As the emirs settled more and more into their role as reliable agents of indirect rule, colonial authorities were content to maintain the status quo, particularly in religious matters. The colony was created through the consolidation of the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria and the Northern Nigeria Protectorate. This led to protests known as Women's War. Newspapers, some of which were published before World War I, provided coverage of nationalist views. [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. Davies and Nnamdi Azikiwe. 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. It soon gained a virtual monopoly over trade along the River[11]. Nigeria (/ n a d r i / ny-JEER-ee-), officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa.It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea to the south in the Atlantic Ocean.It covers an area of 923,769 square kilometres (356,669 sq mi), and with a population of over 225 million, it is the most populous country in Africa, and the world's . The pulpits of the independent congregations became avenues for the free expression of critics of colonial rule. The goal of activists initially was not self-determination, but increased participation on a regional level in the governmental process. Play off ethnic and social divisions . The basic economic units in each town were "houses", family-operated entities that engendered loyalty for its employees. The economy suffered from the decline in the slave trade, although considerable smuggling of slaves to the Americas continued for years afterward. The political parties jockeyed for positions of power in anticipation of the independence of Nigeria. The Kikuyu people of Kenya, like most Africans, were laborers with the women doing most work at home while the men found work across the country. 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]. It was guerrilla warfare in the case of the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya (1952-60) and Zimbabwe's war of independence (1965-79); it was all . Other firms applying for licenses were rejected. Following Lugards success in the north, he set out the principles of the administrative system subsequently institutionalized as indirect rule. Essentially, local government was to be left in the hands of the traditional chiefs, subject to the guidance of European officers. 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. The Action Group, which staged a lively campaign, favoured stronger government and the establishment of three new states while advocating the creation of a West Africa Federation that would unite Nigeria with Ghana and Sierra Leone. RESISTANCE. The NCNC backed creation of a midwest state and proposed federal control of education and health services. 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. [67], 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. To some extent, competition amongst these companies undermined their collective position vis--vis, local merchants. 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. He used for the first time in Nigeria modern, sometimes flamboyant, electioneering techniques. 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. Updated: 11/12/2021 Create an account It also means foreign rule on foreign lands. [19][41], In 18961897 the forces of the Niger Coast Protectorate fought with the remnants of the Edo Empire. Central Africa to 1964. The impact of colonialism in Nigeria could be discussed under political, economic, social, educational and religious aspects. 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. Independence was achieved on 1 October 1960. [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. Despite conquering villages by burning houses and crops, continual political control over the Igbo remained elusive. Armed resistance decreased in the 1920s but protest continued, "characterised by civil rights and civil . Algeria fought back and eventually was granted self rule and nigeria was put down and never got independance. Alan Lennox-Boyd, M.P., the British Secretary of State for the Colonies. The British finalized the border between Nigeria and French West Africa with the Anglo-French Convention of 1898. Lugard, replacing Egerton as Governor, aborted the project in May 1913. Public works, such as harbour dredging and road and railway construction, opened Nigeria to economic development. Nigeria Table of Contents. Antrobus, Fiddes and Strachey in the Colonial Office promoted amalgamation, along with Lugard. Kingdoms and empires of precolonial Nigeria, Controversies surrounding the 2007 presidential election, Nigeria under Umaru Musa YarAdua and Goodluck Jonathan, The 2015 elections and electorate concerns, Recession, fight against corruption, and insecurity, Which Country Is Larger By Population? This was used for Britain's main purpose of taking control of the region. Acephalous . A lack of interest in extending the NPC beyond the Northern Region corresponded to this strictly regional orientation. 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. The greatest advantage of Nigeria were its huge natural . [42], The British had difficulty conquering Igboland, which lacked a central political organisation. [72], The Influenza pandemic made its way to the port of Lagos by September 1918 by way of a number of ships including the SS Panayiotis, the SS Ahanti, and the SS Bida. The conference drafted the terms of a new constitution. European colonialists had managed to quell the efforts by Africans to resist the establishment of colonial rule. These were the Agent-General, the Senior Judicial Officer, and the Commandant of the Constabulary. In one year, Lugard recruited 2600 troops, evenly split between Hausa and Yoruba. His political platform called for economic and educational development, Africanization of the civil service, and self-government for Lagos. 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. Both Africans and Europeans found illegal supplies such as secret stills, obtaining colonial liquor permits, and smuggling. [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. Although Nigeria came under the British charter in 1885 and was . Colonial official A. J. Harding commented in 1913: Sir F. Lugard's proposal contemplates a state which it is impossible to classify. 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 proliferation of labour organisations fragmented the movement, and potential leaders lacked the experience and skill to draw workers together. David Richardson, "Background to annexation: Anglo-African credit relations in the Bight of Biafra, 17001891"; in Ptr-Grenouilleau. In 1886, Taubman secured a royal charter and his company became the Royal Niger Company. But in the 1700s, the Bight of Benin (also known as the Slave Coast) became the next most important hub. The protest began in the By the eighteenth century, evidence of Christianity had disappeared. A.J. took careful account of Islam and avoided any appearance of a challenge to traditional values that might incite resistance to British rule. He was prepared to introduce educational and economic changes to strengthen the north. Early British Imperialism. Some indigenous peoples, such as those in the Americas, were forced to move to reservations or killed outright by invading European colonizers. Clifford also believed that indirect rule encouraged centripetal tendencies. The Central African Federation, embracing Nyasaland, Northern and Southern Rhodesia, was created in 1953 . 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. 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. [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. Three constitutions were enacted from 1946 to 1954. Its activist membership was drawn from local government and emirate officials who had access to means of communication and to repressive traditional authority that could keep the opposition in line. The Governor was, in effect, the coordinator for virtually autonomous entities that had overlapping economic interests but little in common politically or socially. Mordi, Emmanuel Nwafor. "Specifically, the Company sought to secure the cooperation of the traditional rulers in ensuring peaceful conditions for trade. Early on in colonial rule, for example, Nigerians protested the manner in which water rates and head taxes were collected. 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". Earlier elements related to this were its founding of the Sierra Leone Colony in 1787 as a refuge for freed slaves, the independent missionary movement intended to bring Christianity to the Edo Kingdom, and programs of exploration sponsored by learned societies and scientific groups, such as the London-based African Association. The British entry into World War I saw the confiscation of Nigerian palm oil firms operated by expatriates from the Central Powers. Though the Europeans possess many considerable settlements both upon the coast of Africa and in the East Indies, they have not yet established in either of those countries such numerous and thriving colonies as those in the islands and continent of America. Although colonial rule appeared secure in the first two decades of the 20th century, the British struggled to keep control of their Nigerian colony and continued to do so until Nigeria became independent in 1960. 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