Niger Delta Black Gold Blues: Can Writers Bring About Environmental Justice Where Slow Violence Has Proven So Devastating? or A Cautionary Tale for Environmental Sacrifice Zones Worldwide

1.2 Colonial Subjugation of People, Land, and Nature: slave trade, resource extraction, palm oil, and the invention of a national territory (Kaitlyn)

The colonization of Nigeria ultimately began with the slave trade that was occurring in the 15th century. Prior to the British, the Portuguese were the rulers of the slave trade. They sold slaves in order to obtain spices and weapons. However, the Nigerians themselves were the ones who provided the slaves. Tensions between different ethnic groups and tribes caused prisoners of war, so to speak, who would be sold to the Portuguese as slaves. For many, this was their main source of income.

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