factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria

The NPC platform emphasized the integrity of the north, its traditions, religion and social order. Although he reported on the eastward flow of the Niger, he was forced to turn back when his equipment was lost to Muslim Arab slave traders. Beecroft was the British representative to Fernando Po, where the African Slave Trade Patrol of the Royal Navy was stationed. In 1958 exportation of Nigerian oil was initiated at facilities constructed at Port Harcourt. factors that led to the british conquest of nigeriaturkish airlines flight 981 victims. Their common denominators tended to be based on newly assertive ethnic consciousness, particularly that of the Yoruba and Igbo. The Reconquista, or reconquest, refers to the 800 years of violence and expulsion of Muslims from the Iberian Peninsula after the failed Crusades. Some were deposed, some were defeated in battle, and others collaborated. . The NPC federal parliamentary leader, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, was appointed Prime Minister of Nigeria. [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. 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 British finalized the border between Nigeria and French West Africa with the Anglo-French Convention of 1898. The pulpits of the independent congregations became avenues for the free expression of critics of colonial rule. Afeadie, "The Hidden Hand of Overrule" (1996), p. 1213. The rapid growth of organised labour in the 1940s also brought new political forces into play. 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. [55], Under the Colonial Office was the Governor, who managed the administration of his colony and held powers of emergency rule. 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. A.J. Some of the treaties contained prohibitions on diplomacy conducted without British permission, or other promises to abide by British rule. The CMS initially promoted Africans to responsible positions in the mission field; for instance, they appointed Samuel Ajayi Crowther as the first Anglican Bishop of the Niger. These seven factors led to the development of the slave trade: The importance of the West Indian colonies The shortage of labour The. In the Eastern Region, appointed officials who were given "warrants" and hence called warrant chiefs, were strongly resisted by the people because they lacked traditional claims. 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. The early history of Lagos Colony was one of repeated attempts to end the Yoruba wars. The Royal Niger Company established its headquarters far inland at Lokoja, which was the main trading port of the company,[34] from where it began to assume responsibility for the administration of areas along the Niger and Benue rivers where it maintained depots. To some extent, competition amongst these companies undermined their collective position vis--vis, local merchants. 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. Doctrine of Lapse. Sir Richmond Palmer, acting as Lieutenant Governor in the North, disagreed with Clifford and advocated the principles of Lugard and further decentralisation. They took the right to rule over it, to levy taxes, to depose kings and to create kings. The first known encounter between the British and the people of the region of modern-day Nigeria was on April 1, 1600, when English sailors landed on the Niger River near Katsina, the largest city in northern Nigeria. [19] This scenario provided an opportunity for naval expeditions and reconnaissance throughout the region. The kingdom of Benin began in the 900s when the Edo people settled in the rainforests of West Africa. It assumed that comparable alterations would be made elsewhere, an attitude that won the party minority voting support in the other regions. [11], The British led a series of military campaigns to enlarge its sphere of influence and expand its commercial opportunities. Indeed it was these developments in the history of Kano that transformed the political outlook of the people. 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 preparation of a new federal constitution for an independent Nigeria was carried out at conferences held at Lancaster House in London in 1957 and 1958, which were presided over by The Rt. The federal government retained specified powers, including responsibility for banking, currency, external affairs, defence, shipping and navigation and communications, but real political power was centred in the regions. 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. Whereas Lugard had applied lessons learned in the north to the administration of the south, Clifford was prepared to extend to the north practices that had been successful in the south. penn wood high school alumni; picture of shawn westover; microblading nickel allergy [9] Administration and military control of the territory was conducted primarily by white Britons, both in London and in Nigeria. [81] In 1936, of 6,259,547 income for the Nigerian state, 1,156,000 went back to England as home pay for British officials in the Nigerian civil service. As a practice, colonialism is traced to the1854 and 1855 conference at Berlin in Germany. They were the most politically conscious segment of the population and created the vanguard of the nationalist movement. The British led a series of military campaigns to enlarge its sphere of influence and expand its commercial opportunities. factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria. In November 1908, Bergheim reported striking oil; in September 1909, he reported extracting 2,000 barrels per day. [72] In