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BRITISH EMPIRIALISM IN NIGERIA

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BRITISH IMPERIALISM IN NIGERIA

Imperialism refers to an action which normally involves a nation, especially a kingdom or

an empire that extends its size and power through acquiring of territories. This action may also

involve the act of exploiting the territories which is normally linked to imperialism. Imperialism

was used in the colonization of the Americas in the 15th century to the 19th century. Colonialism

on the other hand refers to the establishing of a colony in a certain territory by another political

power from a different territory. It involves the maintenance, expansion and exploitation of the

colony by the political powers established there. Colonialisms leads to unequal relationships

between the established political power and the colony as well as the colonialists and the

colony’s indigenous residents. Colonialism is majorly attributed to Nigeria’s economic history

which enabled the British administration to gain control of the Nigerian administration.

In the 15th century, direct trade started taking place in Nigeria with the Europeans. The

key players were the Portuguese who explored the coastal regions in order to avoid the Saharan

intermediaries involved in the West African gold trade to Europe. The Portuguese set up coastal

bases and established slave trade whereby, they sold slaves captured in kingdom of Benin (now

Nigeria) to the African tradesmen along the coast (current Ghana). With the growth and

expansion of Atlantic plantation system from 1680 to 1800, the slave trade boomed. However,

the conflicts that rose due to slave trade had terrible effects on peace in the region. The trade,

despite conflicts, led to various benefits in the region. The currencies adopted by the West

African tradesmen were more efficient as compared to the commodity currencies they used

before which led to reduced expenses of conducting trade.

The competition to have a control in the Atlantic trade and empire was as a result of the

European efforts to set up trading posts and establish communities on the coast of West Africa
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between the 17th and 18th centuries. The British as newcomers into the slave trade realized they

could compete with the Portuguese through formation of national trading organizations with

Company of the Royal Adventurers being the first and effective company formed in 1660. This

enterprise was later succeeded by Royal African Company in the year 1672. This was after

realizing a gap in building and maintenance of essential forts for holding slaves and trade goods

which could only be afforded and accomplished by a monopoly company.by 18th century,

Portuguese had been repired off their occupation and influence in the West African trade by the

British and the French. However, Britain became dominant in the commercial powers of West

Africa edging out French after the end of it revolutionary activities and a series of Napoleonic

Wars between 1799 and 1814.

The slave trade led to the devastating and more destructive struggle that took place in

southern Nigeria before it was abolished in the mid-19th century. Britain’s main interests were

opening and reaching out more markets in West Africa for the goods they manufactured as well

as expand business in palm oil. In order to secure oil and ivory trades, the Britain would require

to seize the power of the coastal chiefs in the latter Nigeria. Britain initially funded northern

Nigeria which led to increased revenue generation. However, the southern protectorate funded

itself. Most of the funds were used to finance and pay military personnel while the rest was sent

back to England as home payments for the British officials located in Nigeria. With the state

under their control, the British established a taxation system with an aim of forcing the

indigenous African residents to change from subsistence agricultural activities to paid labor.

They at times forced the natives to work directly in public labor projects. However, these

policies were met with a lot of resistance from the Africans.

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With other colonies like the Germans and the French forestalling formal claims in the

area as well as the British desire to safeguard it expanding interests in trade in the region, there

was the introduction of formal protection which eventually led to colonization of Nigeria. The

trading interests were concentrated in Lagos as well as the delta of Niger River. The British

administration in the area began in 1861 with Lagos becoming the crown colony. The

administration came into power in response to various issues such as the threat of French taking

over Lagos, the inconveniences of Yoruba civil wars that disrupted trading activities as well as

the now-prohibited and illegal slave traders’ activities.

However, there was an unplanned consequence which led to the establishment of Sokoto

Caliphate which, at its peak, was the most populous state in Africa. It occupied the larger part of

north-west and north-central Nigeria and some parts of the current neighboring countries. The

commercial prosperity of the Caliphate was based on internal peace and integration of the

market. Extensive export business and trade network was carried out by the Hausa merchants.

