"The name Nigeria applying to no other portion of Africa, may without offence to any neighbours, be accepted as coextensive with the territories over which the Royal Niger company has extended British influence and may serve to differentiate them".

- Flora Shaw, The London Times, January 8th, 1897

The quotation above credited to Lady Flora Shaw, mistress to Lord Frederick Lugard was how the name, Nigeria (meaning Niger area), was given to this geographical territory we found ourselves as a people of diverse cultures and beliefs. (emphasis mine here)

In the year 1619, a Dutch ship lands on the coast of the British colony of Jamestown with 20 African slaves.

Thus began the Transatlantic Slave trade in Africa.

Another account says the first transatlantic slave voyage actually took place from Africa to Brazil in 1526.

Anyway, 400 years and about 12million slaves across Europe later,  on  February 22 1807, the British House of commons  voted 283 against 16 to abolish the slave trade.
USA did same the same year.

In 1808, the British Royal Navy took to the seas, patrolling to stop illegal slavers and seize slaves from their masters setting them free in the process and punishing slave merchants.

Some of the former slave merchants decided to revert to other lucrative, though risky trades .... Smuggling opium from China.

This proved very profitable.

Enters George Goldie Taubman, whose family had ran the slave trade for many decades.

He had by now taken over the family business and was doing what he knew how to do best.

One day, with his opium cargo from China, he docked at Calabar.

Here , he stumbled upon Palm (Red) oil.

He took it to England and it became an instant success in the trade in commodities business.

This is where George Goldie Taubman got his big break!

Calabar to England was by far a shorter distance than  China to England.... What's more all risks (asides stormy seas and other pirates) were conveniently eliminated...plus he now had higher profits and a second chance to become a legitimate businessman.

So, he quickly changed his business products and source destination... The Niger Delta and Calabar areas.
�
This is the unofficial history of Taubman.

�
His official history goes thus:

He was George Dashwood Goldie Taubman at the Nunnery in Isle of man Scotland in 1846.

He was as reports claim the fourth and youngest son of an officer in the Scots Guards.

He was educated at the Royal military academy, Woolwich and held a commission in the Royal engineers for about two years.
He married Matilda Catherine, daughter of John William Elliot of Wakefield.

A small compact and lean man with a large head on which rested a pronounced nose with the arrogant and haughty look.

He was born into a wealthy family (his family made a fortune from smuggling goods into Ireland and England, prior to the Isle of Man becoming a political part of the United Kingdom) and rank.

He was a professed atheist.
He ran off with his governess and later married her at the age of 30 after a life of loose living, licentiousness and irresponsibilities.

He the conceived the idea of adding to the British empire the then unknown regions of the lower Niger and Benue basin.

He then approached the British crown and requested a charter (the Royal seal of documentation backing his newly conquered territory for business)  to enable him to administer this new territory in the name of the Queen, but twice he was denied.

He continued his new found trade in his new found territory.

He then formed /registered this territory under the name UNITED AFRICA COMPANY (UAC).

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Lesson: Nigeria was formerly an extension of British out stations company run by a trained British merchant and shrewd business man called George Goldie Tubman, whose mission was to explore all the goodies in the fertile southern part of the Niger area in order to open a new vista in his business sojourn having explore the opium trade business of the orients.

This is the man who started Nigeria as we know it today.

Did I hear you say the foundation matters?

Well here you are.

THE BRITISH PT 2

Yesterday, we saw the emergence of George Dashwood Goldie Tubman, the British smuggler who saw opportunity for fame and fortune when he accidentally docked his ship on the coast of Calabar during what was to become his last smuggling trip to China.

He had approached the British crown for a charter so he could do business under its protection but was denied the first and second times...

...So....he registered his new found territory under the company name UAC (United Africa Company) and went on to do his business.

Today, we see how the British (asides Goldie's efforts) started coming into this same territory in the name of policing the world.

After the Sokoto Jihad and the Yoruba wars which had again stimulated the slave trade at a time Britain was trying to stop it , the British now shifted world attention to the palm oil trade to further discourage slave trade.

It was again discovered that the demand for more palm oil had triggered a surge in the demand for slaves who would work the large plantations....collecting the fruits, manufacturing palm oil and transporting it to the coast.

Many of the slaves exported in the 1820s and 30s were intercepted by the British Royal Navy ships, emancipated and dumped in Sierra Leon under missionary tutelage.

Some of them began to migrate back from Sierra Leon in search for home and trade.

They invited missionaries to follow them back and in the 1840s, made themselves available as agents who allowed missionaries and British traders to gain access to such places as Lagos, Abeokuta, Calabar, Lokoja, Onitsha, Brass and Bonny.

In 1841, the British tried to settle some Egba on a model farm in Lokoja but the plan was aborted because the mortality rate among the European officials was so high as a result of mosquito bites.

It was, according to the British because they wanted to protect the Egba people that they shelled Lagos in 1851, expelled Oba Kosoko the reigning Oba and installed his uncle, Akitoye, who appeared more willing to join in the campaign to abolish slave trade (their reasons).

The British annexed Lagos in 1861 in order to protect Akitoye's son and successor, foil Kosoko's bid to return and secure a base for further activities.

