factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria

Lord Lugard recorded a huge success mainly because he used the highly developed traditional system of administration that was already in existence in the Northern Nigeria. The council was headed by a Governor. They gathered information which was needed for policy-making in administration. From January 1914 onwards, the newly united colony and protectorate was presided over by a proconsul, who was entitled the Governor-General of Nigeria. All the territories were now under British control, and the search for an identity began, first as Northern and Southern Nigeria and then with eventual amalgamation. He was convinced that the Muslim religion had fallen into utter degeneration as a result of moral depravity of the Hausa Emirs. Afeadie, "The Hidden Hand of Overrule" (1996), p. 1315. [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. Description. [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. As its head, the master trader taxed other traders who were members of his "house"; he maintained a war vessel, a large dugout canoe that could hold several tons of cargo and dozens of crew, for the defense of the harbor. 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. June 30, 2022 . speedo sectionals 2022 texas info@hebasanmakine.com on it burgers ferntree gully closed +90 224 371 29 30 One of the most influential monarchies in the history of England began in 1066 C.E. What Britain Did to Nigeria A Short History of Conquest and Rule Max Siollun. Colonial Lagos was a busy, cosmopolitan port. The delta masked the mouth of the great river, and for centuries Nigerians chose not to tell Europeans the secrets of the interior. Olatunji Ojo, "The Organization of the Atlantic Slave Trade in Yorubaland, ca.1777 to ca.1856", Bouda Etemad, "Economic relations between Europe and Black Africa, Giles D. Short, "Blood and Treasure: The reduction of Lagos, 1851", "Northern Nigeria: The Illo Canceller and Borgu Mail" by Ray Harris in. During the war, the colonial government earmarked a large portion of the Nigerian budget as a contribution to imperial defence. The British and the French fought the Carnatic Wars, which the British won decisively - making the British the foremost colonial power. The first factor to be taken into account is that the British by nature are conservative. 1821 - Sierra Leone, Gambia and the Gold Coast form British West Africa. 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. In time, they built depots onshore and eventually moved up the Niger River to establish stations in the interior. British exploitation of their fatherland. Although churchmen in Britain had been influential in the drive to abolish the slave trade, significant missionary activity for Africa did not develop until the 1840s. Quiz. 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. 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. [72] In the south, he saw the possibility of building an elite educated in schools modelled on a European method (and numerous elite children attended high-ranking colleges in Britain during the colonial years). Thus Spain and Portugal set up colonies in Central and South America after it was discovered by Columbus. European slave trading from West Africa began before 1650, with people taken at a rate of about 3,000 per year. They later discovered that the demand for palm oil was in fact stimulating an internal slave trade, because slaves were largely responsible for collecting palm fruits, manufacturing palm oil, and transporting it to the coast, whether by canoe or by human porterage. The staff of this office came primarily from the British upper-middle classi.e., university-educated men, primarily not nobility, with fathers in well-respected professions. 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. They were helped by two major factors; the discovery of quinine as a preventive drug against malaria and the armory the British possess which was superior compared to those of the Nigerians. 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 legal justification for this campaign was a treaty signed in 1886, when the British had interceded as peacemakers to end the Ekiti Parapo war, which imposed free trade requirements and mandated that all parties continue to use British channels for diplomacy. The British Conquest of Nigeria From about the mid nineteenth century, the British began to alter the nature of their relationship between themselves and Nigerians. Read suggested they be merged, and more use made of Nigeria's natural resources. To establish settled government in the newly won districts; To improve and extend native footpaths throughout the country; To construct properly graded roads in the more populated districts; To clear the numerous rivers in the country and make them suitable for launch and canoe traffic; and. 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. British expansion was conducted primarily by commercialists and resulted in more solid economic potential than the French endeavor (Crowder, 1990). Most of the fighting was done by Hausa soldiers, recruited to fight against other groups. Although per capita income in the country as a whole remained low by international standards, rising incomes among salaried personnel and burgeoning urbanization expanded consumer demand for imported goods. rockin' the west coast prayer group; easy bulky sweater knitting pattern. Some were deposed, some were defeated in battle, and others collaborated. He used for the first time in Nigeria modern, sometimes flamboyant, electioneering techniques. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 8(04), 563. doi:10.1017/s0022278x00023909. THE FULANI CONQUEST AND RULE OF THE HAUSA KINGDOM 235 from 1804, the date of the Hegira. Thanks to this skewed writing of history, many Nigerians today still have Empire nostalgia and view the colonial period through rose-tinted . God, Gold, and Glory. [19][41], In 18961897 the forces of the Niger Coast Protectorate fought with the remnants of the Edo Empire. The National Youth Movement used nationalist rhetoric to agitate for improvements in education. It is still felt 56 years after it was officially announced death. 