factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria

[25][n 1], The missionaries gained in power throughout the 1800s. An example was that at Onitsha, where they could bargain directly with local suppliers and purchase products likely to turn a profit. Independent Christian churches had emerged at the end of the nineteenth century. The Ekumeku, however, became a great source of Igbo nationalism. Dike, K. O. [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. His government guided the country for the next three years, operating with almost complete autonomy in internal affairs. French Roman Catholic missionaries, established in Ouidah (Whydah), arrived in Lagos and considered missionary work on the Niger. He was aware that the Muslim north would present problems, but he had hopes for progress along the lines which he laid down in the south, where he anticipated "general emancipation" leading to a more representative form of government. This article examines the deployment of West African soldiers for military service in West Africa, including the manner of mobilization and recruitment. European traders in Nigeria initially made widespread use of the cowrie, which was already valued locally. [38][39], In 1892 the British Armed Forces set out to fight the Ijebu Kingdom, which had resisted missionaries and foreign traders. 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. The choice of political elite at the time of independence can also explain these differences. [9] Administration and military control of the territory was conducted primarily by white Britons, both in London and in Nigeria. We also understand that the said National African Company (limited) have full power to mine, farm, and build in any portion of our territory. British staffs in each region continued to operate according to procedures developed before unification. So, how did Europeans end up in Africa? Its effects are still widely felt up till today. The supply of precious metals was finite, and monarchs hoped to find large deposits of gold and silver in the Americas. In 1950 Aminu Kano, who had been instrumental in founding the NPC, broke away to form the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU), in protest against the NPC's limited objectives and what he regarded as a vain hope that traditional rulers would accept modernization. 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. Native Administration was responsible for police, hospitals, public works and local courts. At first, they lived in small family groups, but gradually these groups developed into a. [57], From 1895 to 1900, a railway was constructed running from Lagos to Ibadan; it opened in March 1901. [75] The colonial government was not equipped nor ready in general for such a situation. British colonialism led to the spread of the English language in Africa, and many former British colonies still maintain English as an official language. In the Bight of Biafra, the major ports were Old Calabar (Akwa Akpa), Bonny and New Calabar. The 1922 constitution provided Nigerians with the chance to elect a handful of representatives to the Legislative Council. [73] In direct reaction to the epidemic, colonial authorities allowed African doctors and medical personnel to work with influenza patients due to the severity of the situation. In 1907, the corporation received a loan of 25,000, repayable upon discovery of oil. Summary of course material Economic freedom in Muslim countries an It was a relatively simple adjustment for many Igbo families to transport the oil to rivers and streams that led to the Niger Delta for sale to European merchants. 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. rockin' the west coast prayer group; easy bulky sweater knitting pattern. When direct Portuguese contacts in the region were withdrawn, however, the influence of the Catholic missionaries waned. Political opposition to colonial rule often assumed religious dimensions. June 30, 2022 . From 1886 to 1899, much of the country was ruled by the Royal Niger Company, authorised by charter, and governed by George Taubman Goldie. 2. British soap and cosmetics manufacturers tried to obtain land concessions for growing oil palms, but these were refused. Great Britain was the leaders at this time in colonizing the land filled with rich natural recourses. 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. 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. 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. Egypt) and titles (e.g. Colonialism and Development: A Comparative Analysis of Spanish and In the 1870s, therefore, George Taubman Goldie began amalgamating companies into the United African Company, soon renamed the National African Company. L'indpendance du. Therefore, other factors exist to explain the institutional design. What are the factors that attracted the British to conquer India Otherwise, the Governor-General's office was essentially ceremonial. The Resident also oversaw a Provincial Court at the region's capital. SLAVE TRADE - Central Connecticut State University The Royal Navy bombarded Lagos in November 1851, ousted the pro-slavery Oba Kosoko and established a treaty with the newly installed Oba Akintoye, who was expectedly more amenable to British interests. Thus Spain and Portugal set up colonies in Central and South America after it was discovered by Columbus. Crowther was succeeded as bishop by a British cleric. During the war, the colonial government earmarked a large portion of the Nigerian budget as a contribution to imperial defence. 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. 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. 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. The British and the French fought the Carnatic Wars, which the British won decisively - making the British the foremost colonial power. These were the Agent-General, the Senior Judicial Officer, and the Commandant of the Constabulary. It soon gained a virtual monopoly over trade along the River[11]. These seven factors led to the development of the slave trade: The importance of the West Indian colonies The shortage of labour The. The Niger Delta and Calabar, which once had been known for the export of slaves, became notable for the export of palm oil. Some of them also manned Company stations and served as District Agents.". 