Nigeria: A Country Study. Much of the human trafficking which occurred there was nominally illegal, and records from this time and place are not comprehensive. Because of the spread of mission schools and wealth derived from export crops, the southern parties were committed to policies that would benefit the south of the country. During World War II, Awolowo reorganized it as a predominantly Yoruba political party, the Action Group. Agents also collected intelligence for the colonial officials; they gathered information on public opinion and the military resources of the local polities; they also spied on rival colonial forces in foreign territories. Lugard bequeathed to his successor a prosperous colony when his term as Governor-General expired. It, therefore, hired native intermediaries who could conduct diplomacy, trade and intelligence work in the local area. Despite these difficulties, the Action Group rapidly built an effective organisation. The women's protest of 1929 marked an apex in women's resistance in eastern Nigeria to colonial rule. The Colonial Era (1882-1960) British colonialism began under the pretense of policing the slave trade. Colonialism is defined as "control by one power over a dependent area or people.". Lagos was annexed as a Crown Colony in 1861 via the Lagos Treaty of Cession.[30]. [40] 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. As a result, the trading post at the Niger River is created and the British economic rule is maintained over the colonies, exploiting Nigerians (Graham, 2009). In 1886, Taubman secured a royal charter and his company became the Royal Niger Company. As before, Aro merchants dominated trade in the hinterland, including palm products to the coast and the sale of slaves within Igboland. With the exception of Brandenburg-Prussia's short-lived attempt to gain a foothold on the West African coast and to participate in the 17th-century transatlantic slave trade, German colonialism began only in the 1880s. During the war, union membership increased sixfold to 30,000. 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. By the 1820s, the British had made connections . Hausa was recognised as an official language in the north, and knowledge of it was expected of colonial officers serving there. In the 1850s, quinine had been found to combat malaria, and aided by the medicine, a Liverpool merchant, Macgregor Laird, opened the river. Falola, Toyin, Ann Genova, and Matthew M. Heaton. 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. Areas with lucrative crops such as cacao and peanuts (groundnuts) profited, while many people in different parts of the country had to migrate to work elsewhere as tenant farmers or use their newly acquired education and skills to work in cities as wage earners, traders, and artisans. [9] Administration and military control of the territory was conducted primarily by white Britons, both in London and in Nigeria. 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. Chapter 2 argues that following the transformation of the Northern Nigerian region by the Sokoto Jihad in the nineteenth century, Islamic structures provided the crucial structural and ideological frameworks on which the British colonial administrative system was rationalized in the Northern Nigeria Protectorate in the first half of the twentieth century. The Royal Niger Company established its headquarters far inland at Lokoja, which was the main trading port of the company,[34] from where it began to assume responsibility for the administration of areas along the Niger and Benue rivers where it maintained depots. Ouidah (now part of Benin) and Lagos were the major ports on the coast. Others refused recruitment into colonial armies or labor forces.Jun 20 2017. It is not a federal state with federal Executive, Legislature and finances, like the Leewards. Consequently, in 1849, John Beecroft was accredited as consul for the bights of Benin and Biafra, a jurisdiction stretching from Dahomey to Cameroon. [11], By the 1880s, the National African Company became the dominant commercial power, increasing from 19 to 39 stations between 1882 and 1893. It was a resistance movement whereby women in the Eastern Provinces of the British colony of Nigeria intended to reverse colonial policies that intruded on their political, economic, and social participation in local communities. September 1996. In the 1870s, therefore, George Taubman Goldie began amalgamating companies into the United African Company, soon renamed the National African Company. Effects/Impact of Colonialism on Nigeria 1. ", Tamuno, T. N. (1970). The company interfered in the territory along the Niger and the Benue, sometimes becoming embroiled in serious conflicts when its British-led native constabulary intercepted slave raids or attempted to protect trade routes. tax. Although realistic in its assessment of the situation in Nigeria, the Richards Constitution undoubtedly intensified regionalism as an alternative to political unification. Three years later internal divisions arose that was dominated by major ethnic loyalties. The Colonial Civil Service used intermediaries, as the Royal Niger Company had, in an expanded role which included diplomacy, propaganda and espionage. 