NIGERIA

[s. 556] : A British po e ion and sphere of JigaT.t ose influence in W. Africa. It comprises Northern Nigeria, Southern Nigeria, and Lagos. Its southern limit is on the Gulf of Guinea and it extends northward to Lake Chad and the French Sahara. On the east it is bounded by Kamerun, and on the west by Dahomey and the French military territories. The whole area is about 400,000 square miles, with an estimated population of 25,000,000, almost wholly native tribes. Much of this territory was formerly administered by the Royal Niger Company, but in 1900 that company turned aU its rights over to the crown. The revenues are collected by the coast ports of Lagos and Southern Nigeria, and apportioned to the provinces by the colonial secretary. Northern Nigeria, divided into 8 administrative provinces, has an area of about 320,000 square miles. The region to the northward is especially subject to the raids of slave traders. In 1900 the country was ravaged as far south as and Bida. An expedition was made against the raiders, and as a result of these disturbances the emirs of Bida and Kontagora were deposed, and new rulers acceptable to the natives were appointed. decree was i ued making aU children bom after April 1, 1901, free, forbidding the removal of domestic slaves for the purpose of sale, and applying the penalties for slave dealing to the entire protectorate. The Arab Berbers constitute a portion of the inhabitants, and many of the natives are nomadic. The Fulani race has ruled the land, with headquarters at Sokoto. It is the great Mohammedan Jebba A power in all this region. It has openly or secretly opposed the British efforts to break up the slave trade. In 1902 and 1903 punitive expeditions under British officers have done much to bring the Fulani Mohammedans to terms. The Hausa language is the one in general use among the tribes north of the Benue river. Mi ionary stations are established at Gierke (1903) north of the Benue, and in the regions near the confluence of the Niger and the Benue rivers, in the southem part of the territory. Southern Nigeria, with an area of 48,000 square miles, with seat of government at Old Calabar, in the Oil River region on the Gulf of Guinea, is inhabited by the Jakri, the Idzos, the Ibos, and other tribes, some of which are more or le cannibalistic. Cannibalism is, however, being gradually stamped out. Mi ionary enterprise is active in the territory. The CMS is the society occupying the most points in Nigeria. The UFS has a strong mi ion in the Oil River region, and the Primitive Methodists have mi ionaries on the coast. About 20 points are occupied, all but one being in S. Nigeria. Bacon (R. H.), The City of Blood, London, 1897; Bind lo (H.), In the Niger Country, London, 1899; Goldie (H.), Old Calabar and Its Mi ion, 1890. 557