NIGERIA @57: HOW THE TRIBES WERE BROUGHT TOGETHER AS NIGERIANS.
By Lazarus Obinna
The problem we are facing today was created by the British commercial interest. In 1851, Lagos was attacked by British forces. King Kosoko was defeated and deposed . In 1861, Lagos was ceded to British Crown. King Docemo signed the treaty of cession.
From 1851 to 1866, Lagos had its own Governor. From 1866 to 1874, governor of Sierra Leone ruled Lagos through administrators and from 1874 to 1886, Lagos was under the Governor of the Gold Coast. From 1886 to 1906 successful military campaigns were carried against Yoruba rulers and by 1906 pacifying missions brought Yoruba land under British rule. The territory was placed under the Governor of Lagos and called the colony and protectorate of Lagos.
The commonwealth report of 1956 reported that trade developed in the Niger Delta areas both on the coast and also in the hinterland. From 1832 , British merchants went up stream and traded with the natives on the banks of the River Niger as far as Lokoja. When the use of quinine made it possible for Europeans to settle in the interior, hinterland trade rapidly developed and many English companies were formed to exploit the resources of the interior. Acute rivalry developed among the traders who in 1879 , under the leadership of Sir George Goldie amalgamated , forming the United and later National African Company. Goldie defeated and eliminated a French rivalry company.
The English company was supreme in Niger valley and began treaty-making with tribes of the middle Niger, offering them British protection in return for exclusive trade with the company as well as mining concessions of all kinds. It was owing to the activities of this company and it's leader Goldie, that Britain was able to claim at the Berlin West African conference of 1885, that her interest were paramount in the Niger territories.
In 1886, a charter was granted to the National African Company ( which later took the name of the Royal Niger Company) to administer the protected territories in Northern Nigeria. In 1894 a treaty was signed with Bornu placing that territory under British protection. In 1897, the Emirate of Nupe and Ilorin were defeated militarily. 1899 the charter of Royal African Company was revoked, the protectorate of Northern Nigeria proclaimed and the Company's territory came under the British Crown.
According to the commonwealth report, the area known as the Eastern states on the coast, as in the hinterland, events moved swiftly. With the development of trade, the British consular post on Spanish Island of Vernando Po was removed to old Calabar on the Eastern Nigeria Coast. Treaties were concluded with various coastal rulers placing their territories under British protection. In 1885, the oil River protectorate was declared. In 1891, the consul in Calabar was created commissioner and in 1893, the territory was renamed, the Niger Coast protectorate.
The tribes and rulers who resisted the British invasion were ruthlessly crushed. In 1887 punitive expedition was sent against King Jaja of Opobo, against the Jekri Chief Nana in 1894, against Brass in 1895 and in 1897 against the Oba of Benin. The coast protectorate was transferred to the colonial office in 1899 and was renamed the protectorate of Southern Nigeria in 1900.
Between 1900 and 1906, the Igbo's were defeated and pacified. Both the central and southern part of their land was occupied by British forces. By this time, the British power had now been firmly planted in the territories now known as Nigeria.
The attempt to create one country of Nigeria by British colonial master started in 1906 when the colony and protectorate of Lagos and the protectorate of Southern Nigeria were amalgamated into the colony and protectorate of southern Nigeria. A Governor was appointed and three provinces: Western,Eastern and Central were formed . All southern Nigeria was now placed under a single administration.
In Northern Nigeria, the protectorate of Northern Nigeria replaced the administration of the Royal Niger Company in 1900. Up to 1908 the chief administrator was called High Commissioner and after 1908 he was called the Governor.
Between 1900 and 1914, centres of resistance to British rule were attacked and defeated by Royal West African Frontier Force - Nupe 1901 , Kantangora 1901, Bauchi 1902, Bornu 1902, Kano 1903, Sokoto 1903. Lord Lugard carried out the pacification of the Northern Nigeria. By instituting the system of the Native Administration or indirect rule, Lord Lugard allowed the defeated Emirs and Chiefs to govern their territories in accordance with their own laws and customs under the supervision of British officers who acted as advisers to the Emirs and restrained their excesses, whenever native customs conflict with the laws of Britain. By this system, he won the goodwill of the Emirs.
The second attempt was made in 1914 when the two administrations of Northern and Southern Nigeria were amalgamated, and named the colony and protectorate of Nigeria. Lord Lugard was appointed Governor-General and two Lieutenants-Governors. Later Chief Commissioners were put in charge of the two divisions, Northern and southern. In 1939, the southern provinces were divided into the Western and Eastern provinces, each under a chief commissioner, with headquarters at Ibadan and Enugu.
Certain factors made the unification of 1914 imperative. Before 1914, the North could not find sufficient funds to maintain its own administration in spite of the annual grants from the imperial treasury and from the southern administration. The financial position of the south was satisfactory due to the rapid development of trade. Amalgamation was aimed at relieving the imperial treasury of its annual contribution towards the upkeep of the North.
Unfortunately, amalgamation did not mean the complete fusion of the two administration. In the Northern provinces , important departments such as Medicine, Education, Police and Prisons were separated in policy and control from their southern counterparts.
So the creation of Nigeria was as a result of British commercial interest and the saying that Nigeria's unity is non-negotiable is a crap coined by those who has continued to benefit from this commercial establishment called Nigeria and this is the reason why 57 years after independence,Nigeria is still walking on a tightrope.
What you are seeing in Nigeria today has been with Nigeria from creation... Let me end with part of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe's independence anniversary broadcast on October 1,1964:
" The atmosphere of the nation reeks with mutual antagonism, bitter recriminations and tribal discrimination. The causes are the enemies of Nigeria. They are tribalism,nepotism, perfidy,bribery and corruption. With tribalism on the ascendance, the personality of our nation becomes decomposed and stinks, with nepotism influencing their judgments the will of the nation becomes stifled and immolated. With perfidy as the vogue among some of our politicians , the morals of our nation vanish to zero as no faith can be placed on the words of a crooked, double-faced, double-tongued scourge of the human race. With bribery and corruption permeating their way of life, the prestige of our nation dwindles to the vanishing point, defacing our national image, and bringing shame and contumely to those who wear the agbada of Nigerian citizenship."
53 years after this speech and 57 years after independence, has anything changed?
Is Nigeria truly independent?
Of what benefit is the amalgamation of the southern and Northern protectorate?
