Siollun, Max. What Britain Did to Nigeria: A Brief History of Conquest and Rule. London, C. Hurst & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 2021.
This series is sort of a public learning engagement. In fact, I think I am far too ignorant about Nigeria’s history. I am reading about Nigeria to enable me to ask the right or appropriate questions. Yes. I want to be able to ask more appropriate questions by the end of this series. We find more effective solutions by asking the right questions.
Follow-up on the series: Reading Nigeria 3
Dear Fellow,
I hope this meets you well.
I have made significant progress in my reading so far.
I speculated Wednesday, 14 September 2022 as the date I will finish reading this book. I am currently on page 188. The book has 335 pages. However slow, I want to read it to the end.
I have also begun considering which book to read next in this series. In mind: There Was A Country by Chinua Achebe, This House Has Fallen by Karl Maier, or any other fictional piece mirroring Nigeria's history from pre-colonial to post-colonial era.
That said, let's delve into today's issues.
First, my unnamed affection for the names (Sir Frederick Lord Lugard and Miss Flora Shaw) have become indifferent. Before now, I think their names call for some kind of reverence in my subconscious. It is sad that I know quite a bit more (no matter how little) about these folks than I do about Nigeria's political leaders. Reading about their dealings, especially that of Sir Lugard, hurts my innocent and reverent outlook at mentioning his name. About, Miss Shaw. Well, her wit is applaudable; but learning that she simply was the first to take the leap to suggest the name "Nigeria" for official use—and not its inventor—weakens my regard for her ingenuity. She was just a good observer whose ears (and writing) served her well, pushing her into a respectable place in history. The name was given to the colonies under the authority of the Royal Niger Company in the Niger Area was already a common unofficial term for description before Mrs Lugard (Miss Shaw) suggested it for official use in an essay published in ‘The Times on 8 January 1897.’
What comes to mind when both names above are mentioned? What are your emotional reactions, if any?
Secondly, I have learned another lesson on the relevance of history. History helps us to be on guard against forces that have led to the downfall of our neighbours or predecessors; it helps us identify loopholes in our defences. Consider the following excerpt from the book:
Caliphate forces had also failed to learn from the only prior military contact between Caliphate and British forces, six years earlier during Bida's battle against the Royal Niger Constabulary in 1897. The defeat at Bida should have taught them that the tactics which served them so well for the previous century—calvary backed by archers, lancers and a few riflemen—would not work in the open plains against the British square or their machine guns and artillery (pg. 175).
This was in reference to the defeat of the Sokoto caliphate in 1903 by the British forces. Defeat is what we are set up for when we fail to learn from the experiences of our predecessors.
Kindly share your thoughts in the comment, especially in response to the questions following the mention of Lord Lugard and Miss Shaw. They were a couple even.
Curious in the light of my gradual new learning...