|
question 6
|
How did the different Nigerian peoples react to the European explorers?
|
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ |
|
This was not a very popular question. Many candidates who attempted it got it
wrong. They made general comments on reactions to European missionaries
and colonialists. To score high marks, they were expected to highlight the
following:
(i) when Mungo Park refused to pay tolls on the Niger as was the custom, the people insisted. This led to a clash between Mungo Park and Nigerians at Bussa;
(ii) the Lander Brothers were well received by the king of Pategi (a town south of Bussa);
(iii) in the Sakata Caliphate, Clapperton and Denham were received by Muhammed Bello during their first expedition. In the secnd visit, Bello was hostile to them because he believed they were aiding his enemy - Shehu EI-Kanemi of Borno;
(iv) in Barno, Shehu EI-Kanemi was actually hospitable to the explorers - Clapperton, Denham and Barth;
(v) later in Barno when they heard from the Muslim merchants of North Africa about the imperialist activities of the Europeans in North Africa and India, . they began to treat them as spies;
(vi) the Nigerians living along the coast who had long term experience with the Europeans saw the explorers as intruders;
(vii) in the interior of Nigeria, some of the people saw them as objects of admiration or even spirits;
(viii) the people of Nupe were suspicious of the explorers' motives; They feared their territorial integrity might be tampered with;
(ix) the people of Yauri refused to release Mungo Park's journals and papers for fear of the adverse effects on their territories. |
|
|
|