Book Review: Formation

The Making of Nigeria From Jihad to Amalgamation (A Bite-Sized Review)

Book Title:

Formation: The Making of Nigeria From Jihad to Amalgamation.

A good friend of mine sent me a copy of this book from the UK just around the time I was starting to get neck-deep into writing my Ph.D. Thesis last year. I had promised myself I would read less of other materials so I could focus on writing, but I couldn’t fulfill that promise.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Formation, occasionally setting up a timer to make myself stop reading so I could go back to writing. Anyone interested in either modern Nigeria or the making of Nigeria will find this book enjoyable.

Formation tells the story of pre-colonial Nigeria from 1804 to 1914. As such, it covers Dan Fodio’s jihad that had a massive impact on the Niger-area states – an impact so mighty that we continue to feel its pulse in 21st-century Nigeria.

In the 19th century, the jihad sacked many Hausa kingdoms and also catalyzed the dissociation of Ilorin from the Old Oyo Empire, which in turn led to the continued disintegration of the Oyo empire. That century also saw several internecine warfares amongst the Yorubas.

Amid this furor, Abeokuta was birthed, and the need for an alliance with the British State to materialize its progressive and liberal ideas. There is also the Clapham Sect Era, which saw a fruitful and progressive collaboration with the locals in Southern pre-colonial Nigeria. This sect pushed for education and trade in commodities, moving away from the dastardly international trade in human bodies in the previous years. This era saw the likes of Jaja of Opobo and Bishop Ajayi Crowther.

Next is the post-Clapham Sect Era, where power indeed changed hands. This period kick-started with the scramble for Africa (Berlin conference), of which pre-colonial Nigeria was not left out. Needless to say, it was an era of imperialism and subjugation. This era also saw the sale of the Nigerian territories to the British State by the Royal Niger Company for £865,000 in 1899. The acquisition led to the consolidation of various protectorates, which they administer via the indirect rule.

One thing led to another, and you have the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorate in 1914, in which the authors state:

“The Southern Protectorate was to be merged with its much less financially buoyant and landlocked Northern neighbor. This was considered especially shrewd by the pinny-pinchers in London, given the high cost of achieving and maintaining military conquest in that country.”

More than a century later, such asinine amalgamation had led to such an umbrageous debacle in the polity, with activists now springing up demanding the end of the country. And for those who have not yet resigned all hope, they wait restlessly for a messiah to steer the wheels of the poorly managed country.