factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria

In 1907, the corporation received a loan of 25,000, repayable upon discovery of oil. Europeans, with an eye to colonization and conquest, restricted the sale of the new weaponry to Africa maintaining military superiority. June 30, 2022 . A "house" included the extended family of the trader, including retainers and slaves. 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. Harding, director of Nigerian affairs at the Colonial Office, defined the official position of the British Government in support of indirect rule when he said that "direct government by impartial and honest men of alien race [] never yet satisfied a nation long and [] under such a form of government, as wealth and education increase, so do political discontent and sedition". 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 British also created "divide and rule" policies, pitting Hindu and Muslim Indians against one another. Ethnic and kinship organisations that often took the form of a tribal union also emerged in the 1920s. The 1922 constitution provided Nigerians with the chance to elect a handful of representatives to the Legislative Council. Open Document. Nigerian delegates were selected to represent each region and to reflect various shades of opinion. By the eighteenth century, evidence of Christianity had disappeared. Sir Richmond Palmer, acting as Lieutenant Governor in the North, disagreed with Clifford and advocated the principles of Lugard and further decentralisation. The essential basis of this system was a money economy specifically the British pound sterling which could be demanded through taxation, paid to cooperative natives, and levied as a fine. This line was extended to Oshogbo, 100 kilometres (62mi) away, in 19051907, and to Zungeru and Minna in 19081911. Lagos was the first part of Nigeria to be conquered and declare a British colony in 1861. Among the other major parties, the NCNC took fifty-six seats, winning a majority in both the Eastern and the Western regions, while the Action Group captured only twenty-seven seats. In popular parlance, discussions of colonialism in Africa usually focus on the European conquests that resulted in the scramble for Africa after the Berlin Conference in the 19th century. To . 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. 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: 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. Afeadie, "The Hidden Hand of Overrule" (1996), p. 1315. The National Youth Movement used nationalist rhetoric to agitate for improvements in education. One place that felt victim to this imperialism was Africa. The Ekumeku, who were well organized and whose leaders were joined in secrecy oaths, effectively utilized guerrilla tactics to attack the British. African nationalism attempted to transform the identity of Africans. Europeans come from Europe. British colonialism created Nigeria, joining diverse peoples and regions in an artificial political entity along the Niger River. It continued to enjoy special privileges and maintained a de facto monopoly over commerce. The colonial period proper in Nigeria lasted from 1900 to 1960, after which Nigeria gained its independence. While each generated considerable political controversy, they moved the country toward greater internal autonomy, with an increasing role for the political parties. Exploration was intensified in 1946, but the first commercial discovery did not occur until 1956, at Olobiri in the Niger Delta. Its residents were employed in official capacities and were active in business. 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. From Lugard's point of view, clear-cut military victories were necessary because the surrenders of the defeated peoples weakened resistance elsewhere. The movement soon assumed both religious and national characteristics. 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. For this objective, the Company chose to administer the African inhabitants of the Niger Sudan through their traditional rulers and their political institutions. How did use of enslaved African people for labour develop? 1833 - The abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire. Some of them also manned Company stations and served as District Agents.". God, Gold, and Glory. British colony and protectorate from 1914 to 1960, Contemporary photograph of the same building, now housing the, Developments in colonial policy under Clifford, Emergence of Southern Nigerian nationalism, Constitutional conferences in the UK (195758), All of this section to this point is from. David Richardson, "Background to annexation: Anglo-African credit relations in the Bight of Biafra, 17001891"; in Ptr-Grenouilleau. [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. Christian missionaries were barred, and the limited government efforts in education were harmonized with Islamic institutions.[67]. The Northern People's Congress (NPC) was organised in the late 1940s by a small group of Western-educated Northern Nigerians. These schools would teach "the basic principles that would and should regulate character and conduct". [31], Captain John Glover, the colony's administrator, created a militia of Hausa troops in 1861. 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. In 1958 exportation of Nigerian oil was initiated at facilities constructed at Port Harcourt. Africans also were represented on the Lagos Legislative Council, a largely appointed assembly. 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. Men The council was headed by a Governor. factors that led to the british conquest of nigeriaannalise mahanes height. Africans come from Africa. L'indpendance du. Each was under a Lieutenant Governor and provided independent government services. Solicitar ms informacin: 310-2409701 | administracion@consultoresayc.co. From January 1914 onwards, the newly united colony and protectorate was presided over by a proconsul, who was entitled the Governor-General of Nigeria. The Emirs and chiefs who are appointed will rule over the people as of old-time and take such taxes as are approved by the High Commissioner, but they will obey the laws of the Governor and will act in accordance with the advice of the Resident. [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. