factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria

The incidence of slavery in local societies increased. Azikiwe had less interest in purely Nigerian goals than did Davies, a student of Harold Laski at the London School of Economics, whose political orientation was considered left-wing. 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. 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. 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. Although the capital was not moved, Lugard's bias in favour of the Muslim north was clear at the time. For example, many people in Ibadan opposed Awolowo on personal grounds because of his identification with the Ijebu Yoruba. Adam Smith wrote in 1776 that the African societies were better established and more populous than those of the Americas, thus creating a more formidable barrier to European expansion. [63], The Protectorate was centrally administered by the Colonial Civil Service, staffed by Britons and Africans called the British Native Staffmany of whom originated from outside the territory. At the same time, British scientists were interested in exploring the course and related settlements along the Niger River. African Resistance to European Imperialism: Conflicts & Impact These policies met with ongoing resistance. It was colonized by the British in 1884 and the colony is established at the Berlin conference which divides Africa by European powers. [45], A campaign against the Sokoto Caliphate began in 1900 with the creation of the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria, under the direction of Governor Lugard. One of the factors that contributed to the success of indirect rule in Northern Nigeria was the use of the existing traditional system of administration. The Reconquista, or reconquest, refers to the 800 years of violence and expulsion of Muslims from the Iberian Peninsula after the failed Crusades. While initially organised for professional and fraternal reasons, these were centres of educated people who had chances to develop their leadership skills in the organisations, as well as form broad social networks. [17] Much of this oil was sold elsewhere in the British Empire. Combining the three jurisdictions would reduce administrative expenses and facilitate deployment of resources and money between the areas. They noticed something odd about the local fishermen and asked to come ashore. The Northern People's Congress (NPC) was organised in the late 1940s by a small group of Western-educated Northern Nigerians. it was on that faithful day, 1 st January 1914 that the David Ellis, "African and European relations in the last century of the transatlantic slave trade"; in Ptr-Grenouilleau. 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. "The Hidden Hand of Overrule: Political Agents and the Establishment of British Colonial Rule in Northern Nigeria, 18861914". 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. 1. Some were deposed, some were defeated in battle, and others collaborated. The war was driven by the commercial and imperial rivalry between Britain and France, and by the antagonism between Prussia (allied to Britain) and Austria (allied to France). The Norman conquest in 1066 was the last successful conquest of England. [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. [16] Starting in 1740, the British were the primary European slave trafficker from this area. factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria. 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. From Conquest to Independence: the Nigerian Colonial Experience PhD dissertation accepted at the Graduate Programme in History, York University, Ontario. Alan Lennox-Boyd, M.P., the British Secretary of State for the Colonies. Lugard, replacing Egerton as Governor, aborted the project in May 1913. 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. Afeadie, "The Hidden Hand of Overrule" (1996), p. 1315. 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. The nationalism that became a political factor in Nigeria during the interwar period derived both from an older political particularism and broad pan-Africanism, rather than from any sense among the people of a common Nigerian nationality. 12 tribes of israel family tree; why did poseidon often adopt the shape of a steed. [73] The spread of the disease was quick and deadly, with an estimated 1.5% of the population of Lagos falling victim. In 1957, the Western and the Eastern regions became formally self-governing under the parliamentary system. British soap and cosmetics manufacturers tried to obtain land concessions for growing oil palms, but these were refused. The Igbo redirected slaves into the domestic economy, especially to grow the staple food crop, yams, in northern Igboland for marketing throughout the palm-tree belt. To establish settled government in the newly won districts; To improve and extend native footpaths throughout the country; To construct properly graded roads in the more populated districts; To clear the numerous rivers in the country and make them suitable for launch and canoe traffic; and. The 1922 constitution provided Nigerians with the chance to elect a handful of representatives to the Legislative Council. Taxes became a source of discontent in the south, however, and contributed to disturbances protesting British policy. 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. African nationalism attempted to transform the identity of Africans. 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. The neglect of traditional institutions. [73] An estimated 500,000 Nigerians would lose their lives due to the pandemic, severely decreasing production capabilities on Nigerian farms and plantations. Broadening political participation and expanding educational opportunities and other social services also were viewed as threats to the status quo. In the north many emirates did not take military action, but the deposed caliph, Atahiru I, rebelled in 1903. factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria On a subsequent expedition to the Sokoto Caliphate, Scottish explorer Hugh Clapperton learned about the mouth of the Niger River, and where it reached the sea, but after suffering malaria, depression and dysentery, he died before confirming it. The government was responsible to a Parliament composed of the popularly elected 312-member House of Representatives and the 44-member Senate, chosen by the regional legislatures. [72] In the south, he saw the possibility of building an elite educated in schools modelled on a European method (and numerous elite children attended high-ranking colleges in Britain during the colonial years). The British and the French fought the Carnatic Wars, which the British won decisively - making the British the foremost colonial power. The British Conquest and Resistance of Sokoto Caliphate, 18971903 Afeadie, "The Hidden Hand of Overrule" (1996), p. 1012. 