A Ghanaian historian has shed light on a little-known chapter in West African history, revealing how the Gold Coast’s resistance to British colonial land policies helped Nigeria reclaim land in Lagos.

Historian Kweku Darko Ankrah explained that the legal battle against the colonial government’s Land Bill in the late 19th century laid the foundation for other African territories to challenge British control over land.

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According to him, the controversy began in 1894 when the colonial administration introduced the Land Bill, which claimed that any unoccupied land in the Gold Coast automatically belonged to the British Crown.

He said the move sparked widespread resistance among local leaders who argued that land ownership under customary law did not require continuous physical occupation.

“The Land Bill of 1894 was introduced. They turned the Fante Amembufeku into the Aborigines' Rights Protection Society as a nationalist vehicle to fight against the land bill that claims that any land that is unoccupied in the Gold Coast is a wasteland and it belongs to the Queen of England,” he explained in an interview with Channel One TV on March 12, 2026.

According to Ankrah, Gold Coasters rejected the colonial interpretation of land ownership, insisting that land left temporarily unused could not be considered wasteland.

“They contested this, and then the land bill was remodeled when William Maxwell took over, remodeled it, and reintroduced it again in 1897,” he said.

He added that prominent figures such as John Mensah Sarbah and Charles Joseph Bannerman challenged the bill at the Gold Coast Legislative Council, arguing that it contradicted British principles regarding the recognition of native laws on land ownership.

However, when their objections were ignored, the Aborigines’ Rights Protection Society took the matter beyond the colony.

“They sent a delegation to England, into the House of Lords, and then they went and argued their case, and they won the case against the British government, and as a result, the land law was abolished,” Ankrah stated.

The victory prevented the colonial administration from forcefully seizing lands across the Gold Coast, a practice that had already occurred in other parts of Africa.

“So, the idea of land being forcefully seized, as the British have done in East Africa and South Africa, could not occur, and as a result, in British West Africa, forced seizure of land, as it has occurred in other places, the Gold Coast saved the West African sub-region from this forced seizure,” he added.

The historian further revealed that the legal precedent created in the Gold Coast later helped Nigeria reclaim land in Lagos that had been taken over by the British Crown.

He said the Oba of Lagos sought guidance from Gold Coast nationalists after the British government claimed ownership of land in Lagos.

According to him, the matter, known as the Amodu Tijani case, involved Chief Oluwa of Lagos, who travelled to the Gold Coast to seek legal advice from those who had successfully challenged British land policies.

"And as a result of this, the Nigerian Oba of Lagos, whose land had been taken over by the Queen of England, with the case called Amodu Tijani case, which is Chief Oluwa, who was the Chief of Lagos, came to the Gold Coast and came to seek advice from the Gold Coasters who fought against the British and won the case.

“And some of these people joined him in the 1920s, as a result of what the Gold Coast had done, and the case went to the British Privy Council, and they won the case, and the Lagos land that was for the queen reverted to the Oba of Lagos,” Ankrah said.

He added that the legal representation and precedents established by the Gold Coast played a significant role in strengthening the case presented before the Privy Council.

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“We gave them the legal representation and our precedents offered an opportunity for them to use to go and contest that ownership of the land,” he explained.

The episode, Ankrah noted, highlights the broader influence of the Gold Coast in shaping legal resistance against colonial land policies across West Africa.

Did you know Ghana once played a role in Nigeria reclaiming Lagos?

On today’s Heritage On-Air Series with @benkoku, historian Kweku Darko Ankrah explores the Land Law and how its abolition opened the way for other African countries especially Nigeria to reclaim territories. pic.twitter.com/vDTL9HiO6e

— ChannelOne TV (@Channel1TVGHA) March 12, 2026