1861 6 August :
Lagos Treaty of Cession: British annexes Lagos, with status of Crown Colony.

1862 (January 22) :
Mr H.S Freeman is appointed as the first Governor of Lagos Colony.

1862 (January 1) :
Lagos Island is annexed as a colony of Britain

1862 (January 22) :
Mr H.S Freeman is appointed as the first Governor of Lagos Colony.

1864 :
Samuel Ajayi Crowther becomes first African Anglican Bishop.

1877 :
George Taubman Goldie arrived in the Niger Delta in 1877

1878 :
Onitsha was sacked and Asaba bombarded.

1879 :
George Taubman Goldie amalgamated various British ventures to form the United African Company (later known as the Royal Niger Company).

1880 :
The conquest of Southern Nigeria by the British began.

1884 :
The National African Company had concluded about thirty seven treaties at the Niger territories including Atani, Onitsha, Abo, Osomala, Ndoni, Oko, Odekpe.

Internal wars among the Yoruba, caused mainly by the decline of Oyo Empire and rivalry over the control of trade, gave the British the opportunities to gain political control further inside.

Given the existing degree of British involvement, this entire area has been readily accepted at the Berlin conference in 1884 as falling to Britain in the scramble for Africa

1885 :
Oil Rivers Protectorate proclaimed by the British after they had defeated of King Jaja of Opobo, the Oba of Benin and subdued all prominent oil merchants of the Niger Delta.

1886 :
Through efforts of British Prince of Peace Mission, led by Rev. Samuel Johnson, a treaty was signed to conclude the Ibadan/Ekiti Parapo War.

1887 :
King Ja Ja of Opobo exiled to West Indies by British. With the exile of Jaja of Opobo in 1887 his territory became part of Niger Protectorate.

1890 :
British Journalist Flora Shaw, later wife of Lord Frederick Lugard, suggests the name “Nigeria” after the great Niger River. in the late 1890s there remains dangerous tension between Britain and France, the colonial power in neighbouring Dahomey, over drawing Nigeria’s western boundary.

1891 :
John Payne Jackson becomes publisher of Lagos Weekly Record.

1892 :
The United African Company fought Aguleri.

1893 :
The delta region is organized as the Niger Coast Protectorate.

1892 (19 May) :
At the Battle of the (sacred) Yemoja River the British wreak havoc amongst the Ijebu infantry with a British Maxim (capable of firing 2000 rounds in three minutes) thereby moving towards complete dominance in the southwest area surrounding Lagos.

18 January 1893
The Governor of Lagos Gilbert Thomas Carter signed, at Abeokuta, a “Treaty of Friendship and Commerce” with Oba Osokalu, the Alake of Egbaland.

3 February 1893
Carter concluded a similar treaty with Oba Adeyemi, the Alafin of Oyo. These treaties opened up the Yoruba country to European penetration.

1893 :
Oil Rivers Protectorate renamed Niger Coast Protectorate with its capital at Calabar.

1893 :
British incorporate Yoruba lands in southwest into new protectorate.

1894 :
Brassmen revolt against Royal Niger Company.

1894 :
Ebrohimi, the stronghold of Nana the Itsekiri was bombarded and Nana exiled on the accusation of slave trade and interference with free market.

1895 29 January :
King Koko leads successful attack on Royal Niger Company headquarters in Akassa.

2 February
Consul-general Claude Maxwell MacDonald receives letter from King Koko offering to release hostages in exchange for redress of grievances against the Company. This request is declined.

20 February
Royal Navy counter-attacks against King Koko, razes Nembe.

1896 :
An expedition was sent against Brass and the community was sacked.

The British discovery of the use of rubber for the production of pneumatic tyre made entry into Benin forest imperative.

In a major expedition mounted against Benin in 1897, the city was sacked and its treasury looted.

1897 4 January :
Covert foray of the Niger Coast Protectorate Force against Benin City is discovered and destroyed by the Kingdom of Benin.

