Nigeria, Burna Boy and Vaseline: A brief history lesson by Gabriel Dedji

On July 25^th, Nigerian superstar, Burna Boy, released ‘African Giant’ to widespread excitement. I was fairly disappointed when hearing the album (I’d give it ★★½/★★★★★), yet I must admit, the album’s 10^th track, ‘Another Story’, stood out to me. In its introduction, Ghanaian rapper M.anifest, who is known for his socio-political lyricism, said ‘in order to understand Nigeria, we must appreciate where it came from’. Thus, he began to describe Nigeria’s creation as a result of a trade deal between the British government and The Royal Niger Company. Like many, I was captivated by M.anifest’s soft spoken delivery of this tale, so I was compelled to investigate further. And I did. The result was this article which focuses on The Royal Niger Company’s role in Nigeria’s creation.

Royal Niger Company Logo

The Royal Niger Company was founded in 1879 to export palm oil out of the southern region of the Niger River. They had signed contracts with the indigenous people, which gave the company a monopoly over their palm oil and some power over their homeland. Essentially, this was a new form of colonialism. With slavery being abolished in the UK in 1833, owning land and palm oil became more desirable than trading humans. The way in which The Royal Niger Company had practically taken over this area of land and gained monopolies over their exports became a common trend in neo-colonialism. This is a term which was coined around 1946 by Ghanaian president Kwame Nkrumah to describe the power that the West had managed to maintain over African countries despite their independence. Although this occurred long after The Royal Niger Company’s birth, neo-colonialism usually involves buying foreign land, using commercial tactics to establish their authority and take over their industries. Therefore, the actions of The Royal Niger Company find themselves within this bubble. In modern times, a similar example includes China putting African countries in debt and then buying their key industries as ‘compensation’ (e.g. Zambia’s national electricity and broadcasting companies).

In Niger-delta (the RNC’S territory) during 1886, Sir George Goldie, their leader, traded with surrounding regions without prior agreement. Many of the indigenous people were also tricked into signing crooked contracts- written in English- that they couldn’t understand. Jaja of Opobo- a native chief in the region at the time- tried to sell his own palm oil in 1891 so the RNC poisoned his tea, killing him for seeking autonomy. Angered by this assassination, many of the other local kings and chiefs began to sell their palm oil directly to the Germans, up north. King Koko Mingi VIII (pictured above) was one of these men. He hated the restrictions of the RNC and rejected the Christianity that they brought with them. He called his fellow natives to fight with him, garnering mixed responses. Nevertheless, he and his men launched an attack on the RNC’s headquarters in Akassa, at the southernmost tip of the Delta region in January 1895. King Koko captured 60 white men on that day. He ordered that the RNC give his people freedom. Instead they refused and allowed King Koko to kill two-thirds of those he had captured. In response, the RNC led a bloody conquest in Brass Nigeria purely to ruin the area and fined the survivors after doing so. King Koko, who had been on the run since, committed suicide in 1898.

This doesn’t entirely narrate Nigeria’s creation and it doesn’t explain the picture of Vaseline on the cover. Well, after the terrible reputation that this event gave the RNC, the British government bought the land off of them for £865,000 in 1900 and they acquired the Northern region later on from Germany which created a united country that they called Nigeria. We have to use the word ‘united’ carefully though, because this union is partially responsible for many conflicts in Nigeria, most notably the Biafra war. The RNC underwent numerous transformations and still exists today under the name UNILEVER. The same company who make Vaseline, Ben and Jerry’s and Magnum ice cream, were an abusive force to the liberty of the Nigerian people. Funnily enough, they still get involved in ‘foreign aid schemes’ in West Africa today.