The People’s Republic: How they came

JUST as the British were getting thoroughly fed up with Kosoko’s uncompromising encouragement of the slave-trade, Akintoye addressed a beautifully-worded petition to Beecroft in 1851 in which, among other things, he prayed the British Government to restore hini to his throne, promised ‘to abolish the slave-trade at Lagos, and to establish, and carry on lawful trade, especially with the English merchants.’ Akintoye’s prayer was strongly backed by the Egbas.

In view of all these, and the intransigence of Kosoko, Beecroft visited Lagos in 1851 with a ‘naval force of four hundred men.’ He drove King Kosoko from Lagos and restored the exiled Akintoye as the King of Lagos. On January 1, 1852, the latter signed a treaty in which he undertook to abolish the slave-trade in his territories, and to afford protection to ‘Missionaries or Ministers of the Gospel, of whatever nation or country.’

After the execution of this treaty, a Vice-Consul was appointed for Lagos to assist Beecroft In 1855, Akintoye died and was succeeded by his son, Dosumu, a man of weak character who soon proved his incompetence for the office. In the absence of any head possessed of sufficient ability to control the unruly element which composed the society of Lagos at the time, the greatest disorder prevailed: there was no effective protection for property; there was no effective machinery for enforcing the payment of debts; traders were maltreated and plundered; and no redress of grievances could be obtained without bribing the officers and retainers in Dosumu’s court. Besides, human sacrifices were committed even in sight of the town, whilst clandestine traffic in slaves continued in its immediate neighbourhood. As a result, the Treaty of 1852 became, to all intents and purposes, a nullity, as Dosumu’s control over his people was little more than nominal.

Moved by the necessity of interposing some checks to these evils, which were yearly becoming worse, and satisfied that the permanent occupation of Lagos was indispensable to the total suppression of the slave-trade in the Bight of Benin, Her Majesty’s Government took the view that the only way by which order and effective administration could be maintained in Lagos was to change its consular status to that of a British Colony. Accordingly, in 1861, Lagos was ceded to Her Britannic Majesty; and in 1862, H. S. Freeman was appointed the first British Governor of Lagos. Thus, Lagos became the first part of Nigeria to come under British rule, and Mr. Freeman the first British official to preside over a colonial regime on Nigerian soil. The Anglo- Nigerian link was now becoming stronger.

Because of our climate, and the high mortality rate among the early European visitors to our land, Nigeria, as well as other countries of West Africa for that matter, was regarded as unsuitable for permanent white settlement.

From 1808 to the early sixties of that century, two things appeared to have sustained the interests of the British Government in Nigeria. They were: (1) the campaign for the suppression of slave-trade; and (2) the need to give protection to, and regulate the activities of British merchants trading with West African countries. Even these self-imposed assignments were almost abdicated by Britain in 1865. On June 26 of that year, the House of Commons adopted the recommendation of a Committee to the following effect:

That all further extension of territory or assumption of government, or new treaties offering any protection to native tribes, would be inexpedient, and that the object of our policy should be to encourage in the natives the exercise of those qualities which may render it possible for us to transfer to them the administration of all the governments, with a view to our ultimate withdrawal from all, except, probably, Sierra Leone.

But whilst Britain was contemplating ‘ultimate withdrawal’ from West Africa, France was frantically busy trying to extend the spheres of her influence there. The Germans too were beginning to think that they also had a rendezvous with imperial destiny in West Africa. Furthermore, by 1880, the scramble for Africa had begun in real earnest. Britain lost no time in steeling her wavering will. In 1884, the rival European powers assembled at a conference in Berlin under the chairmanship of Otto von Bismarck. At that conference, the imperial powers reached a settlement about the final demarcation of their respective spheres of influence in Africa.

It would appear, however, that the settlement was an uneasy one. For, in spite of it, the French, the British and the Germans continued to intrigue against one another for an extension of their spheres of influence. In particular, the Germans felt that their great leader, Von Bismarck had not pressed their claim sufficiently at the Berlin Conference. As a result, there were treaty-making offensives all over the place. Different methods were employed to induce or coerce our people to agree to place themselves and their territories under British protection. Bribery, cajolery, intimidation, military aggression, any of these, was used as occasion demanded, and without the slightest compunction.

