He also led the Nigerian National Democratic Party, which dominated elections in Lagos from its founding in 1922 until the ascendancy of the National Youth Movement in 1938. Instead, the companies had to be content with a monopoly of the export trade in these products. Borno capitulated without a fight, but in 1903 Lugard's RWAFF mounted assaults on Kano and Sokoto. They wanted self-government, charging that only colonial rule prevented the unshackling of progressive forces in Nigeria and other states. [82], Oil exploration began in 1906 under John Simon Bergheim's Nigeria Bitumen Corporation, to which the Colonial Office granted exclusive rights. 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. Catholic missionaries were particularly active among the Igbo; the CMS worked among the Yoruba. 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. Elections were held for a new and greatly enlarged House of Representatives in December 1959; 174 of the 312 seats were allocated to the Northern Region on the basis of its larger population. 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. Economic links among the regions increased, but indirect rule tended to discourage political interchange. The British entry into World War I saw the confiscation of Nigerian palm oil firms operated by expatriates from the Central Powers. Much of the human trafficking which occurred there was nominally illegal, and records from this time and place are not comprehensive. Lagos was annexed as a Crown Colony in 1861 via the Lagos Treaty of Cession.[30]. 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]. 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. History of Islam in Nigeria. Regional administrations also varied widely in the quality of local personnel and in the scope of the operations they were willing to undertake. 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 Colonial Office could veto or revise his policies. In: Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs: (1999), vol. In the north, appeals to Islamic legitimacy upheld the rule of the emirs, so that nationalist sentiments were related to Islamic ideals. (During World War II they again served in East Africa, as well as in Burma [now Myanmar].) Selected petitions and written correspondence between Igbo women and British officials between 1892 and 1960 shed fresh light on how women navigated . Some African Christian communities formed their own independent churches. Broadening political participation and expanding educational opportunities and other social services also were viewed as threats to the status quo. [75] The colonial government was not equipped nor ready in general for such a situation. Consequently, in 1849, John Beecroft was accredited as consul for the bights of Benin and Biafra, a jurisdiction stretching from Dahomey to Cameroon. Formal diplomatic relations were established with the opening of the American Embassy in Lagos and of the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, both on 1 October 1960, the same day which Nigeria acquired its independence from British rule. It was suspended in 1950 against a call for greater autonomy, which resulted in an inter-parliamentary conference at Ibadan in 1950. 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. The search for oil, begun in 1908 and abandoned a few years later, was revived in 1937 by Shell and British Petroleum. For example, many people in Ibadan opposed Awolowo on personal grounds because of his identification with the Ijebu Yoruba. It is not a personal union of separate colonies under the same Governor like the Windwards, it is not a Confederation of States. Main aim. After the Napoleon war, the British tried to expand their colonial rule in Africa and began to establish trade tides with Nigeria in 1898. Nigerian delegates were selected to represent each region and to reflect various shades of opinion. Nigeria in the past was forced to participate in the slave trade. As before, Aro merchants dominated trade in the hinterland, including palm products to the coast and the sale of slaves within Igboland. Between them, the French and the British had purchased a majority of the slaves sold from the ports of Edo. 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. From 1815 to 1840, palm oil exports increased by a factor of 25, from 800 to 20,000 tons per year. 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. [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. Colonialism is defined as "control by one power over a dependent area or people.". [51], Guidelines for running the Nigerian colony were established in 1898 by the Niger Committee, chaired by the Earl of Selborne, in 1898. [25][n 1], The missionaries gained in power throughout the 1800s. How did Africans resist c. 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. His political platform called for economic and educational development, Africanization of the civil service, and self-government for Lagos. [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. In the early stages of British rule, it is desirable to retain the native authority and to work through and by the native emirs. Early nationalists tended to ignore Nigeria as the focus of patriotism. Under the Political Department of the Civil Service were Residents and District Officers, responsible for overseeing operations in each region. Indigenous Resistance to New Colonialism. By the end of World War I, most of Africa had been effectively colonized. [16] Starting in 1740, the British were the primary European slave trafficker from this area. By the end of World War I, most of Africa had been effectively colonized. European traders in Nigeria initially made widespread use of the cowrie, which was already valued locally. Dike, K. O. Rebellions Against Colonial Rule Before the Second World War. [46] Lugard was slow to describe these excursions to the Colonial Office, which apparently learned of preparations to attack Kano from the newspapers in December 1902. In the long term, the acceptance of Christianity by large numbers of Nigerians depended on the various denominations adapting to local conditions. Recovery came quickly and improvements in port facilities and the transportation infrastructure during World War I furthered economic development. The most important innovations in the new charter reinforced the dual course of constitutional evolution, allowing for both regional autonomy and federal union. Northern leaders committed to modernization were also firmly connected to the traditional power structure. British staffs in each region continued to operate according to procedures developed before unification. 