Protectorate of Northern Nigeria

Northern Nigeria Protectorate
Protectorate of British Empire
1900–1914
Ensign Badge
Anthem God Save the King/Queen
Northern Nigeria (red) British possessions in Africa (pink) 1913
Capital		Zungeru
Languages		English (official) Hausa, Arabic, Yoruba, Fula, Kanuri widely spoken
Religion		Islam, Christianity, Yoruba religion, African traditional religion
Government		Constitutional monarchy
Monarch
•	1900–1901	Victoria
•	1910–1914	George V
High Commissioner/Governor
•	1900–1906	Sir Frederick Lugard
•	1907–1909	Sir Percy Girouard
•	1909–1911	Sir Henry Hesketh Bell
•	1911-1912	Charles Lindsay Temple acting
•	1912–1914	Sir Frederick John Dealtry Lugard
History
•	Established	1 January 1900
•	Disestablished	1 January 1914
Currency		Pound sterling (1900–13) British West African pound (1913–14)
Preceded by Succeeded by Niger Coast Protectorate Sokoto Caliphate Bornu Empire Kano Emirate Nigeria Protectorate

Northern Nigeria was a British protectorate which lasted from 1900 until 1914 and covered the northern part of what is now Nigeria.

The protectorate spanned 660,000 square kilometres (255,000 sq mi) and included the states of the Sokoto Caliphate and parts of the former Bornu Empire, conquered in 1902. The first High Commissioner of the protectorate was Frederick Lugard, who actively suppressed revolutions and created a system of administration built around native authorities.

The Protectorate was ended on 1 January 1914, when its area was unified with the Southern Nigeria Protectorate and the Lagos Colony, becoming the Northern Province of the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria.

The Berlin Conference of 1884 and 1885 provided the area that would become the Northern Nigeria Protectorate to the British. The Royal Niger Company was formed in 1886 with George Taubman Goldie as the vice governor. The Company negotiated trade agreements and political agreements, sometimes coercive, with many of the chieftains, emirs, and the Sokoto Caliphate. In 1897, Frederick Lugard was the appointed head of the West African Frontier Force which was tasked with stopping Fulani resistance and possible French incursions in the northwest area.

On 1 January 1900, the Royal Niger Company's charter was revoked and the British government took control, in a ceremony where Lugard read the proclamation. The Royal Niger Company was paid £865,000 and was given the rights to half of all mining revenue in a large part of the areas for 99 years in exchange for ceding the territory to the British government. Lugard was appointed the High Commissioner of the newly created Northern Nigeria Protectorate. Lokoja was the capital from 1900, but Zungeru became the headquarters for the protectorate in 1902 because it was the most northerly city accessible by river transport.