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. Among the problems needing attention before the British would grant full independence was the minorities’ fear of discrimination by a future government based on majority ethnic groups. They were led by Fredrick Luggard. Traditional authorities were co-opted in the north, where the spread of Western education by Christian missionaries was strongly resisted by Muslim leaders. The Eastern region was dominated by Azikiwe and the Western one by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, a Yoruba lawyer who in 1950 founded the Action Group. On October 1st, 1960 Nigeria gained its independance. The British had been indirectly ruling for just about 76 years. In the mid-1970s the output is more than two million barrels a day, the value of which is boosted by the high prices achieved during the oil crisis of 1973-4. The British had been indirectly ruling for just about 76 years. 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. Following Lugard’s success in the north, he set out the principles of the administrative system subsequently institutionalized as “indirect rule.” Essentially, local government was to be left in the hands of the traditional chiefs, subject to the guidance of European officers. The Decolonization of Nigeria Colonization and Decolonization Colonialism is an act of political and economic control by one country over another "weaker" country (Adejuwon & Adeyeri, 2012). I’m proud of Nigeria too. A three hundred fifty mile railroad was built for shipping peanuts and cotton, as well as water; it was built with native labor (48, Harmon). 19 Apr. 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. The aims of the Christian missions generally were the bible and the plough. The central government, presided over by the governor-general and accountable to the secretary for the colonies in London, was more powerful but distant from the people. For instance, th… Britain conquers the last independent sate in the region (Abeokuta) and Britain unties the 2 protectorates of Northern and Southern Nigeria to form the Portectorate of Nigeria … In the north Frederick Lugard, the first high commissioner of Northern Nigeria, was instrumental in subjugating the Fulani emirs. Milwaukee: Gareth Stevens, 2001. I chose this image because it is the Flag. The colonization of Nigeria began with the arrival of the Christian missionaries in Badagry in 1842. The Nigerian Legislative Council was established in 1914 and was given limited jurisdiction; it was replaced in 1922 by a larger one that included elected members from Lagos and Calabar, although its powers also were limited and the northern provinces remained outside its control. Oct 1, 1960 Nigeria gains independence from Britain Philadelphia: Chelsea, 2001. Nigeria in the past was forced to participate in the slave trade. Nigeria : History. Some were deposed, some were defeated in battle, and others collaborated. World War I was truly a world war with participants drawn from five continents and military actions spread around the globe. The reason for that of course is Islam. “The Colonial Economic Legacy.” U.S. Library of Congress. After 1940, political activities were broadened to include more people. 29 Apr. The colonization of Nigeria lasted 60 years from 1900 to 1960 depending on the area. Islam empowered the Hausas to be a dominant trib… They slaughtered an estimated 2,000 men, women and children. This act of vengeance alarmed government officials” (44, Harmon). Early on in colonial rule, for example, Nigerians protested the manner in which water rates and head taxes were collected. Nigeria before the coming of the British Colonialist consisted of many towns, villages, chiefdoms, kingdoms, ethnic groups and city states. A national party, the Nigerian Youth Movement, emerged in 1934, and its members won elections to the Legislative Council. Advantages and Disadvantages of Colonization/Colonial Rule. Nigeria is a country in West Africa and was colonized by the British. The Lagos Colony formed with the Southern Protectorate to create the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria. Lagos was invaded by British forces in 1851 and formally annexed in 1865. Nigeria in the past was forced to participate in the slave trade. Create your own unique website with customizable templates. 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. “British control did not come without cost. Did you know that the name “Nigeria” was created by a British journalist? 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. Effects/Impact of Colonialism on Nigeria. Nigeria is a large, densely populated West African country on the Gulf of Guinea. 1. Kingdoms and empires of precolonial Nigeria, Controversies surrounding the 2007 presidential election, Nigeria under Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan, The 2015 elections and electorate concerns, Recession, fight against corruption, and insecurity. In the past few years, post- colonial studies and similar anti -imperialist theoretical Teslim Opemipo Omipidan says: November 8, 2017 at 6:45 pm. Countries of the World Nigeria. Because Western education and Christianity spread rapidly in the south and not in the north, development was much slower in the north, and the growing disparity between north and south later caused political tensions. The colonization of Nigeria began in 1884 when Nigeria was declared a colony of Great Britain at the Berlin Conference. The British had participated in it until human trafficking was abolished in 1807. In this source I got info on how Britain gained power. Each region had a governor, premier, cabinet, legislature, and civil service, with the significantly weaker federal government represented in Lagos by a governor-general, bureaucracy, House of Representatives, and Senate. Its neighbours are Benin, Niger, Chad and Cameroon. While this system had built-in contradictions, over the years the Nigerian system developed into a sophisticated form of local government, especially in the emirates and under the banner of “native administration,” which became the hallmark of British colonial rule in Africa. 