British Imperialism In Nigeria

During this time period known as The Age of Imperialism, many European states established extensive empires throughout Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Because of the economic needs that were promoted as a result of the Industrial Revolution, these Europeans states pursued these countries through the act of imperialism. Although Britain controlled Nigeria and India using the same style of government control, they differed when it came to the ethnic group interactions and the trade success in other countries.

First, The way Britain controlled Nigeria and India related through the indirect control the British had on each country during this time. Although the Nigerians were seen to rebel against foreign intervention, the British quickly defeated

Nigeria has nearly 250 ethnic groups, mostly unintelligent, all of which have different cultures, traditions, and languages, making it difficult for much interaction amongst other groups. With a diverging society, it made it difficult for British representatives to have much interaction with the Nigerians. In addition, Nigeria’s lack of common history, unequal resource distribution, advocacy for regionalism over a strong central government, and geography of each group, all made it difficult for interaction with the British (Haughton Mifflin Harcourt 2017, 907). According to Knight, India has many political, ethnic, racial, and religious groups that cross each other, allowing the society to interact even through differences. For example, not all Indians speak the same language, share the same social class, or live in the same region, although having a connection through common ancestral history or traditions have helped unify the population together which helps the society interact with the British. (2012, 54). Generally, Nigeria and India differed because of the geography, lack of common history, and unequal resource distribution. According to Mckenzie, Nigeria’s lack of common history, unequal resource distribution, advocacy for regionalism over a strong central government, and geography of each group, all

By the mid 1800’s Britain was mainly interested in opening markets for its manufactured goods in West Africa. Although in order to meet their trade interests, Britain was required to seize all power of the coastal chiefs. By 1850, British trading was mainly focused in Lagos and the Niger river. Because British administration had fully taken over Nigeria, trade was disrupted because of the Yoruba civil wars (Mckenzie 2017, 20). With the establishment of railroads in India, they became increasingly valuable to the British. Additionally, the successful supply of plantation crops such as tea, indigo, coffee, cotton, and opium, the British shipped opium to the Chinese in exchange for tea (Haughton Mifflin Harcourt 2017, 921).Comparatively, Britain struggled to establish forts and trading ports in Nigeria because of the vast competition along the West Coast of Africa. Nigeria was generally an inconsistent trade network to rely on because of the competition with other countries along the coast and problems within the country. Whereas, India had the addition of railroads, which increase the value of India to Britain. This allowed India to have a consistent and successful trade network.

Although Britain controlled Nigeria and India using the same style of government control, they differed when it came to the ethnic group interactions and the trade success