Introduction to the history of Nigeria
The Federal Republic of Nigeria,
is a country in West Africa, occupy the basins of Niger and Benue Rivers and
extensive adjacent territories. Population (1963) 55,678,055, Area 356,699 sq
metres by miles. Nigeria consisted of four regions known officially as:
Northern Nigeria;
Eastern Nigeria;
Western Nigeria; and
Mid-West Nigeria (which is now known as six geopolitical zones as South East,
South West, South South, North Central, North East, North West)
And the Federal territory of
Lagos until the reorganization in 1967, which divided the country into 12
states. Today, the country comprises of 36 states which come on stream in 1996
with the federal capital territory moved from Lagos to Abuja in 1991. The
population is presently estimated at 170 million.
The Republic is a member of the
commonwealth of Nations. It extends northwards from the elbow of the Gulf of
Guinea between latitude 4o and 14oN and is bounded west
by the Republic of Dahamey (Republic of Benin), north by the Republic of the
Niger, and by the Republics of Chad and Cameroun.
Very little is known of the
history of Nigeria until the country was first visited by the Portuguese
navigators in the second half of the 15th century. Before this time,
there was little contact between inhabitants of the country and the northern
region of the country. Until the Europeans visited the coast of Nigeria, the
only contacts of Nigeria with the outside world were with the Eastern Sudan and
across the Sahara, with the Muslim states of North Africa.
THE TRIBES OF NIGERIA
1. Bornu and the Hausa Lands
The principal people in the
north were the Kanuri who occupied Bornu, the Hausa-speaking tribe, and the
Fulani. The entire Kanem, of which Bornu was a province, by the end of the 11th
century A.D extended both east and west of Lake Chad and included the greater
part of the Hausa lands. Toward the end of the 14th century the
power of Kanem waned and the empire shrank until little was left of it except
Bornu. Meanwhile, to the west of Bornu, the fortunes of the Hausa state rose
and fell. These states, the most important of which Kano, Daura, Gobir, and
Katsina has existed from an early date, each independent of the others, and often
fighting for supremacy, but joining from time to time in a loose confederancy
for mutual defence. Conquered in turn by Kanem and by Mohammed Askia the Great
King of Songhai (Gao) early in the 16th century they retained their
identities under native rulers who acknowledged their suzerainty of the
conquerors. When the influence of Songhai declined and the Hausa states
recovered their independence they engaged again in internecine wars and were
overrun at different time by the armies of Borno or of Kebbi, a state to the
west of the Hausa lands, which was of importance in the 16th
century.
Meanwhile for several centuries
there had been a steady movement into the Hausa lands of Pastoral tribe, the
Fulani, of whose origin little is known, while most of the Fulani remained with
their herds, moving from place to place in search of water and pastorage, a
number drifted to the towns and mingled with the Hausa population. These ‘town
Fulani” were quickly established in positions of influence.
Such a position had been taken
by Usman (Othman) dan Fodio, a fanatical Fulani Sheikh of great reputed sancity
who had made the pilgrim to Mecca. When, about 1802, Usman intervened on behalf
of a number of Muslims who had been enslaved, the pagan king of Gobir ordered
his arrest and Usman roused his followers to revolt. Recognized as Sakin
Musulmi (Commander of the faithful) Usman was supported by the Fulani and some
Muslim Hausa and easily defeated the forces of the king of Gobir, later
conquering all the Hausa lands in a triumphant Jihad which was directed at Lax
or lukewarm Muslims and pegans. Bornu a Muslim state was overrun in 1808 but
quickly recovered its independence. Fulani emirs were appointed as rulers of
the various states and the Fulani empire was established from Gondo (Gandu) in
the west to Adamawa in the east. Usman was succeeded by his son Bello, who as a
sultan of Sokoto, was recognized as Sarkin Musulmi of Suzerain of all the Fulani emirates.
The courts and the system of
government and taxation which were based on Koranic law of Hausa state were
adapted with little change by the new Fulani rulers, and for a time a high
standard of justice and administration was maintained. However gradually the
courts became corrupt and the administration extortionate and tyrannical (amirs
raiding neighbouring pegan tribe and sometimes even their own subjects to get
slaves). This state of affairs continued until the British occupation of the
country.