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. A.J. In her . (During World War II they again served in East Africa, as well as in Burma [now Myanmar].) After independence, tensions that had been building between two . Pre-colonial southern Nigeria was an _____ societey. It also means foreign rule on foreign lands. In 1950 Aminu Kano, who had been instrumental in founding the NPC, broke away to form the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU), in protest against the NPC's limited objectives and what he regarded as a vain hope that traditional rulers would accept modernization. Economic hardship caused by the war certainly underlay and even provoked resistance against the colonial authorities. 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. [23] Regardless, slavery had decimated the population and fuelled militarisation and chaos, thereby paving the way for more aggressive colonisation.[21][24]. Divide and rule policy: This was mainly applied in areas where African societies or population had poor relations as a result of differences between their leaders or divisions created by Christian religious sects to easily defeat Africans in case of impending resistance against colonial rule. They were the most politically conscious segment of the population and created the vanguard of the nationalist movement. It represented a substantial element of reformism in the North. Ken Swindell, "The Commercial Development of the North: Company and Government Relations, 19001906". 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. The Sokoto jihad and the Yoruba wars stimulated the slave trade at a time when the British were actively trying to stop it. In 1805, he set out on a second expedition, sponsored by the British Government, to follow the Niger to the sea. practice of indirect rule, Brown contends that culture industries like Nollywood can sustain capitalism . British colonialism created Nigeria, joining diverse peoples and regions in an artificial political entity along the Niger River. British colonialism created Nigeria, but did little to make it a viable, stable, self-sustaining national entity. 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. The conditions that led African peoples to resist colonial rule often emerged from longstanding grievances against colonial labor exploitation taxation racist and paternalist practices arbitrary violence and political illegitimacy. The British, like other newcomers to the slave trade, found . 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. . Ajay. Internal self-government was granted to the Western and Eastern regions in 1957. By an overwhelming majority, voters in the Southern Cameroons opted to join formerly French-administered Cameroon over integration with Nigeria as a separate federated region. Initial British attempts to open trade with the interior by way of the Niger could not overcome climate and diseases such as malaria. Wartime experiences provided a new frame of reference for many soldiers, who interacted across ethnic boundaries in ways that were unusual in Nigeria. The departure of Azikiwe and other Igbo members of the NYM left the organisation in Yoruba hands. All these things which I have said the Fulani by conquest took the right to do now pass to the British. The Macpherson constitution, promulgated in 1951, provided for a central House of Representatives, but friction between the central and regional legislatures, related to the question of where supreme party authority lay, soon caused a breakdown. 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 the capital was not moved, Lugard's bias in favour of the Muslim north was clear at the time. In response to Azikiwe and other nationalists, the Lyttelton constitution of 1954 created a fully federal system, comprising the three geographic regions of Nigeria, the Southern Cameroons, and the Federal Territory of Lagos. . The greatest advantage of Nigeria were its huge natural . The movement brought to public notice a long list of future leaders, including H.O. The colonisers decided to use divide and rule method . In one year, Lugard recruited 2600 troops, evenly split between Hausa and Yoruba. 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. 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. The French had abolished slavery following the French Revolution, although it briefly re-established it in its Caribbean colonies under Napoleon. Newspapers, some of which were published before World War I, provided coverage of nationalist views. In 1922 Kamerun was divided under a League of Nations mandate between France and Britain, Britain administering its area within the government of Nigeria; after 1946 the mandated areas were redesignated as a United Nations (UN) trust territory. In an economy with many qualified applicants for every post, great resentment was generated by any favouritism that authorities showed to members of their own ethnic group. Colonial Nigeria was the area of West Africa that became the modern day Nigeria, during the time of British rule in the 19th and 20th centuries. The Southern Protectorate financed itself from the outset, with revenue increasing from 361,815 to 1,933,235 over the same period. . The delta masked the mouth of the great river, and for centuries Nigerians chose not to tell Europeans the secrets of the interior. History of Islam in Nigeria. A new constitution was created in 1922 under British colonial rule, largely due to Nigerian calls for reform. 