With the importation of pagan slave captives into the area, there was steady increase in the

supply of labor. This led to increased sizes of the cities especially Kano which was the capital of

the state. It was recognized as the major manufacturing place in that region. The clothing

exported all over West Africa was from Kano. With the establishment of the Caliphate, Islam

became the dominant religion which led to the introduction of Islamic taxes that enhanced

further economic growth.

The British administration advanced its activities with the exploration of oil beginning in

1906 under Nigeria Bitumen Corporation which had been granted exclusive right to exploration.

The oil reservoirs were discovered in 1908 which followed to exploitation of reportedly 2000

barrels of oil daily in 1909. Oil exploration and exploitation became slow after the death of John
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Simon Bergheim’s who was leading the activities. The oil activities were abandoned in 1913 and

Britain resolved to Persia for oil supply.

During the pre-colonial era, Nigeria had indigenous education. This was a type of

education that was delivered to people during the pre-literate eras in a community. It was mainly

offered by the community members who were equipped with special skills in various areas of

expertise and abilities in certain fields of human activities. Before formal education, most of the

boys took after their fathers in the various activities they engaged in as well as areas of

occupation. In some instances, boys were taken to masters of various fields of expertise where

they learnt various skills as apprentices. The masters mainly taught various life etiquettes and

vocations.

With the different occupations due to geographical variations in Nigeria, agriculture,

trade, crafts work, livestock keeping, fishing, black-smithing and traditional medicine were

among the main activities carried out. Boys also took part in other forms of activities such as

climbing trees, archery and wrestling. They were also invited in meetings held by their fathers

where they learnt intellectual skills such as arbitrating cases, proverbs and wise sayings, and

oratory by quietly listening as the meeting progressed.

For girls, they were expected to stay at home where they learnt domestic activities among

other chores. The main areas they learnt about were food preparation and cooking, weeding

farmlands, sweeping, decorating body, hair weaving and producing dye. These were all taught to

them by their mothers or elderly women.

Before the British colonial era, the education system in Nigeria was integral. It entailed

teaching and learning whereby, kids were taught about their culture, the activities in the
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community, various job techniques and expertise as well as trading. These teaching and learning

activities were carried out unceremoniously and in no organized manner. However, a kind of

formal and organized education was done whereby, a small number of people gathered together

in small groups and learnt about their cultures and community’s way of life.

Rules and procedures were laid down within a community which would be followed in

offering formal directives and instructions to the youths as a way of initiating them into the stage

of adulthood in life. For a youth to be legible and get admitted for those courses, he was required

to have acquired all the knowledge and skills that were necessary in life. They were also required

to have obtained social skills and techniques as well as a substantial knowledge about their

cultures and way of life in the community. With all these skills acquired, the teenagers were

ready to be ushered into adulthood.

In general, the traditional and indigenous education provided among the various

communities in Nigeria taught and trained the children to fit purposefully and usefully within the

society. This was through learning and practicing various economic methods which they could

use to self-sustain themselves, adapt various expected roles as well as to contribute to the growth

and development of their community. Despite the education offered traditionally being

comprehensive in that it was in physical, intellectual, character, vocational and social, it was

faced with various limitations. In the olden days, people entirely depended on memory whereby,

they could not write but instead memorized everything taught to them. In cases of memory

failure, retaining and transmitting ideas and skills learnt to other generations would be disrupted

since all important information would be lost. A similar case would happen in case of death of a

master or custodian. In the communities, however, very few cases of unemployment were there.
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During the pre-colonial era, Nigeria also had Islamic type of education. This education

was at first permitted for learning by a Kanem leader and was carried on even with other rulers

coming into power. This led to Kanem becoming a center of Islamic education close to the end

of the 13th century. During the era of reign of Ali Yaji, Islamic education was introduced to

Hausa by the scholars and traders who went to Kano from Wangarawa. After a short time, the

region which later became northern Nigeria was turned to an Islamic region.

With the introduction and adoption of Islamic education in Nigeria, Arabic learning was

also established since it was the main language used in Quran thus perceived as a language of

spiritual value. Both the Arabic and Islamic education were offered together simultaneously in

schools. Most of the rulers who came into power in the region employed Islamic administrators

and scholars since Islamic and Arabic teachings had a lot of social and political influence in the

region.

