factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria

[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. British soap and cosmetics manufacturers tried to obtain land concessions for growing oil palms, but these were refused. 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. The charter allowed the company to collect customs and make treaties with local leaders.[12]. The Reconquista, or reconquest, refers to the 800 years of violence and expulsion of Muslims from the Iberian Peninsula after the failed Crusades. 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. As its head, the master trader taxed other traders who were members of his "house"; he maintained a war vessel, a large dugout canoe that could hold several tons of cargo and dozens of crew, for the defense of the harbor. Clifford emphasized economic development, encouraging enterprises by immigrant southerners in the north while restricting European participation to capital intensive activity. From 1790 to 1807, predominantly British slave traders purchased 1,0002,000 slaves each year in Lagos alone. "Specifically, the Company sought to secure the cooperation of the traditional rulers in ensuring peaceful conditions for trade. 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. 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. [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. The British captured Kano in 1903. In the north, the emirs intended to maintain firm control on economic and political change. Public works, such as harbour dredging and road and railway construction, opened Nigeria to economic development. 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. French Roman Catholic missionaries, established in Ouidah (Whydah), arrived in Lagos and considered missionary work on the Niger. Not wishing to appear out of control or weak, they approved the expedition (two days after it began) on 19 January 1903.,[47] In general, the Colonial Office allowed Lugard's expeditions to continue because they were framed as retaliatory and, as Olivier commented in 1906, "If the millions of people [in Nigeria] who do not want us there once get the notion that our people can be killed with impunity they will not be slow to attempt it."[48]. 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. Although per capita income in the country as a whole remained low by international standards, rising incomes among salaried personnel and burgeoning urbanization expanded consumer demand for imported goods. The Lander brothers were seized by slave traders in the interior and sold down the river to a waiting European ship. 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. 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 . In one year, Lugard recruited 2600 troops, evenly split between Hausa and Yoruba. Military Conquest. Rivalry between the Royal Niger Company and the Lagos Protectorate over the boundary between the emirate of Ilorin and the empire of Ibadan was resolved with the abrogation of the charter of the Royal Niger Company on January 1, 1900, in return for wide mineral concessions. 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. June 30, 2022 . Hence, precolonial level of development is positively asso-ciated with level of Spanish colonialism, but negatively associated with level of British colonialism. 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. [70], Lugard's immediate successor (19191925), Sir Hugh Clifford, was an aristocratic professional administrator with liberal instincts who had won recognition for his enlightened governorship of the Gold Coast in 19121919. In elections that year, the NYM ended the domination of the NNDP in the Legislative Council and worked to establish a national network of affiliates. It is not a personal union of separate colonies under the same Governor like the Windwards, it is not a Confederation of States. In 1886, Taubman secured a royal charter and his company became the Royal Niger Company. The most striking departure was in the Northern Region, where special provisions brought the regional constitution into consonance with Islamic law and custom. The proliferation of labour organisations fragmented the movement, and potential leaders lacked the experience and skill to draw workers together. FACTORS THAT LED TO NATIONALISM IN NIGERIA. Among his leading lieutenants were Samuel Akintola of Ogbomoso and the Oni of Ife, the most important of the Yoruba monarchs. 979 Words. prince edward island newspapers online; how to clean a wavy turban shell; flip or flop nashville house locations; sunrise growers diced strawberry cup nutrition facts; factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria. In general, the regional constitutions followed the federal model, both structurally and functionally. 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. Ken Swindell, "The Commercial Development of the North: Company and Government Relations, 19001906". In 1958 exportation of Nigerian oil was initiated at facilities constructed at Port Harcourt. Early nationalists tended to ignore Nigeria as the focus of patriotism. penn wood high school alumni; picture of shawn westover; microblading nickel allergy This rate rose to 20,000 per year in the last quarter of the century. The only significant interruption in economic development arose from natural disasterthe Great Drought of 191314. 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. Some were deposed, some were defeated in battle, and others collaborated. European slave trading from West Africa began before 1650, with people taken at a rate of about 3,000 per year. In the 1700s, the British Empire and other European powers had settlements and forts in West Africa but had not yet established the full-scale plantation colonies which existed in the Americas. Other firms applying for licenses were rejected. Africans come from Africa. Lagos was annexed as a Crown Colony in 1861 via the Lagos Treaty of Cession.[30]. The pulpits of the independent congregations became avenues for the free expression of critics of colonial rule. 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. In the north many emirates did not take military action, but the deposed caliph, Atahiru I, rebelled in 1903. 