Historic Overview

What is this country's history? Nigeria is the largest area of the West African states. It is also a country of great diversity and religious groups that live within its borders. Nigeria is also a country with a long past.

The European slave trade that occurred in Africa as early as the late 15th century and that peaked between the 1650s and 1850s had a significant impact on Nigeria. Britain declared the slave trade illegal in 1807 and sent its Navy to West African waters to enforce the ban. Britian's action led ultimatley to British intervention in Nigeria. Which had become a major area for the slave trade.


Initially, the slave trade had been the area's primary attraction for the European powers, but other products including palm oil and cocoa, also played a key role. To safeguard trade from instability resulting from ongoing Yoruba wars that began in the late 1830s, Britian established a colony in Lagos as early as 1861.

British rule and economic and educational development produced a rising nationalism that was reflected particularly in the organized labor movement and the creation of various political parties during WW 2. Following the war, Nigeria developed under two colonial constitutions, those of 1946 and 1951.