Reconnoitering Settler Colonization Part II: Its Emergence in Nigeria

Abstract

In Part I of this essay, I surveyed the global phenomenon of settler colonization through time, paying attention to its nature, ideology, processes, and praxis. Flowing from that, I applied the knowledge gained from the study of settler colonization to the settler colonial experience of Nigeria as initiated by British colonialism, particularly the British use of exogenous others in its conquest and ‘civilizing missions’ in the Middle Belt of Nigeria, and its enduring consequences leading to the resurgence of internal settler colonial enterprise in the territories of contemporary autochthonous communities of Nigeria’s Middle Belt region. The methodology adopted consists in literary and historical analysis, while the theoretical framework is within the general field of the emerging settler colonial studies. Suggestions are then proffered on dealing with and possibly surviving the onslaughts of settler colonisers.