African response to the imposition of Colonial rule

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Different African societies responded to colonial rule differently    depending    on
 circumstances   on ground.   Such  kinds  of response   include:
Collaboration
Opportunistic    response
Passive  or indifferent   response                                                                   ,.
Active  resistance.
1.        Collaboration:
This can also be termed  as copperation. These were communities  or individual    leaders who decided to cooperate with impostors of colonial rule. Some historians have wished to cal such a reaction as an adaptation to colonial rule eg the Baganda,   Basuto, Lozi,  Fante,
Masai and Shena.                                '.'
2. Opportunities
These were the Africans who allied with colonialists because of self centredness or selfish reasons. These assisted Europeans  with ideas in fighting their fellow African resisters e.g. Semei Kakqngulu,  Kabaka Muteesa  I of Buganda,  Al-haji Umar of Tukolor empire who assisted  the. French  on how to defeat Samoure  Toure,  chief Lewanika  of the Lozi etc.
5.       Passive/indifferent response:      
These  are communities  which  treated the  imposition of colonial    rule in Africa  with the attitude   of  "don't  care” they felt they had nothing to gain by their   resisting or collaborating  with colonialists,          
4.       Active resistance:
Some societies  or  individual  leaders  picked  up arms to fight the imposition  of colonial rule,  This was also known  as outright  or primary  resistance.  Such societies  include the Nandi  led by Koitaleh, Bunyoro  led by Kabalega,  Mandika  led by Samoure Toure, Hehe led  by Mkwawa while Ethiopians  led' by Emperor  Menelik'II   who was one of the few
African.chiefs    that defeated the Europeans (Italians) in 1886 at the battle of Adowa.
It was argued that resistors  were  backward  reactionary  leaders  while  collaborators  were progressive. enlightened leaders; On the other hand, resisters have been praised as heroes and determine nationalists, while collaborators  were seen as shortsighted  and traitors of their home independence.
None of the above views  is true for the collaborators  or resisters.  This IS because to both groups  they behaved  or responded  in such  a way  (resistance/collaboration)    of trying  to maintain   their   independence.    They  both   used   different   means   because   they  both experienced  different circumstances  towards the coming of Europeans,  Therefore  African reaction  to colonial  rule was determined  by circumstances  that were  on the ground in a particular society at a particular time or at the coming of  the Europeans.            
FACTORS   FOR THE  COLLABORATION.
1,    Some communities collaborated  because they were-too  weak to put up armed resistance. it was therefore regarded useless to wage wars that they couldn’t win. This was particularly true with those African leaders who knew much about European   military might  e.g. chief Gellele' of Dahomey believed that;                          
"He who makes the gun powder must win the war,"
This  forced him  to collaborate  with  Europeans,  Buganda  under Muteesa  1, Masai under
Laibon Lenana, the Lozi under Lewanika plus the Fante of West Africa,
'
Some   African   leaders   collaborated     as  the  best  way  of  defending    themselves    against   their hostile   neighbours.     This   was  true  with   Buganda    and  Omukama of  Toro   who   feared   the threat of  Kabalega.    The  Fante also  collaborated     with  the British   because   of  the  hostilities
they  had  with  the  Asante   Kingdom.
3.    Others   collaborated     because   they  wanted   to  benefit   from  European    trade.   These   included Nabongo   Mumia   of  Wanga   in Kenya,   Muteesa   I of  Buganda and  chief  of  1 ante.  Muteesa  1 was  particularly    interested    in acquirmg firearms   to  use against   his  enemies   10 west  and  east of   his  kingdom.     Items   like   mirrors,    beads,   needles,  used   clothes    etc  also   attracted     the  Africans.
4.   Some  collaborated     in order  to  acquire   some  peace.   Such'  societies    had  suffered    from  slave trade)   constant    warfare    etc.  This  was  a penod   when Afnca   was   robbed   of  its  energetic
youths    and   therefore     collaboration       was  sought    of  as   a  solution.     This   is   why   when Europeans    attempted     to  use  a claim   of  stopping    slave   trade   in  Africa   they   were   warmly welcomed.    They   felt  that  it was  fortune   to accept  the  white  man's   rule  to work  against their human   torture  e.g.  in Yorubaland,    Nyasaland and  in some  parts of central  Tanganyika.
5.        Others   collaborated     because   it could   provide   them  unlimited    opportunities     in  business    and government    e.g.   the  Creoles   of  Sierra   Leone   in  West   Afnca    worked    in  the   extension    of colonial  rule because   they  believed   that  European    protectorates     would  open  up  large  fields for  trade.  This   would   also   help   the  spread    of  Christianity     and   provide    them    with   wide opportunities      to govern   the new  protectorates.