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. In the north Frederick Lugard, the first high commissioner of Northern Nigeria, was instrumental in subjugating the Fulani emirs. On 9 May 1913, Lugard submitted a formal proposal to the Colonial Office in which Northern and Southern provinces would have separate administrations, under the control of a "strongly authoritarian" Governor-General. In contrast to Lugard, Clifford argued that colonial government had the responsibility to introduce as quickly as practical the benefits of Western experience. This article examines the deployment of West African soldiers for military service in West Africa, including the manner of mobilization and recruitment. British expansion accelerated in the last decades of the nineteenth century. In the long term, the acceptance of Christianity by large numbers of Nigerians depended on the various denominations adapting to local conditions. Other European powers acknowledged Britain's dominance over the area in the 1885 Berlin Conference. In the meantime, public sector spending increased even more dramatically than export earnings. For example, many people in Ibadan opposed Awolowo on personal grounds because of his identification with the Ijebu Yoruba. The French had abolished slavery following the French Revolution, although it briefly re-established it in its Caribbean colonies under Napoleon. Indeed it was these developments in the history of Kano that transformed the political outlook of the people. Borno capitulated without a fight, but in 1903 Lugard's RWAFF mounted assaults on Kano and Sokoto. All were knighted. Description. factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria. Lugard bequeathed to his successor a prosperous colony when his term as Governor-General expired. Nigeria (Sokoto Caliphate inclusive) fell prey to the attacks. rockin' the west coast prayer group; easy bulky sweater knitting pattern. The policy of indirect rule used in Northern Nigeria became a model for British colonies elsewhere in Africa. 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. These seven factors led to the development of the slave trade: The importance of the West Indian colonies The shortage of labour The. They gathered information which was needed for policy-making in administration. 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. [19] Ultimately, this became the Royal Niger Company. Wartime experiences provided a new frame of reference for many soldiers, who interacted across ethnic boundaries in ways that were unusual in Nigeria. [64], Each region also had a Native Administration, staffed by locals, and possessing a Native Treasury. Some of them began to migrate back from Sierra Leone in search of home and trade. From January 1914 onwards, the newly united colony and protectorate was presided over by a proconsul, who was entitled the Governor-General of Nigeria. Doctrine of Lapse. . 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. 2. He insisted on maintaining the territorial integrity of the Northern Region. 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. Accordingly, as the volume of trade increased, merchants requested that the Government of the United Kingdom appoint a consul to cover the region. 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. [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. One place that felt victim to this imperialism was Africa. [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). Colonialism is both a practice and a word that means so much to Nigeria. His objective was to conquer the entire region and to obtain recognition of the British protectorate by its indigenous rulers, especially the Fulani emirs of the Sokoto Caliphate. It is not a unitary state with local government areas but with one Central Executive and one Legislature. The council was headed by a Governor. 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. 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. He was prepared to introduce educational and economic changes to strengthen the north. Solicitar ms informacin: 310-2409701 | administracion@consultoresayc.co. During the war, the colonial government earmarked a large portion of the Nigerian budget as a contribution to imperial defence. Local rulers continued to administer their territories, but consular authorities assumed jurisdiction for the equity courts established earlier by the foreign mercantile communities. In 1850, the British created a "Court of Equity" at Bonny, overseen by Beecroft, which would deal with trade disputes. [27] To produce all this oil, the economy of the southern region crossed over from mostly subsistence to the production of palm oil as a cash crop.[28]. [78], After establishing political control of the country, the British implemented a system of taxation in order to force the indigenous Africans to shift from subsistence farming to wage labour. Economic links among the regions increased, but indirect rule tended to discourage political interchange. A.J. L'indpendance du. 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. 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. Bello wanted to protect northern social and political institutions from southern influence. Under Goldie's direction, the Royal Niger Company was instrumental in depriving France and Germany of access to the region. Hausa was recognised as an official language in the north, and knowledge of it was expected of colonial officers serving there. Retrieved October 11, 2014 from. Ouidah (now part of Benin) and Lagos were the major ports on the coast. Newspapers, some of which were published before World War I, provided coverage of nationalist views. 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]. [42], The British had difficulty conquering Igboland, which lacked a central political organisation. The search for oil, begun in 1908 and abandoned a few years later, was revived in 1937 by Shell and British Petroleum. By the 1870s the Niger trade was becoming profitable, and a few French companies took notice. 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. Missionary forces demanded prohibition of liquor, which proved highly unpopular. 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. Crowther was succeeded as bishop by a British cleric. The NPC captured 142 seats in the new legislature. Initial British attempts to open trade with the interior by way of the Niger could not overcome climate and diseases such as malaria. Balewa was called on to head an NPC-NCNC coalition government, and Awolowo became the official leader of the opposition. 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. In Europe, Britain sent troops to help its ally, Prussia, which was surrounded by its enemies. Their history illustrates that rarely they had put a programme or a plan before themselves and then acted upon it. 