Colonial Nigeria
Explore Nigeria’s colonial era (c. 1861–1960), from the annexation of Lagos and the Royal Niger Company to the 1914 amalgamation and the road to independence. This category examines British administration, missionary education, commerce and railways, taxation and labor, cultural change and urban life, and the rise of nationalist movements, including women’s protests, unions, and political parties. Discover biographies, key events, and documents that reveal resistance, collaboration, and everyday experiences across Nigeria’s regions.
James Broom Walker’s 1875 Old Calabar Journey: A Revealing Record of Rivers, Authority and Inland Trade
James Broom Walker’s 1875 Old Calabar journey provides a striking glimpse of communities connected to the lower Cross River region during the nineteenth century....
Stephen Odike Photograph: 5 Crucial Clues from Nigeria’s Civil War Years
The Stephen Odike photograph, dating from around 1969–1970, shows a uniformed policeman identified as Stephen Odike and described as being from “the Igbo country”....
Miss N I Ejindu: The Powerful 1946 Classroom Photograph of a Nigerian Educator in Britain
Miss N I Ejindu appears in one of the most striking surviving photographs of a Nigerian educator in Britain during the colonial period. Taken...
Nwiboko Obodo and the Odozi Obodo Society: The Powerful Network Behind 200 Colonial-Era Murder Cases
Nwiboko Obodo and the Odozi Obodo Society occupy an extraordinary place in the history of late-colonial eastern Nigeria. During the 1950s, an organisation operating...
Lagos Afro-Brazilian Heritage: The Remarkable History of the House Marked 1946 and Popo Aguda
Lagos Afro-Brazilian heritage is reflected in the historic buildings, religious institutions and cultural traditions associated with Popo Aguda, the Brazilian Quarter of Lagos Island....
Ethel Finecountry: The Interpreter in a 1924 Methodist Mission Photograph from Ama Achara
Ethel Finecountry is identified in a photograph attributed to 1924 at Ama Achara, near Umuahia, as an interpreter associated with Methodist evangelistic work. The...
Brigadier Frank Job Goulson: The Fatal 1962 Road Accident That Ended His Military Career in Nigeria
On 11 March 1962, Brigadier Frank Job Goulson died in a road accident while travelling from Enugu to Lagos. The British military officer was...
Esien Esien Ukpabio: 2 Defining Milestones in the Rise of Indigenous Leadership in Old Calabar
A striking black and white lantern slide made around 1900 to 1910 shows Esien Esien Ukpabio, also rendered Essien Essien Ukpabio, seated with his...
Ankwe Men in Shendam, 1923: 4 Figures in a Striking Portrait of Colonial Muri Province
Ankwe men in Shendam, 1923 appear in a historical photograph from a town that was then part of Muri Province under British colonial administration....
How Hassan Katsina Helped Keep Northern Nigeria From Breaking Into Revenge
Nigeria was not yet a year into its second decade of independence when the foundations of the country began to shake.The crisis did not...