Colonial history of Northern Nigeria

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The Colonial history of Northern Nigeria extends from the British pacification campaigns to the independence of Northern Nigeria in 1953. [1] [2]

Contents

Initially, the British involvement in Northern Nigeria was predominantly trade-related and revolved around the expansion of the Royal Niger Company. The Royal Niger Company's interior territories spread north from where the Niger River and Benue River joined, at Mount Patti, Lokoja. [3] [4] The company did not represent a direct threat to much of the Sokoto Caliphate or the numerous states of Northern Nigeria. This changed when Frederick Lugard and Taubman Goldie laid down an ambitious plan to pacify the Nigerian interior and unite it with the rest of the British Empire.

Protectorate

Frederick Lugard proclaimed the protectorate of Northern Nigeria at Ida in Kogi on January 1, 1897. The basis of the colony was the 1885 Treaty of Berlin, which broadly granted Northern Nigeria to Britain on the basis of their protectorates in Southern Nigeria. [4] Hostilities with the powerful Sokoto Caliphate soon followed. The Emirates of Kabba, Kotogora and Illorin were the first to be conquered by the British. In February 1903, the great fort of Kano, site of the Kano Emirate, was captured, followed by Sokoto and much of the rest of its caliphate shortly after. On March 13, 1903, the Grand Shura of the Sokoto Caliphate conceded to Lugard's demands. [5]

Lugard became governor; with limited resources, he administered the region with the consent of local rulers. He governed through a policy of indirect rule, which he developed into a sophisticated political theory. Lugard left the protectorate after some years, serving in Hong Kong, but eventually returned to work in Nigeria, where he decided on the merger of the Northern Nigeria Protectorate with Southern Nigeria in 1914. [4] [6] Agitation for independence from the radically different Southern Protectorate, however, led to a formidable split during the 1940s. The Richards constitution, adopted in 1945, gave overwhelming autonomy to the North. This autonomy eventually included the legislative arenas of foreign relations and customs policy.

Independence

Northern Nigeria was granted independence on March 15, 1953, with Sir Ahmadu Bello as its first Premier. The Northern Peoples Congress under Sir Ahmadu Bello dominated Parliament, while the Northern Elements Progressive Union became the main opposition party.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kogi State</span> State of Nigeria

Kogi State is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the west by the states of Ekiti and Kwara, to the north by the Federal Capital Territory, to the northeast by Nasarawa State, to the northwest by Niger State, to the southwest by the Edo and Ondo states, to the southeast by the states of Anambra and Enugu, and to the east by Benue State. It is the only state in Nigeria to border ten other states. Named for the Hausa word for river (Kogi). Kogi State was formed from parts of Benue State, Niger State, and Kwara State on 27 August 1991. The state is nicknamed the "Confluence State" due to the fact that the confluence of the River Niger and the River Benue occurs next to its capital, Lokoja.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sokoto Caliphate</span> Islamic state in West Africa (1804–1903)

The Sokoto Caliphate, also known as the Sultanate of Sokoto, was a Sunni Muslim caliphate in West Africa. It was founded by Usman dan Fodio in 1804 during the Fulani jihads after defeating the Hausa Kingdoms in the Fulani War. The boundaries of the caliphate are part of present-day Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Nigeria. By 1837, the Sokoto state had a population of around 10-20 plus million people, becoming the most populous empire in West Africa. It was dissolved when the British and Germans conquered the area in 1903 and annexed it into the newly established Northern Nigeria Protectorate and Kamerun respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Nigeria Protectorate</span> British protectorate from 1900 to 1914

Northern Nigeria was a British protectorate which lasted from 1900 until 1914 and covered the northern part of what is now Nigeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Nigeria Protectorate</span> British protectorate from 1900 to 1914

Southern Nigeria was a British protectorate in the coastal areas of modern-day Nigeria formed in 1900 from the union of the Niger Coast Protectorate with territories chartered by the Royal Niger Company below Lokoja on the Niger River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Region, Nigeria</span> Former autonomous division within Nigeria

Northern Nigeria was an autonomous division within Nigeria, distinctly different from the southern part of the country, with independent customs, foreign relations and security structures. In 1962, it acquired the territory of the British Northern Cameroons, which voted to become a province within Northern Nigeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahmadu Bello</span> Nigerian politician (1910–1966)

