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. Several churches were built to serve the Edo community and a small number of African converts. 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 primary motives of European explorers were economic. The delegation was led by Balewa of the NPC and included party leaders Awolowo of the Action Group, Azikiwe of the NCNC, and Bello of the NPC; they were also the premiers of the Western, Eastern and Northern regions, respectively. [42], The British had difficulty conquering Igboland, which lacked a central political organisation. factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria In contrast to Lugard, Clifford argued that colonial government had the responsibility to introduce as quickly as practical the benefits of Western experience. Men brighton grey motion loveseat; waterford, ct obituaries; jane wymark children. [32] This included a river fleet which it used for retaliatory attacks on uncooperative villages. Between them, the French and the British had purchased a majority of the slaves sold from the ports of Edo. 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 Niger Delta and Calabar, which once had been known for the export of slaves, became notable for the export of palm oil. By the mid-1940s, the major ethnic groups had formed such associations as the Igbo Federal Union and the Egbe Omo Oduduwa (Society of the Descendants of Oduduwa), a Yoruba cultural movement, in which Awolowo played a leading role. It was also partly to protect the Egba that the British shelled Lagos in 1851, expelled Kosoko, the reigning oba, and restored his uncle, Akitoye, who appeared more willing to join in a campaign to abolish the slave trade. By a British Act of Parliament, Nigeria became independent on 1 October 1960. [72] In line with this attitude, he rejected Lugard's proposal for moving the capital from Lagos, the stronghold of the elite in whom he placed so much confidence for the future. [64], Each region also had a Native Administration, staffed by locals, and possessing a Native Treasury. Spain was driven by three main motivations. Retrieved October 11, 2014 from. 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. In 1894 the territory was redesignated the Niger Coast Protectorate and was expanded to include the region from Calabar to Lagos Colony and Protectorate, including the hinterland, and northward up the Niger River as far as Lokoja, the headquarters of the Royal Niger Company. Colonial Lagos was a busy, cosmopolitan port. The Northern People's Congress (NPC) was organised in the late 1940s by a small group of Western-educated Northern Nigerians. They were the most politically conscious segment of the population and created the vanguard of the nationalist movement. Britain also encouraged the formation of the Muslim League of India in 1907. British colonialism created Nigeria, joining diverse peoples and regions in an artificial political entity along the Niger River. ", Tamuno, T. N. (1970). [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 trade subsequently continued under the Portuguese Empire. Europeans, with an eye to colonization and conquest, restricted the sale of the new weaponry to Africa maintaining military superiority. In general, the regional constitutions followed the federal model, both structurally and functionally. it was on that faithful day, 1 st January 1914 that the As a practice, colonialism is traced to the1854 and 1855 conference at Berlin in Germany. [8] Azikiwe was installed as Governor-General of the federation and Balewa continued to serve as head of a democratically elected parliamentary, but now completely sovereign, government. The NPC captured 142 seats in the new legislature. Antrobus, Fiddes and Strachey in the Colonial Office promoted amalgamation, along with Lugard. emblemhealth medicare customer service; did cody webster play college baseball 0 Home. A "house" included the extended family of the trader, including retainers and slaves. Britain withdrew from the slave trade when it was the major transporter of slaves to the Americas. [73] The spread of the disease was quick and deadly, with an estimated 1.5% of the population of Lagos falling victim. [9] Administration and military control of the territory was conducted primarily by white Britons, both in London and in Nigeria. 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. [53] The first five heads of the Nigeria Department (18981914) were Reginald Antrobus, William Mercer, William Baillie Hamilton, Sydney Olivier, and Charles Strachey. Deadly battles broke out sporadically through 1906. The Royal Niger Company had its own armed forces. Some of them began to migrate back from Sierra Leone in search of home and trade. factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria. Other Protestant denominations from Great Britain, Canada, and the United States also opened missions and, in the 1860s, Roman Catholic religious orders established missions. The Colony was ultimately governed by the British Colonial Office in London. The British were not yet willing to assume the expense of maintaining an administration in Nigeria. Another court was established in 1856 at Calabar, based on an agreement with local Efik traders which prohibited them from interfering with British merchants. Independence was achieved on 1 October 1960. Early nationalists tended to ignore Nigeria as the focus of patriotism. England would forever be changed politically, economically, and socially as a result. It is not a unitary state with local government areas but with one Central Executive and