Nigeria was built for extraction of our natural resources. We must now deliberately redesign themselves for production, cohesion, and internal capital formation.
The West, and multilateral western institutions, don’t mean as well for us as they appear to.
————
But we cannot continue to lament forever. We must help ourselves.
And, since that time, what have we done for ourselves? Rather than build new railways, we mostly lost what had been given to us to serve themselves. Why couldn’t we build more railways to serve ourselves? Even for intra city commuting?
We wasted opportunities for our iron and steel. Wasted Ajaokuta without any repercussions for the destroyers. We kept exporting crude oil rather than export refined products; we killed our refineries without any repercussions for the destroyers. How fair is it to blame the colonisers forever, over 60 years after they had left? We should sit up and stop giving lame excuses. Many developed economies today were also once colonised. Including America, Canada and Australia. Check out the countries that make up the Commonwealth. Let’s just sit up and get serious.
——
Let’s compare Nigeria’s experience with that of Canada.
Good. Let’s compare Canada and Nigeria under British colonial rule — calmly, factually, and structurally.
They were both under Britain, but the type of colony, purpose, and long-term outcome were very different.
⸻
- Type of Colony: Settler vs Extraction
Canada – Settler Colony
• Large numbers of British settlers moved permanently.
• Land was redistributed to European settlers.
• Institutions were built for settlers (parliament, courts, schools).
• Indigenous peoples were displaced.
Purpose: Build a “new Britain” overseas.
Britain wanted Canada to become self-sustaining and eventually self-governing — but still loyal.
⸻
Nigeria – Extraction Colony
• Few British settlers.
• Britain ruled mainly through local chiefs (Indirect Rule).
• Economy focused on exporting raw materials (palm oil, cocoa, groundnuts, later oil).
• Infrastructure built mainly to move goods to ports.
Key figure: Frederick Lugard
He formalized “Indirect Rule.”
Purpose: Extract resources cheaply and maintain control at low cost.
⸻
- Political Development
Canada
• Gradual transfer of political power to settlers.
• Responsible government by 1848.
• Dominion status in 1867.
• Full legal independence by 1931 (Statute of Westminster).
• Constitutional control by 1982.
Canada was allowed to evolve politically.
⸻
Nigeria
• Political participation limited.
• Colonial structures strengthened ethnic divisions.
• 1914 amalgamation merged diverse groups without integration.
• Independence granted in 1960.
• No long gradual preparation like Canada.
Nigeria inherited a state designed for control, not cohesion.
⸻
- Economic Structure
Canada
• Encouraged industrial development.
• Railways connected regions.
• Settler agriculture and manufacturing grew.
• Capital formation occurred internally.
Canada developed a diversified economy early.
⸻
Nigeria
• Mono-product export structure.
• Little industrialization.
• Limited local capital development.
• Economy structured around commodity export.
This pattern still influences Nigeria today.
⸻
- Indigenous Peoples vs Ethnic Nations
Canada displaced Indigenous nations physically.
Nigeria did not experience mass settler displacement — but:
• Traditional institutions were manipulated.
• Artificial borders forced over 250 ethnic groups into one political unit.
• Colonial rule froze ethnic identities into administrative categories.
Different method. Similar long-term tension.
⸻
- Post-Colonial Trajectory
Canada
• Political stability.
• Strong institutions.
• Wealth accumulation.
• High GDP per capita.
Nigeria
• Military coups (1966 onward).
• Civil war (1967–1970).
• Oil dependency.
• Governance instability.
The colonial design mattered.
⸻
The Structural Difference in One Sentence
Canada was built to become a prosperous extension of Britain.
Nigeria was structured to serve Britain.
That difference shaped institutional quality, economic design, and political maturity.
⸻
My Neutral Observation
Colonialism was exploitative everywhere.
But Britain invested differently where its own population was settling permanently versus where it was extracting resources.
The key lesson is not emotional — it is structural:
Nations built for extraction must deliberately redesign themselves for production, cohesion, and internal capital formation.
That redesign does not happen automatically after independence.
⸻