1851 (December 26-27): Royal Navy warship bombards Lagos. Oba of Lagos (Oba Kosoko) is wounded and flees to Epe.
On board the ship was Lt. Labulo Davies, probably the first Nigerian to be commisioned in a naval force.
1862 (January 1): Lagos Island is annexed as a colony of Britain
1862 (January 22): Mr H.S Freeman is appointed as the first Governor of Lagos Colony.
1877: George Taubman Goldie arrived in the Niger Delta in 1877
1885: Oil Rivers Protectorate proclaimed by the British after they had defeated of King Jaja of Opobo, the Oba of Benin and subdued all prominent oil merchants of the Niger Delta.
1892 (19 May): At the Battle of the (sacred) Yemoja River the British wreaks havoc amongst the Ijebu infantry with a British Maxim (capable of firing 2000 rounds in three minutes).
1893: Oil Rivers Protectorate renamed Niger Coast Protectorate with its capital at Calabar.


1890's: British Journalist Flora Shaw, later wife of Lord Frederick Lugard, suggests the name "Nigeria" after the great Niger River.
1897: The British overthrow Oba Ovonramwen of Benin. One of the last independent West African kings.
1900: Niger Coast Protectorate was merged with the colony and protectorate of Lagos and renamed Protectorate of Southern Nigeria
1914: Formation of Nigeria under Governor Frederick Lugard
1929 (October): (Aba Women's Riot). Women in Aba demonstrate against high taxes and low prices of Nigerian exports.
1954: The position of Governor was created in each region after the Federal System of Government is adopted.
1958: Nigerian Armed Forces came under Federal control. The Nigerian Navy is created.
1959: The new Nigerian currency is introduced
1959: Northern Peoples Congress(NPC)and Niger Delta Congress(NDC) go into alliance to contest parliamentary elections. The alliance earned the Brass Division a seat in the Federal Parliament for the first time.
1960(July): Sir Adesoji Aderemi becomes 1st Nigerian and 1st African to be appointed Governor in the Commonwealth. He became Governor before Nigeria got independence.
1960 (October 1): Nigeria's Independence Day: Nnamdi Azikiwe ("Zik") becomes 1st indigenous Governor General. At independence, the Nigerian government consisted of three ethnic states united in a federation. Each state was controlled by a single dominant ethnic-based party.