PROTEST MOVEMENTS IN THE COLONIAL ERA

This article is about the protests of Africans over the colonial rule. It gives some light on how the bourgeoisie assumed the attitudes of the colonial masters and treated their fellow people with equal disregards as the colonialists. This article outlines the different efforts (Protest Movements) of Africans against the colonial rule, some of which were religious protests, formation of trade unions, The West African Youth Movements and the African Bourgeoisie. Some of these protests were violent while some others were non-violent.

A very active area in the protest was Christianity. Africans tried to make use of religious practices in Christianity in order to get rid of the colonial rule. Some other Africans saw the introduction of Christianity as a form of racial discrimination. Because the discrimination in churches was much, this made some Africans to star up their own churches which grew and spread around Africa. The growth of these churches called for the attention of the colonial rulers. The protest in some African churches led to the development of Zionism, an example of which was the Aladura church in Nigeria. Ridiculous acts by the African bourgeoisie against the development of indigenous churches led to formation of separatist churches. These churches therefore assumed no link between European culture and Christianity. Besides Christianity, Islam also protested against the colonial rule. Mahdism (an Islamic practice) became a nuisance to the colonial rule.

Another form of protest was the formation of trade unions, a collective bargaining by workers that was not encouraged in African colonies. Although trade unions were allowed in white-settlers’ regions, the blacks were not allowed to form unions because the best practices of trade unions implied protest and included expressions of discontent towards the colonial rulers. The colonial rulers also despised these unions because they concentrated on the dissatisfactions of the general public. The writer gives an example with the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) in South Africa which led political boycotts. The colonial government was completely not in support of the development of the trade unions, but the close relationships these unions had with the masses increased the activities of the unions and for this reasons, the colonial governments always opposed the unions.

African elites also formed organisations at different levels to protest the colonial rule. This didn’t involve any form of hostility or violence. They formed the National Congress of British West Africa (NCBWA) which met in different capitals of some countries under the leading rights of the British. Their protests mainly took the form of political parties like the Nigerian National Democratic Party. Most of their actions, although protests were considered as legitimate by the colonial rule. Prior to advancement of the colonial rule, the middle class gained knowledge about their policies and ways to counter unfavourable policies. This led to amalgamation of groups to build stronger movements. These movements led to stronger protests because of increase in number and knowledge of western education.

The last aspect of the protests against the colonialists was the Youth Movements which consisted mainly of the youth, as the name implies and concentrated mainly on politics. These youth movements had the intentions of taking over the control of politics from the hands of the older generation. An example of such Youth movements was the Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM) formed in 1934 by a journalist, Wallace Johnson. The NYM made demands that benefited the lower-class in the society and as a result got support from the general public. The NYM became a strong force in local politics and subsequently defeated the Nigerian Democratic Party which was run by the older generation.