Egba United Government

The Egba United Government (EUG) was a political entity in the late 19th century in what is today Nigeria, representing the Egba and Yewa Yoruba people.^[1][2] The government was formally established by the Lagos Colony Governor, McCallum, at a meeting organised in 1898, by William Alfred Allen, an Egba man who was the Colonial Government Agent in Abeokuta. William Alfred Allen was appointed the first Secretary to the Government by the Colonial government while the Egba rulers were given government portfolios. Allen was eventually succeeded by Adegboyega Edun.

The EUG was recognized by the British at the end of the Yoruba civil wars in 1893, making it one of Africa's legally existing nation-states (at least according to modern international law) to remain independent during the Scramble for Africa. However, its independence did not last long, as the nature of the government, which placed constraints on the power of the king, was antithetical to Frederick Lugard's vision of "indirect rule." He therefore had it dissolved under the pretext that the king and his chiefs invited the British monarch to serve as their protector in the aftermath of a period of internal civil strife in the early part of the 20th century.

References

1. Biobaku, Saburi O. (1952). An historical sketch of Egba traditional authorities (22.1 ed.). Africa. pp. 35–49.
2. Davies, Lanre (2014). "The political economy of the Egba nation: a study in modernisation and diversification, 1830-1960". African Nebula. 7: 74–101.

• Canby, Courtlandt. The Encyclopedia of Historic Places. (New York: Facts of File Publicantions, 1984) p. 2