As time went on, it became clear to the British Government that the Royal Niger Company was unequal to the mounting demands of the imperial rivalry in which the British and the French, in particular. had locked horns. To start with, the effective influence of the Company, as we have noted, had never extended very much beyond the banks of the Niger, Benue, and the rivers in the immediate vicinity of their trading stations. Besides, as a trading concern with naturally very limited resources, and whose primary object, in any case, was to make the maximum possible profit, the Company was very ill-equipped, and could not, in the circumstances, be expected to provide the financial, administrative, diplomatic, and military wherewithal which the new Anglo-French imperialist competition warranted. Furthermore, the other firms trading along the banks of the Niger had made complaints of monopolistic practices, in breach of its Charter, against the Company.

Because of all this, the Company’s Charter was revoked with effect from I January 1900, when the British Government assumed control of all the territories formerly placed under the jurisdiction of the Company.

Under the instrument of revocation, compensation was paid to the Royal Niger Company as follows:

(1) £450,000 for expenses incurred in connection with administration.

(2) £115,000 for buildings and stores taken over for military and administrative purposes; and (3) £250,000 public debt.

In addition, the British Government undertook to impose royalties on minerals won in the area lying between and north of the Niger and Benue, with the exception of Bornu Province, and to pay to the Company for a period of 99 years from the revocation of its Charter, half of the receipts of such royalties. In 1949 the sum of £2½ million. was paid by the Nigerian Government to the United Africa Company Limited – successor of the Royal Nigeria Company – as full compensation for the surrender by it of its right to a moiety of royalties for the unexpired period of 50 years. By I January 1900, the colonization of Nigeria had been almost fully accomplished. The country was, at that date, administered by Britain, either directly or indirectly, in three separate units:

(I) The Colony and Protectorate of Lagos which consisted of the areas of authority of the present Western State and Lagos State Governments, excluding Egba Division.

(2) The Protectorate of Southern Nigeria which comprised roughly the areas of authority of the present three Eastern States, and of the Midwestern State Government.

(3) The Protectorate of Northern Nigeria which was more or less the same as the present six Northern States.

There was also an indigenous sovereign state which constituted a tiny enclave in this huge dependency. It was known as the Egba United Government. It came into existence in 1893, and its area of authority was coterminous with what is now known as the Egba Division of Abeokuta Province.

In 1906 the Colony and Protectorate of Lagos and the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria were merged into one administrative unit known as the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria. On I January 1914, the latter and the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria were amalgamated to form the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. On 16 September 1914, under circumstances which could not be regarded as altogether free from the taints of fraudulent diplomatic manoeuvres and duress, the Alake of Abeokuta was made to surrender the sovereignty of his tiny domain, and to place it ‘unreservedly under the Government of the Protectorate of Nigeria.’ By this act, the colonization of the whole of Nigeria by Britain was consummated.

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THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC

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How They Ruled

1. From Lugard to Richards

We have seen that by 1 January 1900, four distinct administrative units had emerged. They were: (1) The Colony and Protectorate of Lagos under a Governor; (2) The Protectorate of Southern Nigeria under a High Commissioner; (3) The Protectorate of Northern Nigeria under a High Commissioner; and (4) The Egba United Government under the Alake of Abeokuta and his Chiefs. British officials in charge of the first three were responsible to the Colonial Office. But this had not always been the case.

Before 1900, British officials in Nigeria were responsible to three different authorities. Those in the Niger Coast Protectorate, later known as the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria, were responsible to the Foreign Office; those in the Colony and Protectorate of Lagos, to the Colonial Office; while those in charge of the areas which later became the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria were responsible to the Board of Directors of the Royal Niger Company. This extra-ordinary administrative set-up was streamlined in 1900, and fully rationalized in 1914 under the Governor-Generalship of Lord (then Sir Frederick) Lugard.

An imperialist of a very deep dye, Lord Lugard was an exceedingly able and resourceful administrator, and a brilliant soldier. To him, more than to anyone else, belongs the credit and discredit for setting Nigeria on a course which Nigerian nationalists and patriots feel themselves obliged to pursue, albeit with mixed feelings, till the present day. We shall have more to say on this assertion in Chapter 4. For the time being, let us try to learn, among other things, a little more about this man and his doings in Nigeria. His first visit to Nigeria was in 1894. He was then a soldier with the rank of Captain; and he had come here, on behalf of the Royal Niger Company, to negotiate treaties with the Chiefs of Borgu. It

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