nigeria resistance to colonial rule

Later Nigerian troops were sent to East Africa. 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. Further dislocation accompanied the outbreak of World War I. Clifford also believed that indirect rule encouraged centripetal tendencies. . Anietie A. Inyang & Manasseh Edidem Bassey, "Imperial Treaties and the Origins of British Colonial Rule in Southern Nigeria, 18601890". Internal self-government was granted to the Western and Eastern regions in 1957. Macaulay was despised by the British, but he came to be regarded as the father of modern Nigerian nationalism.. Rebellions Against Colonial Rule Before the Second World War. The French had abolished slavery following the French Revolution, although it briefly re-established it in its Caribbean colonies under Napoleon. In 1886, Taubman secured a royal charter and his company became the Royal Niger Company. Demanding immediate self-government, the Action Group was opposed by the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC), which was composed largely of northerners and headed by several leaders, including Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. The British, when faced with dissent, tended to grant political reforms in an effort to dispel the attractiveness of more-radical . In Africa, Nigerians lived under British rule from 1900 to 1960. 22. It was guerrilla warfare in the case of the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya (1952-60) and Zimbabwe's war of independence (1965-79); it was all . September 24, 2021 at 9:40pm by jones.7592. Focusing on Britain and Africa, this looks at the growth of anti-colonial resistance and opposition to racism in the prelude to the post-colonial era. He was contemptuous of the educated and Westernised African elite found more in the South, and he recommended transferring the capital from Lagos, the cosmopolitan city where the influence of these people was most pronounced, to Kaduna in the north. 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. In general, the regional constitutions followed the federal model, both structurally and functionally. In 1923 Herbert Macaulay, the grandson of Samuel Ajayi Crowther, established the first Nigerian political party, the Nigerian National Democratic Party, which successfully contested three Lagos seats in the Legislative Council. Britain withdrew from the slave trade when it was the major transporter of slaves to the Americas. 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. Lagos remained the capital of the south, with Zungeru the new capital of the north. The best way to describe what has happened to Nigeria in the last 72 hours, beginning with the country's first set of general elections on Saturday, February 25, 2023, is to echo Charles Dickens . 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). In contrast to Lugard, Clifford argued that colonial government had the responsibility to introduce as quickly as practical the benefits of Western experience. 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. These organisations were primarily urban phenomena that arose after numerous rural migrants moved to the cities. The British took an interest in Nigeria because of its resources. [54] Olivier was a member of the Fabian Society and a friend of George Bernard Shaw. A more representative system did not appear until 1946, when each geographic group of provinces had its own House of Assembly, with a majority of nonofficial (though not yet all elected) members; there were also a House of Chiefs and, in Lagos, a central Legislative Council. Beecroft was the British representative to Fernando Po, where the African Slave Trade Patrol of the Royal Navy was stationed. 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. Portuguese Roman Catholic priests who accompanied traders and officials to the West African coast introduced Christianity to the Edo Empire in the fifteenth century. "Nigerian Forces Comforts Fund, 19401947: 'The Responsibility of the Nigerian Government to Provide Funds for the Welfare of Its Soldiers'. Ajay. Their common denominators tended to be based on newly assertive ethnic consciousness, particularly that of the Yoruba and Igbo. The war also made the British reappraise Nigeria's political future. These courts contained majorities British members and represented a new level of presumptive British sovereignty in the Bight of Biafra. Elections were held for a new and greatly enlarged House of Representatives in December 1959; 174 of the 312 seats were allocated to the Northern Region on the basis of its larger population. 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. Catholic missionaries were particularly active among the Igbo; the CMS worked among the Yoruba. Segments of the Yoruba community had their own animosities and new rivalries arose. Although this trade grew to significant proportionspalm oil exports alone were worth 1 billion a year by 1840it was concentrated near the coast, where palm trees grew in abundance. In 1946 a new constitution was approved by the British Parliament at Westminster and promulgated in Nigeria. Before the discovery of oil in 1956, Nigeria's resources were the main focus for the British Empire, and this was primarily because Nigeria was rich in agricultural wealth and other natural resources, such as rubber and copper. [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. 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. It indicates that all African people prior to colonialism have involved in . Other firms applying for licenses were rejected. The yoruba-Igbo rivalry became increasingly important in Nigerian politics. The discussion of pragmatic resistance in Africa comes full circle with the former Portuguese colonies, South Africa, and Kenya. Nigeria's potential in the Post-Colonial Era. When direct Portuguese contacts in the region were withdrawn, however, the influence of the Catholic missionaries waned. After the defection of Kano, the only significant disagreement within the NPC was related to moderates. An example was that at Onitsha, where they could bargain directly with local suppliers and purchase products likely to turn a profit. Early on in colonial rule, for example, Nigerians protested the manner in which water rates and head taxes were collected. Another court was established in 1856 at Calabar, based on an agreement with local Efik traders which prohibited them from interfering with British merchants. After independence, tensions that had been building between two . Afeadie, "The Hidden Hand of Overrule" (1996), p. 1315. The British, like other newcomers to the slave trade, found . [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. Unification meant only the loose affiliation of three distinct regional administrations into which Nigeria was subdividedNorthern, Western and Eastern regions. The protectorate was organised to control and develop trade coming down the Niger. The colonial period proper in Nigeria lasted from 1900 to 1960, after which Nigeria gained its independence. 