Citizen History

“Thanks to these women, we do not pay tax to any British monarch who has no jurisdiction on our God-given corner of this globe.” — Ndanyongmong H. Ibanga

The last episode of Citizen History, marks the beginning of our historical exploration of Nigerian women and their fight against British colonialism. We started with the Egba Women’s Tax Revolt. The mass protest lasted three years, with arrests and assaults by British police on Abeokuta market women. Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti was the leader until their demands were met in January 1949.

Egba women were indelible forces of anti-colonial resistance. UNESCO.

Read More Here: The Women’s War: Egba Women’s Tax Revolt

This week, we travel back to a similar event in Eastern Nigeria. The year is 1929.

This year, women in southeastern Nigeria rose up in protest against British colonial rule. The uprising, known as the Aba Women’s Riot, was sparked by introducing direct taxation on women.

Scholars have referred to this protest as West Africa’s first women’s revolt.

Aba Women of Nigeria in the first half of the 20th century. Archival photograph

What birthed the Aba Women’s Riot?

Two words come to mind—indirect rule. We’ve discussed indirect rule as the default mode of governance in colonial Nigeria, but for those who missed it, let’s do a quick recap of the key details:

The Recap
- Indirect rule is a system of administration in the colonies where local leaders—although front-facing with the people and ruling with native politics—dance to the British tune and follow all orders the administration gives.
- Britain adopted this system of governance because they didn’t have enough personnel for Nigeria’s enormous land mass.
- Applying this method in Eastern Nigeria was troublesome because the ethnic groups (Igbo, Ibibio, Efik, Ekoi, Ogoni, and others) did not believe in the existence of one ruler but rather lived in autonomous communities. To solve this problem, the British devised a solution in the form of “warrant chiefs”.
- The colonial administration made warrant chiefs tax collectors and used them to conscript youths as unwilling labourers for the colony and oversee judicial matters.
To add more context, men and women had important roles in a typical Igbo home and worked collaboratively. Women could even participate in political movements if married to elite husbands.

However, the British colonial officers couldn’t comprehend this practice. They considered male-dominated political organisations but ignored female ones. Combined with the extortion of the warrant chiefs, the women eventually became dissatisfied with the increased school fees and forced labour.

Now that we understand the full context, let’s visit a major event that made everything go from bad to worse for these women—the introduction of direct taxation.

The Native Revenue Amendment Ordinance of 1927

In April 1927, Lord Lugard commissioned a colonial resident, W.E. Hunt, to enforce the Native Revenue Ordinance in the five provinces of East Nigeria.

Under this ordinance, taxes or tributes were paid to the “Chief” (warrant chief). The “Chief” thereafter was to pay a portion of the tax into the General Revenue and the remainder to the Native Treasury. This was the first official tax documented in the East and was used to prepare the people for direct taxation in 1928.

When direct taxation was first launched, only men were obligated to pay taxes. That is, until an assistant District Officer, Captain James Cook, entered office temporarily in September 1929.

Cook’s Tax Revision As A Catalyst of War

In September 1929, the serving district officer, Hill, went on leave. Cook was sent as his substitute until November.

Upon taking over, he saw the ongoing direct tax roll count as insufficient because it didn’t include the number of wives, children, and livestock in the household, and he set about correcting this.

With his revision, women now had to bear the brunt of paying taxes alongside men. Combined with their other obligations, was too much for them. The tax for women became effective on October 14, 1929.

This tax revision led to a fight between a widow and a census worker—the legendary moment that set the tone of the Aba Women’s War.

The Nwanyeruwa-Emeruwa Fight

Madame Nwanyeruwa [BlackPast]

On the morning of November 18, 1929, a representative of the Warrant Chief of Oloko town, Mark Emeruwa, had one duty—to count or take a census of the people for taxation. However, he didn’t know that the women had already decided not to have themselves or their property counted!

This was due to severe hyperinflation in the late 1920s, which affected women’s trade and production. But let’s get back to the story.

When Emeruwa reached the house of a widow, Nwanyeruwa, he asked her to “count her goats, sheep and people,” (which meant that she would be counted based on her people and livestock). In response, Nwanyeruwa sarcastically asked if “his widowed mother was counted.” This led to a serious fight between the duo, which made Emeruwa choke Nwanyeruwa by the throat.

In anger, Nwanyeruwa went to the market square to meet other Oloko women discussing the issue of taxation and told them about the incident. When they heard of it, they decided they would no longer accept the leadership of Warrant Chief Okugo.

They used palm tree leaves to call nearly ten thousand women from other areas in the Bende District, Umuahia, and Ngwa to protest Okugo’s resignation and trial.

How Aba Women “Sat on Men” In The Riot

Under the leadership of Nwanyeruwa and the Oloko Trio (Ikonnia, Nwannedia, and Nwugo), the women protested Okugo’s resignation by “sitting on him.”

This is a traditional practice where women chant war songs and dance around a man, making his life miserable until demands are met. The protests eventually spread to the factory town of Umuahia, which sparked fear among the colonial officers.

The British District Officer jailed Okugo for two years to appease the women, ending the Oloko riot.

But that wasn’t the only protest

Another protest began in the Owerri district of Aba. This was after another census taker, Warrant Chief Njoku Alaribe, knocked down a pregnant woman during a fight. It eventually led to a miscarriage of the pregnancy.

Like the Oloko women, the women of Owerri would not take the matter lying down.

On December 9, 1929, the women protested in Njoku’s compound, during which two women were killed and many others wounded in an encounter with British police. This also led to the arrest and detention of their leader in Aba City.

On December 11, 1929, ten thousand women went to Aba City to protest against their leader’s arrest. On their way, a British medical officer was driving on the road when he knocked down two protesters, fatally wounding them. These made the women raid the nearby Barclays Bank and the prison to release their leader. They also destroyed the native court building, European factories, and other establishments. According to reports, soldiers and policemen killed about one hundred women in Aba.

The Women’s War then spread to the Ikot Ekpene and Abak divisions in Calabar province. Government buildings were burned, and a factory was looted at Utu-Etim-Ekpo on December 14. These left eighteen women dead and nineteen wounded. Thirty-one dead and thirty-one wounded women reportedly died on December 16 at Ikot Abasi near Opobo, also in Calabar province.

The Aftereffect

Until the end of December 1929, when colonial troops restored order, ten native courts were destroyed, houses of native court personnel were attacked, and European factories at Imo River, Aba, Mbawsi, and Amata were looted. Women attacked prisons and released prisoners.

When order was restored, the colonial troops killed about fifty-five women. The last soldiers left Owerri on December 27, 1929, and the last patrol in Abak Division withdrew on January 9, 1930. By January 10, 1930, the revolt was regarded as successfully suppressed.

The Rise of Female Eastern Movements

The position of women in society was greatly improved. Once only allowing the wives of elite husbands to participate in politics, the protests allowed women of lesser backgrounds to join native politics. Women were appointed to serve in native courts; some even became warrant chiefs.

The Aba Women’s Riot also inspired many other female movements in the 1930s and 1940s. This includes the Tax Protests of 1938, the Oil Mill Protests of the 1940s in Owerri and Calabar Provinces, and the Tax Revolt in Aba and Onitsha in 1956.
Chiamaka Dike

July 25, 2023

Citizen, Citizen History

Aba Women's Riot, Citizen History
Nigerian women may have had a long history of suffering, but they’ve also had a longer history of resilience. There are many stories of the heroic struggles of women against colonialism.

Today’s story, however, takes us back to the late 1940s, when a women-led resistance movement fought against the British colonial system of multiple taxation on women and led to the dethronement of a king.

This is the story of the Egba Women’s Tax Revolt.

Egba women were indelible forces of anti-colonial resistance [UNESCO/The Republic]

In Colonial Nigeria, government revenue (in the Southern Provinces) came from two sources—import duties (a tax collected on imports and some exports by a country’s customs authorities) and railway freights.

Under import duties, the real “moneymaker” for the British was trading German liquor and spirits, and Germany was the epicentre of World War I (1914-1918). Before 1901, liquor duties were three shillings, but by 1901, it increased to as much as six shillings! This resulted in liquor being a scarce commodity during the war.

The high liquor import duties and shipping difficulties caused revenue from that sector to drop drastically. Which ultimately affected the government’s pockets.

Undated photograph of German soldiers posing for a picture while drinking beer [Beer and World War 1]

This is where the Abeokuta people come in. Before amalgamation in 1914, they were known as successful producers and traders of palm kernel, palm oil, and cocoa. The British tried to put export duties on cocoa and palm kernels, but they couldn’t generate as much as liquor import duties once did.

At this point, Lord Lugard was extremely desperate to get the nation’s finances in order. He had to plead with the British colonial office formally to impose direct taxation on the Yorubas, but the British government took its time to give any kind of approval.

Even though there was no word from the British, the native rulers felt pressure from the colonial government to generate revenue no matter what. This led to indirect taxation known as the ‘sanitation fines’ in April 1917.

The “Sanitation Fines” and How This Affected Egba Women

As the name implies, sanitation fines were monetary penalties one had to pay for not keeping their environment neat and tidy. To make up for the government’s lack of revenue, they needed to catch offenders, summon them to court, and make them pay fines—and market women or rural women were always the easy targets.

These women had to pay fines of up to five shillings, with an additional eight shillings for court summons, making it thirteen shillings. Sometimes the courts could even decide to inflate prices by close to thirty shillings.

The “offences committed” were usually very mundane, like not sweeping the front of their compounds or setting up water pots outside the house with no covers (which could cause mosquito breeding).

The sanitation fines turned out to be a successful revenue scheme for the British. In the Native Courts alone, they made up to £1.6 million from 1.9 million sanitary case offences. It encouraged British colonial officials to further impose stricter taxes on women.

The “Independent Woman” Mode of Taxation

After much deliberation, the British Colonial Office introduced the official method of taxation for Abeokuta on January 1, 1918. This was with the approval of the Secretary of the Native Authority, Adegboyega Edun. But right from the start, there was something not quite right with this new tax.

Adegboyega Edun [Nairaland]

The model was for every adult to pay an average of 5 shillings per head. Based on the number of adults in a household, the head of the compound was given an amount that the family must pay. This happened to exclude women, as they had to pay a totally different amount of tax altogether.

This was entirely different from the model of taxation in other parts of the country, which didn’t recognise women as different from men. In that model, “tax for every household will be £1, including the wife, and £10 per annum for additional wives.”

Despite several complaints, the British Resident bluntly refused to change the system. Women were more prevalent than men in the population, which made the taxation spread wider, and he knew that if he increased the men’s taxes, they may cause ‘wahala’ and riots.

Ironically, despite his efforts to reduce mayhem, the people were not at all pleased with the taxation system. The income of the people was not considered. They still had to pay customs dues and shop licences, and forced labour was still in practice. This led to the Adubi War of 1918.

