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History of the Nigerian Army
Founding of the Nigerian Army
The history of the Nigerian Army
dates to 1863, when Lt Glover of the Royal Navy selected 18 indigenes
from the Northern part of the country and organized them into a local
force, known as the "Glover Hausas". The small force was used by Glover
as governor of Lagos to mount punitive expedition in the Lagos
hinterland and to protect British trade routes around Lagos. In 1865,
the "Glover Hausa" became a regular force with the name "Hausa
Constabulary". It performed both police and military duties for the
Lagos colonial government. It later became "Lagos Constabulary". On
incorporation into the West Africa Frontier Force (WAFF) in 1901, it
became "Lagos Battalion". In addition to this force, the British
Government included the Royal Niger Company (RNC), Constabulary Force in
Northern Nigeria in 1886 and the Oil Rivers irregular in 1891. In 1889,
Lord Fredrick Lugard had formed the incipient body of what was to be
known in 1890, as the West Africa Frontier Force, (WAFF), in Jebba,
Northern Nigeria. The new unit expanded by absorbing the Northern
Nigeria-based elements of the Royal Niger Company (RNC) Constabulary. By
the end of 1901, it had incorporated all paramilitary units in the
other British dependencies into its command, thus fully meriting its
designation "WAFF". The establishment of West Africa Frontier Force
(WAFF) led to the merger of all units into regiment in each of the
dependencies. The merger in Nigeria produced the Northern Nigerian
Regiment and Southern Nigerian Regiment. The First commanders of the
Southern Regiments of WAFF were Lt CHP Carter (1899-1901) and Col J
Wilcox (1900-1909) respectively. The two regiments were later used for
expeditions during the annexation of Nigeria by Lord Lugard between 1901
and 1903.
Vide Almagamation of the Southern and Northern Protectorate
With the amalgamation of Nigeria in 1914, the
unification of the Northern and Southern Regiments came into being and
this witnessed the birth of the Nigerian Regiments. The Northern
Nigerian Regiments became the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Nigerian
Regiment, while the Southern Nigerian Regiment became the 3rd and 4th
Battalions of the Nigerian Regiments (NR). The Mounted Infantry of the
Northern Regiments became the ordinary Infantry Battalion after the
Second World War. A field artillery also existed in the Northern
Regiment.
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