The Portuguese Were the First Europeans to Settle in Nigeria

Jeremiah Aluwong

3 years ago

The history of Nigeria from about 1849 until it attained independence in 1960 is largely the story of the transformational impact of the British on the people and cultures of the Niger-Benue area. The colonial authorities who came to these parts of West Africa in the years between 1862 and 1960, sought to define, protect, and realize their imperial interests. The British were in the Niger- Benue area pursuing their interests which were largely economic and strategic. Steps taken in these pursuits resulted in many unplanned for and by-products, one of which was the socio-political aggregation that is known today in international law as the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

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But a question that should bother the mind also is, who were the first Europeans to settle in Nigeria? This question is what this article seeks to take a shot at in some way. It is stated that the first Europeans to settle in Lagos were the Portuguese in the 15th century and they gave Lagos her name- deriving from the Portuguese word for ‘lakes’. The land was initially called ‘Eko’. According to some sources, it is said that they occupied the land for about 4 centuries not so much as an administrative settlement but as a slave port. The British, who came to stop the trade in the 19th c., did more of an actual occupation from 1851 making Lagos a protectorate and running as a colony till 1960.

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The colonialist came to Nigeria from different fronts, but on record, the Portuguese were the first to settle in Lagos, and legend has it that they negotiated and sold Lagos to the British because they couldn’t mosquitoes. This is evidenced by the fact that this European expedition was characterized by exploration, trade, and missionary endeavours along the West Coast of Africa in the 15th century. The Portuguese were the first to do so, establishing trade with the Benin Kingdom, Lagos, and other regions along the coast. Portuguese dominance of these trade routes was overpowered in the 16th century by the British, French and Dutch, as the slave trade became very important. Slaves were taken from Nigeria to work on plantations in the Americas. During this period, Nigeria lost great numbers of people to the slave trade and also began to acquire firearms, metal bars, cloth and other European products through trade. Communities in Nigeria were changed substantially as a result of this kind of trade with Europeans. Some communities grew in size and power as commercial centers, while others suffered great losses through slave raids. Violence escalated, and warfare tactics changed with the coming of guns. Some estimate that over the course of the Atlantic Slave trade, more than 3.5 million slaves were shipped from Nigeria to the Americas. Well, the time has evolved things and we now have a beautiful country with a minimal number of European settlers, however, it is actually safe to assume they were the first Europeans to settle here were the Portuguese. Reference quora Nigerian embassy Featured image: Stears Business

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