Nigeria Celebrates her Centenary

Nigeria celebrates her centenary

Nigeria as a country is 100 years old this year. On 1^st January 1914 the British Colonial masters amalgamated (i.e. joined) the Northern and Southern parts of Nigeria to form one large country. Before that time the Northern and Southern protectorates were ruled separately.

It all started in December 1851 when British soldiers led by John Beecroft a British Naval officer attacked and defeated the army of Oba Kosoko of Lagos Kingdom. By that time we did not have Nigeria as a country, rather the territory that is now called Nigeria was made up of many kingdoms and states (big and small) which were self governed. White men came in as aliens or visitors that were interested in trade and spreading of Christianity. Some of the indigenous kingdoms or states were: Lagos, Oyo, Benin, Sokoto Caliphate, Borno, Jukun, Nupe, Igala, Igbo segmentary States etc.

As stated earlier, the relationship Nigeria had with Europeans and Britain in particular was horizontal (i.e. relationship between equals) but with time things took a new turn when the British started interfering with our internal affairs and imposed their will on us. The kingdoms that frowned or resisted them were attacked, burned down and their kings removed.

So it all started with Lagos. The king of Lagos Kingdom Oba Kosoko was faulted by the British, so the British went to war with Lagos, defeated Kosoko and replaced him with Oba Akitoye. Ten years later (1861) Britain took over Lagos as a colony and posted a white Governor called Moloney to rule it. After Lagos, they attacked Ijebu Ode (1892) and extended their influence to the entire Yoruba land .They also moved to the Niger Delta region in (1885) which they named Oil Rivers Protectorate. From Yoruba land they attacked the Benin Empire in 1897. Between 1901 and 1902 it was the turn of the Igbos to smell the British gun powder. Finally, by 1906 the entire Southern part of Nigeria had been defeated by the British, and in that same year (1906) Lagos colony and other parts of Southern Nigeria (which was called Protectorate of Southern Nigeria) were amalgamated with Sir Walter Egerton as its Governor. So it was in 1906 that all the southerners were united into one country. But the North was yet on its own.

Before the British stepped into Northern Nigeria, the territory was an Islamic country called Sokoto Caliphate. This kingdom covered a large chunk of the north excluding Bornu and a few small non-Muslim states.

The British Government sent Frederick Lugard to conquer this large territory for Britain. When Lugard got there, he saw a large kingdom that was well organized. However, he still carried out his assignment of conquering the place. He urged the Fulani rulers to surrender to British rule peacefully; a few towns accepted while others refused. Thus, Lugard declared war on recalcitrant towns, starting with Kontangora in 1901. The Lugard led army of 600 well-equipped men moved up from Kontagora to Yola, Bauchi, Gombe, Kano and finally arrived at Sokoto. Thus, between 1900 and 1906, Lugard fought and defeated Sokoto caliphate and annexed it to Britain. And the name was changed to the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria. With that the British ruled over two different entities: the colony and protectorate of Southern Nigeria with Lagos as its capital and the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria with Kaduna as its capital. Fredrick Lugard became the Governor or High Commissioner of Northern Protectorate and the British government gave him yet another assignment, which was to unite or amalgamate the two territories into one large territory.

Why did the British decide to amalgamate the north and the south? Here are some reasons adduced for this action:

i)        To reduce cost: They believed they would spend less money administering the territories as one colony rather than two colonies.

ii)       Surplus in the South, deficit in the North: When they ruled the two protectorates separately, the British recorded surplus funds in the South and deficit in the North. So with the amalgamation the surplus generated from the south would be used to offset the deficit incurred from the north.

iii)     The British felt that the people of the two protectorates were ‘brothers’ and should as such be in one nation.

Lord Lugard presented his report to London and on 1^st January, 1914 the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria and the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria were joined as one nation called the colony of Nigeria.

2014 makes it exactly 100 years since Nigeria started existing as one country. You can say it was Britain that created Nigeria, if you like. Even the name Nigeria was suggested by Flora Shaw and was adopted in 1898. Should we then continually refuse to live in peace as one people? Where there is a will there is a way. All Nigerians need is the will to live together as one, then every other thing will follow.

Yes! A hundred years old man has certainly come of age. Don’t you think so? Happy Centenary Nigeria.