one Legislature. factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria british empire - What were the main causes of successful take over of sutton united average attendance; granville woods most famous invention; alcoa utilities power outage; Oil income was still marginal, but the prospects for continued economic expansion appeared bright and accentuated political rivalries on the eve of independence. The delta masked the mouth of the great river, and for centuries Nigerians chose not to tell Europeans the secrets of the interior. In the Eastern Region, appointed officials who were given "warrants" and hence called warrant chiefs, were strongly resisted by the people because they lacked traditional claims. It was suspended in 1950 against a call for greater autonomy, which resulted in an inter-parliamentary conference at Ibadan in 1950. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1991. Nigerian units also contributed to two divisions serving with British forces in Palestine, Morocco, Sicily and Burma, where they won many honours. The British Conquest State (Chapter 3) - A History of Zimbabwe Observers have pinned the 'humanity's worst mistake' label on several of history's major institutions, ranging from the adoption of agriculture to twentieth-century communism (Diamond Reference Diamond 1987; Economist 2009).In our assessment, the institution of modern colonialism - meaning the exploration, conquest, settlement, and political dominance of distant lands by European and . In 1946 a new constitution was approved by the British Parliament at Westminster and promulgated in Nigeria. What are the factors that attracted the British to conquer India PDF THE IMPLIATIONS OF RITISH OLONIAL EONOMI POLIIES ON NIGERIA'S - garph We also understand that the said National African Company (limited) have full power to mine, farm, and build in any portion of our territory. [61] John Anderson diplomatically suggested: If it is the necessity for formally submitting the drafts that hurts Sir F. Lugard, I should be quite prepared to omit that provision provided that the period of publication of the draft prior to enactment is extended from one month to two. September 1996. The rapid expansion in exports, especially after 1830, occurred precisely at the time slave exports collapsed. In the meantime, public sector spending increased even more dramatically than export earnings. [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. In the north, the emirs intended to maintain firm control on economic and political change. The British finalized the border between Nigeria and French West Africa with the Anglo-French Convention of 1898. 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. The CMS pioneered trade on the Niger by encouraging Scottish explorer and merchant Macgregor Laird to run a monthly steamboat, which provided transportation for missionary agents and Sierra Leonean traders going up the Niger. Lagos became a major slave port in the late 1700s and into the 1850s. For example, many people in Ibadan opposed Awolowo on personal grounds because of his identification with the Ijebu Yoruba. Each was under a Lieutenant Governor and provided independent government services. Alan Lennox-Boyd, M.P., the British Secretary of State for the Colonies. The British turned to Persia for oil.[83]. In the Northern Cameroons, however, the largely Muslim electorate chose to merge with Nigeria's Northern Region. The departure of Azikiwe and other Igbo members of the NYM left the organisation in Yoruba hands. Lugard's governmental model for Nigeria was unique and there was apparently not much planning for its future development. Motivation for European conquest of the New World Wartime experiences provided a new frame of reference for many soldiers, who interacted across ethnic boundaries in ways that were unusual in Nigeria. Trained as an army officer, he had served in India, Egypt and East Africa, where he expelled Arab slave traders from Nyasaland and established British presence in Uganda. A constabulary force was raised and used to pacify the coastal area. They invited missionaries to follow them and, in the 1840s, made themselves available as agents who allowed missionaries and British traders to gain access to such places as Lagos, Abeokuta, Calabar, Lokoja, Onitsha, Brass, and Bonny. By 1903 the conquest of the emirates was complete. Every Sultan and Emir and the principal officers of state will be appointed by the high Commissioner throughout all this country. 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 war also made the British reappraise Nigeria's political future. What Britain Did to Nigeria A Short History of Conquest and Rule Max Siollun. These recourses were considered a necessity to the industrialization of the world . (Specifically it would enable direct subsidy of the less profitable Northern jurisdiction.) Thus Spain and Portugal set up colonies in Central and South America after it was discovered by Columbus. It soon gained a virtual monopoly over trade along the River[11]. Great Britain was the leaders at this time in colonizing the land filled with rich natural recourses. In pursuance of the above general principles the chief civil officers of the provinces are to be called Residents which implies one who carries on diplomatic relations rather than Commissioners or Administrators. After initially adopting an indirect rule approach, in 1906 the British merged the small Lagos Colony and the Southern Nigeria Protectorate into a new Colony of Southern Nigeria, and in 1914 that was combined with the Northern Nigeria Protectorate to form the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. The council was headed by a Governor. The British annexed Lagos in 1861 in order to protect Akitoyes son and successor, foil Kosokos bid to return, and secure a base for further activities. 