Agitation and Protest against the British Colonial Policies in Ilorin 1823- 1936
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Date
2003
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Faculty of Arts, University of ilorin
Abstract
Discontents, protests, and agitations were not peculiar to ilorin
Community during the colonial period. Rather, they were rampant
among various communities in Nigeria as it was the case in the other
colonized nations. The Aba Women's Riot of 1929 over the fear that
women were going to be taxed is an example. There were several types
of violent resistance. Some were carried out by individuals like King
Kosoko of Lagos, or Nana of Ebrohioni, while others were by
organizations, such as the Ekumeku of Asaba and the Ezza of the Ibo.
Further still, other forms of resistance were mixtures of violence and
diplomacy. The Aro of Arockhukwu offered the impression that they
were friendly and that they would embrace colonial administration if
the colonizers would hold talks on the subject with them. By this
method, the Aros contained the British for more than five years
between 1896*'and 1901 (Aghenta, 1978:60-63).
Other types of resistance or protest were spontaneous as a result of
certain measures by the British that were totally unacceptable to those
concerned such as the Aba Women's Riot, the Okeho Iseyin uprising
of 1916, and the liorin revolts. Equally, some resistance may be nonĀ¬
violent. The famous in this category was the case of King Jaja of
Opobo in 1887 (Ikime, 1977: 41-43).
On the theory of "protest", AM A Mazrui categorized it into four;
protests of conservation, restoration, transformation and correction,
(Mazrui, 1970:185-196). These were the methods by which peoplereacted against, and rejected, the imposed foreign politica!, social and
economic rule.
yc The people of llorin therefore, having noticed the gradual
disintegration of their much cherished traditional values and
authorities, took measures, not only to react but also to protest (Alhaji
Ubadanwaki, 1999). This work is therefore aimed at examining the
peoples' reactions against imposition of colonial taxes and other
administrative changes. Though the revolts were brutally crushed and
major participants were punished, most of what they reacted against
were equally removed by the colonial authorities.
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Keywords
agitation, protest, British colonial policies, Ilorin, Taxation