When the Bornu armies were
defeated by the fulani in 1808 and the Mai (king) was forced to flee before the
invaders, the country was saved by a military skill of Lamino (Mohammed al-Amin
al-Kanemi) a Muslim Sheikh born in Fezzan of Arab and Kanem descent. With a
small force of fanatical followers he defeated the Fulani in a number of battles
and drove them from Bornu. He restored the Mai to his throne and allowed him to
continue as a titular ruler but retained all powers to himself, governing the
country wisely and well, with the title of Shehu (Sheikh), until his death in
1835. The puppet Mai then attempted to recover his lost power but was defeated
and killed by Omar, Laminu’s son who continued to rule Bornu with a title of
Shehu.
In 1893 Bornu was invaded by
Rabah-Zubuyr who made himself ruler of Bornu. In 1900, however, Rabih was defeated
and killed by the French, who were extending their control over the western
Sudan.
2. The Coastal Tribes
To the south of Bornu and the
Hausaland were a large number of tribes having various origins and customs and
speaking distinct languages of these the largest and most important were the
Yoruba and Beni or Bini (also Benin) who occupied what later became the western
region of Nigeria and the Igbo in what became the Eastern region. The Ibo(Igbo)
tribe was divided into several clan speaking different dialects and lacking any
central organization. For this reason, it had practically no recorded history
until after the British occupation. The same could be said of the numerous
small tribes which inhabited the forest area and the mountainous areas of the
north.
The Bini and Yoruba, on the
other hand, had long established states which at various time reached a much
higher standard of organization and culture than most of the purely Negro
people attained. When the first Portuguese ships reached the Nigerian coast in
the 15th century, the Bini had long been an important nation, and
the Oba(King) of Benin was a powerful monarch whose authority extended over the
Yoruba country and even farther west. Friendly intercourse and a certain amount
of trade, mainly in slave were established between the Portuguese and the Bini.
But the tribe gradually declined in power as the Oba came under the influence
of a theocracy that maintained authority by the terror created through
wholesale human sacrifices. They discouraged contacts with Europeans, trade
dwindled, and by the beginning of the 18th century Benin had lost
influence.
In the meantime the Yoruba had
risen in importance. Little is known of their origin, but they supposedly came
from the North east and perhaps from upper Egypt. The first settlement of the
Yoruba in western Nigeria was probably at Ife, which was to remain the
spiritual headquarters of the people. The Alafin of Oyo was originally the
ruler of the whole tribe, but about 1810 the breakup of this kingdom began.
Each clan, under its king, becomes practically independent although Alafin’s
normal suzerainty continued to be recognized. The country suffered from
repeated invasion from Dahomy (Republic of Benin), while the northern province
of Ilorin fell, to Fulani from the north. The different clans Oyo, Egba, Ife,
Ijebu and other became involved in internecine wars, prisoners of which were
sold at Lagos as slave.
3. The Slave Trade
Traffic in slaves began by the
Portuguese proved so lucrative that other nations were soon in competition and
the slave ships of several European nations flocked to the Guinea coast.
British ships were visiting the coast of Nigeria by the 17th
century. Much of the trade was with minor chiefs and tribes in the Niger Delta
and on the banks of other rivers, the slaves being obtained by these middlemen
from the interior. Payment was made in portable spirits and arms and ammunition
which encouraged intertribal warfare. Throughout the period of unrestricted
slave trade no European nations attempt to bring any part of Nigeria under its
control.
The slave trade was made illegal
for British subjects in 1807, but the trade was scarcely affected as ships of
other nations continued to carry cargoes of slaves across the Atlantic. A
British naval squadron was then stationed on the west African coast to
intercept the slaves. British merchant ships continued to visit the estuaries
of the Niger rivers and began a legitimate trade, buying palm oil and other
products. This fact and the activities of the naval squadron greatly increased
British influence among the coastal tribes.
