GAR3TH:

Yes I saw that map on an article on Nigeria Village Square. Other articles kept mentioning the colony and protectorate of S.Nigeria as the Protectorate of S.Nigeria, Hence the bit of confusion on my part. Also The Royal Niger Company owned land in the SE, SS, SW, and parts of northern Nigeria but only the land in the SS and SE were merge, another reason for the confusion. But to say the colony of lagos is a parasite is misleading, the Main reason the British colonized Lagos was because of the port and the economy.

Also based on your argument wont it be the Amalgamation of 1900 be the blame. Since the Niger Coast Protectorate (Niger Delta) who produced the oil and the Royal Niger Company (Mainland) didn't? So technically going by your logic its the Royal Niger Company (SE & part of SS) who are also the parasites....

Obiagu1:
You are only trying to be mischievous by claiming that the history was confusing. It's as clear as black and white unless you have issue with comprehension.
Protectorate of Southern Nigeria is different from the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria.

On your second point, if you can't read, can't you see too? The map I posted showed clearly that the remaining part of Royal Niger company not yet in control of Niger Coast Protectorate covers just a small area that is Bayelsa. Niger Coast Protectorate included the whole SE, Calabar, Port Harcourt, Ibibio land, Edoland and Warri etc. Get your glasses Mister! The remaining Royal Niger Company was given up forming Protectorate of Southern Nigeria (just a name change from Niger Coast Protectorate).

GAR3TH:

This is what I'm talking about, various articles state that the Niger Coast Protectorate was located in the Niger Delta and the Royal Niger Company controlled the mainland. It even states that Onitsha was a primary port of the Royal Niger protectorate . Also postal system in Akassa, Calabar, Burutu and Lokoja were part of the Royal Niger Company postal system. I think your map is incorrect and had the two mixed up.

Obiagu1:

Yes there was Colony of Lagos and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria, Colony of Lagos is the present day SW while Protectorate of Southern Nigeria is SE/SS.

Obiagu1:

The map was British not a Nigerian map and was made before you were born.
You are wrong and not the map. Calabar, Onitsha, etc used to be under Royal Niger Company which was a company not a protectorate nor a colony. They gave their territories up to the government controlled Niger Coast Protectorate. The last was Bayelsa area forming Protectorate of Southern Nigeria (Formerly Niger Coast Protectorate) with capital at Calabar. Niger Coast Protectorate had always had its capital at Calabar.

sheyguy: If it is true the wealth of the present ND and SE was used to develope the West, why did they still choose to go with Nigeria?

~Bluetooth:


You must be high on drugs.As at 1860,lagos was the centre of attraction to the british colonialists including the NIGER RIVER DELTA .In 1861,Lagos became a british colony,an action taken in response to factors such as the disruptions to trade caused by the yoruba wars and fears that france would take over Nigeria.

Lagos was more important to the colonial administration than the southern protectorate itself.Lagos and the southern protectorate were merged due to administrative inconviniency unlike in the 1914 amalgamation,that was done to help out the northern protectorate that were short in resources.

@OP

can you please tell us in which protectorate the present south western states of Ibadan,oyo,ogun,ekiti and osun fall since you are trying to equate southern protectorate with SS and SE alone ?

GAR3TH:

Thats my point, It was the Niger Coast protectorate that owned the bayelsa area, they never bought that land from the Royal Niger company because they had always owned it. That is why I said the creator of your map made a mistake, The Royal Niger company never owned the bayelsa area.

Also the map is dated 1898 and the amalgamation happen in 1900. So this map was made before the merge and before the british started buying back the land, meaning the map creator made a mistake.

odumchi: The sad part was that we weren't even aware of all this. We all existed in our micro-states while the British cartographers decided our fates.

kunlekunle:


SE,SS, SW are neo political zonal creation during Abacha days.
i never heard of SS, SE or SW in my school days.

in the beginning it was West, mid west East, north . West and East were the southern nigeria.


lagos colony ends at jibowu round about.

Western and Eastern nigeria was formed for economic integration and development to create a southern nigeria.
Northern and southern nigeria was formed because the north had to be subsidised annually from the british govt.This was seen as a stress on their budget so the amalgamation was created to relief the british govt.

"After two final incidents, the bombardment of Oyo in 1895 (Ayandele, 1967) and the capture of Ilorin by the Royal Niger Company in 1897, effective colonial control was established throughout most of Yorubaland."

http://www.onwar.com/aced/nation/ink/ibadan/fwestafricanwar1877.htm

This is the same Royal niger company that also controls much of southern nigeria

Lagos, 1861-1906



Slaves freed by the Royal Navy when they captured slave trading vessels in the 1830es settled at the coast of western Nigeria, a.o. at LAGOS; British missionaries and traders followed. In 1851 the Royal Navy interfered in a local power struggle, deposing King Kosoko. In 1861, Britain proclaimed a PROTECTORATE over Lagos to keep Kosoko from coming back.
The climate at Lagos was unhealthy for Europeans; the city long was administrated from Freetown (Sierra Leone), later from Accra (Gold Coast). In 1886, Lagos was declared a separate colony.
Meanwhile, the ROYAL NIGER COMPANY acquired wide lands to the north and east of Lagos, which became part of the NIGER COAST PROTECTORATE in 1894, which was renamed COLONY AND PROTECTORATE OF SOUTHERN NIGERIA in 1900. In 1906, Lagos was integrated into the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria, the capital of which was relocated from Calabar to Lagos.
In 1883 the colony had a size of 189 square km, a population of 87,165 (Meyers).

