The movement brought to public notice a long list of future leaders, including H.O. 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 time, they built depots onshore and eventually moved up the Niger River to establish stations in the interior. 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 Colonial Civil Service used intermediaries, as the Royal Niger Company had, in an expanded role which included diplomacy, propaganda and espionage. By an overwhelming majority, voters in the Southern Cameroons opted to join formerly French-administered Cameroon over integration with Nigeria as a separate federated region. factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria Offers a bold rethink: a clear-eyed, unromanticized history of colonial Nigeria written by a Nigerian. PDF BRITISH CONQUEST, COLONIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION IN NIGERIA - ResearchGate The company's major imports to the area included gin and low-quality firearms. Significantly, the regional governments controlled public expenditures derived from revenues raised within each region. 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. Siollun concludes with what he calls "the mistake of 1914": his view that the British resolution to join their northern and southern protectorates into one poorly integrated colony constitutes the single most consequential decision of colonial rule in Nigeria. Antrobus, Fiddes and Strachey in the Colonial Office promoted amalgamation, along with Lugard. From 1886 to 1899, much of the country was ruled by the Royal Niger Company, authorised by charter, and governed by George Taubman Goldie. [64], Each region also had a Native Administration, staffed by locals, and possessing a Native Treasury. A.J. Earlier elements related to this were its founding of the Sierra Leone Colony in 1787 as a refuge for freed slaves, the independent missionary movement intended to bring Christianity to the Edo Kingdom, and programs of exploration sponsored by learned societies and scientific groups, such as the London-based African Association. In quick order, a large British military forcedeemed the Punitive Expeditionwas assembled, and on February 18, they arrived in Benin City under orders to invade and conquer it. [38][39], In 1892 the British Armed Forces set out to fight the Ijebu Kingdom, which had resisted missionaries and foreign traders. The Mad Rush Into Africa in the Early 1880s Within just 20 years, the political face of Africa had changed, with only Liberia (a colony run by formerly enslaved African Americans) and Ethiopia remaining free of European control . David Richardson, "Background to annexation: Anglo-African credit relations in the Bight of Biafra, 17001891"; in Ptr-Grenouilleau. factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria But in the 1700s, the Bight of Benin (also known as the Slave Coast) became the next most important hub. After the defection of Kano, the only significant disagreement within the NPC was related to moderates. What Were the Effects of the British Taking Over Africa? - The Classroom Lugard, replacing Egerton as Governor, aborted the project in May 1913. factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria 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. In the meantime, public sector spending increased even more dramatically than export earnings. Missionaries were active: Presbyterians in Calabar and the Church Missionary Society (CMS), Methodists, and Baptists in Lagos, Abeokuta, Ibadan, Oyo, and Ogbomoso. The Crusades and the Reconquista cemented religious intolerance, and the Christians looked to colonization partly as a means of continuing religious conquests. The emirs gave support to limited modernization largely from fears of the unsettling presence of southerners in the north, and by observing the improvements in living conditions in the South. 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 British also created "divide and rule" policies, pitting Hindu and Muslim Indians against one another. Total revenues of central and regional governments nearly doubled in relation to the gross domestic product during the decade. There were some specific outcomes and impacts for Africans as a result of WWI. Colonial official A. J. Harding commented in 1913: Sir F. Lugard's proposal contemplates a state which it is impossible to classify. 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. [46] Lugard was slow to describe these excursions to the Colonial Office, which apparently learned of preparations to attack Kano from the newspapers in December 1902. Goods were made available on credit to African middlemen, who were expected to trade them at a pre-arranged price and deliver the proceeds to the company. Three of these posts were assigned to representatives from each region, and one was reserved for a delegate from the Northern Cameroons. 1 Economic Motives. It made anti-slavery treaties with West African powers, which it enforced militarily with the blockade of Africa. [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. History of the British Takeover of Nigeria - U.OSU In the long term, the acceptance of Christianity by large numbers of Nigerians depended on the various denominations adapting to local conditions. 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 the 1850s, quinine had been found to combat malaria, and aided by the medicine, a Liverpool merchant, Macgregor Laird, opened the river. Nigeria - The arrival of the British | Britannica European interpretations of Christian orthodoxy in some cases refused to allow the incorporation of local customs and practices, although the various mission denominations interpreted Christianity in different ways. Unification meant only the loose affiliation of three distinct regional administrations into which Nigeria was subdividedNorthern, Western and Eastern regions. 