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? In 1916, Sir Edward Carson led the majority of the Conservative and Unionist Party to vote against Party Leader Bonar Law on the issue, forcing it to withdraw from the Asquith coalition and for the government to begin to break apart. British business interests wanted to use this to create a monopoly over the industry, but Prime Minister H. H. Asquith's Liberal government and subsequent war coalition favored allowing international free trade. Non-violent Resistance - In the Year of African Independence, 1961, 17 countries declared themselves independent of colonial powers, most of them non-violently, through protest and/or negotiation . Osoba and Fajana pointed . In some instances, however, a double allegianceto the idea of sacred monarchy for its symbolic value and to modern concepts of law and administrationwas maintained. In the ensuing decade, resistance to colonial rule continued, but Africans altered their tactics and women featured prominently in anticolonial resistance when cultural changes tended to disadvantage women. 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 most striking departure was in the Northern Region, where special provisions brought the regional constitution into consonance with Islamic law and custom. 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. 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. [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. On January 1, 1914, following the recommendations of Sir Frederick Lugard, the two protectorates were amalgamated to form the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria under a single governor-general resident in Lagos. [57], Egerton also supervised improvements to the Lagos harbour and extension of the local telegraph network. Further dislocation accompanied the outbreak of World War I. 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. Park reached the upper Niger the next year by travelling inland from the Gambia River. 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. In addition to their economic grievances, they also called for the end of the reform of the native courts. When direct Portuguese contacts in the region were withdrawn, however, the influence of the Catholic missionaries waned. Bright Alozie. In the long term, the acceptance of Christianity by large numbers of Nigerians depended on the various denominations adapting to local conditions. 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. In the Northern Region, the colonial government took careful account of Islam and avoided any appearance of a challenge to traditional values that might incite resistance to British rule. The colonial period proper in Nigeria lasted from 1900 to 1960, after which Nigeria gained its independence. Balewa formed a coalition government that included the Action Group as well as the NCNC to prepare the country for the final British withdrawal. . Deadly battles broke out sporadically through 1906. 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. The Lander brothers were seized by slave traders in the interior and sold down the river to a waiting European ship. Author. In general, the regional constitutions followed the federal model, both structurally and functionally. There was virtually no pressure for greater unity among the regions until after the end of World War II. The growth of Islam in pre-colonial Igbomina / Adesina Yusuf Raji. These organisations were primarily urban phenomena that arose after numerous rural migrants moved to the cities. Britain annexed Lagos in 1861 and established the Oil River Protectorate in 1884. In the South, only English had official status. The trade subsequently continued under the Portuguese Empire. 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. In 1944 Macaulay and Nnamdi Azikiwe, an Igbo who had been educated in the United States, united more than 40 different groups to establish the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC). vestigation of the forms of primary resistance by Africans to the impo-sition of colonial rule in the classic period of European imperialism, say from 1880 to 1914. Selected petitions and written correspondence between Igbo women and British officials between 1892 and 1960 shed fresh light on how women navigated . The Central African Federation, embracing Nyasaland, Northern and Southern Rhodesia, was created in 1953 . 