  thumb|300px|right|flag of the royal niger company  the royal niger company was a mercantile company chartered by the british government in the nineteenth century. it was formed in 1879 as the united african company  and renamed to national african company in 1881 and to royal niger company in 1886. the company existed for a comparatively short time (1879&ndash;1900) but was instrumental in the formation of colonial nigeria, as it enabled the british empire to establish control over the lower niger&nbsp;against the german competition led by bismarck during the 1890s. in 1900, the company-controlled territories became the southern nigeria protectorate, which was in turn united with the northern nigeria protectorate to form the colony and protectorate of nigeria&nbsp;in 1914 (which eventually gained independence within the same borders as the federal republic of nigeria&nbsp;in 1960). ==united african company == richard lander first explored the area of nigeria as the servant of hugh clapperton. in 1830, he returned to the river with his brother john; in 1832, he returned again (without his brother) to establish a trading post for the "african steamship company""niger" in the encyclopÃ¦dia britannica, 10th&nbsp;ed. 1902. at the confluence of the niger and benue rivers. the expedition failed, with 40 of the 49 members dying of fever or wounds from native attacks. one of the survivors, macgregor laird, subsequently remained in britain but directed and funded expeditions to the country until his death in 1861. he opposed the failed niger expedition of 1841 but the success of the pleiad&rsquo;s first mission in 1854 led to annual trips under baikie and the 1857 foundation of lokoja and the niger&ndash;benue confluence. there were no voyages for the three years following laird's death, but the establishment of the  was soon followed by several other firms. the competition reduced prices to the point that profits were minimal. arriving in the region in 1877,mÃ¡thÃ©-shires, lÃ¡szlÃ³. "lagos colony and oil rivers protectorate" in the encyclopedia of african history, vol.&nbsp;3, pp.&nbsp;791&ndash;792. accessed 5&nbsp;apr 2014. george goldie argued for the amalgamation of the
British_West_Africa Chartered_companies Colonial_Nigeria Companies_established_in_1886 Defunct_companies_of_the_United_Kingdom History_of_Nigeria Niger_River