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Colonial Subjects and the Burden of Empire
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2020
Chapter 3 investigates the Nigerian home front. Nigeria, with its huge reserves of men, food, and raw materials, was critical to the Allied war effort. Nigerians from all walks of life, diverse regions, and various ethnicities were involved in the struggle to win the war. They were deployed as soldiers and workers, on a large scale, to theaters of war in Europe and the Middle East. The optimism expressed by colonial officials regarding support from the dominion and colonies, and the confidence that they would join the empire in the war with Germany, were not in vain. The notion that all people, including colonial subjects, were united by a common cause and a moral war fought against a common enemy drew Nigerians of all classes into a global fight against tyranny. Yet Britain embarked on a systematic extraction of human and material resources on an unprecedented scale. The drive to produce and the regulations put in place to control the local economy and meet wartime requirements created economic crises that were often ignored by the authorities. This chapter details the significant role played by Nigerians at home and the impact of the war in transforming their lives and societies in very fundamental ways to reveal its truly local and global impact.
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