The Way Nigeria Was Made

This picture is from 1st January, 1914 the day Lord Lugard manufactured Nigeria by merging Northern, Southern Nigeria and Lagos.

  Colonial Nigeria

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria
British colony
← ← 1914–1960 →
Flag of the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria
Anthem God Save the King/God Save the Queen
Nigeria (red) British possessions in Africa (pink) 1914
Capital		Lagos
Languages		English
Government		British Crown colony
High Commissioner/Governor
-	1914–1919	Sir Frederick John Dealtry Lugard
-	1948–1954	Sir John Stuart Macpherson
History
-	Established	1 January 1914
-	Disestablished	1 October 1960
Currency		British West African pound (1914–1958) Nigerian Pound (from 1958)

Part of a series on the

History of Nigeria

Timeline

Prehistory Early history pre-1500 Pre-colonial period 1500–1800 British period 1800–1960 First Republic 1960–1979 Civil War 1967–1970 Second Republic 1979–1983 Third Republic 1993–1999 Fourth Republic 1999–present

See also

History of the Igbo people History of the Yoruba people

Nigeria portal

v t e

Colonial Nigeria refers to the area of West Africa, which became the modern day Nigeria, during the time British rule in the 19th and 20th centuries. British influence began with prohibition of slave trade to British subjects in 1807. The resulting collapse of African slave trade led to the decline and eventual collapse of the Edo Empire. 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 power over the area in the 1885 Berlin Conference.

From 1886–1899, much of the country was ruled by Royal Niger Company, authorized by charter, and governed by George Taubman Goldie. In 1900, the Southern Nigeria Protectorate and Northern Nigeria Protectorate passed from company hands to the Crown. At the urging of governor Frederick Lugard, the two territories were amalgamated as the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria, while maintaining considerable regional autonomy among the three major regions. Progressive constitutions after World War II provided for increasing representation and electoral government by Nigerians. The colonial period proper in Nigeria lasted from 1900 to 1960, after which Nigeria gained its independence.

Overview

Through a progressive sequence of regimes, the British imposed autocratic rule on the area of West Africa which came to be known as Nigeria.^[1] Administration and military control of the territory was done primarily by white Britishers, both in London and in Nigeria.^[2]

Following military conquest, the British imposed an economic system designed to profit from African labour. The essential basis of this system was money—specifically, British money—which could be demanded through taxation, paid to cooperative natives, and levied as a fine.^[3][4]

The amalgamation of different ethnic and religious groups into one federation created internal tension which persists in Nigeria to the present day.^[5]

Lord Lugard and his "Sherikoko."