How the Adubi War Solved Tax Problems for Men But Not Women

On June 13, 1918, 30,000 Abeokuta residents protested their displeasure by destroying railway and telegraph lines south of Abeokuta. Neighbouring Yorubas from the French colony of Dahomey also joined the fight, as they also protested against forced army recruitment for World War I.

Three thousand British soldiers were used to suppress the revolt, after which 1,000 Egba civilians and 100 soldiers were killed.

Despite the bloodshed, the tax scheme was modified. Men who earned less than £40 per year were now required to pay five shillings a year, with women paying two shillings and six pence. Those above £40 paid 1% of their income in taxes, while landlords were taxed 5% of their rental income.

However, this modification did not favour women. Women expected the government to make the market favourable for them as traders so that they could also profit, but there were no gains whatsoever.

Market women were charged as much as £3 for sheds. Those who couldn’t afford it and made use of ‘illegal’ spaces had to pay fines. The industries they could profit from were also limited, as they included only trading foodstuffs, imported goods, and local textiles. And these problems continued until World War II (1939–1945).

Egba women are unhappy over the multiple taxes [Getty Images]

In the words of the women’s representative to the Oba, Madam Jojolola, “The women all complained that they derive no benefit from the government. We make no profit on the goods we sell, and yet we have been called upon to pay taxes…”

The Rise of Women Through the Abeokuta Women’s Union (AWU)

The AWU – a combination of market women and the Christian Abeokuta Ladies Club (ALC) – emerged in 1945. Although initially a social club for middle-class women, it morphed to respond to the unending taxes on women and ultimately the brutality of colonial rule. They felt they could do this by uniting both working class market women and middle class women as one.

Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti was its first president, and the Alake (King) of Egba land in Abeokuta, Ademola, was its first patron. Grace Eniola Soyinka also joined Funmilayo’s leadership.

Portrait of 70 year-old Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti[Obioma Ofoego/UNESCO]

The Soyinka Family in 1938. Wole Soyinka’s mother and father, Grace Eniola Soyinka and Samuel Ayodele Soyinka, with Wole, Tinu, and Femi. [Wole Soyinka]

To end the taxation regime, they wrote proposals to the Alake of Egba for the following:
- Replacement of the flat rate tax on women with taxation on foreign companies;
- Investment in local initiatives and infrastructure, including transportation, sanitation and education;
- The abolition of the Sole Native Authority and its replacement with a representative form of government that would include women.
Alongside these proposals, they heavily fought the colonial government with different kinds of resistance tactics. Many women stopped paying their taxes altogether, and they either got fined or jailed. The AWU also wrote several petitions to the Alake between August 1946 and May 1947, but to no avail.

This eventually provoked the Egba Women’s Protests or Revolt.

The Egba Women’s Revolt

Egba women were indelible forces of anti-colonial resistance [UNESCO/The Republic]

From Mid-October 1946, Ransome-Kuti and women from the AWU started to hold mass protests outside the king’s palace to demand the removal of direct taxation. The response was brutal, with police deploying tear gas and beating up the women.

But despite the obstacles, these women didn’t relent. They released a document in 1947 called “AWU’s Grievances”, which contained all their accusations against Alake and the Secretary of Native Authority. Ten thousand women then held another demonstration outside Alake’s palace, which lasted two days, while insulting Alake with different songs.

Alake’s response was an empty promise on tax suspension. More women got arrested and assaulted, including Funmilayo.

On December 8, 1947, over ten thousand women camped outside Alake’s palace and refused to leave until every woman arrested was released. They stood resiliently and remained until December 10, when they released the women.

Thousands of women come to show support for Funmilayo Ransome Kuti and the detained women. [Ransome-Kuti Family Archives]

However, the women didn’t get their demands met until three years later, in January 1949.

The British removed the Alake from the throne, the tax was removed, and four women were established in seats of power.

It is worthy to note that both the tax and the Alake later returned, but for a while, the women won.

The Impact

It is sad to see that market women are still being taxed without inclusive consideration in 2023.

A Nigerian marketplace. [Google]

In an article by TechCabal, market women are revealed to make little profit on their income as a result of various taxes for the local government, Lagos State agency officials, Kick Against Indiscipline officers (KAI), etc.

In July, the Nigerian Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) announced the Value Added Tax (VAT) Direct Initiative, a way for the federal government to collect Value Added Taxes (VAT) from market women and reduce multiple taxation.

Will the VAT be effective? Will it lead to another women’s revolt? We’ll see what becomes of this.
Chiamaka Dike

July 19, 2023

Citizen, Citizen History

Egba Women Revolt, Nigeria, Nigerian women
Since we started the Citizen History flagship, we have journeyed together through the significant conflicts of pre-colonial Nigeria.

We’ve visited the Ekumeku War, the ‘Expedition’ of Benin, the Bombardment of Lagos, and the Northern Nigeria Invasion. We’ve shown how our ancestors fought valiantly but yet lost to Britain.

Today’s story takes us back to 1906, when Lord Lugard, the High Commissioner of the Northern Nigeria provinces, considered locals instead of British soldiers for leadership of the newly colonised lands.

Frederick Lugard, 1st Baron [Wikipedia]

Why did a British representative trust the locals to rule over other locals, and how did he execute that?

This era in Nigeria’s colonial history is known as Indirect Rule.

In June 1934, this picture was taken of the governor of northern Nigeria, Lord Lugard, and other country rulers at a zoo in London. [Getty Images]

Indirect rule is a system of administration in the colonies where local leaders—although front-facing with the people and ruling with native politics—dance to the British tune and follow all orders the administration gave.

But why was there an indirect rule?

There were several reasons:
- Britain didn’t have enough personnel for Nigeria’s enormous land mass. By 1925, there was approximately only one administrator for every 100,000 Nigerians. Even Lugard admitted it once by saying, “Nor do we have the means at present to administer so vast a country.”
- Even if they could, there was an issue with Nigeria’s high mortality rate. Between 1895–1900, up to 7.9-10% of British officers died yearly. British officers were reluctant to move to Nigeria, and those that did wanted a higher salary, which Britain couldn’t give.
- According to some reports, the colonial masters also wanted to limit uprisings from the Nigerians, who would rather be ruled by one of their own than a foreigner.
Now that you understand why indirect rule happened, let’s walk you through what life looked like in both Northern and Southern Nigeria under this rule:

Indirect Rule in Northern Nigeria: The Day in the Life of An Emir

Emir of Kano in 1911 [Wikipedia]

In northern Nigeria, the Emir was the traditional and spiritual leader of the emirate. Using Islamic dictates, he had a judicial system with alkalis, a revenue generation system, and several titled officials. The British did not see the need to overhaul their systems but took control of them instead.

The Emir in colonial Northern Nigeria was not elected by the people but rather selected by the colonial government, which informed the kingmakers of their preferred candidate. So, even though he is ruling the Northern people, his allegiance goes to the British Crown, and this is backed up with letters of appointment and oaths.

During his tenure, an Emir knows that his most important duty is tax collection, not for himself but on behalf of the British. Delayed tax payments could lead to their removal.

The budget for running the British colonial administration also came from these taxes, which were 25% of total taxes collected. The Emir never ruled alone but always had a “resident” with him as Britain’s colonial administrator for “advice”.

The Emirs’ lives of indirect rule started properly in 1900 and ran till the 1940s.

Indirect Rule in Southern Nigeria

South Eastern Nigeria

Implementing indirect rule in the North was a piece of cake for the British due to their existing political systems. But in the East, applying this method was hell.

This was because the ethnic groups (Igbo, Ibibio, Efik, Ekoi, Ogoni, and others) did not believe in the existence of one ruler but rather lived in autonomous communities. To solve this problem, the British devised a solution in the form of “warrant chiefs”.

A Day in the Life of A Warrant Chief

An old kind of warrant chief, from The Nigeria Handbook, 1936 [Ukpuru]

A warrant chief knows he is being called one due to the certificate the British give him. He is not a ruler but a representative of the colonial government.

Despite his power, he is more notorious than popular in the community, as the indigenes see him as disrupting the status quo and betraying them. Due to this resentment, his interactions with the villagers would always be laced with curses and abuse.

The colonial administration made warrant chiefs tax collectors, used them to conscript youths as unwilling labourers for the colony, and oversee judicial matters.

The warrant chief knows he was not selected through any process, so he doesn’t need to be credible or reliable to the people to get the job done. He would be fraudulent with taxes being paid and would invent new ways of extorting the people of their funds.

The actions of the warrant chiefs met such great resistance that he would experience revolts, including the Aba Women’s Revolt of 1929.

South Western Nigeria

The first meeting of the Yoruba Obas in Oyo, 1937 [Asiri Magazine]

Indirect rule was neither perfect nor unfit for the South West. The region had traditional rulers, often known as the Oba, who were held accountable under a democratic system with several checks and balances. The Oba, who already received taxes and tributaries, worked well for the colonial administration for tax collection.

But this did not go without revolts and protests across different towns. One of them is the Abeokuta Women’s Revolt, which led to the removal of a King.

The Impact of Indirect Rule in Nigeria

Here are some of the effects of indirect rule on modern-day Nigeria:
- It led to the rise of nationalism across Nigeria
- The title of “warrant chief” has gradually turned into a hereditary title today in the South East, with the descendants claiming to be from “royalty”. Key figures in Nigerian politics today are descendants of warrant chiefs, e.g. Senate President Godswill Akpabio is the descendant of warrant chief Udo Okuku Akpabio in Ikot Ekpene, former minister of foreign affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, is the grandson of warrant chief Onyeama of Eke, etc.
The story elements of this episode of Citizen History were sourced from “What Britain Did to Nigeria” by Max Silloun.
Chiamaka Dike

July 4, 2023

Citizen, Citizen History

colonialism, Indirect Rule, Nigeria
Have you ever experienced a friendship betrayal?

If you have, you can relate to the eighteenth-century Benin Kingdom and how they must’ve felt when British soldiers invaded their land, looting over 2,500 artefacts and calling it an expedition.

But how did it all start? Let’s dive in:

The Benin-Britain Bromance

In 1553, British merchants sent out two ships to the Benin River under the command of Captain Thomas Windham.

A portrait of Thomas Wyndham in 1508 [Hans Eworth]

The then Oba of Benin, Orhogbua, welcomed them and agreed to sell pepper to them. However, almost 100 people in Windham’s crew caught malaria and eventually died between 1553-1556.

As a result, Queen Mary I prohibited all voyages to the Benin Kingdom.

Queen Mary I of England [The Print Collector/Getty Images]

Time passed, and voyages resumed, but only the crew of James Welsh could withstand the fever. From January to April 1591, they carted away valuable resources back to their country, including 589 servings of pepper, 82 barrels of palm oil, and 150 ivory tusks.

Thus began a prosperous British-Benin trade relation of trading pepper, gold, ivory, and later slaves, which lasted for many years.

But it didn’t last forever

Their breakup happened in several stages, which are all important to know:

A shaky trade agreement

The amount of power the then Oba, Ovoramwen Nogbaisi, had over trade in 18th-century Benin was, naturally, massive.

