The well documented European invasion of Africa in the 15th century, especially that of the British in the 19th century is without doubt not for the benefit of Africa and Africans. It must be noted that no invader has the interest of the victim at heart. No matter how well he camouflages his interest, the ultimate goal of an invader is to rid his victims of their possessions and or lives.
Invasion should not be seen as a military action only. It could be sublimely and deceitfully done without a bullet fired or an arrowed shot. The British used both methods in achieving their goal in the region they later christened Nigeria. They had infiltrated the southern region by deceit in the name of missionary work. They came with the approach of a friend when indeed they were enemies. They gave bible, medical supplies, mirrors and western form of education in exchange for the people’s land, their religion, morality, children as slaves and ultimately their soul.
The white-mans’ increased greed was met by a strong resistance in certain empires but the white men responded with greater force borne out of covetousness for his ‘neighbors’ things; destroyed all that was on their path until they had subjugated those resisting empires. The case of the Benin kingdom is a typical one.
The British, in March 1892, through Captain Gallwey moved to make the Benin Kingdom a British protectorate. Although the king of Benin, Omo n’Oba Ovonramwen, was skeptical of the British motives, he was willing to endorse what he believed was a friendship and trade agreement. The Benin king refrained from endorsing Gallwey’s treaty when it became apparent that the document was a deceptive ploy intended to make Benin kingdom a British colony. Consequently, the Benin king issued an edict barring all British officials and traders from entering Benin territories. The British authorities considered the ‘Treaty’ legal and binding; they deemed the Benin king’s reaction a violation of the accord and thus a hostile act.
In reaction, On 12 January 1897, Rear-Admiral Harry Rawson was appointed by the British Admiralty to lead an expedition to capture the Benin king and destroy Benin City. The operation was named Benin Punitive Expedition. The question which arises from this is what sin is being punished? That a man rejects your gift is considered a sin to be punished?
On 9 February 1897 the invasion of Benin kingdom began. The field commanders were instructed to burn down all Benin kingdom’s towns and villages, and hang the king of Benin. Immediately after the British invaders secured the city, they began looting and destruction. Monuments and palaces of many high-ranking chiefs were looted and destroyed, and finally on the third day the looted Benin king’s palace was deliberately set ablaze. Most of the plunder was retained by the expedition with some 2,500 (official figures) religious artifacts, Benin visual history, mnemonics and artworks being sent to England.
At this point, the main purpose of British invasion of Nigeria became overly clear to be one of greed, lust, covetousness, hatred, and racism. So, all the missionary works and humanitarian services were merely a means to an end. A means to acquire as much as they could, expand their territory and world dominance, increase their economic might and much more.
After conquering the south and on January 1, 1900, obtained what was then known as the southern protectorate, they moved to the north. Empires and kingdoms of the present day northern Nigeria were conquered in turn through various means. Eventually there came the northern protectorate.
An interesting point to note here is that funds to run the administration of British protectorates were generated within the protectorates as no monies were sent from London to run the affairs and government of each protectorate. It was against the policy of the British government to use their taxpayers’ money to run their protectorates. Isn’t this an example of a Yoruba saying that you entertain Abu with his own money? Do you give scholarship to a student with the money you forcefully take from him? That was exactly what the British were doing!
Lord Lugard, the then British governor general felt the north was poor and had no resources to run the protectorate. He said unlike the south, the north had no sea and educated people, so generating funds internally was quite difficult. So to him amalgamation of the South and North (not of the people) became of crucial importance to British business interest. He said the North and the South should be amalgamated.
In 1914, the amalgamation was completed, of course, without the consent of the people.
The amalgamation was solely a business venture for the British. The love of the peoples of the region was not considered, their compatibility was not in consideration, their sovereignty and independence as different people mattered little or nothing to the colonialists. The amalgamation was done in the same way as that of mating dogs for commercial purposes. You as the breeder determine the breed you want to raise but never consult with the dogs if they liked each other.
That in simple term is a forced marriage.
Yes we live together but our hearts are far apart. We do inter-tribe marriages but tribal superiority remains an issue. No tribe agrees to be the lesser of the other, every tribe claims superiority, and tries to dominate the others. Every tribe seeks for his own to be head and others to serve.
This trend is evident in our daily living, in our national life, in offices and businesses. Taking a closer look at different government organizations and parastatals, you will notice the dominance of a particular tribe over others. The Nigerian customs is a clear example where majority of the officers and men are from a particular region; the ministry of education; the old Nigerian Railway corporation has people of a certain ethnic nationality more than others.
That is what you get when you force people together by marriage without their consent. The consequence of it is what has bedeviled the country’s politics through the years. Since the forced marriage in 1914 through independence of the nation in 1960 till now, most of Nigeria’s political parties are formed on ethnic sentiments.
The dominant political parties between 1914 and 1966 were:
Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) – Dominated by the Hausa/Fulani of the north
Action Group (AG) – Dominated by the Yoruba people of the south west
National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) – Dominated by Igbo people of the South east
Others were United Middle Belt Congress (UMBC), Borno Youth Movement (BYM), Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU), Igala Union (IU) etc. – They were mostly regional parties, which was a reflection of the will of the people to be independent and sovereign nations.
Down the line, the covert desire of every tribe, region and ethnic group to be sovereign has been present and it is a major issue today as it was during the Nigerian civil war of 1967-1970, when the Igbo people of the south east sought secession from Nigeria. Although we might be quiet about it for fear of being labeled a secessionist or unpatriotic, the issues of every nation in this forced union seeking to be a sovereign state cannot be overemphasized.
As at today the 9th day of January, 2011, people of southern Sudan are voting in a referendum to decide their secession from the central Khartoum government of Sudan. This is coming after years of civil war and talks which culminated in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), also known as the Naivasha Agreement.
Not many countries have had such relatively peaceful disintegration and examples abound. But what is imperative is that a people should decide their own fate. A people should decide if they want to be married or not. A people should decide if they want to live together or not (except they are prisoners).
We the different people of the land called Nigeria should as a matter of urgency and importance decide if indeed we want to live together as an entity. Do we want to form a nation or we want to be independent of one another? This is a solution to the lingering tribal and religious battles, killings and incessant bombings.
Instead of killing one another and for lasting peace to be ensured, LET US DECIDE FOR OURSELVES NOW!
