THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA AND THE NATIONALIST STRUGGLE FOR THE INDEPENDENCE OF NIGERIA
In May 1906, Lagos colony and the southern protectorate were joined together and had a different name, the colony and protectorate of Southern Nigeria. In the same atmosphere, Lord Fredrick Lugard in 1914 amalgamated the Lagos colony and Southern Nigeria with Northern protectorate to form a single colony called protectorate of Nigeria. It was said that the wife of lord Lugard formed the name Nigeria from the river Niger that flowed through the country. Britain therefore governed Nigeria by the means of a system popularly known as ‘Indirect rule’.
Britain claimed that the system involved not governing the people directly, but through their traditional rulers and chiefs. And this was one of the factors that fuelled nationalism among the Nigerians.
In the later years, the whole of Nigeria later join hands together to fight for the independence of the country. Each region was granted self governance [Northern region- 1959, Western region- 1956 and Mid Western region- 1963 (post independence)] and then, all together gained independence on the 1st of October, 1960 when the Nigerian flag which was designed by Taiwo Akinkunmi (1960) replaced the British flag and was raised.
THE ACHIEVEMENT MADE AFTER THE DEPARTURE OF THE COLONIAL MASTERS.
At the
independence
in 1960, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa became
the
first Prime Minister of Nigeria. He was the first indigenous leader
of
the Nigerian nation. He ruled through to 1963 when the nation became a republic when the national constitution was
adopted where
Nnamdi Azikiwe became president
while he remained as Prime Minister. The days when the duo ruled, Nigeria
was
good. Even in the succeeding administrations, Nigeria fared well and the
economy boomed.
Nigerians worked with
a
united mind,
putting aside religious, tribal and political affiliations to develop the young but promising nation. They were all interested in building
the
young independent nation to grow and become a great and successful
nation in the world. There was neither
segregation, disunity nor agitation for personal or regional
aggrandizement.
All sectors of the economy experienced boom and
national life was better for all Nigerians. Agriculture and education were especially given attention since
these
were observed to be the plank upon which the
development of the nation rested. Educational institutions were
far
better and
products from
them
were given
due
recognition unlike what
obtains now. Facilities
in the
institutions were standard and students then were well trained. The agricultural sector was given due attention so as to provide food for the teeming Nigerian populace. Jobs were
available for Nigerians. The
competition between the whites and black Africans had given way to a completely black world where
friction was no more. Peace reigned and
there was food
for all. That was
the good old days, the post independent years in Nigeria.
Nigerian nationalism has
been negatively
affected by multiple historical episodes of ethnic violence and repression of certain ethnic groups by the
Nigerian government between
the various peoples has resulted in multiple secessionist movements demanding independence from Nigeria. However aside from instances of extremism, most Nigerians continue to peacefully
coexist
with each other, and a common Nigerian identity has been fostered amongst
the more-educated and
affluent Nigerians
as well as amongst the many Nigerians who leave small homogeneous ethnic communities to seek economic opportunities in the
cities where the population
is
ethnically
mixed. For
instance many
southerners migrate to the north to trade or work while a
number of northerner seasonal workers and small-scale entrepreneurs go to the south.
TEN AFRICAN COUNTRIES AND THEIR DATE OF INDEPENDENCE WITH THEIR FIRST RULERS AND ACHIEVEMENTS RESPECTIVELY:
The President of the Republic
of
Liberia is the head of state and government of
Liberia. The president serves as the leader of the executive branch and as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Liberia.
Prior
to
the independence of Liberia in 1847, executive power in the Commonwealth of Liberia was
held by the Governor of Liberia, who was appointed by the American Colonization Society. The 1847 Constitution transferred the executive powers of the
governorship
to the presidency, which was largely modeled on the presidency of the United States.
Between 1847 and 1980, the presidency was exclusively held by Americo-Liberians, the original American settlers of Liberia and their descendants. The original two-party system, with the Republican Party and the True Whig Party, ended in 1878, when the election of Anthony W. Gardiner marked the beginning of 102 years of single-party rule by the True Whigs. Following a coup d'état by disgruntled army officers led by Samuel Doe in 1980, the presidency was vacated until the election of Doe in the 1985 general election. After the overthrow and murder of Doe in 1990, the presidency was again vacated for seven years during the First Liberian Civil War and again for two years following the conclusion of the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003.
SOUTH AFRICA:
One of the most important leaders in South Africa and even across the whole world is Nelson Mandela, or as people calls him, Madiba. Mandela was a very important leader in the struggle against apartheid. He was one of the leaders of the ANC. Like many other struggle leaders, he was thrown in jail more than once. He spent 27 years of his life in jail, most of which were on
Robben Island. Although he was not the only struggle leader in jail he became an important symbol for
human rights and anti-apartheid campaigns all over the world. People held protest marches, made posters and badges for his
release, and the 'Free Mandela' slogan could be found all over the world. In
1990 he was finally released, and he became an important leader in the talks with President FW de Klerk about a South Africa free from apartheid. Mandela and De Klerk were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1993. When the ANC won the elections in 1994, Mandela became South Africa's first democratically elected President. He was only president for 5 years, but guided the country's change to a non-racial and relatively peaceful country. He challenged people to forgive each other for wrongs during apartheid, to learn from this in order to work together for a common future. He has established a fund to help underprivileged children and has helped bring peace to other conflict ridden countries. As a world leader his pleas for support from around the world in the fight against AIDS has been very important for attracting attention to the disease.
ETHIOPIA:
Ethiopia, from emergence as an empire under the Aksumites to its current form as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, as well as the history of other areas in what is now Ethiopia such as the Afar Triangle. The Ethiopian Empire (Abyssinia) was first founded by Habesha people in the Ethiopian Highlands. Due to migration and imperial expansion, it grew to include many other primarily Afro-Asiatic-speaking communities, including Oromos, Amhara, Somalis, Tigray, Afars, Sidama, Gurage, Agaw and Harari, among others.
Notes:
1. Ethiopia is usually considered to have never been colonized, but following the invasion by Italy in 1935-36 Italian settlers arrived. Emperor Haile Selassie was deposed and went into exile in the UK. He regained his throne on 5 May 1941 when he re-entered Addis Ababa with his troops. Italian resistance was not completely overcome until 27th November 1941.
2. Guinea-Bissau made a Unilateral Declaration of Independence on Sept. 24, 1973, now considered as Independence Day. However, independence was only recognized by Portugal on 10 September 1974 as a result of the Algiers Accord of Aug. 26, 1974.
3. Western Sahara was immediately seized by Morocco, a move contested by Polisario (Popular Front for the Liberation of the Saguia el Hamra and Rio del Oro).
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