Lagos, the British and Colonial Rule
Lagos from Awori settlement to slave port, the 1851 bombardment and the 1861 cession, the Lagos Colony and its Saro and Aguda (Brazilian returnee) communities, British expansion inland and the 1886 treaties, indirect rule through obas, the 1914 amalgamation, colonial Lagos society and press, and early nationalism.
From colony to capital
British control spread from Lagos inland through treaties and force: the 1886 peace in the Yoruba wars, a treaty with Abeokuta, and the 1892 expedition against Ijebu that opened the interior. Under indirect rule, the British governed through obas, which strengthened some kings' powers in ways older checks (Oyo Mesi, Ogboni) had prevented.
Lagos society mixed indigenous Lagosians, Saro (Sierra Leone returnees), Aguda or Amaro (returnees from Brazil and Cuba, whose builders gave Lagos its Brazilian-style houses), and migrants from across the region. Lagos newspapers from the 1880s, often owned by Saro, became early voices of nationalism.
Kristin Mann, Slavery and the Birth of an African City: Lagos, 1760-1900 (2007); Robert Smith, The Lagos Consulate, 1851-1861 (1979); Michael Crowder, The Story of Nigeria (1962, rev. editions).