I am a research lawyer, a Yoruba from the South-Western part of Nigeria. Since my elementary school days, I have always been curious to investigate the historical forces responsible for the protracted underdevelopment of the global south. This curiosity and strong interest led me to learn the intricacies of British colonialism. I then embarked on a five-year undergraduate academic pursuit after which I bagged a first degree in History and International Studies.
Following my first degree, I realized there is more to research and learn, especially about the relevant colonial and African laws under which British colonialism thrived. Consequently, I went back to the university between 2013 and 2016 for another undergraduate law degree. The basic knowledge I acquired in the course of these two degrees spurred my interest in academia. I wanted to research further and disseminate the knowledge I have acquired about the workings of colonialism, especially as it affects the African continent.
This moved me towards embarking on graduate degree studies. Thus, to further understand the various legal instruments used by the British colonial systems in colonizing and administering the colonized Yoruba region of Africa, I put in for the 2022-2023 Osgoode research LLM program. My LLM thesis which was on the effects of the judicial colonial system on the Yoruba pre-colonial justice system opened another window of research. This resulted in my current doctoral research in which I am investigating colonial courts' approaches to indigenous land rights in Canada and Nigeria.
Research
By the 1850s, Europe was on fire. The fiery intra-European socio-political rivalries, unresolvable by the Concert of Europe, assumed a new dimension. The rivalries soon shifted to colonial fields when the protracted “Scramble for Africa” became competitive with Britain's interest, keen on occupying land territories in South-Western Nigeria. To accomplish this imperial goal of territorial occupation, starting from 1851, Britain tactically and diplomatically utilized the international law of treaty-making to appropriate lands in Lagos Island and other Yorubaland. Most especially, the “Lagos Treaty of Cession” of 6 August 1861, signed between the Queen’s representatives and the Oba (King) of Lagos, purportedly ceded land territories in Lagos Island to the Queen of England. Consequently, the cession/conveyance clauses contained in the Lagos treaty affected the pre-colonial private rights of families, communities, and groups who owned and occupied the lands under customary law and customs and who were not parties to the conveying treaty.
The Lagos Treaty of Cession is one of the chains of colonial treaties inspired by and justified under the historical “Doctrine of Discovery.” Consolidated through colonial land mapping strategy and subsequent legalization under the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885, the Apapa Lagos land, appropriated under the Lagos Treaty of Cession, became part of the British Colony of Lagos. Sixty years later, in 1921, the Lagos Treaty of Cession was challenged at the Privy Council in Amodu Tijani v. Secretary of Southern Nigeria (subsequently Amodu Tijani). The judgement and principles of law that emanated from Amodu Tijani reverberated across the British colonial empire; till today, it sets a lasting international precedent for Indigenous land rights claims. Very important among the British colonial empires impacted by Amodu Tijani’s decision is Canada. Before the decision, the Indigenous peoples of Canada's lands, especially those of the Saulteaux Anishnaabe First Nations, were appropriated under a series of controversial colonial treaties designated as “Numbered Treaties.”
Based on the above background, this research proposes to investigate the judicial interpretation of the Lagos Treaty of Cession in Amodu Tijani and the sustained transnational impact of the case on Indigenous land rights across the British colonial empire, especially Canada. Specifically, this investigation is achieved through an in-depth appraisal of the significant influence of the Privy Council’s decision in Amodu Tijani on Calder v. Attorney-General of British Columbia, Delgamuukw v. British Columbia, and Tsilhqot’in Nation v. British Columbia. This appraisal is done while bearing in mind earlier contrary decisions in background cases of St Catherine’s Milling and Lumber Co. v. The Queen, Cook v. Sprigg, and later, Oyekan v. Adele.
This research raises two questions: How did the colonial Lagos Treaty of Cession of 1861 extinguish pre-colonial land rights of Indigenous communities and families in colonial and post-colonial South-Western Nigeria? And how did the 1921 landmark case of Amodu Tijani v. Secretary, Southern Nigeria impact and could further impact Indigenous land rights, jurisprudence, laws, and policies in Canada, Nigeria, and internationally?
Methodologically, this research shall be conducted using a combination of law-in-context, and interdisciplinary approaches. Using primary and secondary resources, this research is library-based, archives-based, and internet resources-based. Relevant source materials are accessed at selected archives, York University's and Osgoode libraries, and online.
The main significance of this investigation is to present an African historical and continuous contribution to the development of international law, especially through the influence of Amodu Tijani on Canadian Indigenous land rights issues and the subsequent adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).