The British were not willing to assume the expense of maintaining an administration in this territory (Nigeria).

To cut costs, Lagos was administered from Freetown, Sierra Leon, along with Gold coast forts such as Elmina and later from Accra ( Ghana).

Only in 1886 did Lagos become a  separate colony.

A consul was maintained at Fernando Po to oversee the lucrative palm oil trade in the region at that time called... Oil Rivers.

Missionaries were active: Presbyterians in Calabar and the Church missionary society (CMS), Methodists and Baptists in Lagos, Abeokuta, Ibadan, Oyo and In Ogbomosho.

CMS  pioneered trade on the Niger by encouraging Scottish explorer and merchant, MacGregor Laird to run a monthly steamboat which provided transportation for missionary agents and Sierra Leon in traders going up river.

In this way, Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther, born in the Yoruba inhabited area of Oshogbo (first African ordained by the CMS) was able to establish mission stations at Onitsha, Lokoja, Eggan and later Brass and Bonny.

By the 1870s, the Niger trade was becoming more profitable and a few French companies took notice.

French Roman Catholic missionaries established in Ouidah (Whydah) arrived Lagos and considered missionary work on the Niger.

George Dashwood Goldie Tubman, who at this time had approached the British crown a third time requesting the charter had proved to the British Government that this land was indeed nothing to be toyed with and that he had indeed turned a new leaf. 
Being the British boots on the ground, he was finally given the charter.

He responded to this perceived French rivalry by buying out all the French companies and then upgrading his UAC to THE ROYAL NIGER COMPANY... RNC ( Chartered 1886)..

He took full control of trade on the Niger.

…................................................................................................

Lesson: It is very obvious that Goldie the business man was the one that opens the eyes of the British government to the new gold mine in this blessed land in the western part of Africa and make sure that the British's foothold on the land would not shift base to the competing French.

THE BRITISH; GEORGE DASHWOOD GOLDIE TUBMAN.

From 1886, let us go back to 1877 when George Goldie Taubman supposedly landed on the West coast.

He immediately realized that he had competition from the traditional Efik and Brass traders of the oil Rivers in addition to other European traders, so , to circumvent them, he utilized monopoly.

This could only be achieved through AMALGAMATION.

He bought out several French traders including the Holland Jacques and Company and from it created the United Africa Company.

The Company then bought out the assets of member firms which received shares according to the proportion of the assets it sold.

With an undertaking that such companies will not operate within a thousand miles of Akassa on the Nun River branch, with the exception of the Miller Brothers and James Pinnock.

These were allowed to continue their business in the oil Rivers at Opobo and Benin.

They were only allowed to trade independently outside a limit of 25 miles of any of the mouths of the Niger.

Goldie lent his private fortune to the company to break the will of other insistent traders by trading at a loss (what we call "Dark Marketing" in today's business world.)

The largest French company, Compagnie Franchise de l' Afrique Equatorial, held out until a week before the Berlin conference, where it agreed to amalgamate after lengthy discussions with the National African Company (NAC) (the upgrade from the UAC) in the same way the first firm had joined the UAC in 1879.

This monopoly gave Goldie a greater bargaining power with the primary producers, especially of palm oil.

With the influx of capital, the balance of power shifted from the natives.

This the French later challenged.

Prices paid to natives went up by 25% and competition became cut throat.

This was when he went for the charter (the first time) from then Gladstone's government.

Some of the reasons given for this were lack of capital and law (trying to be politically correct).

That's when he upgraded his company to NAC, which purchased the assets of the old company.

He then introduced creative accounting to overcome government's misgivings (you can see where padding and corruption originated from).

He raised the capital of the company from 125,000 British pounds to $1,000,000.00, appointed reputable people with influence in high places to the board of the company.

He then built stations along the Niger river.

By this, he took over both the Niger and Benue areas under his control with its' attendant 20 million people population.

Even with these achievements, the British government was reluctant to grant him a charter carte Blanche to raise taxes and duties for revenue and profits.

Goldie then resorted to blackmail by proposing to the NAC board for consideration and leaking  the information in official circles that if there was no government action soon, the NAC will begin negotiations with other foreign powers with intention of placing itself under their flag and revert the entire company to them.

The British government capitulated with a condition of retaining a certain control but the actual document was worded in such ambiguous language that actually legitimized the NAC's position.

With the charter which  finally placed it under direct British protection in hand, the National African Company was renamed... the "ROYAL NIGER COMPANY" in 1886.

This arrangement however put Henry Austin Bruce (later Lord Abedare) as Governor and Goldie as vice-governor.

Upon Abedare's death in 1895, Goldie became full governor of the company.

This arrangement was mutually beneficial because the British did not want any extra expense on their treasury, preferring to establish protectorates and exert control through  consuls and vice consuls.

Goldie exploited this loophole and attracted to the RNC an official status as agent of the British government.

Now George Dashwood Goldie. Taubman had successfully transformed from an outlaw smuggler to an agent of the British crown.

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Lesson: Goldie is teaching us here how to be a smart business man in the face of stiff competitions. We can see how the Efiks who are the real wealth creators of Brass and Oil River areas of Calabar being outsmarted by buying out their vested interests through a third party enterprise. Honestly speaking, the British taught us lots of "business smartness" let me not say thievery.