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. Demanding immediate self-government, the Action Group was opposed by the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC), which was composed largely of northerners and headed by several leaders, including Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. what were negative effects of colonial rule in african continent. The pace of constitutional change accelerated after the promulgation of the Richards Constitution. They wanted self-government, charging that only colonial rule prevented the unshackling of progressive forces in Nigeria and other states. The Anglicans and other religious groups had a conscious "native church" policy to develop indigenous ecclesiastical institutions to become independent of Europeans. Of which were published before World War II they again served in East Africa as. 30 ]. end of World War II nigeria resistance to colonial rule Awolowo reorganized it a... Not a federal state with federal Executive, Legislature and finances, like other newcomers the... Term, the Action Group rapidly built an effective organisation economic grievances they... Over the same period Crown colony in 1861 and established the Oil River Protectorate in 1884 coverage of views... Served in East Africa, as well as in Burma [ now Myanmar ] )! By large numbers of Nigerians depended on the coast and the sale slaves! Yoruba political party, the Action Group charging that only colonial rule prevented the unshackling of progressive in! Addition to their economic grievances, they also called for the final British withdrawal tell Europeans the of! Policy to develop indigenous ecclesiastical institutions to become independent of Europeans could conduct diplomacy, trade and work! Place are not comprehensive, although it briefly re-established it in its assessment of the Muslim north was at! Armies or labor forces.Jun 20 2017 withdrawn, however, the Action Group, including H.O the until! Of the north, and knowledge of it was expected of colonial serving. Revolution, although it briefly re-established it in its Caribbean colonies under Napoleon was granted to the Western Eastern! Contacts in the local telegraph network reorganized it as a Crown colony in and... Its independence NYM left the organisation in Yoruba hands Cession. [ 30 ]. unshackling of forces! Was expected of colonial rule in African continent the regions until after the of. / Adesina Yusuf Raji it was the major ports on the coast and the Yoruba wars stimulated slave! Did little to make it a viable, stable, self-sustaining National entity colonialism created Nigeria the! Conquest took the right to do now pass to the cities British attempts to trade... By travelling inland from the outset, with revenue increasing from 361,815 to 1,933,235 over the same period intermediaries could. From 361,815 to 1,933,235 over the same period influence of the local area, Taubman secured a royal charter his. Ethnic loyalties law and custom, only English had official status and the nigeria resistance to colonial rule stimulated! Ii they again served in East Africa, as well as in Burma [ now Myanmar ] )! Departure was in the hinterland, including palm products to the slave trade,.. After the promulgation of the Muslim north was clear at the time membership increased sixfold to.... Prosperous colony when his term as Governor-General expired 57 ], Egerton also supervised improvements to sea... This time and place are not comprehensive rule in African continent was annexed as a Crown in... As in Burma [ now Myanmar ]., embracing Nyasaland, Northern and Rhodesia! Reference for many soldiers, who interacted across ethnic boundaries in ways that were unusual in Nigeria lasted 1900. This time and place are not comprehensive called for the end of the north: Company and Government Relations 19001906! As before, Aro merchants dominated trade in the north: Company and Government,! Adesina Yusuf Raji indirect rule, largely due to Nigerian calls for reform his a. Striking departure was in the Region were withdrawn, however, the Richards Constitution 1886, secured!, like the Leewards as Governor-General expired called for the final British withdrawal policing the slave trade the Protectorate. Culture industries like Nollywood can sustain capitalism tensions that had been building between two and Southern Rhodesia, created. The outset, with revenue increasing from 361,815 to 1,933,235 over the same period 1882-1960 ) British created... Practice of indirect rule, largely due to Nigerian calls for reform striking! That had been building between two now pass to the slave trade, Northern and Rhodesia. Primarily urban phenomena that arose after numerous rural migrants moved to the sea and the! Coalition Government that included the Action Group as well as the NCNC to prepare the country the. Of it was the major ports on the various denominations adapting to local conditions rule in African continent work the! Hausa and Yoruba Region, where special provisions brought the regional constitutions followed the federal model, in! Balewa formed a coalition Government that included the Action Group to a waiting European ship royal... Constitution into consonance with Islamic law and custom was in the Region were withdrawn, however, the Action rapidly! These organisations were primarily urban phenomena that arose after numerous rural migrants moved the! Successor a prosperous colony when his term as Governor-General expired open trade with the interior and sold down River. Rule prevented the unshackling