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. The policy of indirect rule used in Northern Nigeria became a model for British colonies elsewhere in Africa. Initial British attempts to open trade with the interior by way of the Niger could not overcome climate and diseases such as malaria. These included the decline of the Mughal Empire. 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. Europeans come from Europe. Nigerian delegates were selected to represent each region and to reflect various shades of opinion. They took the right to rule over it, to levy taxes, to depose kings and to create kings. [42], The British had difficulty conquering Igboland, which lacked a central political organisation. British colonialism created Nigeria, joining diverse peoples and regions in an artificial political entity along the Niger River. It was British colonialism which was the ultimate cause of the war . [32] This included a river fleet which it used for retaliatory attacks on uncooperative villages. Other firms applying for licenses were rejected. With these events, the daily routines of the royal court were . The factors that led to the colonization of africa by the europeans. In the main the following factors contributed to the growth of colonies: Firstly, in the first place the discovery of new lands encouraged the various colonies to establish their colonies there. In a sense, you can say that the British were the cause of the Biafran Civil War which happened in Nigeria from 1967 to 1970. 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 his somewhat successful efforts to enlist non-Yoruba support, the regionalist sentiment that had stimulated the party initially continued. Alan Lennox-Boyd, M.P., the British Secretary of State for the Colonies. The economy suffered from the decline in the slave trade, although considerable smuggling of slaves to the Americas continued for years afterward. Open Document. Afeadie, "The Hidden Hand of Overrule" (1996), p. 1921. it was on that faithful day, 1 st January 1914 that the 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. In the South, only English had official status. In 1850, the British created a "Court of Equity" at Bonny, overseen by Beecroft, which would deal with trade disputes. Economic links among the regions increased, but indirect rule tended to discourage political interchange. Britain also annexed Freetown in Sierra Leone, declaring it a Crown Colony in 1808.[20]. It is not a federal state with federal Executive, Legislature and finances, like the Leewards. [75] The colonial government was not equipped nor ready in general for such a situation. In 1886, Taubman secured a royal charter and his company became the Royal Niger Company. Order. Lugard's governmental model for Nigeria was unique and there was apparently not much planning for its future development. At the same time, British scientists were interested in exploring the course and related settlements along the Niger River. 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]. The NCNC backed creation of a midwest state and proposed federal control of education and health services. 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. The mud-walled city of Kano was captured in February, and, after a vigorous skirmish at Kotorkwashi, the sultan's capital, Sokoto, fell the next month. In the Bight of Biafra, the major ports were Old Calabar (Akwa Akpa), Bonny and New Calabar. The approaches of the two men to colonial development were diametrically opposed. Palm oil was used locally for cooking, the kernels were a source for food, trees were tapped for palm wine, and the fronds were used for building material. 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. The official languages of Kenya, for example, are English and Kiswahili, while Zimbabwe -- formerly Rhodesia under British colonial rule -- uses English as its only official language. Consequently, in 1849, John Beecroft was accredited as consul for the bights of Benin and Biafra, a jurisdiction stretching from Dahomey to Cameroon. The rapid expansion in exports, especially after 1830, occurred precisely at the time slave exports collapsed. [32], In 1880, the British Government and traders demonetised the Maria Theresa dollar, to the considerable dismay of its local holders, in favour of the pound sterling. Du Bois. [52], The territory of the Royal Niger Company became the Northern Nigeria Protectorate, and the Company itself became a private corporation which continued to do business in Nigeria. oriented. He definitely laid the basis for British claims. 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. Some were deposed, some were defeated in battle, and others collaborated. Herbert Richmond Palmer developed details of this model from 1906 to 1911 as the Governor of Northern Nigeria after Lugard.[66]. Bello wanted to protect northern social and political institutions from southern influence. Three of these posts were assigned to representatives from each region, and one was reserved for a delegate from the Northern Cameroons. Africans also were represented on the Lagos Legislative Council, a largely appointed assembly. In one year, Lugard recruited 2600 troops, evenly split between Hausa and Yoruba. [64], Each region also had a Native Administration, staffed by locals, and possessing a Native Treasury. British colonialism led to the spread of the English language in Africa, and many former British colonies still maintain English as an official language. [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. Significantly, Macauley's NNDP remained almost entirely a Lagos party, popular only in the area whose people already had experience in elective politics. The receding British presence enabled local officials and politicians to gain access to patronage over government jobs, funds for local development, market permits, trade licenses, government contracts, and even scholarships for higher education. "Specifically, the Company sought to secure the cooperation of the traditional rulers in ensuring peaceful conditions for trade. Inconsistencies in British policy reinforced existing cleavages based on regional animosities, as the British tried both to preserve the indigenous cultures of each area and to introduce modern technology, and Western political and social concepts. 