GEORGE DASHWOOD GOLDIE TAUBMAN PT 2;

The Royal Niger Company issued its first regulation on tariff and licensing on the day it received its seal of charter in 1886.

Throughout its lifetime, the only regulations made that affected foreigners were the ones dealing with commerce.

This rule effectively shut out competitors.

Ships could only trade in listed ports where import duties were charged.

The biggest problem for European firms was the 100% duty charged on spirits which were an intimate part of the palm oil trade.

Vessels proceeding up river beyond Lokoja had to pay double duty.

The RNC also claimed property rights on all lands adjacent to the river and would not sell any for the construction of Wharves and warehouses... (This is where today's coastal land use decree came from)

The charter provided Goldie with far reaching powers to administer these territories in the lower Niger.

He signed several treaties with the Niger River chiefs, enabling him to control these territories.

The same system was deployed along the Benue River...serving as proof of British sphere of influence at the Berlin conference of 1884/85 when Goldie represented Britain.

He had procured several gunboats to enforce trade and laws...thus giving meaning to the word...GUNBOAT DIPLOMACY...where with the help of Joseph Thompson, David McIntosh, D. W. Sargent, J. Flint, William Wallace, E. Dangerfield and other numerous agents, over 400 treaties drawn by Goldie were made with chiefs of the lower Niger and Benue Rivers and enforced by presence of gunboats. (forced treaties are what took place here)

With Goldie at the helm, his company expanded very rapidly at the cost of much bloodshed. (now the picture is gradually becoming clearer that Nigeria was never meant to be a Country but just a business extension of the British business out stations)

The RNC was declared a de facto government and natives were forced to pay custom duties and obtained trade licenses from him. (Royal Niger Company was created to run Nigeria as an extension of British foreign till, it is a pity we are still being used till date)

His influence was most felt between the beginnings of the 20th century to the first world war...as there was an increase in the fortunes of the British companies with world prices moving to the stage before the downturn of the 1880s.

He thus succeeded in bringing these territories under British sphere of influence, with the first mention of this appearing in an international act and obligations attached as contained in the Berlin Act of June 1885..."a British protectorate was notified over the coast lands known as the Oil Rivers."

With these developments, French and German interests increased pressure on these territories. 

The British government soon realized how untenable it was for a chartered company to control such vast acres of territories, making the areas vulnerable to other foreign competitors.

So..Joseph Chamberlain, a firm believer in colonialism was appointed as colonial secretary. (make no mistake Nigerians, it was Joseph Chamberlain and not Lord Lugard who was the real Colonial and imperialistic personality on the would-be Nigerian soil)

With this, the days of the Royal Niger company were numbered.

Relations with France on the western boundary became so strained that in 1897, Chamberlain raised a local force, afterwards known as ..."The west African Frontier Force" for the special defense of the west African Frontiers dependencies.

The West African Frontier Force was borne as a result of the sort of pressure mounted by the French and German governments, as it was glaring and impossible for a chartered company to hold out against them.

So...in January 1900, the British government paid George Dashwood Goldie Taubman the sum of 865,000.00 British pounds in exchange for the territory we now call Nigeria (of course without the Northern parts). - This is a pointer that almost all the exploits of Goldie Taubman were concentrated in the Southern part of Nigeria especially in today's Niger Delta and Kogi State.

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Lesson: Do not outshine the master, this is one of the first and most important rule in the code of conduct in business. Goldie was on a fast lane which is not his faults but his revelation to the non-challant British government on the juicy land he helped them discover cost him his great fortunes he sweated blood to build. The British government outsmarted him on this one.

GEORGE DASHWOOD GOLDIE TAUBMAN PT 3;

Goldie's activities and the Protectorate.

Goldie didn't only get paid £865,000.00, he was well compensated by given a knighthood and the assurances of his past dark history expunged from the British chronicles. (given soft landing for playing ball like our own Goje who was running for the post of Senate President but was pardoned by the Buhari's government on corruption case totalling billions of Naira so also Goldie's exploits in time pasts in the highly lucrative but illegal opium trade was overlooked)

This explains why it is said he burnt all his documents and put a curse on anyone who would investigate into his life.

Like in the affairs of men, Goldie became a victim of his own success and excesses..

The penetration of the RNC into the territory resulted in the displacement of the Brass people and other traders belonging to the African Association (AA) a group of Liverpool companies.

This led to the first Niger Delta war.

Goldie spread the rumour that the RNC was going to amalgamate with the African companies with the capital base to float their own shipping line, thus alarming the shipping companies who jointly exerted influence in London to force a reconsideration of responsibilities and control of the area overseen by the RNC.

In 1889, a Major, Claude Maxwell MacDonald was appointed to inquire into certain questions affecting  imperial and colonial interests in the west coast and into the position of the RNC.

The traders of Brass complained bitterly about their mistreatment and being treated like foreigners in their own land as they were not able to trade with other peoples of the Niger Delta under the jurisdiction of the RNC except through smuggling.
(Now you know whom that spirit followed  into Nigeria)

MacDonald found that the RNC was operating within its rights but the regulations spelling out these rights were unfair.... a strange resemblance to the current edicts and promulgations controlling the oil wealth of the Niger Delta today.