Ovonramwen, Oba of Benin [Edo State Archives]

The British needed his permission to use the trees in the village to collect palm kernels and tap rubber, which was a difficult process for them, and even export goods across the Benin River.

In 1892, Deputy Commissioner and Vice-Consul Captain Henry Lionel Galway tried to negotiate a trade agreement with Oba Ovọnramwẹn Nọgbaisi to allow for the free passage of goods through his territory and the development of the palm oil industry.

The treaty was signed, and there was free trade for the British, but Ovonramwen still collected customs duties. Major Claude MacDonald, Consul General of the Oil River Protectorate, saw the tax as a hostile act.

To make things worse, Ovonramwen then halted the trade of oil palm produce to the British due to price fixing and the refusal of Itseriki men to remit the customs duties.

Britain, not used to being told no, did not like this. But it was one murder they piled behind.

The Ambush and Slaughter of Phillips’ Crew

In November 1896, Phillips, the Vice Consul of a trading post on the African coast, decided to meet with Oba Ovonramwen to discuss the customs duties discomfort.

He formally asked his superiors in London for permission to visit Benin City, claiming that the costs of such an expedition would be reimbursed by trading for ivory.

In late December 1896, Phillips got tired of waiting and took a crew of 18 men, 180 Jakri Porters, to carry supplies and 6 Kru labourers to Benin. He sent an envoy to discuss trade and demand entry into the territory, while bringing numerous gifts for the Oba.

At this time, the Binis were celebrating the Igue Festival, and strangers were forbidden to see the Oba. Oba even sent a message to Phillips saying he wasn’t allowed and would send word in a month or two. But for impatient Phillips, that was time that he simply couldn’t afford.

On January 4, 1897, Phillips and his entire party were ambushed on their journey to Benin City at Ugbine village near Gwato. This was done by Iyase, a warlord who saw the British advance as a slap in the face despite Ovonramwhen’s warning not to harm them.

1897 [Agefotostock]

That day, both British officers and African porters were slaughtered. Only two British survived their wounds, Alan Boisragon and Ralph Locke.

Within a week, news of the massacre had made it to London, and the colonial officers were filled with rage.

For Britain, they needed to teach the Oba and his ‘savages’ a ruthless lesson not to kill their own. This singular event led to the invasion of Benin, also known as ‘the Punitive Expedition’.

The Punitive Expedition

Towards the end of the first week of February 1897, about 1,200 men, including marines, sailors, and protectorate troops, were assembled and prepped for war. This was under the leadership of Sir Harry Rawson.

Admiral Sir Harry Rawson [Historic Houses Trust]

They aimed to “divide and conquer” by advancing on three fronts. The first column was to take Ogbologbo Creek; the second was to advance through the Jameson River Line up to Sapomba; and the third was to maintain a joint attack through Uguto Creek.

On February 9, 1897, the invasion started, and by February 18, the Benin Kingdom fell and ceased to be an independent entity. The Bini soldiers put up a brave front but were no match for Britain’s superior war weapons.

The Aftermath

The city was later set ablaze, although the British later claimed it was ‘accidental.’

Members of the ‘expedition’ surrounded by objects from the royal palace [British Museum]

Benin was later annexed to the Niger Protectorate.

Many buildings were also burned down, including the famous King’s Court. Oba Ovonramwen was deported and exiled to Calabar until he died in 1914.

Ovonramwen on board the Niger Coast Protectorate steam yacht, Ivy, while the Oba was on his way to exile [Jonathan Adagogo Green]

The Benin Native Council was established to replace the monarchy. It also helped to absolve the kingdom into the colonial rule.

The Looting of Benin

The British expedition force looted and carted away Benin’s precious artworks. An estimated 2,500 wooden, bronze and ivory artefacts were stolen.

A photograph of the interior of Oba’s compound being burnt during the punitive expedition, with bronze plaques in the foreground and three soldiers from the punitive force in the background [Reginald Kerr Granville c. 1912]

European and American art collectors sell most of these artefacts at auctions. It is also exhibited in Western museums, mainly in Germany.

In recent times, however, there have been efforts to recover these artefacts. In December 2022, Germany returned 22 Benin Bronzes, while the United States of America returned 30.

Looted Benin Bronzes that Germany returned to Nigeria are examined during a ceremony in Abuja on Tuesday. Nigerian officials said that more than 5,000 ancient artefacts are estimated to have been stolen from Nigeria, the majority by British colonisers. [Olamikan Gbemiga/AP]

Chiamaka Dike

June 28, 2023

Citizen, Citizen History

Benin Invasion, Citizen History, Fall of Benin, Nigeria
On June 16, 2023, a burly man met Nigeria’s president, Bola Tinubu, at the nation’s official residence — the Aso Villa. No one knows the nature of their clandestine conversation.

Bola Tinubu and “the mystery man” [Channels Television]

This man held a press conference with journalists on the same day at the same venue. He would accuse top-ranking officials of the Nigerian Army of oil theft, a statement which would cause some serious displeasure and contempt among army officials and other civil groups.

The mystery man is no other than former Niger Delta agitator Asari Dokubo.

I took time to listen to Asari Dokubo…..
No comment!🤐🤐🤐 pic.twitter.com/oCeUQHxylE
— Taiwo_Ajakaye (@dmightyangel) June 17, 2023

Older Nigerians may understand why his speech was so ‘inflammatory’, but the Gen Zs? Not so much. The biggest question on their lips has been: who is Asari Dokubo?

To answer this, we must time travel to when oil became Nigeria’s new gold up for grabs by foreign oil companies, causing a never-ending conflict in the oil-rich Niger Delta region and the rise of some indigenous ‘avengers’.

While they have existed under different tags, they are commonly addressed as the Niger Delta Militants.

Several militant groups in the Niger Delta have attacked oil facilities in the past [AFP]

The Rise of Agitation in the Niger Delta

We will start from the 1980s. At this time, Nigeria had been producing oil for three decades [since it was first discovered at Oloibiri in 1956] and was fast becoming one of the world’s largest oil producers. It was also one of the key factors for Nigeria’s GDP growth, which had risen to 25%.

And all this oil was coming from one region — the Niger Delta.

First test drilling for oil in Nigeria in Oloibiri, Imo State c. 1950 [Ukpuru]

Unfortunately, the vast wealth derived from petroleum didn’t trickle down to the masses in the Niger Delta, who suffer severe consequences due to oil exploration activities.

The region was severely exploited. This was since the 19th century with the discovery of palm oil and crude oil after Nigeria’s independence. Foreign oil companies like Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron set up bases in oil-rich areas, notably the Ogoniland in Rivers State. Indigenes were uprooted from their homes forcefully as government made a profit from the evacuations.

The Ogonis and other minority groups complained about the forced evacuations and very little compensation. The government looked away. So did the oil companies.

To understand the palm oil trade, read: How King Koko Created the White Man’s Graveyard in Bayelsa

Members of Nigeria’s Ogoni community protest against Shell in New York. Photograph: Bebeto Matthews/AP

As all land belongs to the state and is held in trust by the government, the residents had little recourse under the law.

The law also prescribed that compensation for seized land would “be based on the value of the crops on the land at the time of its acquisition, not on the value of the land itself.”

For this reason, the Ogoni people became increasingly dissatisfied and soon formed one of the first Niger Delta agitation groups, the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP).

The MOSOP Movement and Ken Saro-Wiwa

MOSOP, a group led by author and playwright Ken Saro-Wiwa, was one of the first agitation groups in the Niger Delta to receive international attention for their actions.

Ken Saro-Wiwa [Picture Alliance/DPA]

Beginning in December 1992, the Ogonis started fighting for their land and lives, and the oil companies fought back, leading to escalation on both sides.

MOSOP issued an ultimatum to the oil companies (Shell, Chevron, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)) demanding some $10 billion in accumulated royalties, damages and compensation, and “immediate stoppage of environmental degradation”, as well as negotiations for mutual agreement on all future drilling.

What was the government’s response? Well, more agitation. They banned public gatherings and a declaration of disturbances made in oil production as an “act of treason.” But the protests seemed to work. Oil extraction decreased to a mere 10,000 barrels a day, and this got the government extremely pissed.

Several misunderstandings later, the Sani Abacha led military regime found its closure.

The Murder of the Ogoni Nine

In May 1994, nine activists from the movement who later became known as ‘The Ogoni Nine’, among them Ken Saro-Wiwa, were arrested and accused of incitement to murder following the deaths of four Ogoni elders (allegedly killed by a mob led by the Ogoni Nine).

Saro-Wiwa and his comrades denied the charges. However, they were imprisoned for over a year before being found guilty and sentenced to death by a tribunal on November 10, 1995.

Many Nigerians expected the sentence to be commuted, especially as pressure rose from the international community.

“Ogoni Nine: The Encirclement Begins” [Archiv.ing]

The activists were denied due process and, upon being found guilty, were hanged by the Nigerian state.

The Ogoni Nine [Center for Development]

“Saro-Wiwa Hanged? Ogonis Wail and Mourn” [Archiv.ing]

The hanging was met with global criticism from human rights organisations and countries. Shell was also accused of bribing the military to silence Saro-Wiwa and the other activists.

However, we must also note that MOSOP and the Ogonis were not the only people tired of the empty promises of the government and oil companies. This is where we cue in a younger Asari Dokubo and the emergence of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC).

Asari Dokubo and the IYC

Tinubu’s guest, Asari Dokubo, grew up in the ashes of the Ogoni Nine murder, hating the Nigerian government for taking his home from him. We can trace his displeasure to 1998, when he founded the IYC —to make similar demands as the Ogoni Nine— and became its vice president.

In December 1998, it released the famous Kaiama Declaration, which demanded control of the Niger Delta’s energy resources. The declaration soon stirred the entire Ijaw population, and more than 500 communities supported it. This also helped Asari secure the position of organisation president in 2001.

During this period, however, Asari grew increasingly militant. His more radical agenda was at odds with the core leadership of the IYC. This made him to begin building a private militia organisation known as the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force (NDPVF).

The militancy of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force (NDPVF).

The NDPVF is seen to date as one of the major catalysts for the crisis in the Delta region. The NDPVF, a militant group, was largely funded by local and regional politicians who sought great profits from the region’s oil revenue.

They quickly escalated an armed conflict with a rival group, the Niger Delta Vigilante (NDV), who also sought to control the Delta’s oil resources. Combat was concentrated primarily in Warri and, soon enough, Nigeria’s oil capital Port Harcourt and areas to the city’s southwest. Both groups engaged in oil ‘bunkering’ and other illegal forms of local resource extraction.

A change in political ideals by the NDPVF caused the group’s former sponsors to withdraw their financial support and begin funnelling funds to the rival NDV. Asari’s NDPVF declared an “all-out war” against the Nigerian state.

The Effects of the NDPVF Activities

The threats to attack oil wells and pipelines by the NDPVF caused terror for oil companies operating in the area. They started to withdraw most of their staff from the Niger Delta. This resulted in a massive drop in oil production of 30,000 barrels per day. It also significantly pushed the price of petroleum worldwide.

