Nigeria Law
The Ledger

Acquisition1899· £865,000

Niger Coast and Royal Niger Company assets purchased

The British Crown bought out the Royal Niger Company's charter for £865,000 — the legal birth of what would become Nigeria.

On 1 January 1900, the Royal Charter granted to the Royal Niger Company in 1886 was revoked. The British Treasury paid the Company £865,000 in compensation for its assets, territorial rights, and a guaranteed share of mineral royalties for 99 years. The territories were folded into two new protectorates: Northern Nigeria and Southern Nigeria. Sir Frederick Lugard was appointed High Commissioner of the Northern Protectorate.

Sources

  • · UK National Archives, CO 446
  • · Flint, John. Sir George Goldie and the Making of Nigeria (1960)
Methodology

Tier 1 · primary

Courts. Gazettes. National archives.

Tier 2 · corroborating

OCCRP. HRW. BudgIT. TheCable.

Redline

Wikipedia is never a source.