European states gradually established colonial rule in Africa between the mid nineteenth century and the beginning of the First World War. Historians have assessed the infrastructure introduced during this period through the lens of colonial state-building and resource extraction. This article offers another perspective by reconstructing the early history of electrification in Lagos Colony, one of the first British colonies in West Africa, within the contexts of African agency (that is, knowledge and socio-political influence) and class. It argues that electricity was not a novelty to Africans when the government opened the first power station in 1898. The principles of electricity were already being taught in the classroom and through public lectures in the 1860s, and temporary exhibitions of electric light had been a feature of Lagos society since the 1880s. Furthermore, because of some demographic advantages, the Africans of nineteenth-century Lagos were able to shape colonial policies, including on financing electricity. Lastly, contrary to colonial African case studies in which scholars have argued that racial politics affected access to electricity, extensive primary sources affirm that a rising number of Africans in Lagos enjoyed electric lighting on the streets, at religious centres and at home from 1898.

中文翻译：

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拉各斯殖民地的电力、机构和等级，C.1860s–1914

欧洲国家在 19 世纪中叶至第一次世界大战开始期间逐渐在非洲建立殖民统治。历史学家通过殖民国家建设和资源开采的视角评估了这一时期引入的基础设施。本文通过在非洲机构（即知识和社会政治影响）和阶级的背景下重建西非最早的英国殖民地之一拉各斯殖民地电气化的早期历史，提供了另一个视角。它认为，当政府于 1898 年开设第一座发电站时，电力对非洲人来说并不是新鲜事物。电力原理已经在课堂上和 1860 年代通过公开讲座教授，自 1880 年代以来，电灯临时展览一直是拉各斯社会的特色。此外，由于某些人口优势，19 世纪拉各斯的非洲人能够制定殖民政策，包括电力融资。最后，与学者们争论种族政治影响电力供应的殖民地非洲案例研究相反，广泛的主要来源证实，从 1898 年开始，越来越多的拉各斯非洲人在街道、宗教中心和家中享受电灯照明。