1897 9–18 February :
Retaliatory Benin Expedition of 1897 leads to capture of Benin City.

The difficulty of administering the vast and complex region of Nigeria persuades the government that the upriver territories, thus far entrusted to the Royal Niger Company, also need to be brought under central control.

1898 :
Beginning of Ekumeku Movement against British rule.

The Salbourn Committee on amalgamation recommended in August 1898 that the British “Niger Territories” be ultimately Amalgamated.

The British overthrow Oba Ovonramwen of Benin. One of the last independent West African kings.

1900 1 January :
All Nigeria now under Crown rule. Protectorate of Northern Nigeria created from Company holdings.

1901 :
Anglo-Aro war: The war began. The Aro Confederacy began to decline.

1902 :
Anglo-Aro war: The war ended.

1903 January :
Capture of Kano

The British conquered most of Northern Nigeria, including the Sokoto Caliphate.

1905 :
The British conquest of Southern Nigeria ended.

1906 1 May :
Colonial Office amalgamates Lagos Colony with Southern Nigeria Protectorate to form the new Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria.

German-owned Nigerian Bitumen Company began searching for petroleum off coast.

Protests against water fees in Lagos, encouraged by nationalistic journalism of Herbert Macaulay.

1912 :
Lord Frederick Lugard, Governor of Northern Nigeria, established a system of indirect rule.

Lugard pacifies northern Nigeria by ensuring that in each territory, however small, the throne is won and retained by a chief willing to cooperate. Lugard then allows these client rulers considerable power – in the technique, soon to be known as ‘indirect rule’, which in Africa is particularly associated with his name (though it has been a familiar aspect of British colonial policy in India).

Creation of Southern Nigeria Civil Service Union; later, Nigerian Civil Servants’ Union.

The second installment took place in 1914 when these territories (in the South) were administratively combined with the protectorate of Northern Nigeria, giving birth to the geo-political entity that was to be named “Nigeria” (in evocation of “River Niger” and the “Area” it flows through).

Other European powers acknowledged British sovereignty over Nigeria at the Berlin Conference.

1914 January :
Northern Nigeria and Southern Nigeria were amalgamated into Nigeria. British Crown gained monopoly rights over mineral extraction.

Nigerian soldiers fight under British command in World War I.

The First World War brings a combined British and French invasion of German Cameroon (a campaign not completed until early in 1916)

1918 :
The Adubi War or Egba Uprising is fought in Egba Land. The conflict started because of the unfair imposition of colonial taxation on the Egba people. Direct taxes were introduced by the colonial government along with existing forced labour obligations and fees.

1920 :
National Congress of British West Africa founded in Accra.

1922 :
Clifford Constitution.

In 1922 the League of Nations grants mandates to the two nations to administer the former German colony. The British mandate consists of two thin strips on the eastern border of Nigeria.
The rival claims of Nigeria’s various regions become most evident after World War II when Britain is attempting to find a structure to meet African demands for political power.

1925 :
West African Students’ Union created.

1928 April :
British begin direct taxation.

1929 14 October :
New governor implements plans to expand taxation.

1929 November-October :
“Women’s War” : Women in Eastern Nigeria demonstrate against high taxes and low prices of Nigerian exports.

1931 :
Founding of Nigeria Union of Teachers.

1936 :
Founding of Nigeria Youth Movement.

1937 :
Shell D’Arcy Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (later Shell-BP) granted petroleum exploration rights.

1944 :
National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons founded by Nnamdi “Zik” Azikiwe.

1945 :
Countrywide general strike.

Adoption of first Ten Year Plan for economic development.

1946 :
Nigeria entered a period of decolonization and growing Nigerian nationalism.

1950 :
A conference of northern and southern delegates was held in Ibadan.