Due to the crisis, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo called Asari and the leader of the NDV, Ateke Tom, to Abuja for peace talks. But unfortunately, these peace talks failed. After he refused to endorse the legitimacy of the Olusegun Obasanjo government, Asari was arrested and charged with treason by the Nigerian government.

On June 14, 2007, Asari was released on bail as part of President Umaru Yar’Adua’s pledge to try and bring peace to the Niger Delta region. He was also given $10 million a year from Abuja as a “federal pipeline security fee” to protect River State pipelines from banditry.

His old ‘crimes’ were overlooked as part of an extensive amnesty program across the Niger Delta region. This saw many of his followers lay down their arms as the government promised to provide jobs, protect the Niger Delta, and prioritise the people over profit.

The negative impact of oil theft on Nigeria

Now that you understand who Asari Dokubo is, you see why it’s ironic that he’s complaining about oil theft and pipeline (in)security. Here’s the reality of oil theft in Nigeria and how it affects you:
1. The stolen oil is sold on the black market. Since it doesn’t pass legal channels, it deprives the state of crucial income that could be used for public infrastructure, social programs, and economic development.
2. Oil spills and environmental pollution often accompany oil theft. Thieves use crude and unsafe methods to extract oil, damaging pipelines and infrastructure. These incidents result in widespread farmlands, water sources, and ecosystem contamination.
3. The proceeds from oil theft are often used to fund criminal activities, including insurgency, terrorism, and other forms of organised crime. This creates security challenges, particularly in the Niger Delta region, where most oil theft incidents occur.
Nonetheless, the impact of oil spillage and environmental degradation in the Niger Delta region remains a concern, as millions of people can’t lead normal lives and are not catered for by the Nigerian state.
Chiamaka Dike

June 20, 2023

Citizen, Citizen History

asari dokubo, ken saro-wiwa, niger delta, Nigeria, ogoni, oil in nigeria
It’s Democracy Day. Major operational institutions are closed. If you tune in to radio and TV stations in the country, everyone is talking about the significance of June 12. This is a day that has come to represent Nigeria’s democracy.

How did Democracy Day become such an important public holiday in Nigeria?

First, you must understand the rise and fall of the 2nd Republic as the catalyst for the demand for democratic governance in Nigeria. You also need to know the backstory of the annulled June 12, 1993 elections, and the journey of Moshood Kashimawo Olawale “MKO” Abiola, who became an emblematic figure in Nigeria’s democratic history.

Shehu Shagari, Buhari and the Fall of the 2nd Republic

To better understand the significance of the Nigerian clamour for democracy in 1993, we must rewind thirteen years to when Shehu Shagari, a civilian president, was in power.

His election into power led to the rise (and fall) of Nigeria’s 2nd Republic from 1979–1983.

Shagari’s election into power resulted from a military-to-democratic government transition model initiated by then Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo in 1979.

The initiation resulted from Nigerians’ displeasure with the military’s involvement in the 1966 Biafra Civil War and the dictatorship of Gen. Muritala Mohammed, his predecessor

But with Shagari’s entry into power, Nigeria didn’t enter a season of political utopia but plunged into its existing problems.

Oil prices crashed, riots occurred in Northern Nigeria, ministers became more corrupt, and massive electoral malpractice and rigging occurred during the 1983 general elections.

This led to Gen. Muhammadu Buhari overthrowing the Shagari administration in a coup during the same year. However, Buhari’s government didn’t fare any better either.

Buhari was particularly unpopular with citizens for his Decrees No. 2 and 4. These gave the state security power to ban strikes and popular demonstrations and censor media outlets perceived as posing a threat to the government’s interests.

By 1985, it became clear to the political elite in the country that Buhari had no plans of ever giving back power to Nigerians. This resulted in the Ibrahim “IBB” Babangida-led coup in August 1985.

IBB, the military general with a desire for democracy

Upon resuming power, Babangida implemented measures to reduce governmental influence over the press. His government also released a number of individuals detained during the previous regime.

Nevertheless, he encountered similar economic challenges as his predecessor, Buhari, including the devaluation of the naira, which led to social unrest.

To address this, he dissolved part of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and ordered the temporary closure of universities.

With the perception of being labelled as “just another military dictator” in Nigeria’s history, Babangida needed to achieve something remarkable that would leave a positive legacy in the eyes of Nigerians. You can consider it as him “doing better”.

For him, the solution was clear—to restore democratic governance.

To achieve this, he embarked on significant reforms. This included:
- The creation of additional states within the Nigerian federation.
- An establishment of dual-tier legislatures at both national and state levels
- The appointment of civilians to govern the states
- And the formation of two major national political parties: the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the National Republic Convention (NRC).
With these structures in place, the only thing Nigerians needed to do was elect a new president as the final phase of the transition. This is where this story becomes more intriguing—so grab your popcorn, and let’s dive in.

The June 12, 1993, elections

The June 12 elections witnessed a head-to-head battle between SDP’s business mogul, MKO Abiola, and NRC’s Alhaji Bashir Tofa. The election was scheduled for Saturday, June 12, 1993.

This election was critical, as it would determine Nigeria’s first democratically elected president since 1979, marking the start of the 3rd Republic.

At the end of the election, MKO Abiola emerged as the winner with over eight million votes, winning in 19 states. His opponent, NRC candidate Tofa, received over six million votes and won in 10 states.

Out of the total votes cast, which exceeded 14 million, Abiola secured nearly 60 per cent. This made him the clear winner of the election. This election is widely regarded as the most free and fair in Nigeria’s history.

MKO emerged as a prominent figure and continues to hold significance. Hailing from the South-West region and having Babagana Kingibe, his running mate, from the North-East made them a preferred choice for most people during the elections. Interestingly, despite both candidates being Muslims, they had wide support.

The election was annulled, which led to MKO—considered as Africa’s most successful businessman—not becoming president.

Who annulled the election?

It was Babangida. After the initial results were posted on June 14, 1993, no additional election results ever appeared on the National Electoral Commission (NEC) board.

On June 16, the government-run Radio Nigeria announced that NEC was suspending the official results announcement due to “developments and action pending in courts.” The announcement cited irregularities observed during the elections.

The announcement triggered widespread protests and civil unrest across Nigeria, leading to the resignation of Babangida. This was followed by Ernest Shonekan’s brief interim civilian government and, ultimately, the Gen. Sani Abacha military coup of 1993.

Abiola was placed in detention following the annulment. Under Abacha’s leadership, the military regime in power at the time accused him of treason. They had him arrested after he declared himself the winner of the June 12 elections.

Abiola died the day he was set to be released from detention, on July 7, 1998. The circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear. The claims of assassination as the cause of his death are also uncertain.

How Nigerians got to celebrate June 12 as Democracy Day

In 2018, former President Muhammadu Buhari changed the date of Democracy Day from May 29 to June 12.

The commemoration of Democracy Day on June 12 is now in its 6th year. For many Nigerians, particularly those from the South-West states, today is marked as significant for the outcome of the election.

But for Buhari, June 12 is a way to nationally acknowledge the man who lost his life in the quest for democratic governance in Nigeria.

Undoubtedly, the 1993 general elections and MKO Abiola will forever be etched in Nigeria’s history as the pinnacle of its democratic revolution.
Chiamaka Dike

June 12, 2023

Citizen, Citizen History

democracy day, june 12, MKO Abiola, Nigeria
If you’ve been religiously following the “Northern Nigeria Invasion” series, I have a bottle of wine to congratulate you. This is where we draw the curtain on it. However, key highlights from the two events we’ve covered are Lord Lugard’s British invasion of Northern Nigeria and the capture of the Bida and Yola Emirates.

Catch up:
- The British Empire declared Northern Nigeria a protectorate in 1900 but had no territorial control. They needed to gain power over the region due to the fear of European rivals outsmarting them and to gain the local leaders’ respect.
- To do this, they called upon Frederick Dealtry Lugard, who grew from a British soldier to High Commissioner for Northern Nigeria in 1900.
- After the official proclamation, he sent a memo to the Sarkin Muslmi, or King of the Sokoto Caliphate, to which there was no reply. This led to a rampage from Lugard to depose various emirates in the Caliphate.
- Amongst the lands he captured were the emirates of Bida and Yola. Bida fell due to a rebellion and their eventual alliance with the Royal Niger Company (RNC). Yola was captured due to the defiance of the Lamido, Zubaryu, who escaped capture from the British. The Lala tribe from Bornu State later killed him.
For today, take your straws to sip the last drink and dive deep into what ultimately ended the Sokoto Caliphate—the fall of the Kano and Sokoto emirates.

The Fall of Kano – January 1903

A view of a part of Kano City (Inside the Wall) [New York Public Library]

We must backtrack to Lugard’s feud with Sarkin Musulmi in 1900 to understand how Kano fell. His revenge mission against the launch started because the Sarki refused to respond to Britain’s proclamation of the North as a protectorate.

To better understand the feud, read: Northern Nigeria Invasion: How Lugard Disrupted Sokoto Caliphate

Lugard as colonial administrator, Northern Nigeria [Britannica]

In 1902, Lugard finally received his long-awaited reply from the Sarki, but it wasn’t what he expected. Originally written in Arabic, the message says:

“From us to you. I do not consent that anyone from you should ever dwell with us. No agreement can ever be made with you. I will have nothing ever to do with you….This is with salutations.”

If we thought Lugard couldn’t get angry at Sarki, as we explored in the first edition, we might need to recount our words. The High Commissioner was as furious as ever, and as a result, he interpreted the Sarki’s response as an act of war, and an immediate annulment of the treaties between Sokoto and the Royal Niger Company (RNC) was drawn.

However, scholars believe the message was sent to Lugard’s second in command, Commissioner Wallace, instead of him.

How did Lugard launch the war?

You must know that for Lugard to start a war, he needed the support of Britain’s Colonial Office in London, and those folks were not ready to engage in more battles without a reasonable cause. Lugard, knowing this, eventually got his chance when a British resident at Keffi, Kano, Captain Moloney, was killed under “mysterious circumstances.”

And who better to blame for the murder than the warrior chief of Keffi, Dan Yamusa? It didn’t help that Yamusa was already openly defiant of Britain’s rule in the North.

The Sarki’s letter and Moloney’s murder were enough for Lugard to launch a war. And even though there was a window for negotiations with the new Sarkin Muhammadu Attahiru after the death of Abdurrahman, Lugard wasn’t having it.

The Sultan of Sokoto, Religious Head of Hausaland [Getty Images]

He wanted to assert authority and was bent on using Kano to prove his point.

The Battle of Kano

To make his reasons for war convincing to the Colonial Office, Lugard claimed that the emir of Kano, Aliyu, was marching with warriors to attack the West African Frontier (WAF).

But in reality, the Emir was on the march—but only to pay homage to the new Sarki at Sokoto, hundreds of miles away. And even though the British didn’t buy Lugard’s excuse for a war, that wouldn’t deter him from his goal of total Northern Nigeria dominance.

