Resistance to Colonial in Nigeria: Esanland Encounter with the British Colonialists and its Effects on Intra-Inter-Group Relations By Dawood Omolumen Egbefo, Ph.D Department of History and International Studies. IBB University Lapai, Niger State, Nigeria E-mail:
[email protected] M-Phone: 08076709828, 08109492681 Abstract The invasion and occupation of Esanland is part of the general British conquest and occupation of Nigeria which was a consequence of the revoked royal chapter to the Royal Niger Company (RNC) in 1899. A deliberate act by which the British sought to guarantee her interest in the South West of the Niger. The intention of this paper therefore is to examine the invasion and resistance to British colonial rule in Esanland. In the examination, attention would be paid to the imperial ploys of treaty signed with some Esan rulers and chiefs, the reaction of the people and the arm struggle with the British. This is followed by the examination of British conquest of Esanland. The paper then concludes with the major point that though generally most of the communities in the Northern region and those of the Yoruba easily succumbed to British incursion and rule, communities like the Esan people of present Edo state vehemently resisted the loss of their sovereignty to the British- the British only succeeded in pacifying them because of their superior arms. Academic Horizon: A Journal of the School of Postgraduate Studies, Vol.1, No.1, ©September, 2015.
[email protected], pp.54-70 Introduction The closing years of the nineteenth century and the early years of the twentieth century witnessed the violent conquest and fraudulent establishment of British colonial rule in Nigeria.