Colonialism in transition : shifting foundations of rule and collaboration in Nigeria, 1900-51

Abstract

This thesis examines the circumstances which produced and sustained the colonial state in Nigeria in the period 1900-1951. It explains the manner and means by which various indigenous and expatriate groups confronted and accommodated one another. It joins issues with the consensus amongst historians which holds that the participation of indigenous elements in colonial rule was a function of the state's want of administrative and financial resources from Europe. It argues alternatively that their participation was essential - resources or not . Colonialism was thus not foreign rule per se but primnarily class domination. Up until the Second World War this domination was effected through a class alliance between the traditional elite and British expatriates. The post war years witnessed a transition to the alliance between the modernizing elite and expatriates. This thesis explains this transition. This analysis is made in the context cf the "collaborative nexus" (CN). This formulation refers to a set of relationships in which individuals and collectivities, African and European, interacted with the colonial state in a situation of co-operation and conflict based mainly on access to the means of production and surpluses.