Benin City in the 17th century with the Oba of beninin procession. This image was pictured in a european book, in 1668.
Map of nigeria
Portuguese explorer were the first European to begin trade in Nigeria, and called the port lagos after the portuguese town of lagos, in Algarve.More Europeans followed after that. The Europeans traded with the ethnicities of the coast and also established a trade in slaves which affected many Nigerian ethnicities.Following the napolean wars , the british expanded trade with the Nigerianinterior. In 1885 British claimed to a west African sphere of influenceto receive international recognition and in the following year the Royal niger company was chartered under the leadership of Sir George taubman Goldie. In 1900, the company's territory came under the control of the British Govt., which moved to consolidate its hold over the area of modern Nigeria. On Jan. 1, 1901 nigeria became a British protectorate, part of the british empire, the foremost world power at the time.
In 1914, the area was formally united as "the colony and protectorate of Nigeria." Nigeria remained divided into the northern and southern provinces and lagos colony.The south progressed more rapily than the north.
Followin WWII in response to a growing nationalism British Govt. offered independence by the middle of the 20th. century, the great wave for independencewas sweeping across africa.