The Islamic studies were further revived, spread and consolidated by the introduction of

Jihad. Through Jihad, Islamic education was also made accessible to women who previously

were barred from having it. Before the introduction of western education, Islamic and Arabic

studies had already been introduced in Nigeria. These studies further penetrated the Western

regions of Nigeria before Jihadists arrived there. Jihadists however, would strengthen the religion

as well as its studies where they were weak. This education was majorly supported by leaders

from Northern Nigeria especially Abdullahi Bayero. This leader, upon his return from a visit in

Mecca, brought along new ideas about the religion which led to the establishment Law Schools

where teachers were trained on Islamic and Arabic subjects as well as arithmetic and English.

Western education was introduced in Nigeria latest with the arrival of Wesleyan Christian

Missionaries in 1842. This type of education is so far the most successful in fulfilling the overall
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consumer needs of formal education presently and in the future. With the arrival of more

Christian missions, intensive educational and missionary activities had begun in Nigeria with

more missionary schools sprouting. Despite there being an already established 4Rs education

which entailed reading, religion, writing and arithmetic, the western education prepared the

students for job opportunities such as teaching, evangelistic activities or pastors, interpreters as

well as clerks. The education also emphasized on character education and training. However,

only primary schools were establish with little or no emphasis on secondary education or

schools.

The western education spread and developed faster in the south of Nigeria as compared to

north of Nigeria. This was due to Islamic education influence in the north as well as their

perception on western education. Western education was strongly opposed in northern Nigeria

since the region had a lot of Islamic schools established already. The missionaries carried out

most of the work without relying on government support. However, the government later

intervened in 1882 where it promulgated regulations and codes, policies and guidelines which

were to be followed in organizing and managing schools in Nigeria.

Inspectors were also appointed by the government in order to ensure the schools were of

good quality. Schools also received financial assistance from the government in form of grants

which helped improve the quality of education offered. By the year 1952, a corporate body

known as the West Africa Examination Council was established with a mandate of conducting

and regulating examinations in the region. Under this corporate organization, candidates were

awarded certificates equivalent to those awarded in the United Kingdom upon qualification in

their studies.
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With continued advancement in education, more schools and regulations have been

established to mainstream the education sector. Commissions to identify needs on high-

manpower were established since education was viewed as a tool for use in achieving national

economic growth as well as individual social emancipation. The commission established

recommended the establishment of four major universities in the region which offered vital

courses.

This recommendation led not to the opening of four universities but five of them which

were: Nsukka University of Nigeria (1960), University of Ahmadu Bello, Zaria (1962), Ife

University, lle-ife (1962), Lagos University, Lagos (1962) and Ibadan University which had at

first operated as a university college since 1948. Other universities, such as University of Benin

of 1972, were later established. By 1999, forty one universities had been established consisting

of twenty five federal universities, twelve state institutions and four private-owned universities.

Some of the already established universities have specialized in various areas such as

Agriculture, Technology and Military fields.

These specialized universities were established with an aim of addressing specific issues

of public interest and national needs. Presently, more tertiary educational centers such as

polytechnics and colleges have been established. In 1962, the government introduced National

Universities Commission which was tasked with coordination and proper development of the

university system in Nigeria as well as maintenance of the academic standards. Joint Admission

and Matriculations Board (JAMB) was established with an aim of regulation of the students’

admission in the various universities.

Impacts of the Western Education to the Nigerian Population (Igbo and Hausa)
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Prior to the advent of the colonial rule, the Nigeria system of education was made of two

models. One, was the religious education which was Islamic whereby the children were taught

the precepts of the Quran and the Arabic alphabets. The second model of education was more of

practical life skills that majored in teaching children and young adults the native ways of life.

Therefore, it is apparent that the initial education system in Nigeria centered around Islamic

teachings and practical skills that formed the customs of the people. However, the western

education was based on Christian values since it was introduced by the Anglican missionaries.

As the western system of education continued gaining tract up to the northern region a religious

conflict was slowly impeding. That was because the western education was underpinned on the

Christianity doctrines while the former system revolved around Islamic teachings. The

rudimentary western education system was ideally a Christian outfit that viewed civilization to

be analogous to adherence to Christian values.