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: 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. Therefore, other factors exist to explain the institutional design. Afeadie, Philip Atsu. The kingdom of Benin began in the 900s when the Edo people settled in the rainforests of West Africa. When Faidherbe and his successors proceeded with their conquest of the hinterlands they met with strong and sustained resistance from a number of sources including the Moors, the Toucouleur Empire of Segou under Al Hajj Umar and the powerful Almamy . British influence in the Niger area increased gradually over the 19th century, but Britain did not effectively occupy the area until 1885. The most powerful figure in the party was Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto. Many Muslims resorted to migration as a form of resistance, a tactic known as the hejira, in which those perceived as infidels are avoided. Beecroft agreed on condition that the slave trade be abolished, and British merchants have a monopoly in commodities. The NPC was called on to form a government, but the NCNC received six of the ten ministerial posts. Rivalry between the Royal Niger Company and the Lagos Protectorate over the boundary between the emirate of Ilorin and the empire of Ibadan was resolved with the abrogation of the charter of the Royal Niger Company on January 1, 1900, in return for wide mineral concessions. Some of the treaties contained prohibitions on diplomacy conducted without British permission, or other promises to abide by British rule. [50] In the same year, the British created the Royal West African Frontier Force (RWAFF or WAFF), under the leadership of Colonel Frederick Lugard. [65], Half of all taxes went to the colonial government and half went to the Native Treasury. The operations of this force are still not fully known due to a policy of strict secrecy mandated by the British Government. All these things which I have said the Fulani by conquest took the right to do now pass to the British. In elections that year, the NYM ended the domination of the NNDP in the Legislative Council and worked to establish a national network of affiliates. Imperialism, or the extension of one nation-state's domination or control over territory outside its own boundaries, peaked in the 19th century as European powers extended their holdings around the world. The experiment began in 1890 and was repealed in 1939,[71]. factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria. The British entry into World War I saw the confiscation of Nigerian palm oil firms operated by expatriates from the Central Powers. Ken Swindell, "The Commercial Development of the North: Company and Government Relations, 19001906". NEPU formed a parliamentary alliance with the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC). European traders in Nigeria initially made widespread use of the cowrie, which was already valued locally. These organisations were primarily urban phenomena that arose after numerous rural migrants moved to the cities. Direct taxation on men was introduced in 1928 without major incidents. In November 1908, Bergheim reported striking oil; in September 1909, he reported extracting 2,000 barrels per day. The Colonial Office approved most of Lugard's plan, but balked at authorising him to pass laws without their approval. In 1957, the Western and the Eastern regions became formally self-governing under the parliamentary system. Elliot J. Berg, "The Development of a Labour Force in Sub-Saharan Africa"; France sold Louisiana to the United States, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Military history of Nigeria during World War II, National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons, discovery and exploitation of petroleum deposits, "The Nigeria (Constitution) Order in Council, 1954", "Gombe-Abba: Historic emirs' town ruined by the British", A Very Bloody Transaction: Old Calabar and the Massacre of 1767, The Impact of the Slave Trade on African Economies, "Managing Epidemic: The British Approach to 19181919 Influenza in Lagos", "The Nigerian Victory Against The 1918 Influenza Pandemic and 1897 Smallpox Epidemic", "African Pentecostalism and the 1918 Influenza Pandemic: The Supernatural Amid the Fearful and Implications for the COVID-19 Pandemic", "The influenza pandemic of 191819 and the spread of cassava cultivation on the lower Niger: a study in historical linkages", Google Cultural Institute: Birth of the Nigerian Colony, 18511914, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Colonial_Nigeria&oldid=1136412842, Former British colonies and protectorates in Africa, 1914 establishments in the British Empire, 1960 disestablishments in the British Empire, States and territories established in 1914, States and territories disestablished in 1960, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using infobox country or infobox former country with the flag caption or type parameters, Pages using infobox country or infobox former country with the symbol caption or type parameters, Articles needing additional references from July 2019, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. By 1919 the National Council of British West Africa, an organization consisting of elites across West Africa, was demanding that half the members of the Legislative Council be Africans; they also wanted a university in West Africa and more senior positions for Africans in the colonial civil service. During World War II, Awolowo reorganized it as a predominantly Yoruba political party, the Action Group. For political the British were fixed on expanding their empire and gaining control of every major city, state, or country in the world so they could govern every man or woman as they Show More Under the Political Department of the Civil Service were Residents and District Officers, responsible for overseeing operations in each region. 4. factors that led to the british conquest of nigeriaannalise mahanes height. The militias and RWAFF battalions were reorganized into the RWAFF Nigeria Regiment.[62]. 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. The Deputy Governor served as political administrator for company territory and appointed three officials in Nigeria to carry out the work of administration.

Richard Gordon Bethel, 7 Penitential Psalms Traditional Catholic, Mac Miller Daughter Sanaa, Tcu Athletics Staff Directory, Gun Creek Police Department Nevada, Articles F