Chapter 659 The Founding Father of Nigeria

"Okay, gentlemen, it's time to do our business. Given her age, she must have a husband." Alan Wilson clapped his hands at the assistants, attracting their attention back. Since they have been sent to the place, It's time to get down to business.

Joan Bennett did have a husband, and Alan Wilson intended for her husband to live in peace. There are not too many requirements. As for coming to Africa together this time, it is purely out of mutual help between friends and there is no other intention.

The colony of Nigeria was part of British West Africa, which also included parts of Sierra Leone, Togo and Cameroon, as well as the British Gold Coast. However, in terms of area, the area of ​​British West Africa is not comparable to that of British East Africa. Nigeria occupies most of the area.

Britain's traditional colonial strategy was to merge rather than divide. Nigeria was naturally merged as well! Even the process isn't over yet. Under normal circumstances, Britain would merge the surrounding small colonies into the largest colony before independence.

There was only British India because the area was too large, and the peaceful believers really didn't want to be in the same country as the Hindus. Partition was finally adopted. Most of the border conflicts in the British colonies had nothing to do with Britain itself. In fact, the colonies ruled by the British were larger than before they were colonies.

But in the case of colonization, good deeds are not remembered, and bad deeds are recorded in the diary. Take Indonesia, for example. The Indonesian regime that has ruled the island of Java for a long time wants the entire Dutch East Indies.

What Vietnam wants is the French colonies of Laos and Cambodia. It wants to take over all the colonial heritage and all the colonial responsibilities belong to the sovereign country. How can such a good thing happen?

Since British India had to separate the two major sects, Britain finally experienced the joy of partition at the end of the colonial era. As Alan Wilson vigorously promoted the benefits of partition, London also began to believe that the previous move to merge the colonies would It doesn't seem quite right in some cases either.

The situation in Nigeria is more complicated. If the local elites in Nigeria can settle down for a few years and give the British time not to cause trouble, Alan Wilson does not want to break up the colony.

The fundamental reason is that Nigeria is surrounded by French West Africa and French Central Africa, all surrounded by French colonies. Once Nigeria is split up and becomes a small independent country, it will not play an important role in isolating France's two large colonies.

This function is like the entire Peace Cult world, which extends from North Africa to Southeast Asia. India needs to be isolated in the middle. It is good for everyone to become two disconnected parts.

The basic situation of British Nigeria is that it was a colony composed of two major religions and three ethnic groups. Among them, Christians and Peace Believers can be said to be evenly matched, with Peace Believers having a slight advantage.

There are three main ethnic groups, one is mostly peaceful believers, the other is mostly Christians,

The other one is half and half.

Arriving at the Lagos Administrative Office, Alan Wilson looked at the ceiling fan above his head which was almost the same as the one in the Governor's Palace of British India. Alan Wilson felt nostalgic for it, a product of the same generation and batch.

"Ingram, we haven't seen each other for a few months. I don't think I have one!" Alan Wilson saw the Nigerian commissioner and gave him a friendly hug. At the same time, he did not hide his purpose. "The country has received calls for autonomy. Let me come here this time." Let’s talk, I hope to have a candid exchange with these voices of autonomy, and it won’t take too long, because my tour is not limited to Nigeria, there are other places, and I don’t have enough time.”

"Oh, Allen, aren't you going back to Kuala Lumpur?" Ingram said a little surprised, "I think you understand how time-consuming this trip is."

"I understand very clearly, but the overall interests of our overseas civil servants force me to understand it. Fortunately, I am here. You know Ingram, I am one of ours."

Alan Wilson also did not regard the Nigerian Commissioner as an outsider and directly asked about the current situation and which part wanted independence.

When it comes to independence, there must be a leader, usually the largest group, who wants to drive the British away and take power themselves.

But following Ingram's words, Alan Wilson was a little surprised. The people who made the call for autonomy were the Igbo people, who had the smallest population among the three major ethnic groups and controlled the smallest land.

Through Ingram's introduction, Alan Wilson had a general impression of Nigeria. Nigeria is currently divided into four general regions. One city is Lagos, where he is currently located, and is the colonial capital.

In the Northern District, Nigeria accounts for more than 70% of the area and more than half of the population. The vast majority are peaceful believers, among which the "Hausa-Fulani" are the largest ethnic group. The Hausa people have a relatively high degree of civilization in history. The "Seven Hausa States" and the "Seven Concubine States" are famous, but they have never formed a unified country. The Fulani people are originally nomadic because they were the first to launch the Hausa Jihad.