What would you expect when the agreements between the RNC and the locals were all in English and mostly without interpretations with most of the local  kings signing them at gunpoint?

To the local chiefs , the RNC negotiators had pledged free trade in the region, but behind, the RNC entered private contracts on their terms. (another manafiki on the part of the RNC in order to deceive and outsmart the unlearned Natives)

For example, Jaja of Opobo, when he tried to export palm oil on his own, was forced into exile...for... "obstructing commerce" (you can imagine the nonsense and coinage of a technical business terms just to force Jaja of Opobo out, I hope you are learning friends)

Jaja was forgiven in 1891 and allowed to return home....but he died on the way back....POISONED WITH A CUP OF TEA - Chief M.K.O Abiola came to mind
( does this look familiar? Do you now see another piece of the puzzle when IBB ,  the enigmatic evil genius explained a few years ago, when talking about why he stepped aside,  that had he not annulled June 12, he would have been killed?)

Seeing what happened to king  Jaja, some  other native rulers began to look more closely at their deals with the RNC.

One of such Kingdoms was Nembe, whose king, Koko Mingi Vlll ascended the throne in 1889 after being a Christian schoolteacher.

Koko Mingi Vlll ...king Koko for short was like most rulers in the territory faced with the RNC encroachment.

He also resented the monopoly enjoyed by the RNC and tried to seek out favourable trading terms with particular Germans in Kamerun.

By 1894, Goldie increasingly dictated whom the natives could trade with... even denying them access to their own former  markets. (The British forcefully establishing and exerting  their imperialistic tendencies right here......no be today friends)

In late 1894, King koko renounced Christianity and tried to form an alliance with Bonny and Okpoma against the RNC to take back trade.

While Okpoma joined, Bonny refused... pointing to the divide and rule tactics of the RNC.

So, in January 29th 1895, King Koko led an attack on the Royal Niger Company's headquarters located at Akasa in present day Bayelsa state.

The pre-dawn raid had more than a thousand men involved.

The attack succeeded in capturing the base.

Losing 40 of his men, King Koko captured 60 white men as hostages as well as a lot of goods, ammunition and a maxim gun. (the agitation you see in our Niger Delta brothers and sisters today actually is dated back into time as you can see here)

He attempted to negotiate the release  of the hostages in exchange for being allowed to chose his trading partners. (smart move by King Koko)

The British refused to negotiate, King Koko had 40 of the hostages killed... (a British report claimed the Nembe people cannibalized them).

King Koko afterwards tendered a heartfelt apology... which fell on the British deaf ears.

On 20th February 1895, Britain's Royal Navy, under Admiral Bedford attacked Brass ...burning it to the ground...leading to a complete exodus of the town. (Don't dare us next time seems to be the body language of the British here)

Many Nembe people were killed, while a smallpox epidemic at that time finished off a lot of the others....leaving just a few to start all over again.

By April 1895, business had returned to normal... Normal being the conditions that the British wanted, while King Koko was on the run. (what a sad story for a liberator of his own people to abdicate his own throne and escape for his life leaving his people behind, it was that bad)

Brass was fined £500 (£26,825 in today's value) while the looted weapons were returned, including the surviving hostages.

After a British parliamentary commission sat, King Koko was offered terms of settlement which he rejected and disappeared. (indeed he was a determined and focused man by standing his ground knowing fully well the mission and insidious motives of the British and mendacious plans)

The British promptly declared him an outlaw and offered a reward of £200 (£10,730) for him.

He committed suicide in exile in 1898. (so sad)

About that time, another recalcitrant King, the Oba of Benin was run out of town.

The pacification of the Lower Niger was well underway.

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Lesson: The resistance from the Natives can never deter the mission of the oppressors because the oppressors (the British) saw clearly the bigger picture in their prized possession unlike the natives. It is still happening today if only we can look inwards now.

George DASHWOOD GOLDIE TAUBMAN  PT 4;

Remember that after the revocation of the Royal Niger Company charter, the British Government paid  £865,000...equivalent to £46,407,250.00 in today's money value this equals N 12, 550,427,783.81k (twelve billion, five hundred and fifty million, four hundred and twenty seven thousand and seven hundred and eighty three naira, eighty one kobo) at today's Naira exchange rate.....to buy Nigeria.

(Lest I forget, let me pose this question... Just for asking sake..." Do you think a Government would buy such a lucrative estate just to let it go  within just 60years ?....just asking.)

Goldie was knighted in 1887! Why? For a job well done and his cooperation with the British government to let go his business empire for pardon on his pasts business shady deals.

It is note worthy to understand here that though the Royal Niger company was not able to subdue the Northern Fulani kingdom but it did manage to conquer several emirates and compelled them to recognize its authority.

In 1894, the territories of the Royal Niger company became difficult to define...especially after the Lagos colony and the oil Rivers  protectorate were merged and conflicts ensued between Lagos and the RNC over their boundary between the emirate of Ilorin and the empire.

Ilorin and the Nupe kingdoms were the seat of resistance to the RNC

Their supposed crime was daring to raid for slaves in areas controlled by the RNC.

In 1897, the hostilities of several Fulani princes led Goldie to personally organize and led an expedition along the upper Benue, which was completely successful.

