THE YEAR 1918: A NIGERIAN PERSPECTIVE

As at 1918, Nigeria was a colony under British imperialism. It was a composite of two protectorates - the northern protectorate and the south eastern protectorate - the both having been previously amalgamated four years earlier by Sir Frederick Lord Lugard, the British governor to the colony, though the two regions never seemed to be in harmony with each other even till date.

Sir Frederick Lord Lugard, the first British governor to Nigerian colony.

Source

The year 1918 was indeed a year of global uprising which were primarily caused by conflicts between nations, climaxing in the first world war. Albeit, it was also a period of religious revolution in some parts of the globe notably the third worlds like the then colonial Nigeria.


Christian missionaries, as far back as the 1880s, had already found their way to the Nigerian soil - particularly the southern protectorate - through the British imperialism. Thus as at the period under review (1918), waves of religious revolution were in rampant spread across the southern provinces; rivalry among the various Christian denominations was mainstream as they employed every wit to entice and win converts to their respective churches.


Despite the fact the advent of Christianity in the colony generally was seen by some as a threat to traditional practices, it nonetheless continued to spread and penetrated like a tree root in the south eastern protectorate where it was predominant as opposed to the northern protectorate, which was partly invaded by Islamic religion.

The following milestone achievements were recorded precisely a century ago (the year 1918) with respect the religious revolution:

• The Christ African Church was established - another item in the list of existing Christian denominations in the southern colony.

• The first publication of hymns in indigenous language (Efik) was recorded.

The structure of the old Catholic cChurch in Essene town built in 1918. It also doubled as a school back then in the colonial.

Source

• The Roman Catholic Church was established in Essene town (pictured above) which later fanned out across the southern districts, giving birth to more Catholic Churches and schools in the region.

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On the political sphere...

The political atmosphere in the British colony later to be known as Nigeria was fraught with conflicts, distrust, and discontentment, a consequence of the then prevalent 'indirect rule' system imposed on the region by the British government.


A notable incidence and which echoed the theme of the global uprising in 1918 in the colony was the EGBA UPRISING, also known as ADUBI WAR which occured at Abeokuta province of the colony.


This conflict aroused from the imposition of direct taxation on indigenes by the colonial administration. The fuel to the flame of conflict here was that the imposition was in addition to existing fees and labour obligations on the natives by the administration.


The direct taxation was therefore met with stiff resistance and rebellion, whereupon troops of soldiers were dispatched to the region to force the rebels to submission and restore order.

Some of the troops dispatched to to Abeokuta province during the uprising.

Source

The ensuing clash between the soldiers and the rebels culminated in the destruction of railway lines, a railway station, and a train. The clash which lasted about three weeks(June/July, 1918) left at its wake, considerable high cases of fatality summed at about 600 casualties. A British agent and the rebel lord were killed in the onslaught, while other key players in the rebellion were arrested.


The rebels were subsequently subdued and the taxation put off for a future time.


I have no doubt the above conflict would have been averted had there been good terms of communication between the British officials and the natives at the time. But as it turned out, the official basically interacted with selected few natives and rulers in the colony, a situation certain to have caused strain of somesome sort between the two parties. Needless to say, the natives then had quite a minute or no say at all in the political affairs of their land, even as they were yet grappling with the alien religion brought to them by the foreign missionaries.


Though the above conflict was internal and had nothing to do with the world war, it nonetheless captures perfectly the prevalent global theme of disputes and violence of 1918. Thus, it can be said that the global conflict somewhat seemed to have spread its tentacles to the then British colony now known as Nigeria.


I would love to conclude this review with a note of gratitude to @sndbx for coming up with this idea of history exploration. Truth be told, it has helped me unearth this particular aspect of my county's history hitherto unknown to me.

Thank you plenty. I enjoyed my little research. (Smiles)

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