Nigeria, a mulithued colony the world will never understand

British Advert of the Exhibition at Wembley of their then youngest colony-Nigeria, in the Times of London on May 23, 1925

 

                                        Flag of  British Colonial Nigeria

                                        Southern and Northern Nigeria in 1914

                                                      Stamp of the Niger Coast

                                 British stamps used in pre colonial Nigeria

                                      Colonial soldiers arresting rebelous Nigeria- dated before 1914

                                 Queen Elizabeth II with Nigerian women- mid 1950s

 

                                        Stamps of British Nigeria- preindependence

                                                           Lord Fredrick Lugard

                                          Colonists and Nigerians 1900s





Several European countries had  contended for control of  the  vast West African region before Britain gained control of Nigeria. People living in the country that would become Nigeria resisted and accommodated European powers to varying degrees. In the end, Britain managed to rule Nigeria for 46 years before Nigeria gained independence as a nation in 1960.
Europeans began exploration, trade, and missionary endeavors along the West Coast of Africa in the 15th century. The Portuguese were the first to do so, establishing trade with the Benin Kingdom, Lagos, and other regions along the coast. Portuguese dominance of these trade routes was overpowered in the 16th century by the British, French and Dutch, as the slave trade became very important. Slaves were taken from Nigeria to work on plantations in the Americas.
The British dominated the slave trade off the Nigerian coast in the 18th century. But with the rise of the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain in the 19th century, the emphasis in trade shifted from slaves to raw materials for factories. The Atlantic slave trade was outlawed by the British in 1808, although it continued after that for more than 50 years.

The British colonized Nigeria in 1884.  It was established as a colony in 1884 at the Berlin conference where Africa was divided by European powers.  Britain gained power by the use of its military. “Britain maintained it’s economic hegemony [rule] over the colonies through military power, Strategic alliances and the collaboration of indigenous rulers” (The Colonial Economic Legacy). The British established a trading post at the Niger River, exploiting the Africans. There was resistance, but it was crushed. “British control did not come without cost. In the Village of Satiru, natives armed with axes and hoes massacred a force of 70 black soldiers and a British officer, as well as two civilians. Lugard responded by sending a column of 500 infantrymen, supported by the friendly sultan of nearby Sokoto, against Satiru. They slaughtered an estimated 2,000 men, women and children. This act of vengeance alarmed government officials” (44, Harmon).  This was not fair; the amount of damage done was not proportional to the amount of damage taken.  Lugard or the white people killed twenty-seven times the amount of people the natives or blacks killed to send a message that they were in control of the Nigerians.
The British wanted some of the products, like palm oil and palm kernels, the Nigerians made so they decided to colonize Nigeria it took them a while. The medium of exchange, encouraged export trade in tin, cotton, cocoa, groundnuts, and palm oil-the Colonial Economic Legacy.  For those things the British thought Nigeria was a good catch.
Nigeria gained independence from Britain in 1960 on October first. The British had been indirectly ruling for just about 76 years. Nigeria had been colonized by Britain’s military force.


By Dotun Ibiwoye