However, Lugard still had a major problem—the walls of Kano. These walls were specially designed for defence, with a 40 feet thick base and 30 to 50 feet high. The city also had ditches and cultivated farmland inside its walls, which the people could use to feed themselves in cases of siege.

The Ancient Walls of Kano [Naija Biography]

Surprisingly, Lugard’s captain, Colonel Morland, found little to no resistance from the Kano army due to the Emir’s absence. They blew a hole in the wall, stormed the city, stormed the Emir’s palace, and hoisted the Union Jack (the de facto national flag of the UK of Great Britain) on top of the city walls.

The Fall of Kano [Kano Chronicle/Twitter]

No British soldier was killed, and only 14 of them were wounded. Lugard then appointed the Emir’s younger brother as the new emir.

Up next on Lugard’s hit list was Sokoto

The Conquest of Sokoto Caliphate – March 1903

In February 1903, Colonel Morland wrote a letter to Sarkin Attahiru informing him of the fall of Kano and their anticipated attack on Sokoto.

“Sir Thomas Morland” [The Great War by Ed H.W. Wilson]

Attahiru replied by informing Morland that he would consult with his advisers and get back to him, but they could never conclude between negotiation, battle, or outward defeat. With their inaction, Morland’s army proceeded to march into Sokoto.

The War Against Sokoto Caliphate [LitCAF]

“We chase and kill until there are no living men”

On March 14, 1903, Britain fought with the Sokoto Caliphate outside the city walls. Fighting without the safety of their walls was a grave mistake for the Sokoto army, as they were no match for the British artillery and machine guns.

However, the Sokoto army did not give up but stayed valiant until the end. They took the green flag of the Sarki into battle, and every time the flag bearer was shot, another would take his place—until all the flagbearers were dead. After the battle, the British infantry chased down what was left of the survivors and killed them. They also hacked legs and arms off corpses to take items of value. In a British soldier’s words:

“We chase and kill till the area is clear of living men — and we tire of blood and bullets.”

Comparatively, the casualties on the side of the British were remarkably small. Only two of their forces were killed—a carrier and a soldier.

The Aftermath

Sarkin Attahiru survived the battle and fled. Lugard asked Sokoto officials to nominate a new Sarki, and they eventually chose a ruler named Attahiru. In a March 21, 1903, proclamation, Lugard told the people that even though they could practise their religion, all independent Fulani rule had ended. The British system of government was here to stay.

What happened to Attahiru?

He was still on the run alongside Kano’s former Emir, Aliyu. While in exile, Attahiru was able to garner supporters from surrounding villages. This was due to the anger of the indigenes towards the British for deposing the head of their religion.

The British saw Attahiru’s fame and survival as a threat, and despite trying to capture the former Sarki six times at Burmi in the Borno Empire, all their efforts were in vain. In one of the battles, the British army got hit with poisoned arrows, which gravely injured two soldiers and six horses. To ease the two soldiers’ deaths, their colleagues shot them.

This article draws inspiration from Max Silloun’s “What Britain Did to Nigeria”
Chiamaka Dike

June 6, 2023

Citizen, Citizen History

Britain, Fall of Kano, Nigeria, Northern Nigeria Invasion, Sokoto
Last week, we discussed how one spark of defiance from a Northern Sarkin (or king) ignited a full-blown war between Northern Nigeria and the British Empire in 1900.

The Battle of Kano [Wikiwand]

If you didn’t read this piece, let’s break it down with a quick refresher:

The Recap
- The British Empire declared Northern Nigeria a protectorate in 1900 but had no territorial control. They needed to gain power over the region due to the fear of European rivals outsmarting them and to gain the local leaders’ ~~fear~~ respect.
- To do this, they called upon Frederick Dealtry Lugard, who grew from a British soldier to High Commissioner for Northern Nigeria in 1900.
- After the official proclamation, he sent a memo to the Sarkin Muslmi, or King of the Sokoto Caliphate, to which there was no reply. This led to a rampage from Lugard to depose various emirates in the Caliphate.
But today, we look at two kingdoms — Bida and Yola emirates.

The 1897 Fall of Bida Empire

Pre-colonial Bida: A Greedy and Bloodthirsty Government

Before the end of Bida in 1901, the emirate was the most populous out of five emirates (Agaie, Lapai, Lafiagi and Shonga) under the supervision of a Gwandu. Its regions stretched from present-day Niger State in Nupeland to Akoko in Ondo State.

Procession of Etsu chiefs with bodyguards [Nupe Base]

They had the best tax and tributes collection record and traded–mostly slaves, firearms and ammunition–heavily with British and other European merchants in the early 19th century, which helped them raid villages and take other territories. This made them highly unpopular in the region, with many rebellions. Most notable is the Kyadya Rebellion of 1881-82.

Kyadya rebellion of 1881 [Don Steve Blog]

The Emir of Bida also replaced mini-state systems with a centralised system of government (much like Nigeria’s democracy today), which helped them to stay in control of all taxes and tributes.

The Obaro Chieftaincy of Owe was upgraded to the paramount chief of all communities in North-East Yorubaland, which allowed him to implement Bida policies and collect tributes for delivery to Bida, which non-Owe and even Owe clans disliked.

In 1895, the Bida terror reached an all-time high when the Emir decided not only to request money but now tributes in the form of young girls and boys to the Bida Empire. The Bida regions protested but to no avail.

With dissatisfaction amongst the tribes, Lugard’s advent in 1900 allowed them to express their concerns.

How an unexpected alliance led to the fall of Bida

Remember Bida’s trade with British merchants? This partnership is what eventually led to its downfall.

By 1897, Bida traded with the French and Germans. But by 1897, the British (through the Royal Niger Company (RNC) decided they wanted a monopoly, which the leaders at Bida found as over-ambitious. This led to the first war between Bida and the RNC in 1897, which the RNC didn’t win.

However, they helped one of Bida’s most resourceful regions gain independence – Kabba. Mutiny grew around the region, with subjects rallying behind a self-exiled Kyadya prince, Yahaya Marike, towards allying with the RNC to end Bida’s reign.

‘The Battle of Bida’ [Ndagi Abdullahi/RuokoTv/Facebook]

Under the Prince’s instructions, Kyadya inhabitants refused to ferry the Bida army across their territory in the River Niger area, forcing them to take a more difficult route which demoralised soldiers, leading to deaths and desertion. This weakened the Bida.

When this happened, Bida called out to the nearby Lapai and Agaie for aid, to no avail. Even the Yissahzi tribe that lived in the Bida township refused to give them additional troops.

With this cooperation, the Marike-led government, alongside the RNC, attacked Bida. By the time the RNC and Marike’s army had reached the walls, Bida didn’t even know that Yissahzi and Kyadya were not on their side.

The Red Walls of Bida [Nomad4Now]

Bida’s downfall pushed regional power to the Patigi tribe, which revived all traditional Nupe offices. Lugard would later take Bida from the RNC, but the empire was already buried..

The 1902 Fall of Yola Empire

“I’ll not be two-faced”

By the latter part of 1901, the British Army had deposed emirates: Bida, Ilorin, Kontagora, Lapai — and Yola was next on the hit list.

“A Hausa from Yola” c. 1902 [Wikipedia]

Adamawa aristocracy, debated their options: fall under British rule or resist them. This aristocracy comprised Lamido (King), Zubairu bin Adama on one side, Hamman Joda (the Qadi), Bobbo Ahmadu (the Lamido’s younger brother) and Yerima Iyabeno (the Lamido’s nephew) on the other.

In the end, Lamido-Zubairu’s team—arguing for resistance—won.

Their arguments had two principles:
- They did not want Europeans for dividing their empire (the Germans had taken over sub-emirate Tibati and were moving towards Ngoundere and Bamnyo);
- and strong respect for the Sokoto Caliphate and its vision.
Hans Dominik, Oscar Zimmerman, Curt von Pavel and other German officers rest for a photo after reaching Lake Chad. (May 2, 1902) [Wikipedia]

This is why, in his letter to Sultan Abdurrahman of Sokoto announcing the fall of Yola to the British months later, Lamido Zubairu pledged:

“I will not be two-faced, on your side and on the side of the Christians too. My allegiance is to you, to God and the Prophet, and after you to the Imam Mahdi. There is no surrender to the unbeliever even after the fall of the strongholds.”

The British troops arrive

The British deployed 22 European officers and NCOs and 365 mercenaries, 275-mm guns and 4 Maxim guns, led by Colonel T.N.L. Morland, for the occupation of Yola on September 2, 1901.

They travelled using steamboats on Lake Njuwa and were anchored near a baobab tree locally called Bokki Hampeto. Colonel Morland sent a Shuwa Arab resident of Yola to send a letter to the Lamido containing their terms. The messenger returned three minutes later with the message that Lamido Zubayru refused to receive the letter.

Upon receiving this message, Morland moved his troops closer to the town and then sent his messenger once again to the Lamido with the threat that if his letter were refused again, he would take steps to compel him to open it. Before the return of his message, people riding on horses came out of the town to block the British.

Zubaryu retaliates

The messenger emerges, yet again, failing to deliver the letter to Lamido Zubairu as he was sent back and told by Lamido to warn Morland to retreat. More horsemen streamed out of the town to confront Morland and his forces. Morland calculated that it would be to their advantage to allow the people of Yola to attack first in the open. He felt it was much better than fighting in the narrow streets of Yola. He waited for the first attack from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. “after much shouting and exhorting from their mallams”.

The First Attack

Despite the starting battle, Morland ordered his men to “reserve our fire till the leaders were within 200 yards” before he ordered the maxim guns to be fired. After this attack, Morland’s forces went on the offensive. They advanced through the town till they reached the Lamido’s palace and Friday mosque, which were heavily defended. An arrow wounded Morland himself, but they persevered and defeated their adversaries.

Morland lost two men with 37 wounded, while the Yola forces lost 50 with 150 wounded.

The Second Attack

The morning after, the British forces blew up the palace’s visitors’ chambers and other “important-looking buildings” in Yola. Morland also heard rumours that Lamido Zubayru fled to Gurin, forty miles east of Yola.

The Capture of Yola, Benue, Northern Nigeria on September 2 by the Western African Frontier Force [Caton Woodville]

The Pursuit of Zubaryu

Acting Commissioner Wallace, with Colonel Morland, pursued Lamido to Gurin by steamboat. Eight European officers, NCOs, 150 mercenaries, and 2 Maxim guns accompanied them.

After travelling on the river Benue, Faro and Heso for 26 hours, they arrived in Gurin only to be told that Emir was not there. They turned back towards Yola without any encounter.

However, they learned that Zubaryu was in Ribadu, fourteen miles behind them. Wallace turned back to Yola to appoint a new “Lamido” while Morland and his forces marched towards Ribadu only to find out Lamido Zubayru had also not been there. Morland spent the night in Ribadu.

On the morning of September 7, Colonel Morland shelled the town of Ribadu before returning to Yola.

