Nigeria, the Gold Coast and Senegal: colonial systems and the roads to independence
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Flip to reveal answersWhat system of rule did Frederick Lugard establish in Northern Nigeria?
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All 12 Flashcards — Nigeria, the Gold Coast and Senegal: colonial systems and the roads to independence
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Question
What system of rule did Frederick Lugard establish in Northern Nigeria?
Answer
**Indirect rule** — Lugard governed through existing Emirs and their Islamic administrative structures, keeping British staff minimal and using local rulers to collect tax and enforce law.
Question
Why was direct rule harder to apply in Southern Nigeria than indirect rule was in the North?
Answer
The South (especially Igbo areas) had no single centralised chief or kingdom to rule through — society was organised in small, independent village communities, so Britain had to invent 'Warrant Chiefs', who were often resented as illegitimate outsiders.
Question
What sparked the Aba Women's War of 1929?
Answer
Fear that a British tax census of women (extending direct taxation to women) was coming, on top of existing resentment of Warrant Chiefs — thousands of Igbo women protested, several were shot by colonial police.
Question
What were the three regions created under the 1954 Nigerian constitution (Lyttleton Constitution)?
Answer
**Northern, Western and Eastern Regions** — each with its own government and a dominant ethnic group (Hausa-Fulani north, Yoruba west, Igbo east), setting up long-term regional rivalry.
Question
Name the main nationalist party and leader in the Gold Coast that pushed for independence.
Answer
**Kwame Nkrumah** and the **Convention People's Party (CPP)**, founded 1949, using the slogan 'Self-Government Now' and tactics of 'Positive Action' (strikes, boycotts, civil disobedience).
Question
What event in 1948 accelerated Gold Coast nationalism?
Answer
The **Accra riots (1948)**, triggered when police shot ex-servicemen marching to petition the governor over pensions and high prices — the Watson Commission that followed recommended constitutional reform.
Question
In what year did the Gold Coast become independent Ghana, and why is this date significant for Africa?
Answer
**1957** — Ghana was the first Sub-Saharan African colony to gain independence, becoming a model and inspiration for nationalist movements elsewhere on the continent.
Question
What French colonial policy shaped Senegal's development differently from British colonies?
Answer
**Assimilation** — France treated Senegal's four communes (including Dakar and St Louis) as an extension of France itself, giving some African residents French citizenship and representation in the French parliament.
Question
Who led Senegal to independence in 1960, and what political vision did he hold?
Answer
**Léopold Sédar Senghor**, poet and founder of the concept of **Négritude** (pride in African culture and identity) — he became Senegal's first president, initially favouring a federation with other French West African states.
Question
Compare British indirect rule and French assimilation in one sentence.
Answer
Indirect rule (Nigeria) preserved local rulers and traditions as a cheap layer of control, while assimilation (Senegal) tried to make African subjects into French citizens who adopted French culture and law.
Question
What common factor pushed Britain and France toward decolonisation in West Africa by the late 1950s?
Answer
Rising cost of controlling nationalist unrest, the example of India's 1947 independence, UN pressure on colonial powers, and the economic burden of empire after the Second World War.
Question
What is the key difference in constitutional outcome between Nigeria and Ghana at independence?
Answer
Ghana (1957) became independent as a **unitary state** under one strong nationalist party (CPP); Nigeria (1960) became independent as a **federation of three regions**, each dominated by a different ethnic group — a structure that stored up future conflict.
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Africa under colonialism (1890–1980)
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