This is part of a broadcast I got

“Only 6 Nigerians Signed The Amalgamation Document In 1914, namely:*

1.HRH Maiturare Sarkin Mussulumi and Sultan of Sokoto

2. Usuman Dan Maje who later became Emir of Kano

3. Sir Kitoyi Ajasa a lawyer

4. HRH Oladugbolu Alaafin of Oyo

5. HRH R Henshaw (Obong of Calabar)

6. Abubakar Shehu of Borno

The location of the signing of d amalgamation document was Zungeru

There were 6 people and the rest of the 22 were British.

The Edict expired in 2014.”

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I have an issue with this broadcast sent to me above.

1. That there is an impression that
   without these Nigerian signatures the Amalgamation would not have happened.
2. That there is an expiry date in an apparent Amalgamation Agreement which apparently lasted 100 years.

My question is, was the Amalgamation an agreement/contract that was to be signed by various parties – especially by the names above?

Or was it a proposal supported by a report that needed to be signed off for implementation by parliament.

The amalgamation of Nigeria was an administrative process proposed mainly for the economic advantages to suit the colonisers !

There were three separate administrations – The Southern Protectorate, The Northern Protectorate and Lagos colony.
In a private letter to his brother Ned, written in 1900 Lord Lugard said that “the three Nigerias had surely to be amalgamated one day and that to be charged with this was the assignment he would dearly love”

These entities were already controlled and “protected” by the British, so why did they need any Nigerians signature? Nigeria had already been colonised!

I still have not seen one contract / agreement that states the amalgamation has an expiry of 100 years.

But I have seen a report which essentially is a series of surveys taken across the country by Lord Lugard and his brother Ned Lugard to justify the rationale behind amalgamation sooner rather than later.

I doubt if any Nigerian was needed to sign any “agreement” as the British were already in charge and decisions made regarding colonies were made by the Crown/Parliament.

For a few years now I have been interested in collecting items ( photos, letters, souvenirs) focusing on the Nigerian football team that toured the UK in 1949.

I’ve found some great items along the way. A few days back I picked this up online 😁

It’s a signed “souvenir programme” from one of their matches!

Background Information:
In August 1949, 18 Nigerian footballers along with their manager Capt, D.H Holley would leave the shores of Nigeria for the first time to embark as an international team on a one month tour of England.

After their two week Journey by sea to Liverpool, the teams manager Capt. Holley was given a telegram. It read “His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh sends to the team his very best wishes and hopes they will have an enjoyable visit.”

The players were in the United Kingdom to play nine goodwill matches .

The teams Captain was Etim Henshaw
They won their first match against Marine Crosby Football Club 5- 2.

This programme is from their second match against Bishop Auckland Football Club which resulted in a loss for Nigeria, 5 -2

A significant outcome of the 1949 UK tour was that it opened the door for the migration of Nigerian footballers to the country.

Some members of the 1949 tour would return and become the first generation of Nigerian footballers to play for English clubs – Ottun (South Liverpool F.C.), Titus Okere (Swindon Town), and Tesilimi Balogun (Peterborough United and Queen’s Park Rangers).

The Nigerian team would also pave the way for other African football tours to the UK – the 1951 Gold Coast (Ghana) tour and 1956 Uganda tour. The English Football Association sent an English team in 1958 to tour Nigeria and Ghana.

It was a pleasure spending my Sunday afternoon with Hannah O’Leary at Sothebys looking at pieces by some of Africas greatest artists in The Modern & Contemporary African Art exhibition.

#africanart