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. Also, do you really think that Nigeria would be a united country without some help from the British Empire? Just like most other countries in Africa, Nigeria came under effective colonization around the 19 th century. After the 1930s, political activities focused primarily on ways to end British rule. Nigeria gained independence from Britain in 1960 on October first. The colonial masters, majorly the Europeans invaded Nigeria in the early 19 th century. Internal self-government was granted to the Western and Eastern regions in 1957. The British answered this activity by attempting to create a more representational colonial system. It was established as a colony in 1884 at the Berlin conference where Africa was divided by European powers. The southern protectorate was divided into two provinces in 1939—Western and Eastern—and in 1954 they, along with the northern protectorate, were renamed the Western, Eastern, and Northern regions as part of Nigeria’s reconstruction into a federal state. Macaulay was despised by the British, but he came to be regarded as the “father of modern Nigerian nationalism.”. There was an influx of culture and they dominated almost all areas of Nigerian’s lifestyle. Consequently, the colonized. Many changes accompanied British rule: Western education, the English language, and Christianity spread during the period; new forms of money, transportation, and communication were developed; and the Nigerian economy became based on the export of cash crops. 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. The British established a trading post at the Niger River, exploiting the Africans. Two tiers of government emerged, central and local. Economic Impact. 14. Nigeria had been colonized by Britain’s military force. Between 1919 and 1954 the title reverted to governor. Each of these units was living peacefully. I chose the british flag as one of my images because Nigeria was colonized by the British. Nigerians also requested more political representation. By 1906 they had control over the entire country. To prevent any united opposition to its authority, the British adopted a divide-and-rule policy, keeping Nigerian groups separate from one another as much as possible. Nigeria first became a republic in 1963, but succumbed to military rule three years later, after a bloody coup d'état. In the south the British occasionally created a political hierarchy where there had been none before; in most cases they ruled through those who were most malleable, whether these people had held traditional positions of authority or not. ("Nigeria - THE COLONIAL ECONOMIC LEGACY"). Although colonial rule appeared secure in the first two decades of the 20th century, the British struggled to keep control of their Nigerian colony and continued to do so until Nigeria became independent in 1960. Nigeria is a country which consists of a lot of tribes. This helped me through out my paper providing detailed information on Nigeria and its colonization.Ismail, Yinka. (During World War II they again served in East Africa, as well as in Burma [now Myanmar].) Its effects are still widely felt up till today. Britain gained power by the use of its military. 0. Nigeria had been colonized by Britain’s military force.Annotated BibliographyHarmon, Daniel E. Nigeria. 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. Nigeria now becomes one of the wealthiest countries in Africa thanks to its large reserves of oil (petroleum now, rather than the palm oil of the previous century). Some of these tribes do not like themselves and are even constantly trying to gain independence in one way or another. Another key similarity between the two nations is a colonial legacy of British rule, specifically one that intentionally used a "divideandrule" strategy to highlight and reinforce each nation's preexisting cleavages and diffuse nationalism among the native population.13The use of the "divide-and-rule" tactic via direct rule has to be qualified in the case of both countries. The period of colonisation lasted until 1960, when an independence movement succeeded. Great Britain previously used Nigeria as a source of human trafficking until 1807 when human trafficking was abolished (Graham). A lot of people might disagree that colonialism had any positive impact on Nigeria, but Nigeria would not even have its name without colonialism. In 1923 Herbert Macaulay, the grandson of Samuel Ajayi Crowther, established the first Nigerian political party, the Nigerian National Democratic Party, which successfully contested three Lagos seats in the Legislative Council. The forces unleashed against the British were now diverse, including soldiers who had served in World War II, the media, restless youth, market women, educated people, and farmers, all of whom became committed to the anticolonial movement. Missionaries were sent to the west coast of Africa to spread christianity and reinforce colonial policy. There were some specific outcomes and … The conquest of Sokoto was the final act in setting the boundaries of the British Protectorates of Northern and Southern Nigeria. The British were present in Nigeria as early as the late 1700's during the transatlantic slave trade, but the British did not begin to establish colonial rule of Nigeria until1900. 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). Last Updated by: Katie Graham on May 22, 2009. By 1903 the conquest of the emirates was complete. Nigeria became a British protectorate in 1901. Britain wanted to ensure that they would be the sole controllers of Nigeria. The people had a better source of transport Nigeria gained independence from Britain in 1960 on October first. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. The new monetary system consisted of coins and notes rather than trading goods, and the local Nigerians were instructed to build a railway across the country which made the transportation of raw materials more efficient and cheaper. Later Nigerian troops were sent to East Africa. 