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.
She Took Yoruba Learning to Britain, Then Built a Girls’ School in Lagos, The Enduring Legacy of Eva Adelaja
The story begins with Miss E. A. Adebonojo, a Nigerian educator from Ode in Ijebu country, Yoruba land, Western Nigeria. In 1946, she appeared...
Ikorodu’s Early History and the Making of a Yoruba Town
Ikorodu’s history is one of movement, settlement, and adaptation. Long before it became one of the major urban centres connected to Lagos, it existed...
Dr N. T. Olusoga and the Public Record of Service in Colonial Nigeria
In the history of colonial Nigeria, many public figures are remembered through stories passed from one generation to another. Yet only some can still...
The Willink Commission: How Nigeria Confronted Minority Fears Before Independence but Left Questions Unresolved
Before Nigeria gained independence in 1960, the country faced a pressing internal challenge: the fears of its minority communities. The Willink Commission, appointed in...
State Creation in Nigeria, Remedy for Minority Fears or a Shift Toward Federal Centralisation?
Nigeria’s journey from a federation of regions to a nation of thirty-six states is a story of political negotiation, minority protection, and federal consolidation....
How British Colonial Rule Left Nigeria Uneven Before Independence
Nigeria did not become one country because its many peoples came together to negotiate a shared national future. The state that became modern Nigeria...
Western Power and Nigeria’s Long Twentieth Century
Nigeria’s relationship with Western powers developed across several historical phases. Colonial rule created the modern state structure. The Nigerian Civil War drew foreign governments...
Lalage Jean Bown and the Rise of Adult Education in Post Colonial Africa
When Lalage Jean Bown arrived in the Gold Coast in 1949, she entered a region on the edge of historic change. Colonial rule was...
The Peace Cord of Yorubaland
In nineteenth century Yorubaland, diplomacy did not always depend on written letters. Long before colonial administration expanded written correspondence, Yoruba communities already possessed a...
How the Ooni of Ife Used Àrokò to Invite Missionaries to Yorubaland
In the early nineteenth century, communication across Yorubaland did not depend only on written letters. Important messages often travelled through trusted messengers, spoken interpretation,...