1.2 Colonial Subjugation of People, Land, and Nature: slave trade, resource extraction, palm oil, and the invention of a national territory (Kaitlyn)
In the 18th Century, Britain replaced Portuguese as the rulers of the slave trade. Millions of Nigerian slaves were now being sold over seas to the Americas. However, once the slave trade was banned by the British empire in 1807, the British found another way to gain profits from Nigeria: through trade in palm oil.
It wasn't until 1900 that Britain had conquered the powerful groups of the area and officially gained control of Nigeria. They exercised their control through indirect rule, meaning there were local leaders that had direct control over Nigeria rather than the British.
Throughout the early 20th century, the British created the boarders as they saw fit and profitable. Another large influence of Nigerian boarders was World War Two. Germany was forced to give up its colonies by order of the League of Nations, and in turn, the former German colony Kamerun was added to Nigeria.
Later after WWII, Nigeria regained control of its countries. The new leaders however, saw it most fit to keep the boarders the same in order to reduce increased conflict.
Sources:
bbc.com/news/world-aftica-13951696bbc.com/news/world-aftica-13951696
Historynewsnetwork.org
The Atlantic
http://thecommonwealth.org/our-member-countries/nigeria/history#sthash.njn0OBjq.dpuf