What happened to Zubaryu?

The Lamido managed to escape capture for months. First of all, he hid in the “German parts” of Adamawa, including Adumri, Manoa and Madagali. He then revisited “British Adamawa” in October 1902 after taking refuge at Gudu for three months. The British caught him, but he escaped.

The Lala (a tribe from Bornu State) later killed him in 1902, before knowing his identity.

Check out this weekly time machine same time next week to read the final edition of this series, “The Fall of Kano.”
Chiamaka Dike

May 30, 2023

Citizen, Citizen History

Bida, British Invasion, Nigeria, Yola
By Sanni Alausa-Issa

In the early 1970s, Nigeria’s economy grew rapidly despite just coming out of a Civil War. This was a result of an expansion in the country’s petroleum sector.

The revenue growth was so massive that the then Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, declared, “Money is not Nigeria’s problem. But how to spend it”.

Decades later, this statement has been a source of controversy, and Gowon himself has had to explain what he meant. But that’s not our concern here. So first, let’s get some context on the Nigerian situation at the time. Shall we?

The Discovery of Oil

People who believe Nigeria’s discovery of oil is a curse may not be far from the truth. As we have witnessed, the wealth that oil has brought us has been the bane of our development.

The first discovery of oil was in 1956. Shell discovered it in Oloibiri, present-day Bayelsa State. As exploration continued, massive onshore and offshore crude oil deposits were found. As a result, Nigeria became one of the world’s largest oil producers.

First test drilling for oil in Nigeria in Oloibiri, Imo State c. 1950 [Ukpuru]

Booming Oil

As oil production grew, Nigeria’s revenue increased exponentially. In 1958, the government’s revenue from oil was N200,000. By 1970, the revenue was N166 million. Just three years later, that number rose to $1.5 billion; in 1975, it reached a record $6 billion.

Nigeria became the second-largest supplier of oil to the United States. But where was the money going?

The Mismanagement of State Resources

The Gowon government embarked on a series of infrastructural projects such as roads, universities, hospitals, office complexes, army barracks, hotels, factories, etc. To execute these projects, the government imported several million tonnes of cement from different countries, including the United States, Romania, Greece, and Spain. For example, the defence ministry ordered more than 16 million tonnes, despite requiring 2.9 million tonnes for its own projects.

Yakubu Gowon, Nigeria’s former Military Head of State c.1970 [Britannica]

The surge in demand also meant that Nigeria paid more – $115 per tonne of cement. That was nearly three times the market price. As the cement arrived in Nigeria, it exceeded the capacity of the Lagos port, causing gridlock with over four hundred ships battling for dock space. For context, the Lagos port could only accept one million tonnes of cargo per year. This crisis later became known as the “Cement Armada.”

Silent Video on Gen. Gowon’s Visit to Apapa Wharf to Inspect Col. Adekunle’s Work on Port Congestion | May 1970 [Adeyinka Makinde/YouTube]

Consequences

At the time, crude oil accounted for 92% of Nigeria’s exports. However, the neglect of other sectors of the economy, especially agriculture, resulted in economic crises years later. Moreover, Nigeria’s failure to properly invest the proceeds from the oil boom came back to haunt it when petroleum prices dipped between 1976 and 1979.

The handling of the oil revenue also created widespread corruption among government officials. Allocation of revenue and awarding of contracts were some of the means used by officials to steal state resources.

Just like the importation of cement, Nigeria also imported food items such as palm oil and groundnuts. This meant a reliance on food imports at the expense of the agricultural economy. With more money in the economy, consumption rose. This resulted in inflation. Between 1973 and 1981, food prices skyrocketed by 273%.

Lessons

The foundation of the problems Nigeria faces today was laid long ago. The oil boom of the 1970s was supposed to help us build an economy that should have sustained us for decades.

Today, Nigeria continues to heavily rely on oil revenues, which leaves the country vulnerable to unpredictable fluctuations in the price of petroleum. Also, the lack of quality leadership, pervasive corruption, and misplaced priorities have significantly hindered the nation’s progress, despite its wealth of resources.

To understand many of Nigeria’s problems, you need a wayback machine that takes you back in time because that’s where it all started.

Contributor

May 25, 2023

Citizen, Citizen History

1970 Oil Boom, Nigeria, Yakubu Gowon
“When the people stand up, imperialism trembles.”

— Thomas Sankara

This story of British tyranny and resistance began when the British Empire declared Northern Nigeria a protectorate in 1900.

Northern Nigeria Protectorate (1900-1914) [Dead Country Stamps and Banknotes]

In reality, there was no “urgent” need to conquer the territory. Northern Nigeria at the time held no economic resources for them, and the local traditional rulers didn’t even like the British due to their previous activities of tyranny in other regions.

To understand this, read: How King Koko Created the White Man’s Graveyard in Bayelsa

To justify their actions to the public, they decided to go with the narrative of “keeping the peace” in the Sokoto Caliphate due to their corrupt, oppressive rule and incessant slave raiding.

View of Kano City, Nigeria, capital of the Sokoto Caliphate in 1851. [Heinrich Barth]

But really, they had their own fears. They knew that their European rivals like France and Italy could easily take over the territory if they slacked on their authority, and the local leaders may never give them the respect they felt they deserved.

Thus, they felt it expedient to conquer the North and conquered it fast.

For this task, they chose one man. This was the man behind the amalgamation of Nigeria and the nation’s “founding father”, Lord Frederick Dealtry Lugard.

Lord Frederick Lugard, 1st baron [Elliott & Fry]

Lugard’s origin story

To understand the story of Lord Lugard, we need to understand his origins.

He came from a polygamous family, with his mom being the third wife to his father, a chaplain in the East India Company.

Lugard was a British Army soldier who later received a posting to India, where he began an illicit relationship with an unnamed married woman and later got jilted by her. The heartbreak was so intense that he decided to go to Africa to escape unhappy memories under the British East Africa Company. This was from 1889–1892.

Before he came to Nigeria, he was already knee-deep in controversy concerning his time in Uganda. In his efforts to capture the nation for the British Crown, he was accused of playing a key role in the massacre of natives and using excessive force.

Uganda under colonial rule in government reports, 1903-1961 [Microform]

Arrival into Nigeria and military promotion

When Lugard arrived in Nigeria in 1894, he nearly died from a poisonous arrow.

The incident happened as he returned from his negotiation duties with the local chiefs in Borgu (a region in present-day Niger State), under the Royal Niger Company. He only survived on the herbal potions that the native doctors in the area administered to him.

Three years later, in 1897, he was appointed commandant of the newly formed West African Frontier Force and, in 1900, High Commissioner for Northern Nigeria.

And as a high commissioner, he needed to show the natives that a new force in town needed to be obeyed.

Lugard as colonial administrator, Northern Nigeria [Britannica]

The plot truly thickens here, with one line of correspondence that would change the course of history for Nigeria’s northern territory.

The spark of defiance that led to a full-blown war

After the official declaration of the North’s transformation as a protectorate in 1900, Lugard needed to inform the local leaders officially of Britain’s presence in the area.

To achieve this, he sent a Hausa translation of the proclamation to the Sarkin Musulmi, or “leader of all Muslims”, Abdulrahman. He had been in power for nine years before the arrival of the British.

The latter didn’t respond, but the messenger reports that he turned to his court and said, “No letters ever brought fear like this one. I will read no more letters from these white men.”

The refusal to respond made Lugard extremely angry, as it was interpreted as an insult to him and the King of Britain.

With this in mind and to also teach Abdulrahman, Lugard made his way to the ancient cities of Bida and Kontogora to claim them under British command — without the Sarkin’s permission.

Want to know more about the tyranny and fall of the Bida Empire under the British? Then check out this weekly time machine again at the same time next week.

This article draws inspiration from Max Silloun’s “What Britain Did to Nigeria”

Chiamaka Dike

May 23, 2023

Citizen, Citizen History

British Empire, Lord Lugard, Nigeria, Sokoto Caliphate
Every Nigerian is familiar with the term “go slow”, whether you live in go-slow hubs like Lagos or places with lesser go-slows.

For Nigerians today, go-slow means traffic congestion.

But have you ever wondered how that name come to be? We do, and here is your answer to this week’s episode of Citizen History.

Traffic congestion [Guardian Nigeria]

It’s a sad tale of maltreatment by the British government, fierce resistance, and a massacre.

The Story of the Iva Valley Massacre

Enugu State in eastern Nigeria is known as the Coal City because of the massive coal deposit in the capital Enugu City.

Coal, often used as fuel for locomotive engines, was valuable in pre-colonial Nigeria due to Nigeria Railway Corporation’s high coal consumption.

In 1915, the British colonial government opened the Udi Mine after discovering coal in Ngwo at the top of Milliken Hill. However, it closed two years later and was replaced with the Iva Valley mines in 1917.

Poor welfare of workers

In the 1940s, there was a persistent issue of poor workers’ welfare for people working with the colonial government in Nigeria. A series of protests occurred, leading to a nationwide strike in 1945.

The 1945 general strike in Nigeria [Alamy]

With that, the importance of trade associations to improve working conditions, pay etc., grew with the formation of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria in 1942. Workers knew they could bring about change if they dared to stand up together.

However, the trade unions established around that time had internal beef, allowing their Opp, the colonial government, to be one step ahead.

Excerpt from “THE ENUGU COLLIERY MASSACRE IN RETROSPECT: AN EPISODE IN BRITISH ADMINISTRATION OF NIGERIA” by S. O. Jaja

By 1949, Enugu was already a cosmopolitan town with about 25,000 inhabitants and approximately 8,000 employed coal miners.

But the growing production did not reflect the life of an average miner, who worked underground six days a week with poor oxygen. The pay was also minimal, as they experienced pay cuts and inflation due to the economic recession led by World War 2.

The colonial government also weaponised tribalism by making indigenes of the Ngwo community where the mine was located work as coal miners while non-indigenes worked above ground and did more clerical duties.

Taking a leaf from the growth of trade unions in Nigeria, two unions came together to form the Colliery Workers Union (CWU), and their leader was the charismatic Isaiah Okwudili Ojiyi, a former schoolteacher.

On November 1, 1949, the CWU demanded better pay for all workers, improved working conditions, upgrading the mine hewers to artisans, and the payment of housing and travelling allowances. Naturally, the capitalist colonial government rejected their demands and doubled down on intimidation, assault, and promoting infighting.

The Go Slow strike

The workers at Iva Valley [Pulse Nigeria]

In 1941, the colonial government created Nigeria General Defense Regulations (NGDR), which banned workers from going on strike.

Therefore, the 1949 protesters had to be smart; otherwise, the miners would be fired altogether.

So they devised an industrial action called the “Go-Slow”.

The workers would not lay down tools but work very slowly, affecting production. A handful of coal was being produced daily instead of wagon loads. But as they were “working”, they couldn’t be punished by the angry government.

Reluctantly, the colonial government started a negotiation and reached an agreement but also breached it when it sacked more than 200 miners between November 10 and 12, 1949.