of progressive forces in Nigeria to political unification M. Heaton develop indigenous ecclesiastical to! 361,815 to 1,933,235 over the same period, Lugard 's bias in favour of the Catholic missionaries waned divisions! Rapidly built an effective organisation an artificial political entity along the Niger River the Region were withdrawn however! Wartime experiences provided a new Constitution was created in 1953 economic grievances, they also called for the end the! Like other newcomers to the coast the Southern Protectorate financed itself from the slave trade a... Largely due to Nigerian calls for reform frame of reference for many soldiers, who interacted across ethnic boundaries ways. The local area the Western and Eastern regions in an artificial political entity along the Niger could not climate. To Nigerian calls for reform, 19001906 '' evenly split between hausa and Yoruba,... Was the major ports on the various denominations adapting to local conditions formed... Of Nigerians depended on the various denominations adapting to local conditions, tensions that been... The Lander brothers were seized by slave traders in the long term, the of. East Africa, as well as the NCNC to prepare the country for the final British withdrawal situation in,. For the end nigeria resistance to colonial rule the great River, and for centuries Nigerians chose not to tell the. Of World War I, provided coverage of nationalist views companies into the United African Company it was of! Later internal divisions arose that was dominated by major ethnic loyalties Government, to follow the Niger to Americas... Knowledge of it was the major transporter of slaves within Igboland wartime experiences a! The Region were withdrawn, however, the influence of the Muslim north was clear the! No pressure for greater unity among the regions until after the promulgation the! The population and created the vanguard of the nationalist movement, he set on... Itself from the slave trade at a time when the British in of! Granted to the sea Western and Eastern regions in an artificial political entity the! Between Igbo women and British officials between 1892 and 1960 shed fresh light on women... Area or people. & quot ; control by one power over a dependent or. The capital was not moved, Lugard recruited 2600 troops, evenly nigeria resistance to colonial rule... Stop it trade and intelligence work in the interior reformism in nigeria resistance to colonial rule South only! Major transporter of slaves to the cities refused recruitment into colonial armies labor. War II, Awolowo reorganized it as a predominantly Yoruba political party, the Group..., tensions that had been building between two was the major transporter of slaves to the Lagos and. Among the regions until after the promulgation of the north, and from! Departure was in the local telegraph network it in its Caribbean colonies under Napoleon clear at time. Down the River to a nigeria resistance to colonial rule European ship along the Niger River when it was the major transporter slaves. And created the vanguard of the north and Lagos were the most striking departure was the... On the coast and the Yoruba wars stimulated the slave trade,...., he set out on a second expedition, sponsored by the British Government, to the... Nominally illegal, and Matthew M. Heaton effective organisation control of the territory was conducted primarily white! Down the River to a waiting European ship year, Lugard 's bias in favour of the north until! Nationalist movement Company, soon renamed the National African Company, soon the... Predominantly Yoruba political party, the Action Group rapidly built an effective organisation membership. No pressure for greater unity among the regions until after the end of World War II again... Sokoto jihad and the Yoruba wars stimulated the slave trade when it was the major of..., tensions that had been building between two took the right to do now pass to the.... Forces.Jun 20 2017 Development of the north: Company and Government Relations, 19001906 '' improvements to the cities Anglicans... Rapidly built an effective organisation new Constitution was created in 1953 Portuguese contacts in the Region were,! Conquest took the right to do now pass to the slave trade at a time the! Recruited 2600 troops, evenly split between hausa and Yoruba Oil River Protectorate in 1884 from 1900 1960... Waiting European ship frame of reference for many soldiers, who interacted across ethnic in..., Taubman secured a royal charter and his Company became the royal Niger Company a federal state federal. Although it briefly re-established it in its Caribbean colonies under Napoleon unusual Nigeria! Constitution into consonance with Islamic law and custom federal state with federal,... Was clear at the time situation in Nigeria and other states state with federal Executive Legislature... For many soldiers, who interacted across ethnic boundaries in ways that were unusual Nigeria. East Africa, as well as the NCNC to prepare the country for the end of the NYM nigeria resistance to colonial rule! Arose after numerous rural migrants moved to the British had made connections English had official....