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. Balewa formed a coalition government that included the Action Group as well as the NCNC to prepare the country for the final British withdrawal. Political opposition to colonial rule often assumed religious dimensions. [] These intermediaries assisted government diplomacy and helped to establish and maintain relations between the company and the traditional rulers. The Headquarters of Gombe emirate was Gombe-Abba[15] until when the then Emir of Gombe, Umaru Kwairanga (18981922), was forced to move from Gombe-Abba, a town founded by his grandfather and the founder of Gombe Emirate, Modibbo Bubayero, to Nafada town in 1913, and then to the current Gombe in 1919, that was after Gombe Emirate was conquered by British colonialists in 1903. [67], The Colonial Office, where Lugard was still held in high regard, accepted that changes might be due in the south, but it forbade fundamental alteration of procedures in the north. 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. Ethnic cleavages intensified in the 1950s. In the north Frederick Lugard, the first high commissioner of Northern Nigeria, was instrumental in subjugating the Fulani emirs. [31], Captain John Glover, the colony's administrator, created a militia of Hausa troops in 1861. [38][39], In 1892 the British Armed Forces set out to fight the Ijebu Kingdom, which had resisted missionaries and foreign traders. In 1905, the colonial government divided Bengal into Hindu and Muslim sections; this division was revoked after strong protests. The Southern Protectorate financed itself from the outset, with revenue increasing from 361,815 to 1,933,235 over the same period. Its program reflected greater planning and was more ideologically oriented than that of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons. [11][12], The amalgamation of different ethnic and religious groups into one federation created internal tension which persists in Nigeria to the present day.[13]. 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. 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. 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. All these things which I have said the Fulani by conquest took the right to do now pass to the British. The Sokoto jihad and the Yoruba wars stimulated the slave trade at a time when the British were actively trying to stop it. Their common denominators tended to be based on newly assertive ethnic consciousness, particularly that of the Yoruba and Igbo. To . Sometimes forced labour was used directly for public works projects. The British and the French fought the Carnatic Wars, which the British won decisively - making the British the foremost colonial power. Solicitar ms informacin: 310-2409701 | administracion@consultoresayc.co. The principal figure in the political activity that ensued was Herbert Macauley, often referred to as the father of Nigerian nationalism. Nigeria: A Country Study. The factors that led to the colonization of africa by the europeans. Afeadie, "The Hidden Hand of Overrule" (1996), p. 1315. Their forces, which were drawn from hundreds of Igbo youth from all parts of the region, created many problems for the British, but the British used forceful tactics and heavy armaments (destroying homes, farms, and roads) to prevail. From 1886 to 1899, much of the country was ruled by the Royal Niger Company, authorised by charter, and governed by George Taubman Goldie. By the 1870s the Niger trade was becoming profitable, and a few French companies took notice. Other firms applying for licenses were rejected. The so-called Macpherson Constitution, after the incumbent Governor-General John Stuart Macpherson, went into effect the following year. 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. European traders in Nigeria initially made widespread use of the cowrie, which was already valued locally. The history of external colonisation of Africa can be divided into two stages: Classical antiquity and European colonialism. [11], The British led a series of military campaigns to enlarge its sphere of influence and expand its commercial opportunities. The company's major imports to the area included gin and low-quality firearms. 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. Not wishing to appear out of control or weak, they approved the expedition (two days after it began) on 19 January 1903.,[47] In general, the Colonial Office allowed Lugard's expeditions to continue because they were framed as retaliatory and, as Olivier commented in 1906, "If the millions of people [in Nigeria] who do not want us there once get the notion that our people can be killed with impunity they will not be slow to attempt it."[48]. Whenever a trader had become successful enough to keep a war canoe, he was expected to form his own "house". factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria They never were able to elect sizeable legislative delegations, but they served as a means of public expression for minority concerns. These seven factors led to the development of the slave trade: The importance of the West Indian colonies The shortage of labour The. Anietie A. Inyang & Manasseh Edidem Bassey, "Imperial Treaties and the Origins of British Colonial Rule in Southern Nigeria, 18601890". 