British Colonialism in Nigeria

Colonialism in Nigeria

Farida Aboulezz

Passant Saleh

Rowan Mostafa

Hana EL Khawanky

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What is Colonialism?

• It is having partial or full control over political aspects in another country.

Why were there colonies in Africa?

• The Europeans wanted colonies in Africa due to political and economical reasons.

Political

• At the time, imperialism had spread throughout the west where countries wanted to expand their land.
• The countries were competing to have a larger empire.

Economical

• The Europeans wanted colonies in Africa due to raw materials.
• They believed that they would receive cheap or free raw materials.
• The raw materials will help them with trading.

Colonialism in Nigeria

• Britain colonized Nigeria by the end of the nineteenth century.
• Britain changed and impacted on many aspects in Nigeria such as religion, education, economy and others.

"God, glory, and gold."

“Bible, Business, and Bullet.” (Fafunwa 74)."

Impact of Britain on Nigeria

Religious Impact

Education

Economical Effects

Negative

Negative (Neo-Marxist perspective):

1- They exploited the Nigerians' country.

2- Capable men and women in good conditions were forced to work without being paid for a period of time.

3- Taxes were obligatory.

Positive

Positive (Scholars perspective ) :

1- The British made Nigeria a more organized country.

2- They improved the living conditions of the people.

Positives and Negatives

of Colonialism

Nigeria Over the Years

Rebuilding an Independent Country

Economy :

- Economy recovered from the civil war’s effects because of petroleum.

-The country suffered from high unemployment, inflation, corruption and inequality.

-Economic progress in 1999 economy improved

Political:

- Chose Abuja to be the new capital for Nigeria.-Creation of new constitution in 1979

- Alhaji Shehu Shagari was elected as a president

-New constitution in 1990 and elections on 1992.-Political parties were established in 1996.1995, Nigeria was set under a military rule for three years

Social:

- Ethnic and religious stress

MODERN NIGERIA TODAY

"Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress"

Thank You For Your Time!

Works Cited

"1750-1914 - Imperialism in Africa." 1750-1914 - Imperialism in Africa. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Feb. 2013. <http://www2.newcanaan.k12.ct.us/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=5501>.

""Colonialism and Independence:Â Nigeria as a Case Study"Â by Nnamdi Ihuegbu." "Colonialism and Independence:Â Nigeria as a Case Study"Â by Nnamdi Ihuegbu. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2013.

"The Age of Imperialism." Marion City Schools. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.marioncityschools.org/1439204107201457/lib/1439204107201457/Imperialism_Text.pdf>.

"Religious Conversion." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 4 Feb. 2013. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/11chapter6.shtml>.

"CDA's World History Wiki." Imperialism Case Study: Nigeria -. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2013. <http://cdaworldhistory.wikidot.com/imperialism-case-study:nigeria>.

"The Colonization of Africa." The Colonization of Africa. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2013. <http://exhibitions.nypl.org/africanaage/essay-colonization-of-africa.html>.

Nigeria before

Britain Colonization

-Islam was the common and leading religion.

-The country was not united; there was over 250 tribes.

-People were divided in groups. For example, Igbo and Yoruba.

-Each group had its own language and political system.

• The official language spoken in Nigeria is now English.
• Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba are the major languages. Edo and others are minor languages. There are over 521 languages in Nigeria today.

• Over 500 living languages and the rest are either extinct or rarely used.

• The Yoruba, Igbo, and Hausa and Fulani are still the largest and most influential ethnic groups in Nigeria.

• Nigeria is a federal constitutional government. They have a president.

• Nigeria provides free, government-supported education, but attendance is not compulsory.

Gaining Independence

- The first elections were held in 1959, but no major party won.

- The first years of independence were followed by many conflicts, which lasted for about 10 more years.

- The 1970s can be characterized as a period of rebuilding the country. Nigerians started to move toward civilian rule.

Political Effects

• They were introduced to democracy.
• The British were the ones naming "Nigeria."
• In 1951, Great Britain created a constitution.
• This constitution divided Nigeria into three main parts. (Eastern, Northern, and Western)
• The people had lost their traditional authority.

Culture

- The Nigerians had lost their language.

"Of all the heritage left behind in Nigeria by the British at the end of the colonial administration, probably none is more important than the English language” (Bamgbose, 1971: 35)

- The British unified the tribes and states.

God

British went to Nigeria as missionaries to convert the people. They wanted to spread the religion of Christianity.

Motives

Glory

Acquiring and colonizing foreign land allowed the British to gain national pride. Due to the massive amounts of land they had, the British were superior to many European countries. This also allowed them to be more powerful.

Gold

They also wanted to expand trade routes. This was done by finding gold mines. Obtaining gold helped the British gain profits and expand their economy.

Schools

A Period of Change

• Church Missionary Society and Methodist Missionary Society were the organizations to first create schools in Nigeria.

- They tried to fight off the British and gain back their independence, but they failed to do so. Britain eventually took over, influencing the country in many different ways.

- First sign of British control was in 1861. It took them about 40 years to have complete control of the country.

Influence

• In order to read the Bible, they had to be literate; therefore, literacy spread.
• They used schools as places to spread Christianity.
• In schools, the English language was taught.

- Then Nigeria finally gained independence from Britain on October 1, 1960.

-This period can be described as post-colonialism: period of change after the country was colonized. Many things changed: politics, religion, culture, economy.

• The majority of the population was Muslim.
• This caused a Muslim-Christian conflict.
• Other tribes had certain beliefs they were accustomed to.

Religion in Nigeria

• The three centralized groups were the Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa-Fulani.
• Britain controlled these tribes through the local leaders of those areas.
• This succeeded for some and failed for many other groups because of the resentment of limited power.

Indirect Rule

• Christian missionaries were sent to Africa.

• As more people in Africa were converting to Christianity, many of them became missionaries influencing others to do the same.

• One of their main aims was to spread God's word. In this case it was Christianity.

"GOD, glory, and gold"