line with this attitude, he rejected Lugard's proposal for moving the capital from Lagos, the stronghold of the elite in whom he placed so much confidence for the future. In-text citation: factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria. Every Sultan and Emir and the principal officers of state will be appointed by the high Commissioner throughout all this country. Some were deposed, some were defeated in battle, and others collaborated. Another court was established in 1856 at Calabar, based on an agreement with local Efik traders which prohibited them from interfering with British merchants. Britain withdrew from the slave trade when it was the major transporter of slaves to the Americas. The CMS pioneered trade on the Niger by encouraging Scottish explorer and merchant Macgregor Laird to run a monthly steamboat, which provided transportation for missionary agents and Sierra Leonean traders going up the Niger. Independent Christian churches had emerged at the end of the nineteenth century. The neglect of traditional institutions. Afeadie, "The Hidden Hand of Overrule" (1996), p. 1315. [73] The spread of the disease was quick and deadly, with an estimated 1.5% of the population of Lagos falling victim. "The agents performed similar but more expansive roles as their Company counterparts. The most striking departure was in the Northern Region, where special provisions brought the regional constitution into consonance with Islamic law and custom. 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. They never were able to elect sizeable legislative delegations, but they served as a means of public expression for minority concerns. The Norman conquest in 1066 was the last successful conquest of England. 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. At first, the trade centered around West Central Africa, now the Congo. Great Britain was the leaders at this time in colonizing the land filled with rich natural recourses. 1819 - Singapore founded by Sir Stamford Raffles. 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). Economic links among the regions increased, but indirect rule tended to discourage political interchange. In the immediate post-World War II period, Nigeria benefited from a favourable trade balance. [82], Oil exploration began in 1906 under John Simon Bergheim's Nigeria Bitumen Corporation, to which the Colonial Office granted exclusive rights. 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. He aroused political awareness through his newspaper, the Lagos Daily News. In Europe, Britain sent troops to help its ally, Prussia, which was surrounded by its enemies. [] These intermediaries assisted government diplomacy and helped to establish and maintain relations between the company and the traditional rulers. From 1815 to 1840, palm oil exports increased by a factor of 25, from 800 to 20,000 tons per year. 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. [50] In the same year, the British created the Royal West African Frontier Force (RWAFF or WAFF), under the leadership of Colonel Frederick Lugard. A third of the people associated with an 1842 riverine expedition died. The Lander brothers were seized by slave traders in the interior and sold down the river to a waiting European ship. Exploration was intensified in 1946, but the first commercial discovery did not occur until 1956, at Olobiri in the Niger Delta. Ethnic cleavages intensified in the 1950s. This article examines the deployment of West African soldiers for military service in West Africa, including the manner of mobilization and recruitment. Following military conquest, the British imposed an economic system designed to profit from African labor. For example, many people in Ibadan opposed Awolowo on personal grounds because of his identification with the Ijebu Yoruba. 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. The Action Group consistently supported minority-group demands for autonomous states within a federal structure, as well as the severance of a midwest state from the Western Region. 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. Some African Christian communities formed their own independent churches. Broadening political participation and expanding educational opportunities and other social services also were viewed as threats to the status quo. Britain subsequently lobbied other European powers to stop the slave trade as well. At first, they lived in small family groups, but gradually these groups developed into a. The 1922 constitution provided Nigerians with the chance to elect a handful of representatives to the Legislative Council. 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. Ever since, the north-south divide has dominated the politics of independent Nigeria. The pace of constitutional change accelerated after the promulgation of the Richards Constitution. [61], The task of unification was achieved on the eve of World War I. The classic example in English history was the victory of the Parliament over the king. So, how did Europeans end up in Africa? [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. [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. The Colonial Office could veto or revise his policies. The French had abolished slavery following the French Revolution, although it briefly re-established it in its Caribbean colonies under Napoleon. Total revenues of central and regional governments nearly doubled in relation to the gross domestic product during the decade. In the South, only English had official status. From January 1914 onwards, the newly united colony and protectorate was presided over by a proconsul, who was entitled the Governor-General of Nigeria. Native Administration was responsible for police, hospitals, public works and local courts. The only significant interruption in economic development arose from natural disasterthe Great Drought of 191314. 