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 8(04), 563. doi:10.1017/s0022278x00023909. The NPC platform emphasized the integrity of the north, its traditions, religion and social order. The Deputy Governor served as political administrator for company territory and appointed three officials in Nigeria to carry out the work of administration. He was convinced that the Muslim religion had fallen into utter degeneration as a result of moral depravity of the Hausa Emirs. Although lacking Azikiwe's compelling personality, Awolowo was a formidable debater as well as a vigorous and tenacious political campaigner. In contrast, the British pursued comparatively limited settlement and institutional transformation in the more populous and more politically and economically developed preco-lonial areas. speedo sectionals 2022 texas info@hebasanmakine.com on it burgers ferntree gully closed +90 224 371 29 30 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. To raise additional revenues, Lugard took steps to institute a uniform tax structure patterned on the traditional system that he had adopted in the north during his tenure there. So, how did Europeans end up in Africa? He used for the first time in Nigeria modern, sometimes flamboyant, electioneering techniques. 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. The seven men who governed Northern Nigeria, Southern Nigeria and Lagos through 1914 were Henry McCallum, William MacGregor, Walter Egerton, Ralph Moor, Percy Girouard, Hesketh Bell and Frederick Lugard. Its final leg enabled it to meet another line, constructed 19071911, running from Baro, through Minnia, to Kano. In the north, appeals to Islamic legitimacy upheld the rule of the emirs, so that nationalist sentiments were related to Islamic ideals. The British entry into World War I saw the confiscation of Nigerian palm oil firms operated by expatriates from the Central Powers. [43][44] The British forces began annual pacification missions to convince the locals of British supremacy. Offers a bold rethink: a clear-eyed, unromanticized history of colonial Nigeria written by a Nigerian. The Colony was ultimately governed by the British Colonial Office in London. 4. [11] In 1891, the African Banking Corporation founded the Bank of British West Africa in Lagos.[33]. The neglect of traditional institutions. Newspapers, some of which were published before World War I, provided coverage of nationalist views. Native Administration was responsible for police, hospitals, public works and local courts. The factors that led to the colonization of africa by the europeans. In all three regions, minority parties represented the special interests of ethnic groups, especially as they were affected by the majority. Robin Hermann, "Empire Builders and Mushroom Gentlemen: The Meaning of Money in Colonial Nigeria". Facebook Instagram Email. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1991. This was a case of plenty harvest but few hands to cultivate. 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. [42], The British had difficulty conquering Igboland, which lacked a central political organisation. Ken Swindell, "The Commercial Development of the North: Company and Government Relations, 19001906". After the Berlin Conference of 1884, Britain announced the formation of the Oil Rivers Protectorate, which included the Niger Delta and extended eastward to Calabar, where the British Consulate General was relocated from Fernando Po. The legitimate trade in commodities attracted a number of British merchants to the Niger River, as well as some men who had been formerly engaged in the slave trade but who now changed their line of wares. 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. In November 1908, Bergheim reported striking oil; in September 1909, he reported extracting 2,000 barrels per day. France sold Louisiana to the United States in 1803, the same year that it gave up on trying to regain Saint-Domingue from the Haitian Revolution. Some African Christian communities formed their own independent churches. Davies and Nnamdi Azikiwe. Significantly, Macauley's NNDP remained almost entirely a Lagos party, popular only in the area whose people already had experience in elective politics. Many of the slaves exported in the 1820s and 30s were intercepted by the ships of the Royal Navy, emancipated, and deposited in Sierra Leone under missionary tutelage. In April 1927, the British colonial government in Nigeria took measures to enforce the Native Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance. The rapid growth of organised labour in the 1940s also brought new political forces into play. tamko building products ownership; 30 Junio, 2022; factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria . It backed Yoruba irredentism in the Fulani-ruled emirate of Ilorin in the Northern Region, and separatist movements among non-Igbo in the Eastern Region. 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. Alienated by the anonymity of the urban environment and drawn together by ties to their ethnic homelandsas well as by the need for mutual aidthe new city dwellers formed local clubs that later expanded into federations covering whole regions. 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 the immediate post-World War II period, Nigeria benefited from a favourable trade balance. In May of this year, Herbert J. Catholic missionaries were particularly active among the Igbo; the CMS worked among the Yoruba. Additionally. The Colonial Office could veto or revise his policies. Britain annexed Lagos in 1861 and established the Oil River Protectorate in 1884. [36], The company, as was common among European businesses in Africa, paid its native workers in barter. [25][n 1], The missionaries gained in power throughout the 1800s. It was British colonialism which was the ultimate cause of the war . 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. In February 1961, a plebiscite was conducted to determine the disposition of the Southern Cameroons and Northern Cameroons, which were administered by Britain as United Nations Trust Territories. Macbeth) in the essay title portion of your citation. 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. The protectorate was organised to control and develop trade coming down the Niger. Missionary forces demanded prohibition of liquor, which proved highly unpopular. 