Nigeria: Colonization
Katie Graham
Nigeria is a country in West Africa and was colonized by the British. Nigeria in the past was forced to participate in the slave trade. The British had participated in it until human trafficking was abolished in 1807. The British took an interest in Nigeria because of its resources.
I chose this image because it is the Flag
of British Colonial Nigeria.
The British colonized Nigeria in 1884. It was established as a colony in 1884 at the Berlin conference where Africa was divided by European powers. Britain gained power by the use of its military. “Britain maintained it’s economic hegemony [rule] over the colonies through military power, Strategic alliances and the collaboration of indigenous rulers” (The Colonial Economic Legacy). The British established a trading post at the Niger River, exploiting the Africans. There was resistance, but it was crushed. “British control did not come without cost. In the Village of Satiru, natives armed with axes and hoes massacred a force of 70 black soldiers and a British officer, as well as two civilians. Lugard responded by sending a column of 500 infantrymen, supported by the friendly sultan of nearby Sokoto, against Satiru. They slaughtered an estimated 2,000 men, women and children. This act of vengeance alarmed government officials” (44, Harmon). This was not fair; the amount of damage done was not proportional to the amount of damage taken. Lugard or the white people killed twenty-seven times the amount of people the natives or blacks killed to send a message that they were in control of the Nigerians.
The British wanted some of the products, like palm oil and palm kernels, the Nigerians made so they decided to colonize Nigeria it took them a while. “[The] medium of exchange, encouraged export trade in tin, cotton, cocoa, groundnuts, and palm oil” (The Colonial Economic Legacy). For those things the British thought Nigeria was a good catch.
The people of Baro, a small village, four hundred miles from the sea, were chosen as a link for transportation between Baro and Kano. A three hundred fifty mile railroad was built for shipping peanuts and cotton, as well as water; it was built with native labor (48, Harmon). The people had a better source of transport
Nigeria gained independence from Britain in 1960 on October first. The British had been indirectly ruling for just about 76 years. Nigeria had been colonized by Britain’s military force.
Annotated Bibliography
Harmon, Daniel E. Nigeria. Philadelphia: Chelsea, 2001.
This helped me through out my paper providing detailed information on Nigeria and its colonization.
Ismail, Yinka. Countries of the World Nigeria. Milwaukee: Gareth Stevens, 2001.
In this source I got info on how Britain gained power.
“The Colonial Economic Legacy.” U.S. Library of Congress. 19 Apr. 2009. 29 Apr. 2009 <http://countrystudies.us/nigeria/53.htm>.
This helped me with writing about how Britain gained control over Nigeria.