1) Lack of British Personnel: Obviously Nigeria was not the only West African country colonized by the British, other countries like Ghana, Sierra-Leone and The Gambia were part of the British colonies. [11], The British led a series of military campaigns to enlarge its sphere of influence and expand its commercial opportunities. By 1903 the conquest of the emirates was complete. British are not always carriers of high economic freedom (see Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Bangladesh, and Nigeria). A.J. During the war, union membership increased sixfold to 30,000. Stealing Africa: How Britain looted the continent's art Beecroft agreed on condition that the slave trade be abolished, and British merchants have a monopoly in commodities. To start with, European nations were motivated by economic factors arising from the industrial revolution which started in Britain and extended to other European countries such as Belgium, France and Germany (Hochschild, 158).They wanted cheaper mineral resources for their home industries claiming that resources were abundant in Africa for British colonialism created Nigeria, joining diverse peoples and regions in an artificial political entity along the Niger River. The country was divided politically, lacking European rivals, and no sense of national unity. factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria. 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. Local rulers continued to administer their territories, but consular authorities assumed jurisdiction for the equity courts established earlier by the foreign mercantile communities. This led to protests known as Women's War. [] They needed special personnel: such officials who knew the local conditions and who could communicate between the Company and the indigenous people. The British turned to Persia for oil.[83]. 0 Wishlist. British expansion accelerated in the last decades of the nineteenth century. Regional administrations also varied widely in the quality of local personnel and in the scope of the operations they were willing to undertake. The British finalized the border between Nigeria and French West Africa with the Anglo-French Convention of 1898. mitchelville beach house. Catholic missionaries were particularly active among the Igbo; the CMS worked among the Yoruba. With this victory, the British went on to conquer the rest of Yorubaland, which had also been weakened by sixteen years of civil war. 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. Afeadie, "The Hidden Hand of Overrule" (1996), p. 1213. 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. As before, Aro merchants dominated trade in the hinterland, including palm products to the coast and the sale of slaves within Igboland. [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 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. To . British Colonize Nigeria Essay - 979 Words | Bartleby Animosity, Amnesia, or Admiration? Mass Opinion Around the World Toward 2. A revelatory account of British imperialism's shameful impact on Africa's most populous state. [37] Economically, local colonial administrators also pushed for the imposition of British colonial rule, believing that trade and taxation conducted in British pounds would prove far more lucrative than a barter trade which yielded only inconsistent customs duties. 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 Missionary forces demanded prohibition of liquor, which proved highly unpopular. Despite conquering villages by burning houses and crops, continual political control over the Igbo remained elusive. Balewa formed a coalition government that included the Action Group as well as the NCNC to prepare the country for the final British withdrawal. 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. European Conquest and Colonization of Africa - 1504 Words | Critical 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. Most Europeans tended to overlook their own differences and were surprised and shocked that Nigerians wanted to develop new denominations independent of European control. Otherwise, the Governor-General's office was essentially ceremonial. He was prepared to introduce educational and economic changes to strengthen the north. A third of the people associated with an 1842 riverine expedition died. Other European powers acknowledged Britain's dominance over the area in the 1885 Berlin Conference. Islam reached Nigeria through the Bornu Empire . E-mail: tundeoduwobi@yahoo.com Recibido: 15 Marzo 2011 / Revisado: 7 Abril 2011 / Aceptado: 17 Abril . 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. 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. 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. PDF THE IMPLIATIONS OF RITISH OLONIAL EONOMI POLIIES ON NIGERIA'S - garph Joining the Royal Niger Company in 1894, Lugard was sent to Borgu to counter inroads made by the French, and in 1897 he was made responsible for raising the Royal West African Frontier Force (RWAFF) from local levies to serve under British officers. The Ekumeku, however, became a great source of Igbo nationalism. Great Britain was the leaders at this time in colonizing the land filled with rich natural recourses. [54] Olivier was a member of the Fabian Society and a friend of George Bernard Shaw. In 1907, the corporation received a loan of 25,000, repayable upon discovery of oil. However, development of the Nigerian oilfields slowed when Bergheim died in a car crash in September 1912. Lagos became a major slave port in the late 1700s and into the 1850s. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Final Conquest Verse By Verse Study of The Book Revelation DVD Robert Jeffress at the best online prices at eBay! NEPU formed a parliamentary alliance with the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC). PDF BRITISH CONQUEST, COLONIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION IN NIGERIA - ResearchGate Public works, such as harbour dredging and road and railway construction, opened Nigeria to economic development. The council was promoted as a device for allowing the expression of opinions that could instruct the Governor-General. Order. factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria There were three main factors that contributed to the European colonization Africa which were, political, social, and economic. All these things which I have said the Fulani by conquest took the right to do now pass to the British. French in West Africa - University of Pennsylvania 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 goal of activists initially was not self-determination, but increased participation on a regional level in the governmental process. The British Conquest State (Chapter 3) - A History of Zimbabwe In practice, Lugard used the annual sessions to inform the traditional rulers of British policy, leaving them with no functions at the council's meetings except to listen and to assent. [35] However, the company did accept that local kings could act as partners in governance and trade. The Delta streams were called "oil rivers". It represented a substantial element of reformism in the North. The British colonial agricultural and industrial policies in Nigeria have implications for the country's economic advancement. These include the fact that military conscription (draft) of numerous African colonial subjects into European armies generated great amounts of anger. The NPC captured 142 seats in the new legislature. A chief of Bonny in 1860 explained that he refused a British treaty due to the tendency to "induce the Chiefs to sign a treaty whose meaning they did not understand, and then seize upon the country".