TOPIC: EARLY BRITISH

EXPLORERS WHO CAME TO

NIGERIA
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Students should be able to :
Identify the early british
explorers who came to Nigeria
and their impact.
British (united kingdom )
th
around the 18 century
developed interest in exploring
Africa continent. Interested
persons in Britain formed the
‘African Association ‘ in 1778
and this led to the
commencement of the British
exploration into western
Sudan (west Africa).The british
had always been hearing about
Niger River through Arab
traders they trade with.It was
said that the River Nile in size
and importance hence the
African Association was
interested in RIVER NIGER and
its surrounding areas.They
wanted to know where the
river started from ,places the
river flows through and most
importantly where it flows
into.
The Africa Association (AA)
was determined to know the
truth about River Niger ,so
that they can be able to
explore commercial activities
around the river area since
most of the African countries
were rich in palm oil ,gold,
ivory ,cotton which serves as
raw materials needed to feed
industries in Europe.
The Association from 1788 to
1793 sent three different
explorer through North Africa
and one through Gambia to
trace the River Niger Route but
none of them was successful
as most of them died along the
journey(voyage). There were
three groups of explorers led
by
1.Mungo Park
2.Hugh clapperton
3.Richard Lander and John
Lander
Each of these groups at
different time led the
exploration team that
helped in tracing River Niger
from the west to the East until
it eventually empty itself into
the Atlantic Ocean through the
GULF OF Guinea in the Niger
Delta.
MUNGO PARK
Mungo Park was a Scottish
th
Doctor born on 11
September,1771.He died in
1806 at a placer called BUSSA
in present day Niger state in
Nigeria. Mungo park left
England in May 1795 on the
sponsorship of AA and got to
Gambia towards the end of the
1795 to begin his voyage along
Niger River.
By the 21st July,1796;Mungo
Park had reached Niger River
at a town called Segu(or Segou
) in present day Republic of
Mali but he had to return for
lack of resources to continue
his voyage.So by June
15th,1797,he got back to
Gambia an landed in England
towards the end of 1797.
By 1805, the British govt
contracted Mungo Park to lead
another expedition to the
hinterland of Africa with an
instruction to follow the
course of the Niger River to as
far as they could ;so that they
can discover and report
trading opportunities and
prospect between Britain and
the people (towns) living
around the Niger river
area.Though, the weather was
not favourable.By 1805 ,they
built a canoe-named JOLIBA at
Sansanding which was a town
not too far from Segu.Mungo
st
park left Sansanding on 21
November,1806 and from
there nothing was heard of
him and his team as their
Canoe Joliba was wrecked and
probably drown in the water
because of the narrow and
rocky nature of the water of
River Niger.
HUGH CLAPPERTON
Hugh Clapperton was a
Scottish Naval officer born on
18th May,1788,he died on 13th
April 1827 at Sokoto in North
Western part of Nigeria. The
British govt sent him and his
team on another expedition
through new route from Tripoli
through the sahara desert for
them to explore the Lake chad
an see if they could link Lake
chad to River Niger.On
February,1823 they got to
Kuka(now kukawa in Borno
state,Nigeria).They were well
received by the Shehu of
Borno-Muhammed El-kanemi
who was interested in trading
with the British.
By the middle of
March,1824,Hugh Clapperton
reached Sokoto and were well
received by MUHAMMED
BELLO the son of UTHMAN
DAN FODIO who founded
Sokoto caliphate.Though he
could not reach Niger River,he
was able to explore and give
information to british govt
about Hausa land.He was
promoted from the rank of a
captain to that of a
commodore .He was detained
at SOKOTO and eventually
died of malaria and
depression.
RICHARD LANDER AND JOHN
LANDER
Richard Lander was an
explorer of west Africa was
born on 8th February 1804 and
th
died on 6 February 1834.
He and his brother were the
first British who eventually
were able to trace River Niger
and to discover that River
Niger emptied itself into the
Atlantic Ocean. By
December,1829,Richard lander
was commissioned by the
British govt alongside his
brother John Lander to
continue the exploration of
River Niger. They landed in
nd
Badagry on 22 March,1830
and journey northward to the
Niger River at Bussa. At Yauri
in Kebbi,the Emir gave them
two canoes and twenty men to
help them paddle the canoe as
they journey down the Niger
River.
From Lokoja, they traveled
southward to the Delta area
and discovered that River
Niger emptied into the Atlantic
Ocean through the Gulf of
Guinea. They travelled back to
Britain from Fernando Po via
Rio de Janeiro in 1831.