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. As a practice, colonialism is traced to the1854 and 1855 conference at Berlin in Germany. Although colonial rule appeared secure in the first two decades of the 20th century, the British struggled to keep control of their Nigerian colony and continued to do so until Nigeria became independent in 1960. memesita - February 8, 2021. This was the famous slogan from the memorable statement by Thomas Buxton “It is the Bible and the plough that must regenerate Africa”. The colony gets very The British colonial authorities encouraged Nigerians to be involved in agriculture for the production of certain crops such as coffee, cotton, cocoa, rubber, groundnut, palm produce and hides & skin. The Hausa people are one of the predominant Nigerian tribes but are now mostly representatives of Islam religion. The British took an interest in Nigeria because of its resources. Colonialism is both a practice and a word that means so much to Nigeria. They introduced many things and displaced the culture and traditions of Nigeria. There was resistance, but it was crushed. Nigeria is a belove Country throughout the World, not what other country have that make them expand, no, but how they fear God will determine because we allow God in Nigeria and we Fear Him, thats why God totally love us in Nigeria. A more representative system did not appear until 1946, when each geographic group of provinces had its own House of Assembly, with a majority of nonofficial (though not yet all elected) members; there were also a House of Chiefs and, in Lagos, a central Legislative Council. Nigeria as a whole only dates back to 1914, that’s when the British formed the country by grouping several small northern and southern regions. After the Willink Commission examined and reported on this issue in 1958, independence was granted. During the colonization of Nigeria, a new monetary and transportation system was developed and two tiers of government evolved; central and local. They are presently the least influenced by traditional religious beliefs. After the British government assumed direct control of the Royal Niger Company’s territories, the northern areas were renamed the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria, and the land in the Niger delta and along the lower reaches of the river was added to the Niger Coast Protectorate, which was renamed the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria. This helped me with writing about how Britain gained control over Nigeria. Formal "protection" and--eventually--colonization of Nigeria resulted not only from the desire to safeguard Britain's expanding trade interests in the Nigerian hinterland, but also from an interest in forestalling formal claims by other colonial powers, such as France and Germany. They colonized Nigeria to extract its natural resources including tin, cotton, cocoa, groundnuts, and palm oil. For those things the British thought Nigeria was a good catch. 'The Colonization Of Nigeria In Dead Man's Path' They also desired to safeguard Britain 's expansion of trade interests in Nigeria. “[The] medium of exchange, encouraged export trade in tin, cotton, cocoa, groundnuts, and palm oil” (The Colonial Economic Legacy). Locally this involved the immediate invasion of the German-held Kamerun (Cameroon) by Nigerian forces, followed by a costly campaign that lasted until 1916. I Proud of my Country. 2009                                                             . However, the common outcome is that it served to politicize diff… Nigeria’s coast is low-lying with lagoons and sandy beaches. Nigeria colonization essay - Cooperate with our scholars to get the top-notch report following the requirements All kinds of writing services & research papers. The relationship between a colony and its metropole is one sided. “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). Further dislocation accompanied the outbreak of World War I. Pipe borne water and electricity were provided while attention was paid into research of tropical diseases. The British, when faced with dissent, tended to grant political reforms in an effort to dispel the attractiveness of more-radical suggestions. Beginning in the 1920s, a number of Nigerians joined other Blacks in various parts of the world to embark on the wider project of Pan-Africanism, which sought to liberate Black people from racism and European domination. N I G E R I A. As early as the 11th Century, traders from Guinea, Mali, Borno and North Africa brought Islam to the Hausas, who accepted and supported its spread. It is still felt 56 years after it was officially announced death. By 1850 British trading interests were concentrating in Lagos and the Niger River delta. The British colonized Nigeria. The British had participated in it until human trafficking was abolished in 1807. Political leaders resorted to the use of political parties and the media to mobilize millions of Nigerians against the continuation of British rule. colonial Nigeria in five decades of political independence and almost two decades of nascent democracy. Native institutions were utilized and interference with local customs kept to a minimum, although the British did not always understand the local customs. 2009. The . The people of Baro, a small village, four hundred miles from the sea, were chosen as a link for transportation between Baro and Kano. Local administration, where the colonial citizens typically experienced colonial authority, was based on the policy of indirect rule first developed in the north. There is a high plateau of extinct volcanoes in the centre of the country and a mountainous area along its border with Cameroon. The colonization of Nigeria as a new dominant country in the NBA. The British took an interest in Nigeria because of its resources.I chose this image because it is the Flag of British Colonial Nigeria.The British colonized Nigeria in 1884. The region of Nigeria itself has been in existence for a very long time and has been home to many different Africans and their different civilizations. This helped me with writing about how Britain gained control over Nigeria. At its own request the Northern region was not given internal self-government until 1959, because northerners feared that their region might lose its claim to an equal share in the operation and opportunities of the federal government if it was not given time to catch up with the educationally advanced south. If you are striving to know how to make a top-notch dissertation, you have to study this Lagos remained the capital of the south, with Zungeru the new capital of the north. Lugard responded by sending a column of 500 infantrymen, supported by the friendly sultan of nearby Sokoto, against Satiru. And, in 1914, northern and southern Nigeria were united for administrative purposes into a single British colony. Reply. But with this wealth goes corruption, which Gowon fails to control. Nigeria is a country in West Africa and was colonized by the British. Demanding immediate self-government, the Action Group was opposed by the Northern People’s Congress (NPC), which was composed largely of northerners and headed by several leaders, including Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. This was not fair; the amount of damage done was not proportional to the amount of damage taken. By.