The black man has always been a ‘sufferhead’ since the 15th century when slavery was introduced and sanctioned by European countries in the 17th century. In between, slaves were transported to the Americas when slavery stopped it took some time before the practice was halted in Africa. The last race to accept that slavery was a crime against humanity was the Arabs but they continued in the trade until amalgamation. Lugard wrote “Slavery in Northern Provinces: I cannot here deal at any length with the subject of slavery, but the question of labor supply so intimately affects the development of Nigeria, that a few words regarding it will not be out of place. It was mentioned in paragraph 2 that in 1900 when the Administration of Northern Nigeria reverted from the Chartered Company to the Crown, large armies led by Fulani chiefs annually raided for slaves, and had depopulated the country. With the conquest of the Moslem States, these organized raids were put to an end. By the abolition of the ‘Legal Status’ of slavery, a slave had power to assert his freedom.
