History Questions and Answers

In 1884 at the request of Portugal, German Chancellor Otto von Bismark called together the major western powers of the world to negotiate questions and end confusion over the control of Africa. The conference lasted until February 26, 1885 – a three month period where colonial powers haggled over geometric boundaries in the interior of the continent, disregarding the cultural and linguistic boundaries already established by the Native Indigenous African population. What ultimately resulted was a hodgepodge of geometric boundaries that divided Africa into fifty irregular countries.

The Policy of Association was the second policy the French Colonial Administration tuned to which recognized and preserved the identity, traditions, institutions, religions, customs, and way of life of the people within the French empire. This policy was emphasized by the French between 1920-1945.

When the Royal Niger Company attempted to establish its authority in the Asaba hinterland in the 1880s, the existing town societies in the area provided the foundations of a resistance movement which became known as the Ekumeku.

The system of indirect rule was first introduced in the Northern Nigeria around 1906 by Sir Lord Fredrick Lugard when he was a high commissioner of the protectorate of the Northern Nigeria.

The three powerful states that became involved in the Mfecane at the initial stages were the Ndwandwe led by Zwide, the Mthethwa led by Dingiswayo and the Ngwane led by Sobhuza and their expansionist ideas were ultimately crashed by Shaka(king of Zulu)