He imposed terms on them which included the recognition of the suzerainty of the RNC.

He then abolished the status of slavery within the RNC controlled territories.

Though slavery was not recognized in the RNC's courts as it would ...as slaves to another master would mean less men to his workforce.... (It would mean a competition).

In any case, slavery still thrived in the hinterlands.

Goldie's sagacity in striking a lenient political settlement with the Emirates set the tone for their preferring British nominal rule as opposed to French direct control of their affairs.

Goldie's master stroke was inviting Frederick Lugard to Nigeria based on Lugard's experiences in pacifying the Muslim societies in Sudan and Burma.

Lugard also checkmated French interests in Uganda.

He was called in by the British government and assigned to help establish the British frontier forces to assist Goldie.

As a good judge of his lieutenants, Goldie knew that Lugard was the ideal mercenary to work with.

And sure enough, Lugard achieved so much for the British in Nigeria.

Anyhow, George Dashwood Goldie Taubman was knighted in 1887, he changed his name from Taubman  to Goldie by Royal License.

He became a privy councillor in 1898.

In 1905, he was elected president of the Royal Geographical Society.

He was chosen an Alderman (a member of a legislative municipal body) of London county council in 1908.

He became a fellow of the Royal society honorary D.C.L. of Oxford University in  1897 and honorary L.L.D. of University of Cambridge in 1897.

Goldie died in 1925!

It is interesting to note that same as the Fulanis, all natural thrones and establishments met on the Nigerian territories by Goldie and the British agents were not removed and replaced because they lacked capacity but they were changed to better serve and protect the interests of their new (invading) masters.

(As to Goldie's curse on anyone who investigates his life history,  we say....had your life been lived in the quietness of your family estate and wealth in a corner of your country and desired to go quietly into memory, that would have been well within your rights.
But your trade destroyed innocent lives and displaced millions of destinies of God's people....there is coming a day and time of their deliverance, healing and restoration...and that by the blood of Jesus Christ and the spirit of The Living God....no curse can keep that day from coming)

Now.....with the sale and transfer of all assets of the Royal Niger company ( Nigeria) to the British government, the territories fell under the direct administration of the British Crown.

A new commander needed to be at the helm of affairs.

This is where Lord Frederick Lugard fully  comes into the picture.

We will begin  a journey into this next phase of our Nation from tomorrow, God's willing.

Stay with this wall and stay focused.

Thanks  for reading.

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Lesson: The clearer picture here is that, Nigeria was bought by the British from the hands of Goldie Taubman without the knowledge of our fathers. You now know the real owners of Nigeria and their real stooges they always want to be in power.

FREDERICK LUGARD

After the purchase, the British occupied the Northern Protectorate piecemeal from 1900 to 1903 and controlled all of what is today known as modern day Nigeria but as 3 separate administrative blocks.

As early as 1898, the British considered merging the then 3 protectorates in order to reduce the administrative burden on the British, while allowing the rich South to effectively subsidize the much less economically  prosperous North.

The Lagos colony was later incorporated into the Southern Nigeria protectorate  but basically for budgetary reasons.

Lord Frederick LUGARD  infamously reffered to it as..."how the marriage between the rich wife of substance and means (the South) and the poor husband (the North) would lead to a happy life for both." (open your eyes and understand how the "South" was addressed as the "wife of substance and means" while the "North" as the "Poor husband"!

"Unfortunately they (Lord Lugard and the British Government) have forgotten that on their way to this point in history, it was their grand design to sow discord, suspicions, religious and ethnic divisions among all the peoples of this new property"

ABOUT LUGARD:

Frederick John Dealtry Lugard, born 1845 in Madras...now Chennai in India...but was raised in Worcester, England.

He was the son of Reverend Frederick  Grueber Lugard, a British Army Chaplain at Madras and his third wife Mary Howard (1819-1865), the youngest daughter of Reverend John Barton Howard ( 1786-1862)... a younger son of landed gentry from Thorne and Melbourne near York.

Lugard was educated at Russall school and the Royal Military college, Sandhurst.

The name Dealtry was in honour of Thomas Dealtry, a friend of his Father's.

Lugard was commissioned into the 9th Foot (East Norfolk Regiment) in 1887 and joined the second battalion in India, he served in the second Anglo-Afghan war 1878-1880, the Sudan campaign war, 1884-1885 and the third Anglo-Burmese war...November 1885 and was awarded the distinguished service Order in 1887.

After this promising start, his career was derailed when he fell in love with a twice married British divorcee he met in India.

Learning she had been injured in an accident,  he abandoned his post in Burma to join her in Lucknow, then followed her to England.

When she rejected him, Lugard decided to make a fresh start in Africa.

Known as Sir Frederick, Lugard was between 1901 and 1928, a British soldier, explorer, Diplomat and later 1st Baron Lugard who played an important role in Britain's colonial development in Africa.

He was instrumental in setting up the British policy of indirect rule through indigenous institutions.

He was associated with the Royal Niger Company in its last days of capturing Nigeria under George Goldie Taubman .

In 1894, Lugard was dispatched by the Royal Niger company to Borgu, to secure treaties with the kings and chiefs who acknowledged the sovereignty of the British company,  while reducing the influence of other colonial powers...especially the French.

