Nigerian delegates were selected to represent each region and to reflect various shades of opinion. Additionally. In the early stages of British rule, it is desirable to retain the native authority and to work through and by the native emirs. But the war had more concrete consequences. Sometimes forced labour was used directly for public works projects. The southern nationalists were inspired by a variety of sources, including such prominent American-based activists as Marcus Garvey and W.E.B. In February 1961, a plebiscite was conducted to determine the disposition of the Southern Cameroons and Northern Cameroons, which were administered by Britain as United Nations Trust Territories. It soon gained a virtual monopoly over trade along the River[11]. 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. Several churches were built to serve the Edo community and a small number of African converts. 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. 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. [58], Some of these public work projects were accomplished with the help of forced labour from native black Africans, referred to as "Political Labour". 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. Columbus, in his voyage, sought fame and fortune, as did his Spanish sponsors. 3. Lugard bequeathed to his successor a prosperous colony when his term as Governor-General expired. Similar status was acquired by the Northern Region two years later. 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. 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 company received 865,000 compensation for the loss of its Charter. His mission failed, but Park and his party covered more than 1,500 kilometres (930mi), passing through the western portions of the Sokoto Caliphate, before drowning when their boats overturned in rapids near Bussa. Bello wanted to protect northern social and political institutions from southern influence. The CMS pioneered trade on the Niger by encouraging Scottish explorer and merchant Macgregor Laird to run a monthly steamboat, which provided transportation for missionary agents and Sierra Leonean traders going up the Niger. In the face of threats to the divided Yoruba states from Dahomey and the Sokoto Caliphate, as represented by the emirate of Ilorin, the British Governorassisted by the CMSsucceeded in imposing peace settlements on the interior. Ethnic cleavages intensified in the 1950s. 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 major regions (Northern protectorate, Southern protectorate and the Colony of Lagos). They selected an increasingly high proportion of African clergy for the missions. 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. Some were deposed, some were defeated in battle, and others collaborated. 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. Catholic missionaries were particularly active among the Igbo; the CMS worked among the Yoruba. Antrobus, Fiddes and Strachey in the Colonial Office promoted amalgamation, along with Lugard. This became the Lagos Constabulary, and subsequently the Nigerian Police Force. [8], Through a progressive sequence of regimes, the British imposed Crown Colony government on much of the area of West Africa which came to be known as Nigeria, a form of rule which was both autocratic and bureaucratic. The British finalized the border between Nigeria and French West Africa with the Anglo-French Convention of 1898. The NPC was called on to form a government, but the NCNC received six of the ten ministerial posts. In the north Frederick Lugard, the first high commissioner of Northern Nigeria, was instrumental in subjugating the Fulani emirs. Resistance was strong in western Igboland, where a series of wars were waged against the British. Between them, the French and the British had purchased a majority of the slaves sold from the ports of Edo. [61] John Anderson diplomatically suggested: If it is the necessity for formally submitting the drafts that hurts Sir F. Lugard, I should be quite prepared to omit that provision provided that the period of publication of the draft prior to enactment is extended from one month to two. 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. Segments of the Yoruba community had their own animosities and new rivalries arose. The economy suffered from the decline in the slave trade, although considerable smuggling of slaves to the Americas continued for years afterward. Total revenues of central and regional governments nearly doubled in relation to the gross domestic product during the decade. Borno capitulated without a fight, but in 1903 Lugard's RWAFF mounted assaults on Kano and Sokoto. [77] Its revenue quickly increased, from 4,424 in 1901 to 274,989 in 1910. [70], Lugard's immediate successor (19191925), Sir Hugh Clifford, was an aristocratic professional administrator with liberal instincts who had won recognition for his enlightened governorship of the Gold Coast in 19121919. The British entry into World War I saw the confiscation of Nigerian palm oil firms operated by expatriates from the Central Powers. 