4. Exploration
At what time was known of the
interior of Africa and it was not even appreciated that the numerous streams of
the Niger Delta were infact the mouths of a great river. Existence of such a
river had long been known but its general direction and outlets were matters of
speculation. Several explorers failed before Mungo Park, in 1976 established
the fact that the general course of the upper Niger was easterly. Park lost his
life at the end of 1805 or early 1806 in an attempt to follow up his discovery.
It was not until 1830 that the Richard and John Lander ascertained that the
Niger flowed into the Gulf of Guniea, though the Delta which had been known to
Europeans for more than 300 years.
Other explorers reached Northern
Nigeria across the Sahara from Tripoli. In 1823 Dixon Denham and Hugh
Clapperton reached Bornu, where they were received by the Mai and the Shehu
Laminu. Clapperton then visited Sokoto and met with Sultan Bello and the party
returned safely to England in 1825. Clapperton died near Sokoto in 1927 on a
second journey made from the Bright of Benin. Another extensive exploration was
carried out by Heinrich Barth on behalf of the British Government.
Meanwhile an attempt had been
made to follow up the discovery of the Landers brothers by trading venture on
the Niger to provide an alternative to the slave trade. A company was formed by
a Liverpool Mergregor Laid, who went in 1832 with two small steamers to a point
above Lokoja, but disease discriminated the crew and the exploration was
abandoned. 1841 a large party, including Missionaries was sent by the British
government in four ships under the Command of naval officers, to explore the
Niger and try to make treaties of stopping slave trade. In two months there
were 48 deaths out of 145 Europeans in the ships. Others became seriously ill,
and the enterprise was abandon. It was not until 1854 that a singleship
commanded by W.B. Baikie with a crew composed largely of Africans was able to
explore the Niger and Benue and to do certain amount of successful trading
without any loss of life, the success resulting from the Prophylactic use of
quinine.
5. The Beginning of the British Rule
By that time, the trade in palm
oil which the coastal Africa found remunerative had greatly increased, while
the slave trade declined in the Niger Delta and on the oil rivers to the end of
it, although it was not until about 1840 that slave ships stopped visiting these
rivers. To assist legitimate trade it was decided in 1849 to appoint a British
consul for the Brights of Biafa and Benin, with his headquarters at Fernondo Po
for many years as superintendent of the naval base there.
Beecroft was soon engaged in
negotiations with King Kosoko of Lagos (then the principal port in West Africa
from which slaves were shipped) with a view to stopping the trade, but the
negotiations were unsuccessful, and in 1851 the town was attacked by a naval
force and captured after heavy fighting. Kosoko fled, and his uncle Akintoye,
the legitimate ruler, was placed on the throne, he signed a treaty providing
for the abolition of the slave trade and of human sacrifice and for the
protection of missionaries. A British consul was appointed to Lagos with the
king’s concept.
In 1861 Akintoye’s successor,
Dosumu, who appeared unable to govern effectively or to prevent the revival of
the slave trade was regulated to sign a treaty ceding his possessions to the
British crown in return for a pension and Lagos was annexed as British Colony.
For a time the existence of this colony, which effectively stopped the slave
trade and provided a haven for runaway slaves, was strongly resented by the
Yoruba in the hinterland of Lagos and especially by the Egba, who closed the
trade routes and expelled all missionaries and Europeans trades. At a later
date, however, British influence increased in the Yoruba country; the civil
wars which had raged for so many years among the Yoruba were brought to an end,
and in 1888 a treaty with the Alafin of Oyo placed the whole of the Yoruba
country under British protection.
After his successful vayage in
1854, Baike had established himself at Lokoja under the protection of the Emir
of Nupe and maintained his more or less official settlement from trading
profits. A number of European companies also began to trade on the Niger. In
1879 George Goldie-Tubman(later known as Sir George Goldie) who was interested
on one of the companies, arranged a merger of all the British firms trading on
Niger; and a few years later he was able to buy out the rival French companies.
Treaties were made with the chiefs of the tribes inhabiting the banks of the
Niger and the Benue and with the Fulani Sultan of Sokoto, and at the Berlin
Conference of 1885 it was possible to claim that British interest were supreme
on the Niger and oil rivers. This claim was admitted by the conference and a
British protectorate was then declared over the Niger districts which included
the oil river area and the hinterland.
