Niger Coast Protectorate

The Niger Coast Protectorate was a British protectorate on the coast of what is now southern Nigeria. Its roots lay in the Oil Rivers Protectorate, declared in 1884 over the Niger Delta, where palm oil had long been the main export. The Berlin Conference of 1884 and 1885 recognised British claims in the region, and consular authority was extended inland along the Niger and Benue rivers. On 12 May 1893 the territory was renamed the Niger Coast Protectorate, with its headquarters at Calabar. British officials intervened in the interior kingdoms through treaties, gunboats and punitive expeditions, and a royal charter gave chartered companies administrative responsibilities. The protectorate's frontier was finally fixed by agreements with France, delimiting the border with the French colony of Dahomey. On 1 January 1900 the Niger Coast Protectorate was merged with the territories of the Royal Niger Company to form the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria, which later joined Northern Nigeria. The Niger Coast period was a decisive stage in the creation of British colonial Nigeria.