Europeans, with an eye to colonization and conquest, restricted the sale of the new weaponry to Africa maintaining military superiority. 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. Britain also annexed Freetown in Sierra Leone, declaring it a Crown Colony in 1808.[20]. Afeadie, "The Hidden Hand of Overrule" (1996), p. 1213. The emirs retained their caliphate titles but were responsible to British district officers, who had final authority. Whenever a trader had become successful enough to keep a war canoe, he was expected to form his own "house". At the same time it is feasible by degrees to bring them gradually into approximation with our ideas of justice and humanity. In the 1850s, quinine had been found to combat malaria, and aided by the medicine, a Liverpool merchant, Macgregor Laird, opened the river. That's human geography 101. However, in October 1929 in Oloko a census related to taxation was conducted, and the women in the area suspected that this was a prelude to the extension of direct taxation, which had been imposed on the men the previous year. [37] Economically, local colonial administrators also pushed for the imposition of British colonial rule, believing that trade and taxation conducted in British pounds would prove far more lucrative than a barter trade which yielded only inconsistent customs duties. The Southern Protectorate financed itself from the outset, with revenue increasing from 361,815 to 1,933,235 over the same period. He argued that the division into two separate colonies was advisable unless a stronger central government could bind Nigeria into more than just an administrative convenience for the three regions. Afeadie, Philip Atsu. [8] Azikiwe was installed as Governor-General of the federation and Balewa continued to serve as head of a democratically elected parliamentary, but now completely sovereign, government. The conference is popularly called "The Berlin Conference". Instead, the companies had to be content with a monopoly of the export trade in these products. Many of the slaves exported in the 1820s and 30s were intercepted by the ships of the Royal Navy, emancipated, and deposited in Sierra Leone under missionary tutelage. This scheme proved unpopular and confusing to many involved parties and was phased out. Observers have pinned the 'humanity's worst mistake' label on several of history's major institutions, ranging from the adoption of agriculture to twentieth-century communism (Diamond Reference Diamond 1987; Economist 2009).In our assessment, the institution of modern colonialism - meaning the exploration, conquest, settlement, and political dominance of distant lands by European and . The company received 865,000 compensation for the loss of its Charter. They gathered information which was needed for policy-making in administration. The NCNC backed creation of a midwest state and proposed federal control of education and health services. Some European traders switched to legitimate business only when the commerce in slaves became too hazardous. A third of the people associated with an 1842 riverine expedition died. Facebook Instagram Email. "Specifically, the Company sought to secure the cooperation of the traditional rulers in ensuring peaceful conditions for trade. [74] But with the advancement and efficiency of colonial transportation networks, it was only a matter of time before the disease began to spread into the interior. [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. British expansion accelerated in the last decades of the nineteenth century. European Colonialism in Africa. 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. It is not a unitary state with local government areas but with one Central Executive and one Legislature. 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]. 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. Exploration was intensified in 1946, but the first commercial discovery did not occur until 1956, at Olobiri in the Niger Delta. Aside from the possibility of treasure, the European governments aimed to find a passage through the Americas to Asia. Colonial Lagos was a busy, cosmopolitan port. The only significant interruption in economic development arose from natural disasterthe Great Drought of 191314. [61], The task of unification was achieved on the eve of World War I. Their history illustrates that rarely they had put a programme or a plan before themselves and then acted upon it. With one man in practical control of the Executive and Legislative organs of all the parts, the machine may work passably for sufficient time to enable the transition period to be left behind, by which time the answer to the problemUnitary v. Federal Statewill probably have become clear. [53] The first five heads of the Nigeria Department (18981914) were Reginald Antrobus, William Mercer, William Baillie Hamilton, Sydney Olivier, and Charles Strachey. Laird's efforts were stimulated by the detailed reports of a pioneer German explorer, Heinrich Barth, who travelled through much of Borno and the Sokoto Caliphate, where he recorded information about the region's geography, economy and inhabitants. [45], A campaign against the Sokoto Caliphate began in 1900 with the creation of the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria, under the direction of Governor Lugard. 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. This made the British win key battles all over the East Coast, as they effectively grabbed control. [73] The spread of the disease was quick and deadly, with an estimated 1.5% of the population of Lagos falling victim.

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