The vague authority of the
consul had gradually increased in the oil river, and courts of equity, composed
of the leading African and European traders on the different rivers had been
established. In 1872 and order of the queen in council had regularized the
Judicial and administrative position of the consul, but he had for a time title
means of enforcing his authority. In 1887, however chief Jaja of Opobo was
removed and deported in consequence of his interference with trade and defence
of the consul. In 1891 a commissioner and consul general was appointed to the
Oil rivers with a headquarters at Calabar, and in 1893 the territory was
renamed the Niger Coast Protectorate.
6. The Royal Niger Company
In 1886 a royal charter was
granted to the organized by Sir George Goldie, which later was called the Royal
Niger Company, charted and limited. The company was authorized to administer
the Delta and the country on the banks of the Niger and the Benue together with
the hinterland but was forbidden to establish any monopoly of trade. The
company at once set up courts of justice and the usual administrative services
and raised an armed constabulary. Most of the Fulani empire was beyond its
control but in 1897 after a short campaign, the company’s troops were able to
subdue Ilorin and Nupe and to compel the emirs of these states to abandon slave
trading and recognize the suzerainty of the company.
Meanwhile on the coast, the
people of Brass who were included in the Niger Coast Protectorate and excluded
(except on payment of prohibitive dues) from trading in their former markets on
the Niger which lay within the company’s territory became increasingly hostile.
In 1895 they raided the company’s establishment at Akassa, killing many of
African employees of the company and carrying off others as prisoners, some of
these being killed and eaten. This outrage was punished by a naval force.
7. Benin
Another naval force, assisted by
the protectorate constabulary, had captured (1894) Brohemie on the Benin River,
the headquarters of the Jekri Chief Nana, who had traded in slave trade
extensively. Nana was captured, tried and deported.
The principal centre of the
slave trade in the Niger Coast Protectorate was then the city of Benin, which
was also known for the practice of human sacrifice. King Overami of Benin had
failed to implement a treaty he had signed in 1892 for the abolition of human
sacrifice and of the slave trade, and the acting consul general, J.R. Phillips
suggested that he should visit Benin to discuss the matter, the King replied that
he would be willing to receive Phillips within a few months time, but Phillip
was not prepared to wait and decided, inspite of warnings to go at once to
Benin. He so informed the King, assuring him that his party would be unarmed,
in reply Overami promised to send guides to meet the party. On January 3, 1897,
Phillips and his party landed at Gwata, where a friendly welcome was received
through messengers sent by the King. The next day, however, the party started
for Benin and within a few hours it was massacred, only two of the Europeans,
badly wounded, and few of the Africans escaping. Phillip and six of his
European companions and more than 200 Africans perished.
A naval force was sent at once to Benin River,
and sailors and marines with troops of the protectorate constabulary, captured
Benin after a severe fighting about six weeks after massacre. After a judicial
inquiry, those who were directly responsible for the massacre were executed and
Overami was deported.
8. Northern and Southern Nigeria
On the western frontier, dispute
with France (which were to be embittered in 1898 by the Fashoda crisis at the
opposite end of the Sudan) nearly led to war, and imperial force of African
soldiers with British officers, the West African frontier force was raised in
1897 and placed under the command of Frederick Luggard. For a time the
situation was critical, but the dispute was finally settled without fighting.
These international difficulties
and the complaint of the Brass people against the Royal Niger Company led to
the revocation of the company’s charter, the British Government assuming direct
control of the company’s territories on January 1, 1900. The land in the Niger
Delta and along the lower reaches of the river, which had been included in the
company’s territories was added to the Niger coast protectorate which was
renamed Southern Nigeria. On May 1, 1906 the Lagos territories were amalgamated
with Southern Nigeria, the whole country
being styled the colony and protectorate of Southern Nigeria, with Lagos as the
seat of Government.
