Colonialism and Violence in Nigeria

Preface

The theme of this book is the ways that the imposition of colonial rule and the British governance of Nigeria created conditions for violence from the second half of the nineteenth century to the early 1950s. I deWne violence in terms of its most basic elements: the use of force to damage people and objects; the use of force to maintain control; and the use of humiliating words to generate violent reactions. As the chapters in this book show, violence is based on intentions, political calculations, and expected consequences. In many ways, violence is thus connected with the larger issues of power, resistance, terrorism, and nationalism. While the meaning and outcome of violence are not necessarily the same from one era to another or from one historical event to another, the goals are not diªcult to analyze.1 For instance, chapters 6 and 7 consider verbal warfare and radical unionism as acts of violence, precisely because angry Nigerians were looking for ways to humiliate colonial oªcers and instigate protest and violence . They threatened violence and used words that suggested the possibility of terrorism against the colonial state. In addition, the very conquest of Nigerian groups was an exercise in humiliation, a domination made possible by violence. Violence has a political purpose: to dominate, to resist domination, to create conditions for negotiation, and to target people and objects that symbolize oppression. If one party—the colonialists—saw violence to achieve conquest and ensure domination as “legitimate,” the other party—the Nigerian groups—saw it as one aspect of resistance. Thus, to both sides, the use of violence was legitimate, and each side painted the other as aggressive . There were two orientations to the use and characterization of violence : visible violence, as in the case of attacks, wars, and injuries; and preface ix invisible violence, as in the use of violence as a metaphor (for instance, trade unionists and nationalists saw their anti-colonial e¤orts as a form of asymmetric warfare, or what they called “battles”). The colonial power imposed violence during the two world wars by drafting Nigerians as involuntary allies. The inequality of power was glaring. The colonial state had greater resources with which to unleash violence. Thus, colonial soldiers with guns might be found confronting Nigerians carrying clubs and machetes. When it had established itself, the colonial state had the power to criminalize and punish. The state was above the law, which meant that the legitimacy of its own violence could not be questioned. Of course the activities of the agents of the state could be investigated, but this did not mean that the basis of institutional power was threatened. On the other hand, the violence of the Nigerian groups was treated as illegitimate—as acts of terrorism to be put down by the legitimate power of colonial law enforcement. This power inequality is reXected in the protesting Nigerians’ targets—court buildings, court clerks, individual policemen—symbols that became victims. When the colonial state fought back, it intimidated its enemies, sometimes using maximum violence. The resulting anger provoked the creation of songs, dramas, and rituals of violence. Angry words communicated threats of violence . Violent tactics included killing, destroying houses, arson, and physical assault. In the encounters relating to the conquest and the consolidation of colonial power, the strategies of violence were actually similar to those of warfare. Burning houses and villages and killing those resisting conquest fall into the category of atrocities. Documentation does not exist to count the dead and injured people, the damage to property, and the destruction of villages and farms. This book dwells on two phases of Nigerian history that stretch from the last quarter of the nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth century . Chapters 1 and 2 capture the key elements of the Wrst phase, which was characterized by violent confrontations between the British and Nigerian groups. The British wanted to conquer and the multiple Nigerian nations wanted to defend their sovereignty. Violence in this phase was largely an unlawful use of force by an imperialist power to obtain political dominance and was characterized by episodes of conquest and resistance. African leaders responded on the basis of their understanding of what the invading armies were trying to do. In spite of the gallant e¤orts of many Nigerian groups, they lost the wars of resistance. Colonial rule was thus established in part by violence, although the British said that the legal basis of their colonial power was based on...