The jihad first overthrew the Hausa nobles of each city-state, eliminated the remnants of primitive religion among the Hausa people, and established the Sokoto Caliphate. Then it fought against the Western colonists and unified the Hausa states, thus deeply integrating with the Hausa people.

The Eastern District is located in the southeastern part of colonial Nigeria, in the Niger Delta region. This area had a hot and humid climate, was full of swamps, and was socially backward before the British arrived. But because it is relatively backward, there is no pressure to accept British culture. The Igbo people, the largest ethnic group in the area, learn all aspects of British culture.

In the West District, the Yoruba people are the main people. The Yoruba people are a famous business people in Africa and are active in doing business. Religiously, the Yoruba people are about half and half peaceful Christians. The city of Lagos, the capital of Alan Wilson Colony, is where the Yoruba people are.

The Yoruba people are mostly engaged in business, and the current native officials in the colony are mainly Igbo. So there are also many Igbo people in Lagos. Generally speaking, this is the general situation in Nigeria.

"It's really surprising. A nation has a small number of people and occupies a small area. How can they maintain their current interests if they become independent at all?" Alan Wilson couldn't help laughing after hearing this, "This is equivalent to, Ali Jinnah definitely wanted independence and wanted to rule the entire British India.”

This is simply being carried away by the interests after independence, Alan Wilson can only say so. In fact, compared with the historical background, the Hausa-Fulani people in the north clearly have the upper hand, and their national cohesion is built. If Nigeria had not been colonized by the British, the Igbo people would have been among the groups that would have been completely wiped out if they had stayed there for hundreds of years.

The consequences are equivalent to Baiyue in China and Champa in Vietnam. It would be nice to be mentioned in history books. How many days are there to show off one's strength?

"The Igbo people want to be independent, right? I'll meet with the leaders of the Hausa people first." Alan Wilson said coldly, "Give us a few years to live in peace, it will be good for everyone, if it doesn't work, then there will be no There's a way. If they make us uncomfortable, we let them die."

Azikiwe is the Igbo leader who is most looking forward to autonomy. He knew it immediately when the group arrived in London. However, after two days of no movement, Azikiwe inquired and was told, Alan Wilson is negotiating with the leader of the Northern People's Congress Party.

It was a party dominated by the Hausa people. Knowing that the representatives from London approached the Hausa people first, Azikiwe could not sit still.

Azikwe, who volunteered to come over to meet Alan Wilson, was born into an Igbo family in Zongeru, a city in northern Nigeria. Like many of the independent leaders of the colonies, he was born into a family of elite local officials in the colonies.

His father served in the headquarters of Sir Sir Luigi, Wing Commander and High Commissioner of the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria.

Alan Wilson is also investigating this leader who has been calling for autonomy, and also knows that Azikwe has strong Pan-African ideas, which is disgusting.

Pan-Africanist ideas are spreading widely across the African continent. A unified African country must be established in Africa as the motherland of all black people. Pan-Africanism thought had a great influence on the emergence of Azikiwe national consciousness.

Although this idea is too idealistic and has almost zero success rate, Alan Wilson does not want to meet leaders with similar ideas, because such leaders themselves are very idealistic, and it is not easy to negotiate with idealized opponents.

But Alan Wilson still met with Azikwe at the Administrative Office. Alan Wilson had always been face-blind to black people, and he would not think that Azikwe's skills were attributable to intelligence just because he had a pair of eyes.

The meeting was purely out of politeness. When Azikwe sat down, Alan Wilson was still flipping through the materials prepared by the Administrative Office and thinking about what to say to different local leaders.

"Hello, Mr. Wilson." Azikwe opened his eyes and said proactively, "I heard that you are a representative sent from London to convey Nigeria's call for autonomy. I am glad to see you."

"I'm very happy too!" Alan Wilson extended his hand in the same friendly manner. He remembered that Azikwe was the founding father of Nigeria and expressed his friendliness, "Mr. Azikwe, as people say, is A person full of wisdom. I heard that you have been to the United States for further study. I don’t think you have learned from the United States. How can you oppose the United Kingdom? "

Azikwe was stunned for a moment, then smiled, "How could Commissioner Wilson have such an idea? Do you think it is wrong for Nigeria to strive for autonomy?"

"Whether Nigeria is fighting for autonomy or the Igbo people have exposed their ambitions, this is a matter worth studying." Alan Wilson chuckled, "You should be aware that under the current colonial government, the proportion of Igbo people is abnormal. This allows me to see the trend of inequality, and maybe we can balance the proportion of officials according to ethnic distribution."