



































Effects and Impacts of Western Imperialism on China & Nigeria


The Humanities & Sustainable Development (Nnamdi Azikiwe 
University Faculty of Arts International Conference, 2011, page 15-20) 

Odinye & Odinye                                                                                                              15 

 

THE EFFECTS AND IMPACTS OF WESTERN IMPERIALISM ON CHINA & 

NIGERIA 

    

            

                      Ifeoma Odinye & Ifeanyi Odinye  

               Xiamen University, China 

Email: ifeomaodinye@gmail.com & ifeanyiodinye@gmail.com 

       

 

Abstract 

In the history of any developing country, there is an element of foreign imperialism. Imperialism 

according to the western ideas is a modernizing instrument of history which helps culturally–

bound societies to adopt western civilization and move into modernity. Imperialism is only felt by 

people who are invaded or colonized. It has both economic and socio–economic effect on the 

Chinese and Nigerian societies. Also, it affects both societies culturally and psychologically as a 

result of changes and quest for modernity. This paper explores western imperialism in China and 

Nigeria as well as its impacts in these two societies. It also discusses the cultural and 

psychological impacts of imperialism, consequences and effects in the social, political and 

economic lives of these societies. 

 

 

Introduction 

Karl Marx defines imperialism as the unconscious tool of history and also a necessary historical 

force in breaking apart stagnant and tradition-bound societies seemingly incapable of moving into 

modern history on their own (Meisner, 1977). 

 

In the history of the world, China has been perceived as a land of strong cultural values because 

of its strong resistance to western invasion. Many scholars believe that China’s refusal of the west 

is as a result of its conservative attachment to the traditional Confucian, social and cultural values. 

However, the Chinese people’s strong attachment to their traditional values made China’s path to 

modernization very slow and tortuous (Nathan, 1972). 

 

The surprising thing about the effect of imperialism on China is that modern Chinese society is 

not transformed into the form of the western political world and civilization but still retains its 

traditional values. The refusal of Chinese conservative officials in accepting any form of minor 

reforms prevented the old imperial order from attaining modernization. Also, there was no 

centralized state that would have helped China from the conservative route to modernization, 

because the leaders were not ready for any alteration of their Confucian beliefs or tradition.  

 

Foreign imperialism in Nigeria was quite different from that of the Chinese society. Nigeria has a 

very unique and painful colonial history; the missionaries were the colonial tools that were used 

effectively to penetrate into the social circles, regions and tribes of Nigeria.  Many Nigerian 

scholars believe that the role played by western missionaries in the pre-colonial days of Nigeria is 

very explicit and must be a major concern to those who are colonized. It is a wide spread belief 

that the missionaries’ penetration into the Nigerian soil is instrumental in setting the scene for the 

colonialist invasion of Nigeria. They were the first Europeans that the Nigerians came in contact 

with; this is also the experience of many regions and countries in Africa. 

 

The missionaries’ goal or mission in Nigeria was simply to change Nigerian natives from their 

barbaric ways of life and culture into a westernized culture or Christian belief system. They 

completely overlooked the cultural richness that existed in Nigeria and through converting more 

mailto:ifeomaodinye@gmail.com


The Humanities & Sustainable Development (Nnamdi Azikiwe 
University Faculty of Arts International Conference, 2011, page 15-20) 

Odinye & Odinye                                                                                                              16 

 

people to Christianity; they also imposed their western culture and religion on Nigerian people. 

One humiliating thing about the western influence on Nigeria is that they placed the western 

culture to be superior to the Nigerian culture thereby leaving the Nigerians with a feeling that 

their culture is inferior , barbaric , dirty and that of savagery.  

 

Many missionaries dedicated their lives in trying to change and influence Nigeria; some even 

died in order to achieve these goals. It would be unrealistic to assume that the missionaries were 

not aware of the drastic consequences of their exploration and opening up of Nigeria would bring. 

