British Colony

The first Europeans to come in contact with the people of Nigeria were the Portuguese, who developed a flourishing trade with Benin in the 15th century. The British began to trade in Nigeria in the mid-16th century. From the 17th through the early 19th century, Nigerian slave traders along the coast provided hundreds of thousands of slaves for the American colonies.

Europeans knew little of the interior until after 1800, when the British became active in exploration. Private commercial companies entered the region to carry on trade. In 1861, Lagos was made Great Britain's first Nigerian colony. The British gradually extended their control over the surrounding area and consolidated it into the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria in 1914.

During World War II Nigerian troops saw service on many fronts. The 1947 constitution gave the people some control over their government. In 1954 Nigeria became a federation under a governor general.