A History of Nigeria summary

Institutionalized slavery had existed in the Nigerian region long before the fifteenth century, and the states in the northern savannas had longstanding connections to the trans-Saharan slave-trade route. With the route extending further eastward into new markets over the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, profits from the slave trade began to boom.

This market expansion coincided with the increasing power of both states ruled by Hausa-speaking leaders and the neighboring Borno Empire. The result of these parallel developments? Widespread war and raiding by these growing powers, each aiming to take as many slaves as possible to expand their economic and political clout.

The ethnicity, language and religion of the various regions of Nigeria continued to be incredibly diverse well into the nineteenth century. Political groupings, on the other hand, began to consolidate around this time. For the first time, the predominantly Muslim northern Nigeria was united with areas in the country’s more religiously diverse south under the Sokoto Caliphate.

Led by the charismatic Usman dan Fodio, the Sokoto Caliphate transformed the society that it ruled. Commerce thrived, unimpeded by the wars that had previously characterized the region. And with Sharia being the official law of the land, already fragmented communities were united under the banner of Islam. For the first time in history, most northern modern-day Nigerians began to see themselves as a cohesive social and cultural unit.

With the abolition of slavery and the economic uncertainty it caused, war and political instability became rife throughout southern Nigeria in the early nineteenth century. With this instability threatening British commercial interests in the palm-oil trade, it was only a matter of time until Britain decided to “stabilize” the region by sending in its military, missionaries and political officials.

Britain’s colonial desires in Nigeria coincided with the Europe-wide “scramble for Africa.” Major European empires such as Britain, France and Germany jostled for economic and political control over the African continent and its vast natural and human resources.

In 1914, Britain united the previously separate Northern and Southern Nigeria Protectorates. This new state, the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria, was to be led under what its British Governor-General Frederick Lugard dubbed the “Dual Mandate” system. On paper, this system allowed for indigenous self-rule at local levels – as long as decisions made at this level did not conflict with British colonial interests. The British, meanwhile, saw themselves as responsible for the openly racist endeavor of “civilizing” the locals by teaching them European ways of life.

But in reality, the Dual Mandate system led to the complete takeover of Nigeria’s raw materials and labor markets by British economic interests. While British administrators preached progress, civilization and the eradication of slavery toward the betterment of the Nigerian people, many Nigerians saw their standard of living drop. Centuries of smallholder farmers and sharecropping, the backbone of the region’s agricultural economy, were replaced by centralized, British-run plantations that promoted wage labor paid in British currency.

By the 1930s, British colonialism had brought about a small, privileged class of elite Nigerians, as well as a number of local European-educated intellectuals who felt the benefits of colonialism. But the vast majority of Nigerians felt otherwise. Not only was colonialism eroding their traditional ways of life, cultures and institutions, it also openly exploited their labor in a way that benefited Europeans much more than they.

In the wake of the violent Women’s War of 1929, a number of nationalist unions and movements began springing up all over the country. While some of these were based on pan-Nigerianism, such as the Nigerian Youth Movement, the majority were centered around ethnic lines. By the 1950s, even the pan-Nigerian movements had mostly morphed into regional groupings.

Hopes were high in the post-independence Nigeria of 1960. It was, after all, the most populous country in Africa, and its discovery of petroleum all but guaranteed it substantial wealth. Many Nigerians thought they were destined to become a beacon of hope for other indigenous peoples still suffering under the weight of colonialism. In the international sphere, it was expected that Nigeria would play a major role in African and even global affairs.

However, a number of issues prevented this optimistic vision from transpiring. Most pressing was the fact that many Nigerians didn’t feel “Nigerian.” The whole concept of “Nigeria” as a nation had been the result of British cartographers drawing lines on maps, and hadn’t taken the multitude of ethnicities, languages and religions of the region into account. So while the world was now introduced to the new nation of Nigeria, Nigerians themselves were still grappling with the question of “Who are we?”

The military coup in 1966 propelled Yakubu Gowon to power, a charismatic general who went on to rule the nation for nearly a decade. Under his leadership, the military grew from 10,000 to 270,000, propelling them to the forefront of Nigerian politics – this would have serious ramifications later on.

For the duration of the 1970s, the nation’s increasing dependence on oil revenue defined Nigerian political and economic life. And while Nigeria’s petroleum reserves made it Africa’s wealthiest nation of the time, the profit did not trickle down to all sectors of Nigerian society. Corruption was widespread at all levels of government, meaning that only those who had access to politicians determining government petroleum contracts, licenses and revenue benefitted from the oil boom.

The short-lived democratic experiment in Nigeria had failed, and the military was now back in control. Buhari’s coup resulted in a further 15 years of authoritarianism, worsening socioeconomic conditions and, eventually, a strong reaction from civil society that would usher democracy back in.

But 15 years and three dictators had entrenched corruption in Nigeria, and oppression and coercion became the main language of state power and control. Meanwhile, the Nigerian economy continued its downward trajectory. While government officials and their associates continued to steal from state coffers, many ordinary Nigerians turned to crime just to survive. The period from 1983 to 1999 thus saw a huge rise in bribery, armed robberies and smuggling. The vast majority of Nigerians still continued to live lives of rampant poverty.

On April 21st, 2007, Nigerians headed to the polls. The election resulted in a peaceful transition of power from Olusegun Obasanjo, who had reached his constitutional two-term limit, to Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua. This was the first time in post-colonial Nigerian history that one civilian had ceded power to another. For many, this indicated that – after decades of authoritarianism, economic woes and rampant corruption – perhaps Nigeria was on track toward becoming a stable and democratic nation. Right before the election, one of the most effective anticorruption purges in Nigerian history led to a myriad of powerful politicians being charged with crimes against the state.

For many Nigerians, the election also indicated the possibility that poverty might soon be a thing of the past. After all, the country was still one of the top 10 exporters of oil in the world. If oil wealth was distributed more evenly – and less corruptly – perhaps ordinary Nigerians would be lifted out of poverty.