The northern part of the
company’s territories became the protectorate of Northern Nigeria, with Luggard
serving as the first High Commissioner. The Fulani and Kanuri still retained
their independence, and slave trade continued, but the principal slave raiders,
the emirs of Kontogora, Nupe and Adamawa were removed from office in 1901, and
Bauchi and Bornu were brought under control the following year. The Sultan of
Sokoto refused friendly overtunes, and a small garrison was stationed at Zaria.
When the emir of Kano threatened to attack this garrison and also refused to
surrender the murderer of a British
official, a force of 700 African soldiers with British officers advanced
against the mud-walled city of Kano which was taken on February 1903. There was
subsequently severe fighting against the main Kano army and the army of the
Sultan of Sokoto who fled before the battle. Sokoto was then occupied, and the
chiefs nominated new Sultan, approved by the High Commissioner.
In the administration of
Northern Nigeria, Luggard used the indigenous authorities, the emirs and other
chiefs, in what became known as indirect rule. The African administration had
their own treasures and received a proportion of the tax.
9. The Amalgamation of Nigeria
Luggard ceased to be High
Commissioner in 1906 but returned to Nigeria in 1912 as governor of both
Northern and Southern Nigeria, charged with the duty of amalgamating the two
territories. The amalgamation was effected on January 1, 1914 the whole country
being known thereafter as the colony and protectorate of Nigeria,
Seven months later, in August
1914, World War broke out, and Nigerian forces were soon in action against
German troops in Kamerun (now known as the Federal Republic of Cameroon). A
combined Franco-British invasion of Kamerun resulted in the conquest of the
country by the beginning of 1916. In 1922 a small part of the territory was
mandated by the League of Nations to the United Kingdom and was attached for
purposes of administration of Nigeria. (The mandate was placed in 1947 by a
trusteeship agreement with the United Nations). Before the end of the war,
Nigerian soldiers had also taken part in the fighting in East Africa. In World
War II, Nigerian troops served in East Africa against the Italian, and in Buma
against the Japanese.
10. Constitutional Changes
Following the amalgamation of
1914 and particularly after the end of World War II a number of territorial and
constitutional changes took place in Nigeria. In 1914 the country was divided
into three main areas, namely the colony of Nigeria (corresponding to the
former colony of Lagos) and two groups of provinces in the protectorate, the
Northern and Southern Provinces. The southern provinces were later divided into
two groups, Eastern and Western. In 1951 these were officially renamed the
Northern, Eastern and Western regions.
In 1914 a legislative council
for the colony alone had been set up affairs of the protectorates being beyond
its preview. In 1923 a large legislative council was established which for the
first time included a limited number of elected numbers.
A radical change was made in the
constitution in 1947. House of Assembly for the three groups of provinces were
set up with a majority of non officials over ex officio members, and there was
also a house of chief for the Northern provinces. In addition there was a
central legislative council for the whole of Nigeria.
Public opinion was still not
satisfied, and a quasi-federal constitution, introduced in 1951 provided for a
central legislative house of representatives. Resulting friction between
central and regional legislatures caused the introduction of yet another
constitution (the third in eight years) in 1954. This set up the Federation of
Nigeria comprising the Northern, Eastern and Western regions, the Southern
Camerouns (part of the trust territories) and Federal territory of Lagos. A
fourth region was established in 1963 by separation of certain non-Yoruba areas
from the western region.
The British government then
granted independence in the Nigerian federation on October 1st 1960.
The first Prime Minister was Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa balewa, while the
ceremonial president was Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe.
Finally, in conclusion presently
May 2017, the affairs of the nation is co-ordinated by Vice President Professor
Yemi Osibanjo on the instruction by the executive President Muhammadu Buhari
who was on leave of absent on health ground in London (UK).
Baba Ali Mustapha is with the
department of planning and research, Ministry of Environment, Maiduguri, Borno
State.
Reference:
For
more knowledge on History, politics, economic and great personalities of
Nigeria look for the book, ‘NIGERIA-AN ANATOMY OF DEVELOPMENT AND RETROGRESSION
by Dr. M.I. Ijiomah (a development economic specialist) of Abia State
University published by Smart link Publishers, 27 Ochi street Achara Layout,
Enugu, Enugu State, Nigeria.
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