6.    A  number   of  African    states   had   been   torn   apart   by  succession     disputes.    Some   African leaders   welcomed    Europeans    as allies  against   their  nvals   for  the  throne.   This  was  true  with chief  Lenana   of  Masai  who  welcomed    the  British   as allies  against   hrs brother   Sendeyo   who was fighting    to  overthrow    him.   In Ankole.    there   was a power   struggle    between    princess Rwakatogoro    and  lgumira,    following    the  death   of  Omugabe      Ntare    Therefore,     It became easy   for  British   to  take   over   Ankole    through    collaboration      response    as  a  result   of  their power  struggle Some   collaborated      because     they   were    opportunists      w ho  jumped     on   to   the   European bandwagon      for   wealth    and   prestige.     This   was   true   with   Scmei  Kakungulu    and   chief Mbaguta    of  Ankole    whose   major   reason    for  collaboration      was  to  get  promised    political power.
8.    it 1S  also   true   that   some   African    leaders    collaborated      because     they   were   ignorant     of European   plans  and  designs.   They  were  innocently    made  to believe   that  the white   man  was a humanitarian     and  genuine   friend  whose   alliance   they  needed.   This  group   included   Laibon Lenana    of  Masai,    chief   Lewanika     of  Lozi   and   Muteesa  1   of  Buganda.     However,     war mongers      like  Mwanga,    Moshesheo     of  Gaza   empire,   chief   Lobcngula    of  Ndcbcle,    Jaja  of Opobo   and  Samoure   Toure  realised   the  European   hypocrisy    and  had  to resist  immediately.
9.    The  impact   of  missionary    activity;   Some  Africans   had  no choice   but  to collaborate    because of the  influence   of  missionaries    who  had  come  to  Africa.   Europeans    had  represented    some progress   .and enlightenment     whose   resistance    meant   backwardness.     In addition,   by  the  time of  colonialism,   Christianity   had  very  many  converts   who  despised   African  ways  and praised  European  civilisation.   It was this class of converts  who helped  Europeans  to sign treaties   in  which  Africans   gave  away  their  independence.   Good  examples   include  Sir Apollo  Kagwa,  Zakariya   Kisingiri   and  Stanilas  Mugwanya   who  helped   in  signing  of Buganda  agreement on behalf of the kingdom.
10.        Desire  to  acquire  modem   ideas.  Missionaries   had  already  instilled   a  sense  of  lack  of modem  ideas among the Africans  and it was the white  man who was more knowledgeable than   others.  Africans   thought   of  whites   as  being   commanders    in  their  development struggles.  They wished  to benefit  in terms of technology  and culture  from the whites. The most  important  of which  was  perhaps  knowledge   on how  to make  the  guns.  They  also admired  whites  on how they established  schools,  roads, hospitals  and railway  lines in their territories.  They thought that through collaboration,  they would achieve these modem  ideas without  necessarily  losing  their  independence   but incidentally,   the white  man could  only offer this to Africans at the cost of losing their independence.
11.    The difference  between  the neighbours'   opinion;  Samoure  Toure  resisted  because the head of Tukolor  Empire had collaborated   with the French.  In the Central  Africa king Lobengula resisted    because   the   Shona,   his   enemies    had   collaborated     with   British.    Buganda collaborated  because Bunyoro  had resisted.
12.        Weakness  of slave trade:-  Some societies  collaborated  because  they had been weakened  by the slave trade of the  19th  century.  This was an era when Africans  were tired of being  used as commodities   and  therefore   decided  to collaborate   with  the  Europeans   especially   the British as a solution.
13.        Weakened  by natural commodities:   Some communities  collaborated  because they had been weakened  by natural disasters.  Such disasters  included the Masai and the Kikuyu w ho were too weak to fight due to the famine  brought  by drought  and epidemic.  It IS  also Slated that by the coming  of the British  to Ankole  the people  had been weakened  by jigger  epidemic which weakened  their battle movements.
It is therefore  clear that collaboration  didn't  necessary  mean backwardness  and neither did it
imply progress.  What  is clear  is that  Africans  who  collaborated   found  themselves  in
circumstances  where  resistance  could  not benefit  them. They  therefore  became  partners  in spreading  colonisation  by collaborating   with  Europeans  and  in most  cases,  Africans  who gave in amicably stood to gain a lot unlike those who attempted  to resist.
Moreover  some collaborating   societies  had  several  advantages  over  those  which  resisted e.g.  they  acquired   some  social  and  economic   infra structural   developments   plus  other material  benefits while resisters  equally acquired the opposite.  It is for this matter that some scholars  regard  collaborators   as  forward  looking  while  the chauvinistic   nationalists  term them as traitors.