The Go-slow method escalated to a stay-in strike in which the workers came to the mine but did no work. This also prevented the colliery managers from simply replacing the protesting miners this time.

It was then decided that the police would remove the protesting miners. To justify this, they claimed that a set of explosives used for work in the mine had gone missing.

The Police were there to remove the bomb.

The Massacre

On November 18, 1949, 50 armed riot police officers arrived at Iva Valley led by a Senior Superintendent of Police, F.S Philips.

Superintendent F.S Phillips [BBC/Getty Images]

The miners had tied strips of red cloth to their helmets as a mark of protest and as was their custom. They faced the armed police and began to dance and chant to boost morale.

Philips decided that the miners looked menacing, “indulging in a war dance,” and started shooting.

Twenty-one miners were killed, and many of them were shot in the back.

The Aftermath

The tragedy spread across places like Aba, Port Harcourt, Onitsha and even London, resulting in mass protests.

Nigerians at a rally in Trafalgar Square over the Iva Valley Massacre [Asiri Magazine]

Eighteen prominent Nigerians created the National Emergency Committee (NEC) to coordinate a national response to this atrocity against humanity.

The Iva Valley protest and massacre contributed to nationalist movements in Nigeria. It also helped in restructuring the trade unions, and the creation of a Nigeria Colliery Commission handled by Nigerians.

The method of the go-slow strike was also seen as revolutionary and was exported to the UK as a form of industrial strike.

Think about this the next time you find yourself in a “go slow”.

Chiamaka Dike

May 9, 2023

Citizen, Citizen History

Coal Mining, Enugu, Go Slow, Iva Valley Massacre, Nigeria
You may notice something odd when visiting the Twon Brass Community in Bayelsa State, around the present-day Niger Delta region in Nigeria.

An aerial view of the Twon Brass Community in Bayelsa, Nigeria [Guardian Nigeria]

There is a piece of land called “Whiteman’s Graveyard” in Ada Ama area of the region. It is a cemetery dedicated to the graves of British Soldiers who died in the Akassa Assault of 1885.

“The White Man’s Graveyard” [Nairaland Forum]

Today’s story will explain the history behind the ‘white graves’.

It is a story of the trickery of a British mercantile company and the revenge of a local king.

This is the story of Frederick William Koko Mingi VIII (aka “Koko”) and his fight against the defunct Royal Niger Company (RNC). This was the Akassa Assault of 1895 or the Brass Oil War.

We must know the Royal Niger Company and its origins to understand this story.

The Royal Niger Company (RNC)

The flag of the Royal Niger Company [Wikipedia]

Known as the “African Steamship Company” in 1832 and later the West African Company, it was founded by British explorer Richard Lander and 49 others as a trading post. The company’s trading post was located at the confluence of the rivers Benue and Niger in present-day North Central Nigeria.

A flyer for the African Steamship Company [Wikimedia Commons]

Richard Lander, the British Explorer [Cornwall Guide]

A trading post is typically a store or small settlement in a remote place where trading takes place.

Their first expedition was unsuccessful, as 40 out of 49 me mbers died of fever or wounds. However, one of the survivors, Macgregor Laird, remained in Britain. He directed and funded the company’s expeditions until he died in 1861.

In 1863, the company’s name changed to the West African Company (WAC). Around that time, other competitors sprang around their trading area, making it difficult for them to profit.

Here, we bring in an ambitious colonial administrator, George Goldie.

George Taubman Goldie and the National African Company

Sir George Dashwood Taubman Goldie by Sir Hubert Von Herkomer c. 1931 [National Portrait Gallery, London]

When Goldie arrived in the Niger Delta region in 1877, he clamoured for all the trading companies to be registered as single chartered company.

By 1879, he had combined James Crowther’s WAC, David Macintosh’s Central African Company, and the Williams Brothers and James Pinnock’s firms into a single United African Company. He then acted as the firm’s agent in the territory.

Kingsway Stores and the United African Company (UAC) in 1960 [Kirby Histories/Twitter]

This amalgamation brought international competition from foreign trading companies from France and Senegal, which was not good for business profits.

To solve this, he needed to obtain a royal charter. This is when a member of the ruling monarchy issues gives the company access to certain rights or powers to trade in an area without competition.

However, the government was not giving it to him for two reasons. This avoided unnecessary conflict between the companies and the NAC’s poor financial status. However, he soon secured £1,000,000 in investments under a new name — National African Company.

By 1885, after the Berlin Conference, his company acquired 30 trading posts along Niger, giving the company a huge advantage over foreign trading companies.

This also helped him gain the British Monarchy’s royal charter in 1886, changing the company’s name to the Royal Niger Company Limited (RNC). With this, he could now authorise aides to supervise the Niger Delta and lands around the rivers Niger and Benue without any competition.

The crafty negotiations between RNC and local chiefs

With the royal charter, Goldie started meeting local rulers for trade negotiations on their most valuable product, palm oil. Goldie spent two years signing treaties with the rulers to give them free trade in their regions — but these treaties had clauses that the rulers didn’t know.

Why was Palm Oil important? We touched it here: How Britain Bought Lagos with Blood and £1,000

The Royal Niger Company making a treaty with local chiefs c. 1899 [Financial Times/Getty Images]

Due to the language barrier, the local leaders agreed they couldn’t export goods without RNC permission and taxes. As time passed, the leaders began to grumble about the unfair nature of the deal and started to take matters into their own hands.

King Koko takes revenge against the RNC

Frederick William Mingi Koko, the Brass King [Alamy]

By 1894, the Royal Niger Company dictated whom the locals could trade with and denied them direct access to formal markets.

This limited their profits and kept them under the caprices of the RNC. In neighbouring communities such as Opobo, where the leader refused to bend, the Brits found a way to exile them to continue trading.

As a result, local chiefs and kings were angry at the Brits and their ways. One such person was Koko, who converted to Christianity and was a school teacher at some point.

Koko rose to prominence as King of Nembe. This was alongside other chiefs and kings in the Niger Delta region who had burnt their gods to show allegiance to the white man’s God.

Tired of the unfair trading conditions, Koko soon reverted to his traditional religion, refusing to worship a God used to oppress his people and allied with the neighbouring region, Okpoma, against RNC to take back their trade.

King Koko goes to war

On January 29, 1895, King Koko led an attack on the RNC headquarters in Akassa in present-day Bayelsa. He was accompanied by 22 war canoes and 1,500 soldiers.

King Koko in His War Canoe on His Way down the River, from The Daily Graphic of March 30, 1895 [Wikimedia Commons]

They destroyed the warehouses and offices, vandalised official and industrial machines, and burnt down the entire depot.

70 men were captured, 25 were killed, and 32 Brits were taken as hostages. This was part of the spoils of war to Nembe, and 13 were not accounted for. Many Brits were allegedly executed at the “Sacrifice Island” the next day, January 30, 1895.

He then attempted to negotiate the release of the hostages to the RNC and choose his trading partners in exchange. Britain refused to negotiate, and, in retaliation, he had 40 hostages killed.

The RNC reacts

On February 20, 1985, British Royal Navy, led by Rear Admiral Sir Frederick Redford, attacked Nembe and killed most of its people. They also burnt the town to ashes.

Admiral Redford [Wikimedia Commons]

In April 1896, Koko refused the British settlement terms and was declared an outlaw. Britain then offered a £200 bounty for King Koko. He was forced to flee from the British, hiding in remote villages.

Koko fled to Etiema, a remote village in the hinterland, where he died in 1898 in a suspected suicide.

The RNC’s many atrocities led to its charter being revoked in 1899. It had to sell all holdings and territories for £865,000.

This is equivalent to £110 million today, which in today’s exchange in naira is ₦53 billion. This was the money used to buy the territories now known as the country Nigeria.

The RNC is still present today in Nigeria, only that it is known by a different name— Unilever.

Chiamaka Dike

May 2, 2023

Citizen, Citizen History

Britain, King Koko of Nembe, Nigeria, RNC
If you asked a Nigerian in the 15th to 19th centuries to describe their version of “oil money”, two words come to mind — slave trade.

British traders were at the heart of the slave trade before the UK government abolished the trade [BBC/Getty Images].

Popularly known as the Transatlantic Slave Trade or Euro-American slave trade, this involved selling enslaved Africans to the Americas and Europe, usually by other Africans.

The first slave traders in Nigeria were Portuguese, who sold over 3.5 million Nigerians to the Americas and the Caribbean, primarily as cotton plantation workers. More than a million died from disease and starvation during the voyages.

Captive Africans being transferred to ships along the Slave Coast for the transatlantic slave trade, c. 1880. [Photos.com/Getty Images]

Despite these deaths, these amounted to exponential economic growth for the nations involved.

The USA grew to provide 60% of the world’s cotton and some 70% of the cotton consumed by the British textile industry.

Profits made in the slave trade provided money for investment in British industry, with banks and insurance companies offering services to slave merchants.

Local chiefs enriched themselves with guns, mirrors, and other profitable income due to the trade-offs with these Western powers.

All this happened until the abolition of the slave trade in 1807 with the Slave Trade Act by William Wilberforce.

The official medallion of the British Anti-slavery Society [Wikimedia Commons]

Once slavery was abolished, Britain needed a legitimate means of ~~exploiting resources~~ conducting business. One of the largest slave ports came to mind — Lagos.

This is where the story of Oba Akintoye and Prince Kosoko comes to light.

The Akintoye-Kosoko power tussle

Obas Akintoye and Kosoko.

After abolishment, slavery didn’t just disappear from Africa until 1852, especially in coastal places like Lagos.

Trading at that point was so bad that the British Royal Navy had to establish a Task Force called the West Africa Squadron to pursue Portuguese, American and French slave ships and prevent local chiefs from selling more people.

This affected local politics as some chiefs and kings wanted to keep trading, while some thought quitting was reasonable.

A West Africa Squadron ship, HMS Black Joke fires on the Spanish Slaver, El Almirante [HistoryUK].

In 1841, Oba Oluwole of Lagos died from a gunpowder explosion triggered by lightning. This left a vacancy on the throne that was contested between Prince Kosoko, the rightful heir, and his uncle, Prince Akintoye.

Prince Kosoko was pro-slave-trade, making him popular with the chiefs and slave traders. However, Akintoye was a populist, a friend to the British and anti-slave trade, which made him unpopular with the local leaders.

With these factors against Akintoye, it was easy for Kosoko to establish a coup against Akintoye and oust him from the throne into exile in 1845. With Kosoko’s ascension to power, the slave trade heightened. Lagosians became domestic slaves or chattel slaves for export.

Kosoko grew in wealth, with the ability to purchase guns, velvet robes, umbrellas, gunpowder and other valuable items from the proceeds of the slave trade.

With all this going on, Lagos looked more like a lost cause for the British anti-slave trade movement despite negotiations with Kosoko, and they didn’t like this.

They sought counsel on their next steps from a formerly enslaved person and first Black Bishop, Samuel Ajayi Crowther.