Many scholars believe that they heavily contributed to the colonial problems, experiences and 

power struggles in Nigeria. And as a result of this the political future of Nigeria has been affected 

and will be greatly affected because of the 1914 amalgamation of people with different languages, 

culture and traditional backgrounds; giving then a common name “Nigeria.” After the 

amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates, there had been conflicts and struggles 

about the tribe and region that would rule Nigeria. 

 

 

Psychological Effects of Western Imperialism on Chinese people 

China was never colonized by the British; the name China was not coined by any colonial master 

and also there were not much differences between western complexion and that of the Chinese 

people.  Many Chinese citizens believed that, the Christian missionaries were an ideological arm 

of foreign aggression and that was why they called the Europeans “barbarians” who had come to 

destroy their rich traditional culture. However, the missionaries and the Chinese traditional 

gentry-elite were rivals; the missionaries believed that the Chinese gentry-elite were cunning, 

ignorant, rude and full of hatred for everything foreign. While the Chinese elite believed that the 

missionaries were foreign subversives whose immoral conduct and teaching were supported by 

gunboats (Fairbank et’al, 2001). 

 

Hence, Chinese Confucian conservatives hated and feared the westerners (intruders) but 

unfortunately during the modern period, the conservative officials lost out. In 1894, the 

Protestants mission supported British, Americans and Canadians missionaries; they built churches, 

street chapels, small schools and hospital in different cities and towns. Yet they only converted a 

few number of Chinese citizens; this made so many western scholars to believe that China was 

not destined to be a Christian country. 

 

The Effects and Impacts of Foreign Imperialism on China 

In the 18th century of China, there was a lost of influence by the British traders on the Chinese 

population. The British demand for tea was very high and the average London worker spent more 

of his income to purchase Chinese tea. The British was finding it very difficult to balance their 

trade with China and to avoid that, they decided to sell more of their products to the Chinese 

citizens especially at Guangzhou.  The only option they had was to increase the size and amount 

of goods brought in India in order to get more teas. 

 

The British provided Bengal opium to the Chinese market; the opium imports from India to China 

caused a great crisis and destruction. The Chinese traders and others demanded for increase in the 

supply of opium in spite of so many bans from the Chinese government. Also the British helped 

in ensuring that opium trade continued in China; they bribed Chinese officials and helped them to 

smuggle opium in the Chinese markets. The drug actually weakened and affected so many 

Chinese people; many Chinese used silver to pay for the opium and this began to alarm the Qing 

administrators. The Chinese leaders had the problem of how to deal with opium trade and the 

British officials. Again silver became treasured in China than copper and this actually threatened 

the government’s revenues and daily living. Many of the economic problems that China had had 



The Humanities & Sustainable Development (Nnamdi Azikiwe 
University Faculty of Arts International Conference, 2011, page 15-20) 

Odinye & Odinye                                                                                                              17 

 

been traced to the opium trade. Opium destroyed many families and industries which lead to 

violence and corruption between the smugglers and officials. 

 

There were so many unequal treaties in China; in 1958, United States, Russia and France 

demanded for Britain’s Nanjing treaty which also included extra territoriality whereby foreigners 

were not punishable or affected by the Chinese law. Again, a second war was fought in China 

from 1858-60 ; the opening of more ports that were open to foreign resistance, trade and 

westerners especially the missionaries compelled the tradition –bound China to change its 

traditional tribute based foreign relations to the signing of treaties with foreigners. There was free 

movement and trade by the foreigner in China; also they were immune from Chinese laws. 

 

Many Chinese citizens believed that the Taiping Rebellion happened as a result of the 

missionaries influence over Hong Xiuquan, the founder of the Taiping movement. Though the 

movement had some elements of Christianity but it was not the European type but adapted 

Chinese form. 