1951 :
By 1951 the country has been divided into Northern, Eastern and Western regions, each with its own house of assembly. In addition there is a separate house of chiefs for the Northern province, to reflect the strong tradition there of tribal authority. And there is an overall legislative council for the whole of Nigeria.
But even this is not enough to reflect the complexity of the situation. During the later 1950s an African political structure is gradually achieved.
MacPherson Constitution. Yoruba-aligned Action Group founded; headed by Obafemi Awolowo.

1953 1 May :
Northern vs. Southern violence breaks out in the Northern city of Kano.

1954 :
The position of Governor was created in each region after the Federal System of Government is adopted.

1954 :
A new constitution (the third in eight years) establishes the Federation of Nigeria and adds the Federal Territory of Lagos.

1956 :
Shell-BP expedition makes first discoveries of major petroleum deposits, at Olobiri and Afam.

1957 :
Nigeria held a Constitutional conference.
From 1957 there is a federal prime minister. In the same year the Western and Eastern regions are granted internal self-government, to be followed by the Northern region in 1959.

1958 :
Nigerian Armed Forces came under Federal control. The Nigerian Navy is created.

1959 :
Nigeria holds its first national election to set up an independent government. Northern politicians won a majority of seats in the Parliament.

Petroleum Profits Tax Ordinance establishes 50–50 split of oil revenues between corporation and government. Socony Mobil receives offshore oil license.

The new Nigerian currency is introduced

Northern Peoples Congress(NPC) and Niger Delta Congress(NDC) go into alliance to contest parliamentary elections. The alliance earned the Brass Division a seat in the Federal Parliament for the first time.

AntiZikist:
Isn't ironic that the people who cry the most over 1914 unification of northern and southern Nigeria as being a British project are the same ones using the same British map of Eastern Nigeria that yoked independent nationalities into one entity for administrative exigencies ?

You can't condemn the unification of northern and southern Nigeria and still be claiming British created artificial Eastern Nigeria to base your future nation.

llakes4real:


You have a point, but those are the abuses of the creation. My argument is against those saying the creation was in our best interest, as if the colonialist ran a charity organization.

llakes4real:


You have a point, but those are the abuses of the creation. My argument is against those saying the creation was in our best interest, as if the colonialist ran a charity organization.

10mobile:

You tagged me to this post and I never said that colonialism was in our BEST interest. I couldn't have said that because we can't certainly tell what other historical route that fate would have taken us through. But, what I said is that we gained a lot from the colonial era even if we also lost a lot to it.

The evidence that we gained is everywhere. For instance, if you give me what I don't like, I'd either give it back to you or throw it away. Even if you raped me and I am sure there's no good that can come from the pregnancy, I'd abort it. But, here you are proudly using the language, the education and the tech they bequeathed to you while insisting you gained NOTHING from them! Ha!

Ability to speak English is not what makes you educated as you said. But, with English being one of the two most widely used languages on earth, this is one asset you have to help you connect to a lot of people and opportunities globally - both as individuals and as a country.

I have since identified this attitude of yours in many Africans. They are always trying to emphasize what they lost and what they did for you over what you did for them. Why can't you be noble and balanced enough to admit that, "yes, I gained this and this while I lost this and this"?

That's how life is. You can't gain it all. And why should you expect them to not gain something from coming here? Why should they make you gain 100% while they lose 100%? Why must their relationship with us be based on charity rather than business considerations?

This is one poor attitude I keep seeing in Africans that is drawing us back: If someone offers you a value, you refuse to accept it just because you discovered that the person will ALSO gain something from the interaction! You are so selfish and wicked that you see other people's gain as your loss!?! Once someone gains something, then, that's automatically an evil occurrence.

Relationships should be all about give and take. But the typical African wants it to be all about "give me, give me, and give me". It's a major reason we are so backward.

If all the British gained from us is the price we paid for all we gained from them, I think it's a fair deal. After all, the resources you said they mined were placed there by God - not by them or by us.

And these resources would have remained under the earth until now without their intervention. Even our agricultural produce (like groundnut) has had improved yield due to better farming methods introduced to us via our colonial masters.