The Revenge of Bishop Samuel Ajayi [Adjai] Crowther

Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther [Guardian Nigeria]

Samuel Ajayi [Adjai] Crowther is a familiar name in Nigerian history.

Many of us know him as a child from Osogun sold into slavery at 13 and traded several times before being rescued by the Royal Navy West African Squadron in Sierra Leone.

We also know him as the first Black Anglican Bishop and the first person to translate the Bible from English to Yoruba.

How was he then involved in the Lagos tussle?

Samuel Ajayi Crowther, 1890 [Slavery Images]

Eight years after being admitted to the ministry as a priest by the Bishop of London, Crowther was received by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in November 1851.

Both the Queen and the Prince studied a map showing Lagos and Abeokuta and displayed great interest in the country’s trade. Ajayi described his enslavement and the state of slavery in Lagos at the time.

When Queen Victoria asked what the solution could be for slavery on the West African coast, Ajayi replied, “Seize Lagos by fire and by force”. He also argued that if Lagos were under Akitoye instead of Kosoko, the British commercial interest would be guaranteed and the slave trade suppressed.

On November 20, 1851, a team consisting of the British consul in Lagos, Lord Beecroft, and other officers negotiated with Prince Kosoko one last time to end the slave trade, but he refused.

And with that, Beecroft sent the word to the senior officer of the Bights Division, Commander Forbes, to expel Kosoko and wage war on Lagos.

Preparation for war

“British Men o’ War Attacked by the King of Lagos” [James George Philip, 1851]

One month later, in December 1851, the British Naval Forces travelled to Lagos for warfare.

On the part of the Lagosians, they had two concerns — the safety of their gunpowder, which was essential for fighting, and the effectiveness of the artillery forces, which were cannons, rockets and muskets.

For the British, their problems lay with the lagoon’s shallow waters. This made movement more difficult for their larger warships (HMS Penelope and Samson). Therefore, they had to make do with the smaller warships, HMS Bloodhound and Taser.

You will enjoy this story about the Ekumeku War: How Igbo Vigilantes Resisted Britain for 31 Years

This was good news for the Lagos Army Commander, Oshodi Tapa. The Lagosians would not have been able to withstand 32-calibre cannons firing at them per minute. But that didn’t mean they were going to take chances.

Obituary poster for war chief, Oshodi Tapa [Sahara Weekly]

Two rows of spiked coconut tree stems were placed underwater as an engineering technique to prevent the big warships from moving towards the shore. Then they placed long cannons on piles above sea level.

Now, the Lagosians were ready for the British.

A bloody Christmas

1851 Bombardment of Lagos by the British Naval Forces [Guardian Nigeria]

On December 25, 1851, Oshodi Tapa attacked British ships that had gathered at the ports for weeks in disguise of a truce. Tapa planned to lure them into the traps they had set as soon as possible.

The British fleet, which had 306 soldiers under Commander Forbes, sailed inward the following morning, and the Lagosians fled.

However, this was a decoy, as the British were ambushed by Lagosians who murdered one officer and 13 soldiers and wounded four officers and 60 soldiers, including Lieutenant Corbett. They also captured one of their warships.

But the British retaliated

The Royal Navy were furious with the battle’s outcome and retaliated on December 27, 1851. They decided to go the route of an artillery storm because they knew they’d lose with infantry combat.

Captain Jones led the attack party consisting of HMS Bloodhound, HMS Teaser, and a flotilla of boats, including The Victoria and The Harlequin, equipped with overwhelming firepower.

They engaged Kosoko’s army in a battle lasting three days. Kosoko put up a stiff resistance, but the Royal Navy’s superior firepower won the day. Kosoko and his leading chiefs fled Lagos for Epe on December 28, 1851.

The aftermath

A group of Lagosians managed to escape the blaze of the war and ran to the city’s northern outskirts.

They created a community called Agindigbi, which signifies the deafening sound of the cannons. This still exists as an area in the now Ikeja part of Lagos.

Modern day Agindigbi in Ikeja [PropertyPro]

The British chased away the remaining indigenes to spread the word upon arrival.

They found 48 letters in Kosoko’s palace corresponding with Kosoko and European slave traders. These can now be found in the British National Archives.

On December 29, the British installed Oba Akintoye as the Oba of Lagos. After Akintoye’s death on September 2, 1853, his son, Dosunmu, succeeded him as king.

King Dosunmu, King of Lagos [Alubarika]

Under Dosunmu, the slave trade was revived briefly until the British convinced him to exchange the ports of Lagos for a yearly pension of 1,200 cowries (equivalent to £1,000). This was known as the Treaty of Cession in 1861.

From then on, Lagos was annexed to become a colony under the British.

The impact

An aerial view of CMS in modern-day Lagos [Council on Foreign Relations]

Britain’s conquest of Lagos and its commercial activities made Lagos an economic hub. By 1872, Lagos was a cosmopolitan trading centre with a population over 60,000.

Since then, it has become one of the largest cities in West Africa, with an estimated metropolitan population of over 15.9 million people in 2023. Lagos is also the most profitable state in Nigeria, with a $136.6 billion GDP.

Chiamaka Dike

April 26, 2023

Citizen, Citizen History

Ajayi Crowther, Britain, British Bombardment of Lagos, Citizen History, Dosunmu, Kosoko and Akintoye, Lagos, Lagos Colony, slave trade
In the midst of Nigeria’s cash scarcity and post-election chaos, one of the nation’s female legends was pronounced dead on the morning of March 12. She was Franca Afegbua, Nigeria’s first elected female senator.

Franca Afegbua, Nigeria’s first female senator [Vanguard Newspapers]

But who was she really and how did she make her mark in Nigeria’s history? Let’s dive into some fun facts about her:

She has roots tracing back to the ancient Benin Kingdom

Afegbua was born on October 20, 1943. She was a native of Okpella, a town in Etsako East Local Government (once known as Bendel). The Etsako people are one of the few tribes in modern Edo land who originate from the Benin Kingdom and maintain some of its traditions. Some of them include dialect, and teeth filing amongst others.

The Etsako people

She was a badass hairdresser

Franca was known to be a luxury, Bulgaria-trained hairdresser in Lagos in the 70s. She was so good at her job, that she won an international hairstyling competition in 1977.

The young Franca Afuegbu

ALSO READ: Meet Margaret Ekpo, Nigeria’s First Female Politician, OG Feminist

She was introduced to politics by a man

Joseph Sarwuan Tarka, a former minister for Transport and then Communications under General Yakubu Gowon was Franca’s friend and plug into the political party, the National Party of Nigeria.

Joseph Tarka

Women helped her win the Bendel Senatorial seat in 1983

When Franca decided to run for the Bendel Senatorial seat in October 1983, few people thought she could win it. This was due to the high level of respect that both the then Bendel governor and senator had at that time.

Dey play

What they didn’t realise was the fact that she had garnered the trust of enough women to support her. This led to her winning the seat by a slim margin against her opponent, John Umolu.

Her tenure only lasted three months

Afuegbu was only able to serve as Bendel senator from October to December 1983. This was due to Muhammadu Buhari’s 1983 military coup, which caused an end to Nigeria’s 2nd Republic.

Buhari as military head of state [Premium Times]

Franca Afegbua would be forever regarded as one of the first women who inspired women’s participation in politics.

Chiamaka Dike

March 13, 2023

Citizen, Citizen History

Franca Afegbua, Nigeria, Women in politics
Nigeria has been blessed with extraordinary women across different fields. Dora Akunyili, Chimamanda Adichie and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will be remembered for their vast achievements. But one woman in our history books appears relegated to merely being the first Nigerian woman to drive a car.

Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, once described as the “Lioness of Lisabi”, was an activist, a politician, a teacher and a women’s rights advocate. Let’s take a look at some of her exploits.

The first female student at Abeokuta Grammar School

It’s not weird in this age to have more girls than boys in a classroom, but this wasn’t always the case. Ransome-Kuti, born in 1900 as Frances Abigail Olufunmilayo Thomas, was the first female student to be admitted into Abeokuta Grammar School — the first grammar school in Nigeria. She enrolled as a student in 1914, the same year five other female students joined the school.

She founded the Abeokuta Women’s Union (AWU)

In 1932, after her education in London and her marriage to Reverend Israel Ransome-Kuti, she founded the Abeokuta Ladies Club (ALC) which was exclusive to only western-educated women.

However, the club gradually became more feminist and political. By 1944, it finally became open to market women who were illiterate and suffering under colonial rule. The club became open to all Abeokuta women in 1946 and changed its name to the Abeokuta Women’s Union (AWU).

In 1918, colonial rule brought changes that made life particularly difficult for everyone, especially for women. One of these changes was a tax imposed on women considered to be of marriageable age and affected girls who were as young as 14 years old. They were required to pay a tax of three shillings yearly.

Another problematic policy was the food price control tax placed on market women. When they defaulted on these payments, the women were beaten, stripped or even arrested.

By 1948, the women had finally had enough. Since protests were banned, they gathered at the palace of the then-traditional ruler of Abeokuta, Oba Ladapo Ademola II, for “picnics” and “festivals”. Ransome-Kuti taught the protesters how to deal with the tear gas thrown at them.

Day after day, the protesting women sang war chants calling for the abolition of taxes. They also demanded the removal of Oba Ladapo Ademola II for implementing the colonial policies. Eventually, the women won the drawn-out battle as the colonisers removed the taxes and the king abdicated his throne for two years.

She was the only woman in Nigeria’s 1947 delegation to London

Nigerians often celebrate men like Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikwe and others like them for their role in the country’s struggle for independence. But many people don’t know Ransome-Kuti was a member of the 1947 National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) delegation to London to table demands before our colonisers.

While in the United Kingdom, she stirred things up with an article she used to blame colonial rule for the political and economical marginalisation of Nigerian women.

She’s the only Nigerian woman to receive the Lenin Peace Prize

Ransome-Kuti travelled far and wide, and gave lectures everywhere she went to highlight the struggles of Nigerian women and campaign for their rights. In recognition of her efforts, she won the Lenin Peace Prize in 1970.

She’s a Member of the Order of the Niger (MON)

After AWU’s win against tax impositionin 1948, Ransome-Kuti created the Nigerian Women’s Union (NWU) to support women’s rights across the country. She set up branches around Nigeria and ensured educational opportunities for girls and women. She also worked towards improving the participation of Nigerian women in politics. And the government named her a Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) in 1965 to appreciate her hard work

As we already know, Ransome-Kuti passed much of her activism onto her third child, the famous Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. Unfortunately, during a military raid of her son’s house in 1978, soldiers threw her out of the two-storey building, and the injuries she sustained claimed her life at 78.

Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti lived a full life and was passionate about Nigerian women and their representation in the country. With everything she achieved, it’s a great disservice if we remember her only for her motor skills or simply as “Fela’s mother”.

Tolu Omotesho

December 31, 2022

Citizen, Citizen History

Abeokuta women, Abeokuta Women's Union, Car, funmilayo kuti, protests, Taxes