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. [56], Walter Egerton's sixfold agenda for 1908, as detailed on 29 November 1907, in a telegram to the Colonial Office, is representative of British priorities. The early Nigerian nationalist did not seek independence. He aroused political awareness through his newspaper, the Lagos Daily News. . British exploitation of their fatherland. From 1815 to 1840, palm oil exports increased by a factor of 25, from 800 to 20,000 tons per year. Vice consuls were assigned to ports that already had concluded treaties of cooperation with the Foreign Office. Although Azikiwe later came to be recognised as the leading spokesman for national unity, when he first returned from university training in the United States, his outlook was pan-African rather than nationalist, and emphasised the common African struggle against European colonialism. 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. In this way Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowtherborn in the Yoruba-inhabited area of Oshogbo and the first African ordained by the CMSwas able to establish mission stations at Onitsha, Lokoja, and Eggan and later at Brass and Bonny. These include the fact that military conscription (draft) of numerous African colonial subjects into European armies generated great amounts of anger. How Britain Conquered And Created Nigeria - Politics - Nigeria - Nairaland The Nigerian Civil War is also known as the Nigerian-Biafran war and took place between July 1967 and January 1970. [19], West Africa also bought British exports, supplying 3040% of the demand for British cotton during the Industrial Revolution of 17501790.[27]. A Hurst Publication. The Anglicans and other religious groups had a conscious "native church" policy to develop indigenous ecclesiastical institutions to become independent of Europeans. Laird's efforts were stimulated by the detailed reports of a pioneer German explorer, Heinrich Barth, who travelled through much of Borno and the Sokoto Caliphate, where he recorded information about the region's geography, economy and inhabitants. Britain subsequently lobbied other European powers to stop the slave trade as well. necessitated by several factors. Their history illustrates that rarely they had put a programme or a plan before themselves and then acted upon it. The British colonization of Kenya destroyed the culture and economy of the native people, but it established a democratic government and left Kenya a more modernized country. In all three regions, minority parties represented the special interests of ethnic groups, especially as they were affected by the majority. Britain also annexed Freetown in Sierra Leone, declaring it a Crown Colony in 1808.[20]. The policy of indirect rule used in Northern Nigeria became a model for British colonies elsewhere in Africa. 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. Direct taxation on men was introduced in 1928 without major incidents. Aside from the possibility of treasure, the European governments aimed to find a passage through the Americas to Asia. Mordi, Emmanuel Nwafor. 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. 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 So, how did Europeans end up in Africa? It assumed that comparable alterations would be made elsewhere, an attitude that won the party minority voting support in the other regions. The High Commissioner will be guided by all the usual laws of succession and the wishes of the people and chief but will set them aside if he desires for good cause to do so. Ken Swindell, "The Commercial Development of the North: Company and Government Relations, 19001906". Amalgamation of Nigeria was envisioned from early on in its governance, as is made clear by the report of the Niger Committee in 1898. Despite his somewhat successful efforts to enlist non-Yoruba support, the regionalist sentiment that had stimulated the party initially continued. French in West Africa - University of Pennsylvania The principal commodities of legitimate trade were palm oil and palm kernels, which were used in Europe to make soap and as lubricants for machinery before petroleum products were developed for that purpose. [10], Following military conquest, the British imposed an economic system designed to profit from African labor. The NPC platform emphasized the integrity of the north, its traditions, religion and social order. There was virtually no pressure for greater unity among the regions until after the end of World War II. From January 1914 onwards, the newly united colony and protectorate was presided over by a proconsul, who was entitled the Governor-General of Nigeria. Unification meant only the loose affiliation of three distinct regional administrations into which Nigeria was subdividedNorthern, Western and Eastern regions. In the north, for instance, legislation took the form of a decree cosigned by the Governor and the emir, while in the south, the Governor sought the approval of the Legislative Council. How Nigeria Was Colonized by the British: The Complete History "The agents performed similar but more expansive roles as their Company counterparts. In the 1870s, therefore, George Taubman Goldie began amalgamating companies into the United African Company, soon renamed the National African Company. Why was Britain able to establish an Empire in India Norman Conquest - National Geographic Society Christian missionaries were barred, and the limited government efforts in education were harmonized with Islamic institutions.[67]. By the eighteenth century, evidence of Christianity had disappeared. But the war had more concrete consequences.