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. The large companies that subsequently opened depots in the delta cities and in Lagos were as ruthlessly competitive as the delta towns themselves and frequently used force to compel potential suppliers to agree to contracts and to meet their demands. The NCNC backed creation of a midwest state and proposed federal control of education and health services. [19] Ultimately, this became the Royal Niger Company. Resistance to colonial rule took a number of forms, incrementally moving Nigeria toward independence. In practice, Lugard used the annual sessions to inform the traditional rulers of British policy, leaving them with no functions at the council's meetings except to listen and to assent. Protestant sects had flourished in Christianity since the Protestant Reformation; the emergence of independent Christian churches in Nigeria (as of black denominations in the United States) was another phase of this history. After independence, tensions that had been building between two . Ist October, 2010, marks The 50th anniversary of Nigeria's independence from imperial Britain. Nigeria did not come into being until 1914, when the consort of a colonial Governor-General, Flora Shaw and her man, the fascist Lord Lugard willed and named Nigeria into being, with the dubious . British and French traders did a large share of this business until 1807 when they were replaced by the Portuguese and the Spaniards. [64], Each region also had a Native Administration, staffed by locals, and possessing a Native Treasury. [81] In 1936, of 6,259,547 income for the Nigerian state, 1,156,000 went back to England as home pay for British officials in the Nigerian civil service. Osoba and Fajana pointed . [49], Concrete plans for transition to Crown ruledirect control by the British Governmentapparently began in 1897. The principal figure in the political activity that ensued was Herbert Macauley, often referred to as the father of Nigerian nationalism. [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. 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. [11], Britain's imperialistic posture became more aggressive towards the end of the century. 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. The Governor-General represented the British monarch as head of state and was appointed by the Crown on the advice of the Nigerian prime minister in consultation with the regional premiers. This scheme proved unpopular and confusing to many involved parties and was phased out. 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. In Nigeria, the British colonial administration found perhaps the longest-lasting resistance movement. 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. 1960-1966: Early diplomatic relations. These courts contained majorities British members and represented a new level of presumptive British sovereignty in the Bight of Biafra. The NPC federal parliamentary leader, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, was appointed Prime Minister of Nigeria. Locally this involved the immediate invasion of the German-held Kamerun (Cameroon) by Nigerian forces, followed by a costly campaign that lasted until 1916. The departure of Azikiwe and other Igbo members of the NYM left the organisation in Yoruba hands. The Deputy Governor served as political administrator for company territory and appointed three officials in Nigeria to carry out the work of administration. 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 book traces communications in Nigeria back to pre-colonial indigenous communications, through the development of telecommunication, broadcasting networks, the press, the Nigerian lm industry ('Nollywood') and on to the digital . Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1991. During World War II, three battalions of the Nigeria Regiment fought against Fascist Italy in the Ethiopian campaign. Davies and Nnamdi Azikiwe. But the history of Nigerian demands for greater representation go back to the 1920s. Several churches were built to serve the Edo community and a small number of African converts. [78], After establishing political control of the country, the British implemented a system of taxation in order to force the indigenous Africans to shift from subsistence farming to wage labour. ", Helen Chapin Metz, ed. [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. It assumed that comparable alterations would be made elsewhere, an attitude that won the party minority voting support in the other regions. The exploitation of the women's work led to resistance movements and led the women to develop more political awareness and engage in and aid existing decolonization movements. Three of these posts were assigned to representatives from each region, and one was reserved for a delegate from the Northern Cameroons. In the 1850s, quinine had been found to combat malaria, and aided by the medicine, a Liverpool merchant, Macgregor Laird, opened the river. Acephalous . [73], Africa as a whole was hit by three waves of H1N1 influenza A, the first and second would be the most deadly for the colony of Nigeria. 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. Joining the Royal Niger Company in 1894, Lugard was sent to Borgu to counter inroads made by the French, and in 1897 he was made responsible for raising the Royal West African Frontier Force (RWAFF) from local levies to serve under British officers. Although he reported on the eastward flow of the Niger, he was forced to turn back when his equipment was lost to Muslim Arab slave traders. Despite conquering villages by burning houses and crops, continual political control over the Igbo remained elusive. Colonial official A. J. Harding commented in 1913: Sir F. Lugard's proposal contemplates a state which it is impossible to classify. Initial British attempts to open trade with the interior by way of the Niger could not overcome climate and diseases such as malaria. He definitely laid the basis for British claims. Accordingly, as the volume of trade increased, merchants requested that the Government of the United Kingdom appoint a consul to cover the region. Lost land and independence died of diseases that euro bring This was used for Britain's main purpose of taking control of the region. Africans also were represented on the Lagos Legislative Council, a largely appointed assembly. This video gives a detailed explanation of Colonial rule in Africa, as it answers the questions: Why did Europeans colonize africa? Britain annexed Lagos in 1861 and established the Oil River Protectorate in 1884. [11], The British led a series of military campaigns to enlarge its sphere of influence and expand its commercial opportunities. 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. Strategic Theory, Dynamics, Methods and Movements ), contains accounts of the role of nonviolent action in anti-colonial struggles in Africa - Algeria, Ghana, Mozambique, and Zambia - and also in Bangladesh. Lugard bequeathed to his successor a prosperous colony when his term as Governor-General expired. By the eighteenth century, evidence of Christianity had disappeared. Some of them also manned Company stations and served as District Agents.". The rapid growth of organised labour in the 1940s also brought new political forces into play. In an era of globalization, leaders of "recognized" nations often discuss the development of indigenous resources without inviting aboriginal leaders to the table.
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