Government · Lesson 11

Colonial rule and indirect rule

JAMBWAECNECO

What the syllabus asks

JAMB: Imperialist penetration and colonial administration: British and French systems; indirect rule; amalgamation

WAEC: Colonial administration: British (crown colony, protectorate, indirect rule) and French (assimilation, association, direct rule) systems; features, reasons, merits, demerits; comparison

NECO: Colonial administration: British (crown colony, protectorate, indirect rule) and French (assimilation, association, direct rule) systems; features, reasons, merits, demerits; comparison

What you will learn

Explain how Britain acquired and organised Nigeria, including amalgamation.
Distinguish a crown colony from a protectorate.
Explain the meaning, reasons, features, merits and demerits of indirect rule.
Explain why indirect rule succeeded in the North and faced problems in the West and East.
Explain French assimilation, association and direct rule.
Compare British and French colonial administration and assess the effects of colonial rule.

Key points

Nigeria was created by Britain in stages: Lagos annexed 1861; Oil Rivers Protectorate 1885; Royal Niger Company 1886; protectorates 1900; Lagos merged with the South 1906; amalgamation 1 January 1914 (Lugard).
Crown colony (Lagos): annexed, direct rule, British subjects; protectorate: not annexed, ruled through local rulers, protected persons.
Indirect rule: rule through traditional rulers under British supervision; Lugard, The Dual Mandate (1922).
Reasons: few officials, cost, existing emirate systems, language, less resistance.
Features: Native Authorities, Native Treasuries, Native Courts, Residents and District Officers.
Success in the North; partial in the West (Obas’ powers inflated; Adubi War 1918); failure in the East (warrant chiefs; Aba Women’s Riot 1929).
Demerits: autocratic chiefs, exclusion of the educated elite, slowed education in the North, regionalism.
French: AOF (Dakar); assimilation (Four Communes; Blaise Diagne 1914), then association; direct rule; chiefs as agents; indigénat; forced labour.
British vs French: indirect vs direct; culture retained vs assimilated; decentralised vs centralised.
Effects: unification, education, infrastructure; exploitation, arbitrary boundaries, discrimination, regional imbalance.

Start here: Imperialism and the British acquisition of Nigeria

"Nigeria" did not exist as one country before colonial rule. The name itself is usually credited to Flora Shaw, a journalist who later married Lugard, in an article in 1897. The territory was put together by Britain in stages.

Colonialism is the political, economic and cultural domination of a territory and its people by a foreign power.

Reasons for colonisation (often listed)

Economic: raw materials (palm oil, cotton, groundnuts, tin), markets for manufactured goods, investment.
Political/strategic: rivalry among European powers; prestige; the "Scramble for Africa", regulated by the Berlin Conference (1884–1885).
Humanitarian and religious claims: ending the slave trade; spreading Christianity and "civilisation" (missionary activity).

Stages of British rule

Year	Event
1861	Lagos annexed (ceded by Oba Dosunmu); became a British crown colony
1885	Oil Rivers Protectorate declared over the Niger Delta coast (later the Niger Coast Protectorate, 1893)
1886	Royal Niger Company chartered to govern the Niger-Benue area
1900 (1 January)	The Company’s charter ended; the Protectorates of Northern Nigeria and Southern Nigeria were proclaimed
1906	The Colony and Protectorate of Lagos merged with Southern Nigeria
1914 (1 January)	Amalgamation of Northern and Southern Nigeria by Sir Frederick (later Lord) Lugard, the first Governor-General

Methods of acquisition

Treaties with local rulers (often misunderstood by them), military conquest (e.g. the British expedition to Benin in 1897; the conquest of the Sokoto Caliphate in 1903), and trading companies with governing charters.

Worked example 11.1

Give two reasons why the North and South were amalgamated in 1914.

Economic: the Northern Protectorate ran deficits, while the South had customs revenue; amalgamation let southern revenue support the North and reduced British subsidies.
Administrative: one government for railways, ports and services was more efficient.

Finance and administrative convenience

Try it yourself. Who was the first Governor-General of Nigeria?

Show solution

Sir Frederick Lugard (1914).

Continue this lesson in the free app →

Practice questions

1. Lagos was annexed by Britain in

1861
1885
1900
1914

Show answer

A: 1861
It became a crown colony.

2. The Northern and Southern Protectorates were amalgamated on

1 October 1960
1 January 1900
1 April 1906
1 January 1914

Show answer

D: 1 January 1914
By Lord Lugard.

3. Indirect rule means

rule by the educated elite
self-government
ruling through traditional rulers under colonial supervision
direct rule by British officers

Show answer

C: ruling through traditional rulers under colonial supervision
Lugard's system.

4. Lugard explained indirect rule in his book

The Spirit of the Laws
The Dual Mandate in British Tropical Africa
Path to Nigerian Freedom
Things Fall Apart

Show answer

B: The Dual Mandate in British Tropical Africa
Published 1922.

5. A reason for indirect rule in Northern Nigeria was

the shortage of British officials and the existing emirate system
the large number of educated Nigerians
the absence of traditional rulers
French influence

Show answer

A: the shortage of British officials and the existing emirate system
Few officers, low cost.

Key words

Colonialism: The political, economic and cultural control of one territory by a foreign power.
Imperialism: The policy of extending a state’s power over other territories.
Crown colony: A territory annexed by and directly under the British Crown.
Protectorate: A territory under the protection and control of a foreign power while keeping some local rulers.
Indirect rule: Ruling a colony through its traditional rulers and institutions under the supervision of colonial officials.
Native Authority: A traditional ruler or council recognised by the colonial government to administer an area.
Native Treasury: A fund that kept local taxes for Native Authority salaries and services.
Resident: A senior British official in charge of a province.
District Officer: A British official in charge of a division or district.
Warrant chief: A chief appointed by a British warrant in areas without traditional chiefs, especially in the East.
Amalgamation: The union of the Northern and Southern Protectorates in 1914.
Assimilation: French policy of making colonial subjects culturally and legally French.

Learn Colonial rule and indirect rule step by step, free.
The Cara's Tips app teaches every topic from the very basics, with quick checks, worked examples and exam practice. It works offline.
Open this lesson in the free app Download for Android