SOUTHERN NIGERIA

Benin

/ Biafra

History and Heraldry Southern Nigeria was formed in 1900 by adding the territories of the Royal Niger Company to the territories of the Niger Coast Protectorate. Lagos Colony was added to Southern Nigeria in 1906. Southern Nigeria merged with Northern Nigeria in 1914 to form the colony of Nigeria. In 1939 Southern Nigeria was split up in Western Nigeria and Eastern Nigeria. Western Nigeria in its turn was split up in Western Nigeria and Mid Western Nigeria in 1963. All were abolished on 27 May 1967 by State Decree No. 14 of 1967 (Creation and Transitional Provisions), which restructured the Federation of Nigeria into 12 states.
Royal Niger Company	1886-1900
The Royal Niger Company was a mercantile company founded by Sir George Taubman Goldie in 1879 as the United African Company. A charter was at length granted (July 1886), the National African Company becoming the Royal Niger Company, with Henry Austin Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare as governor and Goldie as vice-governor. It formed a basis of the modern state of Nigeria. It was, however, evidently impossible for a chartered company to hold its own against the state-supported protectorates of France and Germany, and in consequence, on January 1, 1900, the Royal Niger Company transferred its territories to the British government for the sum of £865,000. The ceded territory together with the small Niger Coast Protectorate, already under imperial control, was formed into the two protectorates of Northern and Southern Nigeria. The badge of the company, on the white ensign, consisted of a red circle charged with a black pall with the words ARS JUS PAX (Art, Right, Peace) in golden lettering.
Niger Coast Protectorate	1893-1900
1893-1900 The Niger Coast Protectorate was a British protectorate in the Oil Rivers area of present-day Nigeria, originally established as the Oil Rivers Protectorate in 1891 and confirmed at the Berlin Conference the following year, renamed on 12 May 1893, and merged with the chartered territories of the Royal Niger Company on 1 January 1900 to form the colony of Southern Nigeria. The badge of the Niger Coast Protectorate consisted of the Royal British achievement surrounded by a strap with the title and crowned with the Imperial State Crown. It was on a white disc on the Blue Ensign.
Southern Nigeria	1900 -1939
Southern Nigeria was a British protectorate in the coastal areas of modern-day Nigeria, formed in 1900 from union of the Niger Coast Protectorate with territories chartered by the Royal Niger Company below Lokoja on the Niger River. The badge of the Southern Nigeria was introduced in 1899 consisted of the Royal British achievement surrounded by a strap with the title and crowned with the Imperial State Crown. It was on a green disc on the Blue Ensign. It was abandoned in 1906. ð See illustration in the head of this essay.
1906-1914 The colony around Lagos was added in 1906, and the territory was officially renamed the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria. In 1914, Southern Nigeria was joined with Northern Nigeria to form the single colony of Nigeria. The badge of this larger Southern Nigeria was the palm tree, the elephant and the mountain ridge common for all British West Africa. On 1 January 1914 the Southern Protectorate became a part of British Nigeria Colony named Southern Provinces. In 1939 the Southern Provinces were divided into the Eastern and Western Regions and on 1 October 1960 these were incorporated into the Federation of Nigeria.