Ahmadu Ibrahim Bello, also known as Sardauna of Sokoto KBE, knighted as SirAhmadu Bello, was a conservative Nigerian statesman who masterminded Northern Nigeria through the independence of Nigeria in 1960 and served as its first and only premier from 1954 until his assassination in 1966, in which capacity he dominated national affairs for over a decade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colonial Nigeria</span> British colony and protectorate from 1914 to 1960

Colonial Nigeria was ruled by the British Empire from the mid-nineteenth century until 1960 when Nigeria achieved independence. British influence in the region began with the prohibition of slave trade to British subjects in 1807. Britain annexed Lagos in 1861 and established the Oil River Protectorate in 1884. British influence in the Niger area increased gradually over the 19th century, but Britain did not effectively occupy the area until 1885. Other European powers acknowledged Britain's dominance over the area in the 1885 Berlin Conference.

Arewa or Arewaland is a Hausa word which means "The North". The term is used to refer to Northern Nigeria general. The terms Arewa and Arewacin Najeriya are used in Hausa to refer to the historic region geopolitically located north of the River Niger.

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Nigerian traditional rulers often derive their titles from the rulers of independent states or communities that existed before the formation of modern Nigeria. Although they do not have formal political power, in many cases they continue to command respect from their people and have considerable influence in their community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kano Emirate</span> Muslim state in northern Nigeria

The Kano Emirate was a Muslim state in Northern Nigeria formed in 1805 during the Fulani jihad when the Muslim Hausa-led Sultanate of Kano was deposed and replaced by a new emirate which became a vassal state of the Sokoto Caliphate. During and after the British colonial period, the powers of the emirate were steadily reduced. The emirate is preserved and integrated into modern Nigeria as the Kano Emirate Council.

The Kontagora Emirate is a traditional state with the capital city of Kontagora, Niger State, Nigeria. The Kontagora Emirate is among the major emirates in Niger state like Kagara Emirate, Suleja Emirate and others

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The history of Northern Nigeria covers the history of the region form pre-historic times to the modern period of Northern Nigerian state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Northern Nigeria</span>

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The Battle of Kwatarkwashi was a decisive battle between the British administered Protectorate of Northern Nigeria and forces of the Sokoto Caliphate's Kano Emirate. The defeat of the Kano cavalry in the battle marked the formative end of the Kano Emirate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aliyu Babba</span> Emir of Kano

Aliyu Ibn Abdullahi-Maje Karofi was an Emir of Kano, a state in what is now Northern Nigeria. Also known as Babba and Mai Sango- The Gun User. Emerging at the end of the Basasa, his reign was marked by a series of costly wars and fortification projects that heavily militarised the erstwhile commercial Emirate. His escapades as Emir of Kano were recorded in the official historical canon of the Kano Emirate, the Tarikh Al Kano. The ballad of Ali Zaki, commemorates his reign as the last Emir of Kano.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muhammad Abbas (Emir of Kano)</span> Emir of Kano

Muhammad Abbas was a regent and later emir of Kano. He was appointed regent by Lord Lugard after the pacification of Northern Nigeria, he presided over the transformation of the caliphal emirate into an emirate subject to the British throne under the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sokoto Sultanate Council</span> Northern Nigerian Emirate in Sultanate of Sokoto

The Sultanate of Sokoto is a traditional state in Northern Nigeria with headquarters in the city of Sokoto, capital of the modern Sokoto State. Preceded by the Sokoto Caliphate, the council was formed in 1903 after the British pacification of the caliphate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Patti</span>

The Mount Patti Hill is a 1503 foot-tall mountain and tourist attraction in Lokoja, Nigeria. It is famous for being the place where British journalist and writer Flora Louise Shaw gave Nigeria its name.

References

  1. "Northern Nigeria from Independence (1960) to 1979", Muslim-Christian Dialogue in Post-Colonial Northern Nigeria, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, doi:10.1057/9781137122575.0009, ISBN   978-1-137-12257-5
  2. "Introduction", Nigeria Since Independence, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012, doi:10.1057/9781137292049.0005, ISBN   978-1-137-29204-9
  3. "Lokoja". doi:10.1163/2405-4453_alao_com_ala_20009_5.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. 1 2 3 "Lokoja | Location, History, Facts, & Population". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  5. Ibrahim Ado-Kurawa. "Brief History of Kano 999 to 2003". Kano Online. Archived from the original on 2014-08-09. Retrieved 2014-07-29.
  6. The Brief history of Nigeria during the colony 1900. Nigeria National library