How Did Imperialism Affect Nigeria

“Nigeria has had a complicated colonial history. My work has examined that part of our story extensively.”- Chinua Achebe. In this quote, Chinua Achebe refers to the books he has written that focused on people who lived in Nigeria, a country in Africa. Nigeria was a country in Africa that was colonized by Europeans.“Imperialism is the policy or action by which one country forcefully gains and keeps control of another country or territory,”(Vontz, “Imperialism”). Europeans were associated with imperialism due to taking over countries in Africa, splitting up countries with other places of power, and enslaving/selling the people of Africa. Europeans wanted to gain control of Africa because of the continent’s major surplus in resources and benefits.

“European interest in Africa began growing from the 1400’s as European nations acquired the military and technological capacities for overseas voyages and conquest,” (Desanker, “Africa”). Due to the advancement of technology and force, Europeans began to want to take over more land because they were finally able to. They thought Africa would be an optimal place to colonize, most likely due to resources and the amount of land. “Europeans began to trade within Africa during the late 1400s and 1500s and Africa’s resources were wanted by the Europeans. This led to Europe making colonial empires in the majority of Africa,”(Desanker, “Africa”). The Europeans took advantage of the surplus of natural and raw resources. The colonization of Africa was heavily based upon the economic benefits taking over the continent would provide.“The European imperialist push into Africa was motivated by three main factors, economic, political, and social,” (Iweriebor, “The Colonization of Africa”). Once the right technology was obtained, Europeans could chase after more land and it would be easier to

“The European imperialist design and pressures of the late nineteenth century provoked African political and diplomatic responses and eventually military resistance,” (Iweriebor, “The Colonization of Africa”). The constant and forceful control performed by the Europeans made Africans want freedom/independence. “Colonialism had a profound effect on the arts of Africa. His European colonial powers introduced Christianity, many art practices associated with traditional African religions declined,” (Desanker, “Africa”). New religion was introduced to the people of Africa and traditional African culture was erased. Religion, specifically Christianity, was given to the people of Africa. “Soon after the Portuguese arrived in western Africa, they began to ship Africans to Europe as slaves…Portugal, Britain (now the United Kingdom), the Netherlands, the United States, and other countries all participated in this slave trade,” (Desanker, “Africa”).The Europeans began the Atlantic Slave trade. They profited from selling Africans. The rules that the Berlin Conference caused to be focused created a sort of peace and order between places that claimed different territory in Africa (also ended slave trade), (Garfield, “Berlin Conference”). Due to everyone wanting to colonize Africa, a meeting needed to be held between the nations to set rules for one