[14]. [73], Due to the failure of the sanitation officers in Lagos, the virus would continue to spread throughout the southern provinces throughout September and finally make its way into the hinterlands by October. 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. Africans come from Africa. The huge African continent (three times the size of the continental United States) was particularly vulnerable to European conquest. 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. While each generated considerable political controversy, they moved the country toward greater internal autonomy, with an increasing role for the political parties. Subsequent revisions contained in the Lyttleton Constitution, enacted in 1954, firmly established the federal principle and paved the way for independence. The Governor-General represented the British monarch as head of state and was appointed by the Crown on the advice of the Nigerian prime minister in consultation with the regional premiers. The most striking departure was in the Northern Region, where special provisions brought the regional constitution into consonance with Islamic law and custom. Officials of the Sokoto Caliphate considered these treaties quite differently; from their perspective, the British were granted only extraterritorial rights that did not prevent similar arrangements with the Germans and the French and certainly did not surrender sovereignty. Gradually, however, the trade forced major economic and social changes in the interior, although it hardly undermined slavery and the slave trade. After the defection of Kano, the only significant disagreement within the NPC was related to moderates. 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. The principal figure in the political activity that ensued was Herbert Macauley, often referred to as the father of Nigerian nationalism. The Royal Niger Company had its own armed forces. Under Lugard from 1900 to 1906, the Protectorate consolidated political control over the area through military conquest and initiated the use of British currency in substitute for barter. 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. Palm oil was used locally for cooking, the kernels were a source for food, trees were tapped for palm wine, and the fronds were used for building material. In contrast, the British pursued comparatively limited settlement and institutional transformation in the more populous and more politically and economically developed preco-lonial areas. (Specifically it would enable direct subsidy of the less profitable Northern jurisdiction.) The Industrial Revolution was a period of scientific and technological development in the 18th century that transformed largely rural, agrarian societiesespecially in Europe and North America . They selected an increasingly high proportion of African clergy for the missions. The economy suffered from the decline in the slave trade, although considerable smuggling of slaves to the Americas continued for years afterward. Events Leading to the Scramble for Africa - ThoughtCo tamko building products ownership; 30 Junio, 2022; factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria . 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. The most dramatic event having a long-term effect on Nigeria's economic development was the discovery and exploitation of petroleum deposits. Du Bois. This made the British win key battles all over the East Coast, as they effectively grabbed control. [51], Guidelines for running the Nigerian colony were established in 1898 by the Niger Committee, chaired by the Earl of Selborne, in 1898. The primary motives of European explorers were economic. factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria Final Conquest Verse By Verse Study of The Book Revelation DVD Robert Independence was achieved on 1 October 1960. The basic economic units in each town were "houses", family-operated entities that engendered loyalty for its employees. Britain withdrew from the slave trade when it was the major transporter of slaves to the Americas. What Were the Effects of the British Taking Over Africa? - The Classroom One 1885 treaty read: We, the undersigned King and Chiefs [] with the view to the bettering of the condition of our country and people, do this day cede to the National Africa Company (Limited), their heirs and assigns, forever, the whole of our territory [] We also give the said National African Company (Limited) full power to settle all native disputes arising from any cause whatever, and we pledge ourselves not to enter into any war with other tribes without the sanction of the said National Africa Company (Limited). 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. By demonstrating the heavy reliance on West African soldiers for the 'European' conduct of the Great War campaign in the region, it shows how West Africans helped determine the outcome of war in the region. Most of the fighting was done by Hausa soldiers, recruited to fight against other groups. In 1905, the colonial government divided Bengal into Hindu and Muslim sections; this division was revoked after strong protests. Its final leg enabled it to meet another line, constructed 19071911, running from Baro, through Minnia, to Kano. Nigeria (Sokoto Caliphate inclusive) fell prey to the attacks. It soon gained a virtual monopoly over trade along the River[11]. September 1996. A Hurst Publication. In May of this year, Herbert J. From 1886 to 1899, much of the country was ruled by the Royal Niger Company, authorised by charter, and governed by George Taubman Goldie. [61], The task of unification was achieved on the eve of World War I. Direct taxation on men was introduced in 1928 without major incidents. Nigeria: From Colonization To Decolonization | Afrolady Is 70k A Good Salary In San Francisco, Articles F