 

However, the Qing dynasty had survived rebellions by the Chinese citizens but its foreign 

relations were very difficult for the government to control. Japan’s victory over China in 1895 

threw the Chinese society into a decade of imperialist conflicts. Also, in 1898, Russia, Britain, 

Germany, Japan and France claimed influence over China and they all looked for major areas of 

development; like in the mines, naval ports and railway. There was no doubt that western 

influence and trade actually affected the Chinese culture and society which brought a lot of 

positive and negative changes both in technology and way of life in China. 

 

Psychological Effects of Western Imperialism on Nigerian people 

The psychological effects of western imperialism could only be felt by those who were colonized 

or invaded. Also, the social effects and consequences of colonial education, religion and political 

administration (control) could only be expressed by the formerly colonized people. African 

countries like Nigeria could not easily break away from the continuous mental and psychological 

struggle created by western imperialism since their historical past was hinged on colonialism, 

slavery and the name “Nigeria” which was coined by the colonial masters.  

 

Many African novelists and poets like, Chinua Achebe, Dennis Brutus, Ngugi wa Thiong’o and 

Linda Tuhiwai Smith had written to find solutions to this psychological effects but there was no 

easy way out. They wrote many poems and novels to re-define, re-interpret and project the unique 

features of African culture; while at the same time pointing out that African culture was very 

superior and not inferior to the western culture. It was widely acknowledged that imperialism 

labeled many Nigerian indigenous cultures and people inhuman or sub-human which left the 

Africans with a sense of inferiority toward the white people (Europeans).  

 

The British used education as a tool to cultivate their religion and cultural hegemony in Nigerians. 

They oppressed the indigenous natives by subjecting them to western values. This was why 

Ernest Gellner stated that education was a means of subjugating people to a cultural hegemony, 

such subjugation leads to the domination of a people. 

 

Chinua Achebe also pointed out in his famous novel Things Fall Apart (1958) about the coming 

of the white men (Europeans) and their influence in the cultural lives of the pre-colonial Igbo 

society. Achebe stated in his novel that: 

 

 

 



The Humanities & Sustainable Development (Nnamdi Azikiwe 
University Faculty of Arts International Conference, 2011, page 15-20) 

Odinye & Odinye                                                                                                              18 

 

“the white man was also their brother because they were all sons of God.  

And he told them about this new God, the Creator of all the world and all  

the men and women. He told them that they worshipped false gods, gods  

of wood and stone. A deep murmur went through the crowd when he said 

this. He told them that the true God lived on high and that all men when  

they died went before Him for judgment. Evil men and all the heathen who  

in their blindness bowed to wood and stone were thrown into a fire that  

burned like palm-oil. But good men who worshipped the true God lived  

forever in His happy kingdom.” (Acbebe’s Things Fall Apart (1958) 

 

All these left the Nigerian society with a psychological feeling of inferiority toward their culture 

and origin. The first western culture and education was lead by the missionaries; they opened and 

used schools as a means of converting local natives to Christianity. The C.M.S (Church 

Missionary Society and Methodist Missionaries Society) were the first Christian organizations 

that were found by the missionaries in Nigeria. However, most of these schools were set up in the 

southeastern regions of Nigeria where there were less strict Islamic influence and control. One of 

the worst effects of imperialism is that Nigerian natives are meant to believe that their colour, 

traditional cultures, and beliefs are dirty and barbaric; they are taught, controlled and directed 

according to British codes and principles. Fafunwa also mentioned that “the black Christian was 

made civilized when he or she isolated him or herself from the evil influences of his pagan past 

and present” (Fafunwa, 1974) 

 

The Effects and Impacts of Foreign Imperialism on Nigeria 

Many Nigerians felt that British colonization caused a lot of problems to the political culture and 

economy of the Nigerian society. The imperialism of 18th and 19th centuries was different from 

the 15th and 16th centuries European explorations; in these centuries, the Europeans did not 

penetrate into Asian and African societies to conquer them nor had influence over the people. But 

during the 18th and 19th centuries’ imperialism, they influenced the economic, cultural, political 

and social lives of the Nigerian and Chinese societies. And their major interest was to control and 

force the colonized countries to adopt their western cultures and traditions. 

