The
earliest evidence of civilization in Nigeria dates back to the description of
the rocks of Iwo-Eleru, located near Akure, Ondo state. Inside this cave a
skeleton dating back to 9000 BC during the late period of Stone age was found. Several
notable events of the 11th century shaped the culture, landscape and political
organization of Nigeria's first peoples. Social groups in
Much
of the trade involved buying and selling slaves and Nigeria played an important
role in the transatlantic slave trade, with seven of the thirteen major slave
depots in West Africa located in Nigeria. The abolition of the slave trade from
the supply of side (in Africa) was the main merit of European missionaries. The
first Europeans on the coast of Nigeria were the Portuguese in 1472, they
established regular trade contacts with the locals. Since the end of XV century
there were English, Danish, French and German merchants who bought spices, palm
nuts and ivory. British colonial era covers the period from 1840 to 1960.
Initially, the interest of Europeans was manifested in trade and humanitarian
projects in
By
the arrival of British colonizers, Nigeria was a feudal state, the colonial
administration appeared in 1861, after the seizure of the Benin Lagos. In 1870,
the United national African company (from1886 — Royal Nigerian company) was
founded, headed by sir George Goldie, one of whose functions was to control
trade between Britain and the population of the Niger river basin. Along with
the merchants the
The
end of the second World War marked the beginning of a period of organized
resistance to the colonial regime in the country. Nigerians called on the
people to actively oppose the current state of society. In 1945, 40,000 workers
began a General strike that lasted more than one month. The demand of the workers
was the increase of payment and improvement of working conditions. At the end
of the strike, the workers ' demands were agreed upon.
Thus,
by the end of the 1950s Britain was experiencing great difficulties in
maintaining the leading position of colonial rule and came to an agreement to
maintain a dialogue of cultures and the need for dialogue with the
anti-Colonial leaders of Nigeria and colonial officials. One of the first steps
in the decolonization process had been the process of gaining the independence
and form of government of a state that could meet the requirements of an
independent
References
1. Falola T.
Historical Dictionary of
2. Katchru B. The handbook of World Englishes / B. Katchru, Y. Katchru,
C. Nelson. – Blackwell Publishing Ltd,
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