Colonial history of Northern Nigeria

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Part of a series on the
History of Northern Nigeria
Timeline Prehistory Hausa States Kwararafa Confederacy Sokoto Period Kanem Bornu Pre-colonial Colonial Period Protectorate Period 1953–1960 1963–1966 1966–1979 1979–1983 1983–1993 1993–1999 1999–present
By ethnicity Hausa People Fulani People Kanuri People Nupe People Igbirra People
By topic Pacification of Northern Nigeria Culture Demographics Diplomacy Economics Historiography Medicine Military Women
By state Adamawa Bauchi Benue Borno Gombe Jigawa Kaduna Kano Katsina Kebbi Kogi Kwara Nassarawa Niger Plateau Sokoto Taraba Yobe Zamfara
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The Colonial history of Northern Nigeria extends from the British pacification campaigns to the independence of Northern Nigeria in 1953.^[1][2]

Initially, the British involvement in Northern Nigeria was predominantly trade-related and revolved around the expansion of the Royal Niger Company. The Royal Niger Company's interior territories spread north from where the Niger River and Benue River joined, at Mount Patti, Lokoja.^[3][4] The company did not represent a direct threat to much of the Sokoto Caliphate or the numerous states of Northern Nigeria. This changed when Frederick Lugard and Taubman Goldie laid down an ambitious plan to pacify the Nigerian interior and unite it with the rest of the British Empire.