Nigeria’s Story: A Nation was Born Nearly 100 Years Ago

JOURNEY TO AMALGAMATION

Nigeria unique fascinated a country with multiple tribe, culture, religions and expressions. A country full of promise.

On January 1st, 2014 Nigeria will mark 100years since the amalgamation of the north and the south to form one country.

How did these multi-diverse people, language and culture become one nation?

How did these fast territory with artificial borders become one country?

Evidence of civilization traces back as far as 8000 b.c Dufuna Canoe with the most sophisticated design of its time discovered in present-day Borno state.

Similarly, the tera cuta art of the Nok people reveals an advanced culture thriving in the area now called Kaduna state.

The further European ever set foot on the West Africa soil, the territory that makes up present-day Nigeria was dominated by the independent empire and city-state from the great Borno empire which expanded through long distance trait and military technology to the Igbo civilization.

The first broadcasting in Africa who sold material from far away is Egypt from the thousand years old Benin empire with its infrastructure and far-reaching diplomatic lakes, the formidable military and administrative machine of the vast Oyo empire and the power of the great Sokoto calivet in the 19 century under the legendary of SSheikh Usman Dan Fodio.

The states were highly organized societies with evolved administrative systems, with diplomatic functions, educational centres and successful agriculture. Rulers expanded via economy through trade and sometimes through war.

Amina the warrior queen, through her militaru conquest meziza now zaria the centre of the north south sahara and east west sudan trade in the 16th century. Amina is also the originator of the wars that fortified zaria and other cities that she conquered such as kano.

Trade network travelled as far as Europe and other middle east and by the time the Portuguese landed on the coast of benin in the late 15 century. West Africans had been trading with foreign nations for 400 years.

The Portuguese explorers were soon followed by the british, French and deutch.

First, they came for our pepper, palm oil, groundnut, cocoa, beads, clothes and ivory. Then they came for our people. 25 million men, women and children were shipped to work as slaves in America, the desert of Arabia , the farms and factories of Europe and the plantations of the western American.

Three Africans also became part of the European society most famously Olaudah Equiano, the first African to write a novel. He was taken as a slave from igbo land. He fortunately bought his freedom, worked all over the world and narrated English.

There was also captain james labulo davies, a northern base yoruba billionaire, who arrived with 16 base carriages for his wedding.

After the legal abolition of the slave trade in 1807, the british used the combination of politics and commerce to secure to secure trading advantages for British companies. When the indigenous rulers prove uncomperative, british diplomacy also gave way to British gun boot. When the British military force entered Lagos in December 1861. They impose a king and a most powerful ruler in Lagos who was crowned the first colonial ruler from Britain.

However, the part of British rule did not always run smooth, Nigeria from north to south, east to west fought fervently to secure freedom.

We salute heroes like the former slaves from ami-ibo, the most prosperous city-state in the delta region. His name was Jaja King of Opobo. He received the sword of honour in 1875 from Queen Victoria after opobo soldiers helped the British in the gold coast. But when the operations of British started to threaten the lives of Nigerians, Jaja victorious opposition became a deep turn in the flesh of emperor ambitions afraid of the influential king the British led jaja and gave him an ultimatum to surrender himself or face the judgement of opobo by legal forces. He was deported to the west eddies, never to see his beloved opobo again.

We salute the indomitable chief, Nana Olomu who secured the economy and independence of the itsekiri kingdom for more than 10 years until 1894 when he too was forcefully deported for being a threat to the british rulers
We salute Oba Ovonramwen of benin. Who resisted the British attempt to take over his trait rules and even banned them from entering his territories.
In 1896 the great oba was forced into exile, Nigerians are still negotiating for their return today.

We salute the brave ekumeku resistance movement. A secret army of thousand Igbo warriors who used conventional and gorilla warfare to take down British north post is the south-east even as late as 1909.
The Ekumeku were instrument of defending the town of Okwashukwu from colonel invention.

We celebrate the sultan the first who after the striking of Sokoto caliphate continue to fight for his invention being on horseback until he died in battle at Borno in 1903.

TO BE CONTINUED