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. The incidence of slavery in local societies increased. Under the Political Department of the Civil Service were Residents and District Officers, responsible for overseeing operations in each region. oriented. 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. It continued to enjoy special privileges and maintained a de facto monopoly over commerce. Each was under a Lieutenant Governor and provided independent government services. [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 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. During World War II, Awolowo reorganized it as a predominantly Yoruba political party, the Action Group. Borno capitulated without a fight, but in 1903 Lugard's RWAFF mounted assaults on Kano and Sokoto. 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. 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 . At the same time it is feasible by degrees to bring them gradually into approximation with our ideas of justice and humanity. Its residents were employed in official capacities and were active in business. NEPU formed a parliamentary alliance with the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC). British merchants led the trade in palm oil, while the Portuguese and others continued the slave trade. Military Conquest. The British targeted Nigeria because of its resources. Nigerian units also contributed to two divisions serving with British forces in Palestine, Morocco, Sicily and Burma, where they won many honours. With this victory, the British went on to conquer the rest of Yorubaland, which had also been weakened by sixteen years of civil war. it was on that faithful day, 1 st January 1914 that the 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. 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. The economy suffered from the decline in the slave trade, although considerable smuggling of slaves to the Americas continued for years afterward. In a sense, you can say that the British were the cause of the Biafran Civil War which happened in Nigeria from 1967 to 1970. ", Tamuno, T. N. (1970). A Hurst Publication. 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. [32], In 1880, the British Government and traders demonetised the Maria Theresa dollar, to the considerable dismay of its local holders, in favour of the pound sterling. The search for oil, begun in 1908 and abandoned a few years later, was revived in 1937 by Shell and British Petroleum. In the face of threats to the divided Yoruba states from Dahomey and the Sokoto Caliphate, as represented by the emirate of Ilorin, the British Governorassisted by the CMSsucceeded in imposing peace settlements on the interior. The British turned to Persia for oil.[83]. (This was also reflective of growing pan-Africanism among American activists of the time.) The British Conquest of Nigeria From about the mid nineteenth century, the British began to alter the nature of their relationship between themselves and Nigerians. 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. During World War II, three battalions of the Nigeria Regiment fought against Fascist Italy in the Ethiopian campaign. 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. Combining the three jurisdictions would reduce administrative expenses and facilitate deployment of resources and money between the areas. [73] An estimated 500,000 Nigerians would lose their lives due to the pandemic, severely decreasing production capabilities on Nigerian farms and plantations. In 1957, the Western and the Eastern regions became formally self-governing under the parliamentary system. Unification meant only the loose affiliation of three distinct regional administrations into which Nigeria was subdividedNorthern, Western and Eastern regions. There were three main factors that contributed to the European colonization Africa which were, political, social, and economic. Even before gaining its charter, the Company signed treaties with local leaders which granted it broad sovereign powers. Lugard's success in northern Nigeria has been attributed to his policy of indirect rule; that is, he governed the protectorate through the rulers defeated by the British. Both Africans and Europeans found illegal supplies such as secret stills, obtaining colonial liquor permits, and smuggling. The NCNC backed creation of a midwest state and proposed federal control of education and health services. 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. PhD dissertation accepted at the Graduate Programme in History, York University, Ontario. The said National African Company (Limited) bind themselves to protect the said King and Chiefs from the attacks of any neighbouring tribes (Ibid.). with the Norman Conquest led by William, the Duke of Normandy. sutton united average attendance; granville woods most famous invention; alcoa utilities power outage; Aside from the possibility of treasure, the European governments aimed to find a passage through the Americas to Asia. In the north, appeals to Islamic legitimacy upheld the rule of the emirs, so that nationalist sentiments were related to Islamic ideals. The experiment began in 1890 and was repealed in 1939,[71]. Dike, K. O. The Conquest (La Conqute) is a term used to describe the acquisition of Canada by Great Britain during the Seven Years' War.It also refers to the resulting conditio