Therefore, the church took over the prerogative of formally educating the masses since it

was almost impossible to propound the religious teaching without a systemic parallel formal

education especially to the clergy. As such, it is apparent that the western education not only led

to the introduction of an altogether set of new curricula, but also led to the introduction of a new

religion. Thus, a major impact of the western education was the partial annihilation of the initial

religious values that were based on the Yoruba traditional religion and the Islamic teachings.

Nonetheless, the conquest of the existing education systems was as circumstantial as it was

purely pegged on the advancement of religion. However, since the native religion and the Islamic

religion pertained more than rituals and rites, the advent of the education and the impact was

express. Thus, the new education shaped the religion, politics, economics and the social welfare

of the Nigerians.
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Indeed, the impact that the western education to the Nigerians were both negative and

positive. For instance, since the education was advanced together with Christian values, archaic

religious beliefs such as the murder of people to appease gods were abolished. On top of that,

before the abolition of the slave trade the whites promoted the trade by working in tandem with

the leaders and other merchants who majored in the trade. Consequently, the system had a

positive impact to the economy. Ideally, the incursion of the westerners in the region with their

value systems impacted heavily on the economic well-being of the leaders. Besides, the

educators worked in tandem with the colonial masters to establish social amenities such as

hospitals which improved the social welfare of the natives. On the other hand, the western

education was used as a conversion tool. This is because the Christians who brought the

education were zealous about religious change.

As such, that notion led to the development of major conflicts since the conservative,

who were mostly Islamic felt threatened. For instance, Muslim and traditional personnel felt

threatened. The notion was that their beliefs were on the verge of annihilation. Nonetheless, they

resistant efforts were countered by the more superior and stronger colonialists1. Therefore, the

impacts of the western education to the natives was largely the derogation of their cultural values

and practices which were replaced by the western under the guise of Christianity. Ultimately, the

result was an identity crisis that led to the rise of conflicts.

With the establishment of western education in Nigeria, some benefits were realized as a

result. These benefits were:

1
Ogunbado, A. F. "Impacts of colonialism on religions: An experience of South-western Nigeria." Journal of

Humanities and Social Science 5, no. 6 (2012): 51-57.

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 There was the provision of cheap labor once the native citizens were trained in

some areas such as clerk, interpreters and messengers.

 Educated people were able transform through various changes, the agriculture in

the region thus increased economic development.

 With the production of semi-literate citizens, the british were able to stamp

Nigeria as their colony.

 There were more institutions set up which trained teachers thus raising the literacy

levels in the communities.

 Reduced gender inequality through the introduction of a girls’ school curriculum.

 Community development was enhanced through the financial support offered to

schools in forms of grants since most people could not afford fees.

 Religious groups were granted permission to open schools and educational

institutions in the region. This was after the establishment of dual education

system.

 Discrimination and racism was removed as everyone was granted equal rights to

attend schools and have access to education.

In conclusion, British already saw Nigeria as a good country to exploit. It provided a

strategic place where they could carry out and expand their trading activities. However,

the people there were oppressed as they were captured and sold in the now illegal slave

and more so they were subjected to forced labor. However, the colonialists also brought

some benefits in the country mainly in form of introduction of the formal western

education which led to tremendous economic growth in the region since the literacy

levels were high.

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References
Akinola, Anthony A. 2014. Party Coalitions In Nigeria. Ibadan, Nigeria: Safari Books
Ltd.
Apena, Adeline. 1997. Colonization, Commerce, And Entrepreneurship In Nigeria.
New York: Peter Lang.
Falola, Toyin. 2009. Colonialism And Violence In Nigeria. Bloomington: Indiana
University Press.
Gann, Lewis H, and Peter Duignan. 1969. Colonialism In Africa 1870-1960.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Miles, William F. S. 2015. Hausaland Divided. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Ume, Kalu E. 1980. The Rise Of British Colonialism In Southern Nigeria, 1700-1900.
Smithtown, N.Y.: Exposition Press.
Walker, Ida. Nigeria.