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. Slaves formerly had been traded for European goods, especially guns and gunpowder, but now the British encouraged trade in palm oil in the Niger delta states, ostensibly to replace the trade in slaves. It was suspended in 1950 against a call for greater autonomy, which resulted in an inter-parliamentary conference at Ibadan in 1950. Although it reserved effective power in the hands of the Governor-General and his appointed Executive Council, the so-called Richards Constitution (after Governor-General Sir Arthur Richards, who was responsible for its formulation) provided for an expanded Legislative Council empowered to deliberate on matters affecting the whole country. FACTORS THAT LED TO NATIONALISM IN NIGERIA. 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. Causes Of European Colonization In Africa | ipl.org They were instrumental in the development of government diplomacy with the traditional rulers; they spread government propaganda among the indigenous people; and they assisted colonial officials in parleying with native forces at war with government troops. 2. In the north, appeals to Islamic legitimacy upheld the rule of the emirs, so that nationalist sentiments were related to Islamic ideals. Northern leaders committed to modernization were also firmly connected to the traditional power structure. In May of this year, Herbert J. The introduction of the federal principle, with deliberative authority devolved on the regions, signalled recognition of the country's diversity. 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. Despite conquering villages by burning houses and crops, continual political control over the Igbo remained elusive. [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. To some extent, competition amongst these companies undermined their collective position vis--vis, local merchants. Lugard bequeathed to his successor a prosperous colony when his term as Governor-General expired. The British wanted products like palm oil and palm kernel and export trade in tin, cotton, cocoa, groundnuts, palm oil and so on (Graham, 2009). These include the fact that military conscription (draft) of numerous African colonial subjects into European armies generated great amounts of anger. Colonialism is both a practice and a word that means so much to Nigeria. [73] An estimated 500,000 Nigerians would lose their lives due to the pandemic, severely decreasing production capabilities on Nigerian farms and plantations. factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria. 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. The Royal Niger Company had its own armed forces. These recourses were considered a necessity to the industrialization of the world . The transfer of responsibility for budgetary management from the central to the regional governments in 1954 accelerated the pace of public spending on services and on development projects. All were knighted. It is still felt 56 years after it was officially announced death. Subsequent revisions contained in the Lyttleton Constitution, enacted in 1954, firmly established the federal principle and paved the way for independence. There were three main factors that contributed to the European colonization Africa which were, political, social, and economic. For some time, missionaries operated in the area between Lagos and Ibadan. This was a case of plenty harvest but few hands to cultivate. Lagos was annexed as a Crown Colony in 1861 via the Lagos Treaty of Cession.[30]. 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. The primary motives of European explorers were economic. By the 1870s the Niger trade was becoming profitable, and a few French companies took notice. The company's major imports to the area included gin and low-quality firearms. 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. (Specifically it would enable direct subsidy of the less profitable Northern jurisdiction.) Durres Port. 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. When Faidherbe and his successors proceeded with their conquest of the hinterlands they met with strong and sustained resistance from a number of sources including the Moors, the Toucouleur Empire of Segou under Al Hajj Umar and the powerful Almamy . Offers a bold rethink: a clear-eyed, unromanticized history of colonial Nigeria written by a Nigerian. Vice consuls were assigned to ports that already had concluded treaties of cooperation with the Foreign Office. In the name of liberating the Igbos from the Aro Confederacy, the British launched the Anglo-Aro War of 19011902. The Fulani conquest and rule of the Hausa Kingdom of Northern Nigeria The Colonial Office approved most of Lugard's plan, but balked at authorising him to pass laws without their approval. Britain also encouraged the formation of the Muslim League of India in 1907. Inconsistencies in British policy reinforced existing cleavages based on regional animosities, as the British tried both to preserve the indigenous cultures of each area and to introduce modern technology, and Western political and social concepts. 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. factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria 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. In 1841 the British tried to settle some Egba on a model farm in Lokoja, but the plan was aborted because the mortality rate among European officials was so high. Lagos was the first part of Nigeria to be conquered and declare a British colony in 1861. The company received 865,000 compensation for the loss of its Charter. [18], In 1807, the Parliament of the United Kingdom enacted the Slave Trade Act, prohibiting British subjects from participating in the Atlantic slave trade. Consequently, he may well deserve the epithet of the "father of Nigeria", which historians accorded him. [8], Through a progressive sequence of regimes, the British imposed Crown Colony government on much of the area of West Africa which came to be known as Nigeria, a form of rule which was both autocratic and bureaucratic. Read suggested they be merged, and more use made of Nigeria's natural resources. With this victory, the British went on to conquer the rest of Yorubaland, which had also been weakened by sixteen years of civil war. Solicitar ms informacin: 310-2409701 | administracion@consultoresayc.co. 