After leading an expedition to Lake Ngami in modern day Botswana, he was  recalled to help put together the first military command of the protectorate (the west African Frontier Forces) in August 1897... He commanded it until December 1899 when the disputes with the French were settled.

The force further helped the British capture their target territories faster.

A case in point is the subjugation of the Northern protectorate, which was at that time under the Fulani Empire.

After relinquishing command of the West African Frontier Force, Lugard was appointed high commissioner of the newly created Northern Protectorate.

He read the proclamation that established the protectorate in January 1st 1900 at Lokoja.

At the same time, the portion of Northern Nigeria under effective British control was small and Lugard's task in organizing this vast territory was made more difficult by the refusal of the Sultan of Sokoto and many other Fulani princes to fulfill their treaty obligations.

In 1903, British control over the whole protectorate was made possible by the successful campaign against the Emir of Kano and the Sultan of Sokoto.

By the time Lugard resigned as commissioner in 1906, the entire Nigeria was peacefully administered under the supervision of the British residents.

There were uprisings that were brutally put down by Lugard's troops.

A Mahdi rebellion in 1906 at Satiru, a village near Sokoto resulted in the total destruction of the town with huge casualties.

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Lesson: It was obvious that Nigeria was never created to be one entity since it was an appendage of the Royal Niger Company owned by Goldie Taubman. The infighting within us today has a root to our foundation which must be addressed now before it is too late.

What's wrong with you?

ozoebuka1:
What's wrong with you?

Stay tuned it will come back by late next week sorry about the change in plan.

Ratello:


Stay tuned it will come back by late next week sorry about the change in plan.

ok sir

FREDERICK LUGARD PT 2:

By 1901, LUGARD was already knighted for his services in Nigeria.

In 1902, he resigned as high commissioner of the protectorate of Northern Nigeria but was again appointed Governor of Hong Kong... a position he held until March 1912.

During his time,  he proposed to return Weihaiwei to the Chinese government in return for the cedeing of the rented new territories in perpetuity. 

Hhhhmmmm...

Listen up Africans...

PERPETUITY is a word the west will not want you to hear often.... BECAUSE IT IS HIDDEN IN EVERY CONTRACT YOU SIGNED WITH THEM DURING THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA... (i.e When they were fighting each other to own your land and resources FOR EVER...that's what PERPETUITY means)

We will talk about this later.

So.... Back to Hong Kong.

Sir LUGARD's proposal was not received nor acted upon by his employers.

Some believed that had the proposal been acted upon,  Hong Kong might forever remain in British hands.

LUGARD's main interest was education and he was remembered for funding the University of Hong Kong project in 1911 and became it's first chancellor despite cold reception from the Imperial colonial office and local British companies such as the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC)

The colonial office called the idea of a University,  "Sir Frederick's pet lamb"

LUGARD's idea was to create a citadel of higher education which could serve as the foremost bearer of western culture in the orient.

The crown really didn't like this soldier trying to put ideas into these savages that will open their eyes to their true potential and lead them to self assertion, self dominance and self rule....so...

By 1912, Lugard returned to Nigeria as Governor of the two protectorates of North and South... a less evolved group that were still jostling to identify and define their territories and not yet ready for the development.

Sir Lugard's mission was to amalgamate the two colonies into one nation.

Although controversial in Lagos where it was opposed by a large crowd of the political class and media,  the amalgamation did not arouse passion in the rest of the country because the people were unaware of the implications.

LUGARD took notice of public opinion and felt there was no need for a consensus among the locals on such a serious political subject affecting the two colonies.

What he did however was to summon representatives of the then 3 perceived major ethnic groups ...Igbo,  Hausa and Yoruba to his Lokoja Government House in 1912, informed them of Britain's plans to amalgamate the two protectorates and the Lagos colony.

He asked for suggestions  for a NAME for the new national construct.

This is where the cracks showed up again. 

Before we proceed on this topic,  let us go back to 1897 when Sir Lugard proclaimed the protectorate of Northern Nigeria at Ida in January 1st.

The basis for this takeover was the Berlin conference of 1884 which broadly granted Northern Nigeria to Britain on the basis of their protectorate in Southern Nigeria.

Hostilities with the then powerful Fulani Sokoto caliphate soon ensued.

The emirates of Kaaba,  Kontogora and Ilorin were the first to fall into British hands.

In February 1903, the great fort of Kano,  Kano emirate,  was captured,  followed by Sokoto and much of the rest of the caliphate soon after.

On March 13th 1903, the grand Shuts of the Sokoto caliphate conceeded to Sir Lugard's demands.

How did this happen?

The Fulani,  who had succeeded in cloaking themselves then as Hausas of Northern Nigeria, had insisted on reaching the conquest target of their jihad ...which was to reach the Atlantic Ocean and overrunning Southern Oil Rivers states.

They saw the British as an obstacle as well as an interfferance to this goal.

Telling their subjects they were on a Spiritual mission, they encouraged an all out war.

But the British had far more superior fire power and could easily sack any territory in one night... Just as they did Lagos a few years earlier.