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. Progressive constitutions after World War II provided for increasing representation and electoral government by Nigerians. [21], Whether British conquest of Nigeria resulted from a benevolent motive to end slavery or more instrumental motives of wealth and power, remains a topic of dispute between African and European historians. Colonial official A. J. Harding commented in 1913: Sir F. Lugard's proposal contemplates a state which it is impossible to classify. In 1920, portions of former German Cameroon were mandated to Britain by the League of Nations and were administered as part of Nigeria. It soon gained a virtual monopoly over trade along the River[11]. 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. 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 British colonial agricultural and industrial policies in Nigeria have implications for the country's economic advancement. In 1946 a new constitution was approved by the British Parliament at Westminster and promulgated in Nigeria. A spokeswoman for Austria's Weltmuseum Wien acknowledges 13 of its 173 Benin Bronzes "have been linked definitively to the British invasion" though eight were acquired in the 16th century . While they all shared a desire for wealth and power, their motivations for colonization differed somewhat, and thus the pattern and success of their colonies varied significantly. Alan Lennox-Boyd, M.P., the British Secretary of State for the Colonies. [40] By 1893, most of the other political entities in Yorubaland recognised the practical necessity of signing another treaty with the British, this one explicitly joining them with the protectorate of Lagos. In 1850, the British created a "Court of Equity" at Bonny, overseen by Beecroft, which would deal with trade disputes. The Ekumeku, however, became a great source of Igbo nationalism. The first missions were opened by the Church of England's Church Missionary Society (CMS). The British were not yet willing to assume the expense of maintaining an administration in Nigeria. A revelatory account of British imperialism's shameful impact on Africa's most populous state. In one year, Lugard recruited 2600 troops, evenly split between Hausa and Yoruba. Borno capitulated without a fight, but in 1903 Lugard's RWAFF mounted assaults on Kano and Sokoto. The mud-walled city of Kano was captured in February, and, after a vigorous skirmish at Kotorkwashi, the sultans capital, Sokoto, fell the next month. The boundaries of the two protectorates and the territories of the Royal Niger Company were difficult to define, but the tension was eased in 1894 when both entities were merged into the Niger Coast Protectorate. 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. Several churches were built to serve the Edo community and a small number of African converts. British and French traders did a large share of this business until 1807 when they were replaced by the Portuguese and the Spaniards. If adopted, his proposals can hardly be a permanent solution and I gather that Sir F. Lugard only regards them as temporaryat any rate in part. The British finalized the border between Nigeria and French West Africa with the Anglo-French Convention of 1898. This rate rose to 20,000 per year in the last quarter of the century. If an eye is kept on the Gazettes as they come in this will enable us to warn him of any objections we may entertain to legislative proposals, and also give Liverpool and Manchester an opportunity of voicing their objections. 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. 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. But by providing for comparable regional governments exercising broad legislative powers, which could not be overridden by the newly established 185-seat federal House of Representatives, the Macpherson Constitution also gave a significant boost to regionalism. 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. There were three main factors that contributed to the European colonization Africa which were, political, social, and economic. Other European powers acknowledged Britain's dominance over the area in the 1885 Berlin Conference. In German East Africa, Britain took over Tangayika while Ruanda-Urundi possessions were given to Belgium. Falola, Toyin, Ann Genova, and Matthew M. Heaton. (Specifically it would enable direct subsidy of the less profitable Northern jurisdiction.) During World War II, three battalions of the Nigeria Regiment fought against Fascist Italy in the Ethiopian campaign. At first, the trade centered around West Central Africa, now the Congo. The decrease in trade indirectly led to the collapse of states like the Edo Empire. At the same time it is feasible by degrees to bring them gradually into approximation with our ideas of justice and humanity. It is not a personal union of separate colonies under the same Governor like the Windwards, it is not a Confederation of States. 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. Although realistic in its assessment of the situation in Nigeria, the Richards Constitution undoubtedly intensified regionalism as an alternative to political unification. In some instances, however, a double allegianceto the idea of sacred monarchy for its symbolic value and to modern concepts of law and administrationwas maintained. [73] An estimated 500,000 Nigerians would lose their lives due to the pandemic, severely decreasing production capabilities on Nigerian farms and plantations. The Action Group was largely the creation of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, General Secretary of Egbe Omo Oduduwa and leader of the Nigerian Produce Traders' Association. 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. At the same time, British scientists were interested in exploring the course and related settlements along the Niger River. The small contingent of northerners who had been educated abroada group that included Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and Aminu Kanowas allied with British-backed efforts to introduce gradual change to the emirates. The huge African continent (three times the size of the continental United States) was particularly vulnerable to European conquest. As a practice, colonialism is traced to the1854 and 1855 conference at Berlin in Germany. In 1851 deposed king Akintoye of Lagos sought British help in restoring him to the throne. mitchelville beach house. It was supported not only by the income from huge agricultural surpluses but also by a new range of direct and indirect taxes imposed during the 1950s.

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factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria