The Nigerian that heighten the early nationalists morale to fight against colonization from the erstwhile colonial master is not what it used to be .Nigeria, during the colonial era suffered a number of exploitation from her British colonial government .She was robbed of her natural and human resources. The bombardment of Lagos in 1851 and her consequent annexation in 1861 set the stage for a century of colonial experience that terminated on October 1, 1960.
This is act of cruelty was perceived by the early nationalist (who were mainly traditional rulers).Their perception prompted them to resist colonial rule. In the wake of this traumatic clash of culture and interests, our traditional kingdom and empire crumbled in the face of the superior British Military might and coercive diplomacy. Thus, celebrated of old Oyo, Benin, Ibadan, Opobo, Calabar, Sokoto, Borno and others were subdued.
Oba Ovoramwen of Benin was dethroned after the Benin massacre in 1897 and deported to Calabar. King Jaja of Opobo was arrested and tried in Accra in 1887 before his deportation to the West indies. Nana Olomu of Itsekiri was tried in Lagos and deported to Accra in 1894.
The struggle for emancipation from colonial rule and a better Nigeria did not end with the deportation of traditional rulers. It was continued and sustained by educated Nigerians. Their liberation campaign was intensified by the global wave of self governance as the aftermath of the Second World War. The nationalist platform broadened and brightened with the formation of Nigerian political parties(NCNC, AG and NPC). These parties constituted the negotiation medium for the various agitation and constitutional conferences that pressurized the British Colonial Government to yield various concessions which subsequently led to the Nigeria independence in October, 1960.
However it is quite deplorable and appalling that a country whose nationalists had to fight for from her erstwhile colonial master, for being exploitative, has been bedeviled with evils. Nigeria is now in a pathetic state. We now live in a country where people’s dreams and aspirations are destroyed. Where law-makers are also the law breakers, where rich wrecks the poor ,where the strong tramples on the weak, where innocent lives are lost in unnecessary political feud, alibi is seen as governance, colonial master’s economy is boosted with our limited resources, people are blinded by money and power, some lives in abundance while others lives in destitution, death traps are celebrated as roads, mud is taken for water, candle for light, underneath trees are called schools, people neither have vision nor purpose in life, cultural discrimination undertones every action, school drop-outs are employed by politician in their battle of supremacy, justice remains nothing but a mirage and all these anomalies go on..
note:
some words are there like Oyo, Benin, Ibadan, Opobo, Calabar, Sokoto, Borno, they are states in NIGERIA.
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