Lugard,  being both a soldier and diplomat first started his campaigns by what they called "PUNITIVE EXPEDITIONS"

This is carried out by attacking the one of the villages in a target city,  leveling it to the ground and looting it's valuable weather (financial and historical) and then withdrawing the invading troops on condition of dialogue.

For the Sokoto caliphate,  LUGARD made the Sultan understand that the British crown was not interested in killing and sitting over an empty mass of land without a people, insisting that British presence here was purely commercial and not enslavement of or ruling the people, adding that the same people will be needed to administer themselves while the British were doing business ... so there would be no need for a  Hijira or any more hostilities.

All the Fulanis needed do was to end hostilities on their part and submit to the crown,  which will in turn safeguard their superiority in the north and allow them govern their people as they saw fit.... Thus giving birth to indirect rule.

This appeased the Hausa/Fulanis for the time being.

From then on,  Sir Lugard administered Northern Nigeria in partnership with the local rulers.

This was in contrast to governing the now Southern Protectorate which was directly administered as it had already been subdued (pacified... In British terms) years earlier... mainly by George Goldie Taubman in partnership with the British government.

Secondly because the South was smart enough to embrace both education and Christianity, a new culture and language that encouraged trade,  commerce and wealth creation.

This worked well coupled with the abundant natural resources (which the world needs)  and a platform of access to the world market provided by the British Government.

British conquest of the south however did not come easy... even with these nuggets. 

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Lesson: Education is key in almost all negotiations and survival in areas of life. We can glean from this piece that while Nigeria was negotiated for without the input of the natives of the land by the British they couldn't carry out their enterprise in far away China on behalf of Hong Kong.

BRITISH OCCUPATION WARS OF NIGERIA:

THE BENIN KINGDOM....

Before we return to the naming of Nigeria, let's take a look at how the British pacified the various ethnic kingdoms of Nigeria.

THE BENIN KINGDOM :

At the end of the 19th century,  the kingdom of BENIN had managed to retain it's independence and the Oba exercises a monopoly over trade, which the British found repulsive.

The territory was covered by an influential group of investors for it's rich natural resources such as palm oil,  rubber and Ivory. 

After the British consul, Richard Burton visited BENIN in 1862, he wrote of BENIN as a place of gratuitous barbarity which stinks of death : a narrative which was widely publicized in Britain and increased pressure for the territory's subjugation.

In spite of this, the kingdom maintained it's independence and was not visited by Britain again until 1892 when Henry Gallaway,  the British vice-consul of the Oil Rivers protectorate visited the city,  hoping to open up trade and ultimately annex Benin Kingdom to make it a British property. 

Gallaway was able to get Omo n' Oba (Ovonramwen)  and his chiefs to sign a treaty which gave Britain legal justification for exerting greater influence over the Empire. 

While the treaty itself contains texts suggesting that Ovonramwen actively sought Britain's protection,  this appears to be fiction...as Gallaway's own account suggests the Oba was hesitant to sign the treaty. (you can imagine the trick here again played against a would-be smart King against the whims of the imperialists)

Although there were insinuations that humanitarian motivations were behind Britain's actions,  letters written between administrators suggests that economic motivations were predominant.

The treaty itself does not mention anything about Benin's  deadly customs that Burton had written about....instead it speaks vaguely about ensuring a general progress of civilization.

It was clear that the Oba did not intend to keep to the treaty.

While the treaty granted freedom of trade within the Benin Empire,  the Oba persisted in collecting customs duties. 

Since Major (later Sir)  claude Maxwell MacDonald,  the Consul-general of the Oil Rivers protectorate considered the treaty legal and binding,  he deemed  the King's actions a violation of the accord,  thus a hostile act. 

In 1894, after the invasion and destruction of Ebrohimi, the trading town of chief Nana Olomu,  the leading Itsekiri trader in the Benin River District by a combined British Royal Navy and Niger coast protectorate forces,  BENIN Kingdom increased her military presence on her Southern borders.

This vigilance and the colonial office's refusal to grant approval for an invasion of Benin city  scuttled the expedition the protectorate had planned for early 1895.

Between September 1895 and mid 1896, 3 attempts were made by the protectorate to enforce the Gallaway treaty.

Major P.  Copland Crawford,  Vice-consul  of Benin District,  made the first attempt,  Mr.  Locke, the vice-consul assistant made a second attempt while Captain Arthur Maling the commadant of the Niger coast protectorate force detachment based in Sapele made the third attempt.

In March 1896, following price fixing and refusal by Itsekiri  middlemen  to pay the required tributes,  the King of Benin ordered a cessation of supply of palm oil products to them.

This embargo brought trade in the region to a standstill and British traders quickly appealled to the protectorate's consul general to open up the Benin territory and send the Oba (whom they claimed was an obstruction)  into exile.

In October 1896, the acting Consul-general,  James Robert Phillips visited the Benin River District and had meetings with the agents and traders.

They were able to convince him that the future would be brighter if an attack was carried out.

In November,  Phillips made a formal request to his superiors for permission to invade Benin City and in late December,  without waiting for a reply or approval from London,  Phillips embarked on a military expedition  with two Niger coast protectorate force officers,  a medical officer,  two trading agents,  250 African soldiers masquerading in part as porters.