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. Lord Lugard recorded a huge success mainly because he used the highly developed traditional system of administration that was already in existence in the Northern Nigeria. Separate legislative bodies, the houses of assembly, were established in each of the three regions to consider local questions and to advise the Lieutenant Governors. Clifford also believed that indirect rule encouraged centripetal tendencies. He used for the first time in Nigeria modern, sometimes flamboyant, electioneering techniques. Events Leading to the Scramble for Africa - ThoughtCo We bind ourselves not to have any intercourse with any strangers or foreigners except through the said national African Company (Limited), and we give the said National African Company (Limited) full power to exclude all other strangers and foreigners from their territory at their discretion. [42], The British had difficulty conquering Igboland, which lacked a central political organisation. Herbert Richmond Palmer developed details of this model from 1906 to 1911 as the Governor of Northern Nigeria after Lugard.[66]. 1. The British finalized the border between Nigeria and French West Africa with the Anglo-French Convention of 1898. The early Nigerian nationalist did not seek independence. 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. Another court was established in 1856 at Calabar, based on an agreement with local Efik traders which prohibited them from interfering with British merchants. sutton united average attendance; granville woods most famous invention; alcoa utilities power outage; The history of external colonisation of Africa can be divided into two stages: Classical antiquity and European colonialism. Reasons for the development of the slave trade - BBC Bitesize 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 Norman conquest in 1066 was the last successful conquest of England. By 1903 the conquest of the emirates was complete. In 1946 a new constitution was approved by the British Parliament at Westminster and promulgated in Nigeria. The rapid growth of organised labour in the 1940s also brought new political forces into play. 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. factors that led to the british conquest of 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. Recovery came quickly and improvements in port facilities and the transportation infrastructure during World War I furthered economic development. [82], Oil exploration began in 1906 under John Simon Bergheim's Nigeria Bitumen Corporation, to which the Colonial Office granted exclusive rights. During the 1880's through 1914, the start of WWI, was an age of imperialism. Modern nationalists in the south, whose thinking was shaped by European ideas, opposed indirect rule, as they believed that it had strengthened what they considered an anachronistic ruling class and shut out the emerging Westernised elite. It was colonized by the British in 1884 and the colony is established at the Berlin conference which divides Africa by European powers. The huge African continent (three times the size of the continental United States) was particularly vulnerable to European conquest. The British Conquest State (Chapter 3) - A History of Zimbabwe In April 1927, the British colonial government in Nigeria took measures to enforce the Native Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance. 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. [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). Hausa was recognised as an official language in the north, and knowledge of it was expected of colonial officers serving there. Missionary forces demanded prohibition of liquor, which proved highly unpopular. The election of the House of Representatives after the adoption of the 1954 constitution gave the NPC a total of seventy-nine seats, all from the Northern Region. E-mail: tundeoduwobi@yahoo.com Recibido: 15 Marzo 2011 / Revisado: 7 Abril 2011 / Aceptado: 17 Abril . There were some specific outcomes and impacts for Africans as a result of WWI. The movement brought to public notice a long list of future leaders, including H.O. Colonialism in Nigeria: positive and negative impacts of Nigerian The British turned to Persia for oil.[83]. Most Europeans tended to overlook their own differences and were surprised and shocked that Nigerians wanted to develop new denominations independent of European control. Britain annexed Lagos in 1861 and established the Oil River Protectorate in 1884. All these things which I have said the Fulani by conquest took the right to do now pass to the British. oriented. Open Document. Beecroft was the British representative to Fernando Po, where the African Slave Trade Patrol of the Royal Navy was stationed. The only significant interruption in economic development arose from natural disasterthe Great Drought of 191314. 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). He definitely laid the basis for British claims. Additionally. 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. British expansion was conducted primarily by commercialists and resulted in more solid economic potential than the French endeavor (Crowder, 1990). Following military conquest, the British imposed an economic system designed to profit from African labor. 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. History of Nigeria - Wikipedia The departure of Azikiwe and other Igbo members of the NYM left the organisation in Yoruba hands. Nigeria: A Country Study. Antrobus, Fiddes and Strachey in the Colonial Office promoted amalgamation, along with Lugard. How Britain Conquered And Created Nigeria - Politics - Nigeria - Nairaland In Europe, Britain sent troops to help its ally, Prussia, which was surrounded by its enemies.

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