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. At the same time, George Dashwood Goldie, a British businessman, bought out all French rivals and created the Royal Niger Company (chartered 1886) in order to control trade on the Niger and administer the immense territories of the Sokoto caliphate and Borno. The experiment began in 1890 and was repealed in 1939,[71]. At first, they lived in small family groups, but gradually these groups developed into a. European Colonialism in Africa. Columbus, in his voyage, sought fame and fortune, as did his Spanish sponsors. [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. It was suspended in 1950 against a call for greater autonomy, which resulted in an inter-parliamentary conference at Ibadan in 1950. [49], Concrete plans for transition to Crown ruledirect control by the British Governmentapparently began in 1897. Most accounts of Nigeria's colonisation were written by British officials, presenting it as a noble civilising mission to rid Africans of barbaric superstition and corrupt tribal leadership. Thanks to this skewed writing of history, many Nigerians today still have Empire nostalgia and view the colonial period through rose-tinted . Critics, including representatives of the Middle Belt who resented Muslim domination, were relegated to small, peripheral parties or to inconsequential separatist movements.[85]. Most of the fighting was done by Hausa soldiers, recruited to fight against other groups. The most dramatic event having a long-term effect on Nigeria's economic development was the discovery and exploitation of petroleum deposits. [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. A "house" included the extended family of the trader, including retainers and slaves. In some cases, British assignment of people to ethnic groups, and treatment based along ethnic lines, led to identification with ethnicity where none had existed before.[84]. Colonial Nigeria was ruled by the British Empire from the mid-nineteenth century until 1960 when Nigeria achieved independence. British Colonizing in Nigeria. The Anglicans and other religious groups had a conscious "native church" policy to develop indigenous ecclesiastical institutions to become independent of Europeans. In 1851 deposed king Akintoye of Lagos sought British help in restoring him to the throne. They took the right to rule over it, to levy taxes, to depose kings and to create kings. During World War II, three battalions of the Nigeria Regiment fought against Fascist Italy in the Ethiopian campaign. The British also created "divide and rule" policies, pitting Hindu and Muslim Indians against one another. After the defection of Kano, the only significant disagreement within the NPC was related to moderates. 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. Initially, most palm oil (and later kernels) came from Igboland, where palm trees formed a canopy over the densely inhabited areas of the Ngwa, Nri Kingdom, Awka and other Igbo peoples. A consul was maintained at Fernando Po to oversee the lucrative palm oil trade in the region called the Oil Rivers. Britain annexed Lagos in 1861 and established the Oil River Protectorate in 1884. In 1890, a group of adventurers known as the Pioneer Column, sponsored by South African-based British arch-imperialist Cecil John Rhodes, occupied Zimbabwe and claimed the country for the British. This led to protests known as Women's War. [61], The task of unification was achieved on the eve of World War I. A permanent British occupation of Egypt required the inviolability of the Ni In the South, only English had official status. Europeans, with an eye to colonization and conquest, restricted the sale of the new weaponry to Africa maintaining military superiority. Most of the fighting was done by Hausa soldiers, recruited to fight against other groups. 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. Empty cart. 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 . He definitely laid the basis for British claims. To . [] These intermediaries assisted government diplomacy and helped to establish and maintain relations between the company and the traditional rulers. Herbert Richmond Palmer developed details of this model from 1906 to 1911 as the Governor of Northern Nigeria after Lugard.[66]. The Resident also oversaw a Provincial Court at the region's capital. By 1903 the conquest of the emirates was complete. The British responded to such evidence of rivalry by defending their right to free navigation on the river at the Berlin West Africa Conference of 188485. 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. One of the most influential monarchies in the history of England began in 1066 C.E. The movement brought to public notice a long list of future leaders, including H.O. They, in turn, have by defeat lost their rule which has come into the hands of the British. The company received 865,000 compensation for the loss of its Charter. The Niger Delta and Calabar, which once had been known for the export of slaves, became notable for the export of palm oil. His government guided the country for the next three years, operating with almost complete autonomy in internal affairs. In the early stages of British rule, it is desirable to retain the native authority and to work through and by the native emirs. British expansion was conducted primarily by commercialists and resulted in more solid economic potential than the French endeavor (Crowder, 1990). it was on that faithful day, 1 st January 1914 that the Because of the hazards of climate and tropical diseases for Europeans and the absence of any centralized authorities on the mainland responsive to their interests, European merchants moored their ships outside harbours or in the delta, and used the ships as trading stations and warehouses. They later discovered that the demand for palm oil was in fact stimulating an internal slave trade, because slaves were largely responsible for collecting palm fruits, manufacturing palm oil, and transporting it to the coast, whether by canoe or by human porterage. During the war, union membership increased sixfold to 30,000. 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. In addition, two other protectorates were declared, one over the Oil Rivers and the other over the hinterland of Lagos, to establish a claim that these areas were also British spheres of interest.. 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. Direct taxation on men was introduced in 1928 without major incidents. While each generated considerable political controversy, they moved the country toward greater internal autonomy, with an increasing role for the political parties. [11][12], In 1900, the British Government assumed control of the Southern and Northern Protectorates, both of which were ultimately governed by the Colonial Office at Whitehall.

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factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria

factors that led to the british conquest of nigeria