<P> That was an unplanned consequence of the creation of the Sokoto Caliphate in 1804 . At its peak, the Sokoto Caliphate was the most populous state in Africa . The Caliphate occupied most of north - central and north - west Nigeria, as well as parts of neighboring countries of nowadays Nigeria . Internal peace and market integration was a basis of the commercial prosperity of the Caliphate . Hausa merchant diasporas ran an extensive export - trade network and the state had regular increase of the labour supply through the importation of "pagan" captives as slaves . Many cities became bigger, especially, its commercial capital Kano, which was the biggest manufacturing center in the region . The clothing was exported from Kano to all over West Africa . The formation of the Sokoto Caliphate made Islam a mass rural religion for the first time in the region . The Caliphate introduced Islamic taxes that facilitated economic expansion . </P> <P> Formal "protection" and--eventually--colonization of Nigeria resulted not only from the desire to safeguard Britain's expanding trade interests in the Nigerian hinterland, but also from an interest in forestalling formal claims by other colonial powers, such as France and Germany . By 1850 British trading interests were concentrating in Lagos and the Niger River delta . British administration in Nigeria formally began in 1861, when Lagos became a crown colony, a step taken in response to factors such as the now - illegal activities of slave traders, the disruption of trade by the Yoruba civil wars, and fears that the French would take over Lagos . Through a series of steps designed to facilitate trade, by 1906 present - day Niger was under British control . </P> <P> Starting in 1949, when Nigerian's recently emergent labor, commercial, and professional elites were first consulted by the British as part of a constitutional review, the peoples of Nigeria engaged in ongoing debate over the pressure of decolonization, independence, and modernization . The two coup d'états of 1966 and the civil war of 1967 - 70 reflected economic as well as political elements . </P> <P> Between 1951 and 1960, the major political parties played leading roles in unifying and locally mobilizing the economic elite . Elites from majority parties in the regional assemblies who cooperated with the ruling federal coalition dispensed a wide range of rewards and sanctions, thus retaining their own positions and power and keeping the masses subordinated . Positions in government services and public corporations, licenses for market stalls, permits for agricultural export production, rights to establish enterprises, roads, electrical service, running water, and the governing group allocated scholarships to its supporters . Each major party was backed by a bank, which assisted in the transfer of substantial public funds to the party . </P>

Discuss the history and background of entrepreneurship in nigeria