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. The council was promoted as a device for allowing the expression of opinions that could instruct the Governor-General. The Southern Protectorate financed itself from the outset, with revenue increasing from 361,815 to 1,933,235 over the same period. From Lugard's point of view, clear-cut military victories were necessary because the surrenders of the defeated peoples weakened resistance elsewhere. In the north, appeals to Islamic legitimacy upheld the rule of the emirs, so that nationalist sentiments were related to Islamic ideals. [19][41], In 18961897 the forces of the Niger Coast Protectorate fought with the remnants of the Edo Empire. 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. Crowther was succeeded as bishop by a British cleric. 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. . The approaches of the two men to colonial development were diametrically opposed. Some of the treaties contained prohibitions on diplomacy conducted without British permission, or other promises to abide by British rule. It continued to enjoy special privileges and maintained a de facto monopoly over commerce. Like in other countries under imperialist rule, colonialism in Nigeria resulted in numerous positive and negative impacts. This is what happened in 1929 when Igbo and Ibibio market women in Owerri and Calabar (Nigeria) made war against warrant chiefs and colonial authorities over issues of taxation and colonial administration. Libyan Resistance. Background: Attitudes Towards Policing The period from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s marked the zenith of imperial rule in Africa. In May of this year, Herbert J. Out of reverence for traditional kingship, for instance, the Oba of Benin, whose office was closely identified with Edo religion, was accepted as the sponsor of a Yoruba political movement. An extensive immigrant population of southerners, especially Igbo, already were living in the north; they dominated clerical positions and were active in many trades. The search for oil, begun in 1908 and abandoned a few years later, was revived in 1937 by Shell and British Petroleum. Support for broad Nigerian concerns occupied a clear second place. The British turned to Persia for oil.[83]. In these territories, violent resistance brought colonial rule to a close. Africans also were represented on the Lagos Legislative Council, a largely appointed assembly. In the north, the emirs intended to maintain firm control on economic and political change. Nigeria Table of Contents. 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]. The Colonial Era (1882-1960) British colonialism began under the pretense of policing the slave trade. Frederick Lugard, who was appointed as High Commissioner of the Northern Nigeria Protectorate in 1900 and served until 1906 in his first term, often has been regarded by the British as their model colonial administrator. Beecroft agreed on condition that the slave trade be abolished, and British merchants have a monopoly in commodities. Britain annexed Lagos in 1861 and established the Oil River Protectorate in 1884. [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]. Before 1898, the scramble for Africa by European countries led to the partition of Africa after the Berlin conference of 1884-85. 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. [11][12], The amalgamation of different ethnic and religious groups into one federation created internal tension which persists in Nigeria to the present day.[13]. Ouidah (now part of Benin) and Lagos were the major ports on the coast. If an eye is kept on the Gazettes as they come in this will enable us to warn him of any objections we may entertain to legislative proposals, and also give Liverpool and Manchester an opportunity of voicing their objections. A third of the people associated with an 1842 riverine expedition died. As a historical event, anticolonialism means the struggle against imperial rule in colonized countries, mostly during the first half of the twentieth century. All these things which I have said the Fulani by conquest took the right to do now pass to the British. European colonialists had managed to quell the efforts by Africans to resist the establishment of colonial rule with one exception. Strategic Theory, Dynamics, Methods and Movements ), contains accounts of the role of nonviolent action in anti-colonial struggles in Africa - Algeria, Ghana, Mozambique, and Zambia - and also in Bangladesh. On January 1, 1914, following the recommendations of Sir Frederick Lugard, the two protectorates were amalgamated to form the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria under a single governor-general resident in Lagos. 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. [11], By the 1880s, the National African Company became the dominant commercial power, increasing from 19 to 39 stations between 1882 and 1893. Frederick Lugard, shortly before becoming High Commissioner of Northern Nigeria.[68]. 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. Among the problems needing attention before the British would grant full independence was the minorities fear of discrimination by a future government based on majority ethnic groups. From January 1914 onwards, the newly united colony and protectorate was presided over by a proconsul, who was entitled the Governor-General of Nigeria. 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