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Nigeria Extension of British Control
British expansion accelerated in the last decades of
the
nineteenth century. The early history of Lagos Colony was
one of
repeated attempts to end the Yoruba wars. In the face of
threats
to the divided Yoruba states from Dahomey and the Sokoto
Caliphate, as represented by the emirate of Ilorin, the
British
governor--assisted by the CMS--succeeded in imposing peace
settlements on the interior.
Colonial Lagos was a busy, cosmopolitan port,
reflecting
Victorian and distinctively Brazilian architecture and the
varied
backgrounds of a black elite, composed of English-speakers
from
Sierra Leone and of emancipated slaves repatriated from
Brazil
and Cuba. Its residents were employed in official
capacities and
were active in business. Africans also were represented on
the
Lagos Legislative Council, a largely appointed assembly.
After the Berlin Conference, Britain announced
formation of
the Oil Rivers Protectorate, which included the Niger
Delta and
extended eastward to Calabar, where the British consulate
general
was relocated from Fernando Po. The essential purpose of
the
protectorate was to control trade coming down the Niger.
Vice
consuls were assigned to ports that already had concluded
treaties of cooperation with the Foreign Office. Local
rulers
continued to administer their territories, but consular
authorities assumed jurisdiction for the equity courts
established earlier by the foreign mercantile communities.
A
constabulary force was raised and used to pacify the
coastal
area. In 1894 the territory was redesignated the Niger
Coast
Protectorate and was expanded to include the region from
Calabar
to Lagos Colony and Protectorate, including the
hinterland, and
northward up the Niger River as far as Lokoja, the
headquarters
of the Royal Niger Company. As a protectorate, it did not
have
the status of a colony but remained under the jurisdiction
of the
Foreign Office.
Continued expansion of the protectorate was
accomplished
largely by diplomatic means, although military force was
employed
to bring Ijebu, Oyo, and Benin into compliance with
dictated
treaty obligations. The conquest of Benin in 1897
completed the
British occupation of southwestern Nigeria. The incident
that
sparked the expedition was the massacre of a British
consul and
his party, which was on its way to investigate reports of
ritual
human sacrifice in the city of Benin. In reprisal a marine
detachment promptly stormed the city and destroyed the
oba's palace. The reigning oba was sent into
exile,
and Benin was administered indirectly under the
protectorate
through a council of chiefs.
Although treaties were signed with rulers as far north
as
Sokoto by 1885, actual British control was confined to the
coastal area and the immediate vicinity of Lokoja until
1900. The
Royal Niger Company had access to the territory from
Lokoja
extending along the Niger and Benue rivers above their
confluence, but there was no effective control, even after
punitive expeditions against Bida and Ilorin in 1897. The
clear
intent was to occupy the Sokoto Caliphate, but for that
purpose
the Royal Niger Company was not deemed to be a sufficient
instrument of imperialism. Consequently, on December 31,
1899,
Britain terminated the charter of the company, providing
compensation and retention of valuable mineral rights.
Data as of June 1991
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