 

The years 1900 – 1960 marked the years of British colonial rule in Nigeria. The name Nigeria 

was never in existence before because the regions were different both in language and culture.  

They had their own defined and distinguished territories that were marked by their different 

cultures, unique languages, kingdoms and system of rural leadership. However, the intrusion of 

the British (European) as a result of their interest in slave trade and palm oil, made them to bring 

these regions with no common features together as a  single country.  

 

The British administration in Nigeria had been seen by so many Nigerian citizens as the real 

cause of the political, religious cultural and tribal conflicts in the contemporary Nigeria. Although 

the British colonized Nigeria for sixty years, there had been series of blame on the British 

government for exploiting the Nigeria’s natural resources. Many Nigerians think that they left 

Nigeria in poverty by stripping her of her raw materials. The British influence has both positive 

and negative effect to the Nigerian society; they positively helped in introducing infrastructure 

like railways, advanced communication technology, access to western education, and democracy. 

Also there are some negative effects such as forced acquisition of land for British use, 

discrimination against indigenous inhabitants of Nigeria and the merging or grouping of colonial 

borders. 

 

The missionaries’ positive influence to the Nigerian culture are many ; they helped in the 

abolition of many humiliating customs like killing of twins, the use of human beings for sacrifice, 



The Humanities & Sustainable Development (Nnamdi Azikiwe 
University Faculty of Arts International Conference, 2011, page 15-20) 

Odinye & Odinye                                                                                                              19 

 

the slave trade and others. Bleakley (2006) stated in his project that the missionaries first made 

their presence felt through their works in abolishing of the slave trade. As Crowder noted, they 

took the emphasis away from ‘human products’ of Africa in a bid to use more fully abundant 

natural resources. 

 

Conclusion 

Imperialism refers to periods during the 18th and 19th centuries after industrial revolution when 

industrialized and European nations like America, Britain and France took control of some non-

industrialized countries in many parts of the world. Imperialism had different motives and goals 

such as political, economic, social, religious and ideological. The Europeans actually took 

advantage of the countries they explored and they also exerted control using force in getting what 

they wanted. 

 

There are positive and negative impacts of imperialism to Chinese and Nigerian societies. The 

Europeans brought modernization, western education and infrastructural development to their 

colonies which at the same time were at the expense of the cultural traditions of these societies. In 

the case of China, they obstructed their political culture and Confucian codes in the late 18th 

century by introducing western education, technology and culture in the Chinese traditional 

society. As a result of these influences and failures in the leadership system of the Qing dynasty, 

many rebellions erupted against the Chinese leadership system from its citizens. 

 

 Nigeria got independence from Britain in the year 1960; yet she is still struggling to achieve 

political stability and self sufficiency in her leadership system. Nigeria is a vast country blessed 

with many natural resources. It also has the unique potentials of being a powerful nation, but 

there are many obstacles toward achieving this. Some of these problems come from the British 

colonization of Nigeria; their influence in the political, social and economic lives of the Nigerians 

really affected the social and political circles of the Nigerian society. This problem of 

colonization is deeply rooted in the way they ruled and colonized Nigeria. 

 

There is no doubt that Nigeria is still affected by imperialism but this does not mean that the 

contemporary and future leaders of Nigeria should fold their hands and allow the problems 

caused by western imperialism to ruin the peace of the country. Nigerian leaders should put aside 

all their tribal, ethnic religious and regional differences and put their resources together in order 

to build a better Nigeria. However, Nigeria has a lot to emulate from China in ensuring that there 

is fast growth, development, stability and good foreign relations. One good thing about foreign 

imperialism in China is that modern Chinese society is not transformed into the form or nature of 

western political leadership, but still maintains her traditional values.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



The Humanities & Sustainable Development (Nnamdi Azikiwe 
University Faculty of Arts International Conference, 2011, page 15-20) 

Odinye & Odinye                                                                                                              20 

 

 

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