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. It was British colonialism which was the ultimate cause of the war . Islam reached Nigeria through the Bornu Empire . It was a relatively simple adjustment for many Igbo families to transport the oil to rivers and streams that led to the Niger Delta for sale to European merchants. Afeadie, "The Hidden Hand of Overrule" (1996), p. 1719. By the end of the Napoleonic Wars, it ended slavery in its possessions. [11], By the 1880s, the National African Company became the dominant commercial power, increasing from 19 to 39 stations between 1882 and 1893. Critics, including representatives of the Middle Belt who resented Muslim domination, were relegated to small, peripheral parties or to inconsequential separatist movements.[85]. 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: He definitely laid the basis for British claims. How did use of enslaved African people for labour develop? The protectorate was organised to control and develop trade coming down the Niger. By the eighteenth century, evidence of Christianity had disappeared. Consequently, he may well deserve the epithet of the "father of Nigeria", which historians accorded him. 1 Economic Motives. The council was promoted as a device for allowing the expression of opinions that could instruct the Governor-General. The policy of indirect rule used in Northern Nigeria became a model for British colonies elsewhere in Africa. In 1794, the African Association in Great Britain commissioned Mungo Park, an intrepid Scottish physician and naturalist, to search for the headwaters of the Niger and follow the river downstream. [54] Olivier was a member of the Fabian Society and a friend of George Bernard Shaw. In general, the regional constitutions followed the federal model, both structurally and functionally. 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. The search for oil, begun in 1908 and abandoned a few years later, was revived in 1937 by Shell and British Petroleum. [9] Administration and military control of the territory was conducted primarily by white Britons, both in London and in Nigeria. by How Africa 6 years ago. June 30, 2022 . Although this trade grew to significant proportionspalm oil exports alone were worth 1 billion a year by 1840it was concentrated near the coast, where palm trees grew in abundance. The Ekumeku, who were well organized and whose leaders were joined in secrecy oaths, effectively utilized guerrilla tactics to attack the British. British colonialism destroyed the Ndebele state at the end of the nineteenth century. Egypt) and titles (e.g. The Resident also oversaw a Provincial Court at the region's capital. It is not a unitary state with local government areas but with one Central Executive and one Legislature. 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. The goal of activists initially was not self-determination, but increased participation on a regional level in the governmental process. Slaves formerly had been traded for European goods, especially guns and gunpowder, but now the British encouraged trade in palm oil in the Niger delta states, ostensibly to replace the trade in slaves. [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. [23] Regardless, slavery had decimated the population and fuelled militarisation and chaos, thereby paving the way for more aggressive colonisation.[21][24]. It, therefore, hired native intermediaries who could conduct diplomacy, trade and intelligence work in the local area. The trend was toward the establishment of a parliamentary system of government, with regional assemblies and a federal House of Representatives. The British captured Kano in 1903. Political opposition to colonial rule often assumed religious dimensions. [56], 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. Both claimed in 1908; territories formed in 1962 (British Antarctic Territory) and 1985 (South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands). Despite his somewhat successful efforts to enlist non-Yoruba support, the regionalist sentiment that had stimulated the party initially continued. The only significant interruption in economic development arose from natural disasterthe Great Drought of 191314. Park reached the upper Niger the next year by travelling inland from the Gambia River. ", Helen Chapin Metz, ed. Missionary forces demanded prohibition of liquor, which proved highly unpopular. 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. At the same time it is feasible by degrees to bring them gradually into approximation with our ideas of justice and humanity. 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. [11], Britain's imperialistic posture became more aggressive towards the end of the century. [38][39], In 1892 the British Armed Forces set out to fight the Ijebu Kingdom, which had resisted missionaries and foreign traders. 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. The British and the French fought the Carnatic Wars, which the British won decisively - making the British the foremost colonial power. Most Europeans tended to overlook their own differences and were surprised and shocked that Nigerians wanted to develop new denominations independent of European control. Lugard, replacing Egerton as Governor, aborted the project in May 1913. It is still felt 56 years after it was officially announced death.

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