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. Its program reflected greater planning and was more ideologically oriented than that of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons. The National Youth Movement used nationalist rhetoric to agitate for improvements in education. Clifford also believed that indirect rule encouraged centripetal tendencies. 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. [61], The task of unification was achieved on the eve of World War I. These included the decline of the Mughal Empire. African nationalism attempted to transform the identity of Africans. Lagos was the first part of Nigeria to be conquered and declare a British colony in 1861. Britain also annexed Freetown in Sierra Leone, declaring it a Crown Colony in 1808.[20]. The factors that led to the colonization of africa by the europeans. The superior weapons, tactics and political unity of the British are commonly given as reasons for their decisive ultimate victory. [51], Guidelines for running the Nigerian colony were established in 1898 by the Niger Committee, chaired by the Earl of Selborne, in 1898. Some African Christian communities formed their own independent churches. There was virtually no pressure for greater unity among the regions until after the end of World War II. The most dramatic event having a long-term effect on Nigeria's economic development was the discovery and exploitation of petroleum deposits. These recourses were considered a necessity to the industrialization of the world . Some were deposed, some were defeated in battle, and others collaborated. Some of them began to migrate back from Sierra Leone in search of home and trade. From Lugard's point of view, clear-cut military victories were necessary because the surrenders of the defeated peoples weakened resistance elsewhere. They never were able to elect sizeable legislative delegations, but they served as a means of public expression for minority concerns. With these events, the daily routines of the royal court were . Hon. speedo sectionals 2022 texas info@hebasanmakine.com on it burgers ferntree gully closed +90 224 371 29 30 PhD dissertation accepted at the Graduate Programme in History, York University, Ontario. The Lander brothers were seized by slave traders in the interior and sold down the river to a waiting European ship. The emirs retained their caliphate titles but were responsible to British district officers, who had final authority. His government guided the country for the next three years, operating with almost complete autonomy in internal affairs. The incidence of slavery in local societies increased. At the urging of Governor Frederick Lugard, the two territories were amalgamated as the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria, while maintaining considerable regional autonomy among the three major regions (Northern protectorate, Southern protectorate and the Colony of Lagos). British are not always carriers of high economic freedom (see Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Bangladesh, and Nigeria). 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. 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. [] These intermediaries assisted government diplomacy and helped to establish and maintain relations between the company and the traditional rulers. 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. In an economy with many qualified applicants for every post, great resentment was generated by any favouritism that authorities showed to members of their own ethnic group. During World War II, Awolowo reorganized it as a predominantly Yoruba political party, the Action Group. 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. Although this trade grew to significant proportionspalm oil exports alone were worth 1 billion a year by 1840it was concentrated near the coast, where palm trees grew in abundance. Solicitar ms informacin: 310-2409701 | administracion@consultoresayc.co. 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. Imperialism and the Conquest and Colonization of Africa by Europeans 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". The Colonial Office approved most of Lugard's plan, but balked at authorising him to pass laws without their approval. Nigeria (Sokoto Caliphate inclusive) fell prey to the attacks. 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 Additionally. The so-called Macpherson Constitution, after the incumbent Governor-General John Stuart Macpherson, went into effect the following year. The political parties jockeyed for positions of power in anticipation of the independence of Nigeria. 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. [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. 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. It was replaced by a new coalition government led by David Lloyd George featuring Conservatives and Lloyd George's supporters in the Liberal Party, while Asquith and the remainder of the Liberals entered opposition.[69]. [31], In 1891, the consulate established the Niger Coast Protectorate Force or "Oil Rivers Irregulars".[32]. England would forever be changed politically, economically, and socially as a result. What Were Reasons for European Exploration of the Americas? Aside from the possibility of treasure, the European governments aimed to find a passage through the Americas to Asia. 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. In practice, British administrative procedures under indirect rule entailed constant interaction between colonial authorities and local rulersthe system was modified to fit the needs of each region. 1821 - Sierra Leone, Gambia and the Gold Coast form British West Africa. 