Southern Nigeria Protectorate, 1899-1914

In 1900 created by integrating some territories of the Royal Niger Company, the charter of which had been withdrawn in 1899, with the Niger Coast Protectorate. In 1906, the colony of Lagos was annexed into Southern Nigeria, now Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria; Lagos became the seat of administration, which until 1906 had been at Old Calabar.
In 1914, Southern and Northern Nigeria were merged to form the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria.

Obiagu1: The truth is that before this confusion was created, we have achieved good relationship in our former territory dealing with each other and with the British, cohabited, and were prosperous. Suddenly, our fate was decided when our capital was moved to Lagos, to a land we have no connection whatsoever with and to a people whose ideology is completely parallel to ours.

We lost our focus.

The Royal Niger Company, 1884-1900



A.) The Company's Genesis

British merchant GEORGE T. GOLDIE, active in the lower Niger region since 1877, in 1879 organized the UAC (United Africa Company) which combined British traders active in the Niger region and, in effect, took control of the Lower Niger river. The company was renamed NAC in 1882 and ROYAL NIGER COMPANY in 1886, when it received a CHARTER, placing it formally under British protection and providing it with far-reaching rights, to administrate the territories transferred to it by treaties with native chiefs.


B.) International Recognition of the British/RNC Claim

Since 1884, G. Goldie and his agents acquired treaties from chiefs and emirs along the Niger and Benue rivers, penetrating deep into the territory allocated as British sphere of influence at the Berlin Conference of 1884/85. In its attempt to obtain such treaties, the RNC found itself in competition with French and German agents; the RNC acquired a treaty with Sokoto in 1884 just days before the arrival of a German agent, a treaty with Borgu in 1894 just days before the arrival of a French officer. The British government negotiated the RNC territory's border with German Kamerun (1885, 1886, 1890, 1893). France continued to dispute RNC claims over the interior of Nigeria. In 1892 French Lieutenant Mizon acquired a treaty from the Emir of Muri (on the middle Benue) and hoisted the French flag; France did not support his action and Muri remained within the RNC/British sphere of interest. Only in 1898 was the border with the French possessions fixed by agreement.


C.) RNC Administration

The RNC seat of administration was located at ASABA on the banks of the Niger river. Her military force - the Niger Coast Constabulary - was centered at LOKOJA. The RNC established a network of stations, mainly along the Niger and Benue rivers; RNC control in effect did not reach much beyond the stretches adjacent to navigable rivers - the Niger, Benue, their affluents and river arms (i.e. the territory within the reach of gunboats). The RNC established a rudimentary justice system (a High Court of Justice) and a police force - the constabulary. Its main concern was company trade and the exclusion of foreign competition to their claim of political control.


D.) Reaction of the Natives

Native tribes for generations had traded with European merchants, the basis of that trade being an unwritten agreement : the whites would only trade with their coastal trading partners; the trade with tribes of the interior would be a field reserved for the African trading partners of the Europeans.
The UAC/NAC/RNC, now establishing a number of stations along the Niger and Benue rivers, broke that agreement and thus caused the outbreak of hostilities (Onitsha 1879, Akassa 1882, Niger Delta 1886, an attack by the Brassmen on Akassa 1895).
The standard company response was to dispatch gunboats on punitive expeditions; in these expeditions, Royal Navy vessels were involved.


E.) Economy

The cultivation of plantation products such as palm oil, by natives, in the Niger Delta was encouraged. Otherwise, the RNC policy was to exclude foreign competition in its trade with the natives, by the means of charging high import tariffs (in violation of the Declaration of the Berlin Conference) and by confiscating wares imported in circumvention of these tariffs.
Main import products were cloths and alcoholic beverages.
In 1892 the Royal Niger Company joined the Universal Postal Union.


F.) Civilization

At the Berlin Conference the European powers agreed on ending the slave trade, a policy pursued by the Royal Navy off the West African coast since 1908. Yet the RNC was little able to end the ongoing slave trade within the territory it claimed; its range of action was limited to the areas adjacent to navigable stretches of the rivers.
The RNC supported missionaries, to whom the task was left to "civilize" the natives. Missionaries reported incidents of practices such as cannibalism.
The task to "civilize" the inhabitants within the territory claimed by the company certainly did not feature high on its list of priorities.

tpia@:


and whose fault is that?

pluto04: The colony of Lagos did not include the rest of south west. The rest of south west were pretty much independent until

Obiagu1:

Independent from what? lmao.

Stop deceiving yourself with your revisionism. This is the map as of 1898 by the British. Do you see the territory covered by Colony of Lagos?




Now compare it with 1900 map:

www.nairaland.com/attachments/789954_480317_4359667628276_1152914446_n_jpgb7f450f3191b1c2360cb674fc5f97a67

pluto04:

The first map is either incorrect or just not clear. The first map seem to suggest that the rest of present day Nigeria were part of the colony of Lagos. Is that correct?

The second map is not the map as at 1900. The one I posted earlier is the correct map as at 1900. Maybe you need to supply a date for this second map?

Obiagu1: I know this is a shock to some of you. The fact is that Yoruba land was not part of Southern Nigeria. They are like Southern Cameroun to us, an appendage.

pluto04:

Who are the us? British conquered territories? When? How? Where? What do you have in common with those people before the British came?

Obiagu1:

lmao! He is telling the British they do not know their territory. You people are really funny.
If you cannot see it, drop your phone and use a laptop, enlarge the map, then you will see!

The only deference between 1898 and 1900 maps of Colony of Lagos was that the 1898 map has no upper boundary as of then which was finally established as of 1900.

PhysicsQED: It seems like the people of the Lagos Colony and Protectorate really lost the most by that amalgamation. If they had been left like that and not merged with the adjacent British protectorates, they would basically have had an ethnically homogenous country by the time decolonization started. Oh well.

Obiagu1: We lost our capital and control of our politics and economy

odumchi:

Exactly what control did "we" lose?