His request to London was to depose the King,  replace him with a native Council and pay for the invasion with the Ivory he hoped to plunder from the King's Palace.

Meanwhile,  he sent a message ahead to the King that his mission was to discuss trade and peace... demanding admission to the empire in defiance of Benin law explicitly forbidding his entry.

Unfortunately for Phillips, some Itsekiri trading chiefs had sent a warning to the Oba that the white man was bringing war.

The Oba quickly summoned an emergency meeting of the city's high ranking nobles to discuss the situation.

The Iyase,  the Commander in chief of the BENIN army argued  that the British were planning a surprise attack and must be defeated.

The Oba however insisted that the British should be allowed to enter the city... to truly ascertain if they were friendly or not.

The Iyase ignored the King's views and ordered  the formation of a strike force that was commanded by Ologbosere,  a senior army commander,  which was sent to Ughoton to destroy the invaders.

On 4th January 1897. the Benin strike force composed mainly of border guards and servants of some chiefs caught Phillips ' collumn totally unprepared at Ugbine village near Ughoton.

Since Phillips was not aware that his plans had already been brought into the open in BENIN city and was not prepared for any attacks,  his officers'pistols were locked up in the head packs of the African porters.

After the encounter...

Only two British officers survived the annihilation of this expedition.

This became known as the BENIN massacre. 

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Lesson: Attack as they say is the best form of defence but while attacking you must know the strength and weakness of your enemies. It's a cold world fighting a cold war.

BRITISH OCCUPATION WARS FOR NIGERIA.

BENIN EMPIRE PT 2:

On January 12th 1897, Rear-Admiral Harry Reason, commanding the squadron at the cape of Good Hope was appointed by the British Admiralty to lead an explanation to capture Benin King and destroy Benin city.

The operation was named "The Benin punitive expedition " .

On 9th February 1897, the invasion of Benin city began.

The field commanders were instructed by their commander-in-chief  to burn down all Benin kingdom's towns and villages and hang the BENIN KING wherever and whenever he was captured.

The invasion force of about 1,200 Royal marines,  sailors and Niger Coast Guard protectorate forces and comprised of 3 columns :
The Sapoba, Gwato and Main columns.

The Sapoba and main columns reached Benin city after 10 days of bitter fighting but the Gwato column was routed at Gwato.

Homes,  religious buildings and Palaces were burnt down.

By the third day,  the blaze went out of control and engulfed most of the city.

The city's walls were once the largest earthworks created in the pre-mechanized era and were estimated to be four times longer in total than the Great Wall of China.

Today,  little evidence of these structures exist after its destruction by the British.

Immediately after securing the city,  the British invaders began looting.

Though this was carried out by all members of the expedition,  Major Henry Gallaway was reputed to have made away with artifacts and ivory worth about $5million in today's value.

Monuments and Palaces of many high ranking chiefs were looted.

There were evidences of human sacrifices found by the British which they construed as barbaric.. with Reuters and the illustrated London news reporting that the town reeked of human blood.

Most of the plunder from the city was retained by the expedition with some 2,500 (official figure)  religious artifacts  Benin visual history, mnemonics and artworks being sent to England.

The British Admiralty confiscated and auctioned off the war booty to pay for the cost of the expedition .

The expected revenue from the expedition was already discussed before Phillips set out on his ill-fated journey to the city of Benin in 1896.

In a letter to Lord Salisbury,  the British foreign secretary,  Phillips had requested approval to invade Benin and depose the Oba,  adding the following footnote...:
I would add that I have reason to hope that sufficient ivory would be found in the King's house to pay the expenses incurred in removing the King from his stool.

About 40% of the art was accessioned to the British museum in London,  some works were to individual members of the British military as spoils of war while the remainder was sold at an auction by the British  Admiralty to pay for the expedition as early as May 1897.. (Stevens Auction Rooms, 38 kings street London,  May 25th 1897, followed by several sales at William Downing Webster,  Bicester,  between 1898 and 1900)

Most of the Benin Bronze sold at auction were bought by British museums, mainly in Germany.

The dispersal of the Benin art to museums around the world catalyzed the beginnings of the long and slow European reassessment of the value of West African art.

The Benin art was copied and the style integrated into the art of many European artists and thus had a strong influence on the early formation of modernism in Europe.

HOW ABOUT OBA OVONRAMWEN... you might be asking... 

He was eventually captured by the British Consul-general,  Ralph Moor.

He was deposed and sent to live out his day in Calabar.

Oba Ovonramwen died in 1914!

In 2017, a cockerel statue or Okukor looted during the 1897 Benin expedition was removed from the hall of  Jesus College,  Cambridge,  following protests by students against the celebration of colonialism.

Jesus college student union passed a motion declaring that the sculpture should be returned.

The University is currently willing to discuss and determine the best future for the Okukor,  including the question of repatriation.

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Lesson: The lesson learnt here was a bitter one on the part of the Benin Empire as a result of not considering deeply the cost of attacking the British without thorough estimation of their strengths. This cost them great artefacts that were forever lost and eventually imploded the great Benin Empire till date. Nigeria is truly an artificial creation of the British!

ozoebuka1:
ok sir

My brother I am back with the thread like I promised I hope it will open your eyes to some hidden facts about Nigeria as you read it meditatively.