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. Accordingly, as the volume of trade increased, merchants requested that the Government of the United Kingdom appoint a consul to cover the region. factors that led to the british conquest of nigeriaannalise mahanes height. Nigeria: From Colonization To Decolonization | Afrolady In the south the British had to fight many wars, in particular the wars against the Ijebu (a Yoruba group) in 1892, the Aro of eastern Igboland, and, until 1914, the Aniocha of western Igboland. The Anglicans and other religious groups had a conscious "native church" policy to develop indigenous ecclesiastical institutions to become independent of Europeans. However, the British East India Company was able to lay the foundation of an empire in the Indian sub-continent because, from a British perspective, of a fortuitous series of circumstances. West Africa | International Encyclopedia of the First World War (WW1) Though the Europeans possess many considerable settlements both upon the coast of Africa and in the East Indies, they have not yet established in either of those countries such numerous and thriving colonies as those in the islands and continent of America. Another court was established in 1856 at Calabar, based on an agreement with local Efik traders which prohibited them from interfering with British merchants. In 1794, the African Association in Great Britain commissioned Mungo Park, an intrepid Scottish physician and naturalist, to search for the headwaters of the Niger and follow the river downstream. Colonial Lagos was a busy, cosmopolitan port. [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 British colonial agricultural and industrial policies in Nigeria have implications for the country's economic advancement. 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. Davies and Nnamdi Azikiwe. Consequently, in 1849, John Beecroft was accredited as consul for the bights of Benin and Biafra, a jurisdiction stretching from Dahomey to Cameroon. mitchelville beach house. The most striking departure was in the Northern Region, where special provisions brought the regional constitution into consonance with Islamic law and custom. European Conquest and Colonization of Africa - 1504 Words | Critical The Nigerian Civil War is also known as the Nigerian-Biafran war and took place between July 1967 and January 1970. The racial discriminatory tendencies of the Europeans to Nigerians. Between them, the French and the British had purchased a majority of the slaves sold from the ports of Edo. Ouidah (now part of Benin) and Lagos were the major ports on the coast. Local leaders, cognizant of the situation in the West Indies, India, and elsewhere, recognised the risks of British expansion. It was British colonialism which was the ultimate cause of the war . The Sokoto jihad and the Yoruba wars stimulated the slave trade at a time when the British were actively trying to stop it. In 1805, he set out on a second expedition, sponsored by the British Government, to follow the Niger to the sea. The Delta streams were called "oil rivers". Most of the fighting was done by Hausa soldiers, recruited to fight against other groups. In consideration of the foregoing, the said National African Company (Limited) bind themselves not to interfere with any of the native laws or customs of the country, consistently with the maintenance of order and good government [and] agree to pay native owners of land a reasonable amount for any portion they may require. 2. 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. The NPC continued to represent the interests of the traditional order in the pre-independence deliberations. Borno capitulated without a fight, but in 1903 Lugard's RWAFF mounted assaults on Kano and Sokoto. 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 basic economic units in each town were "houses", family-operated entities that engendered loyalty for its employees. Empty cart. [59], Following the order recommended by the Niger Committee, the Colonial Office merged Lagos Colony and the Southern Nigeria Protectorate on 1 May 1906, forming a larger protectorate (still called the Southern Nigeria Protectorate) which spanned the coastline between Dahomey and Cameroon. By 1903 the conquest of the emirates was complete. For example, many people in Ibadan opposed Awolowo on personal grounds because of his identification with the Ijebu Yoruba. Recovery came quickly and improvements in port facilities and the transportation infrastructure during World War I furthered economic development. It was suspended in 1950 against a call for greater autonomy, which resulted in an inter-parliamentary conference at Ibadan in 1950. Protestant sects had flourished in Christianity since the Protestant Reformation; the emergence of independent Christian churches in Nigeria (as of black denominations in the United States) was another phase of this history. In all three regions, minority parties represented the special interests of ethnic groups, especially as they were affected by the majority. At the same time it is feasible by degrees to bring them gradually into approximation with our ideas of justice and humanity. Agents also collected intelligence for the colonial officials; they gathered information on public opinion and the military resources of the local polities; they also spied on rival colonial forces in foreign territories. 4. Under the Political Department of the Civil Service were Residents and District Officers, responsible for overseeing operations in each region. These seven factors led to the development of the slave trade: The importance of the West Indian colonies The shortage of labour The. factors that led to the british conquest of nigeriaturkish airlines flight 981 victims. The Nigeria Regiment of the RWAFF, integrating troops from the north and south, saw action against German colonial forces in Cameroon and in German East Africa. Nigerian units also contributed to two divisions serving with British forces in Palestine, Morocco, Sicily and Burma, where they won many honours. British Colonize Nigeria Essay - 979 Words | Bartleby Critics, including representatives of the Middle Belt who resented Muslim domination, were relegated to small, peripheral parties or to inconsequential separatist movements.[85]. This made the British win key battles all over the East Coast, as they effectively grabbed control. There were three main factors that contributed to the European colonization Africa which were, political, social, and economic.