Of Emirs and pagans:
Date
1963
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
London: 35 Red Lion Square London WC1, Cassell And Company Limited,
Abstract
Kaduna; Zaria; Sokoto; Kano; Katsina; Bornu; The Plateau; Bauchi and Gombe; Yola and Sardauna Province; Kontagora and Bida; Ilorin; Kabba and Lokoja; Makurdi; Lafia: Keffi: Abuja; Kaduna.
Description
In 1900 a British Army unit moved up from the southern part of Nigeria into what is now known as Northern Nigeria; their purpose was to subjugate the country: by 1903 they had taken over practically the whole of it. Until that time, but a handful of British explorers had visited that part, which was practically unknown, unmapped. Now, as the British went forward, they found a land peopled mostly by pagans who were either under the absolute rule of Muslim Fulani Emirs, or Chiefs, who were often at war among themselves; a land where men and women were captured and sold or used by their master's as they willed. It was a land where terrible punishments and cruelties were inflicted by both Muslim and pagan; where the pagans practised cannibalism and human sacrifice; where life was of little value and where pagan subjects were held by fear, not only of their rulers, but also of their own witchdoctors. It was a land without roads; there were bush paths, but none of these led to the south and the coast. A land of which the world knew little except that from it were exported thousands of slaves, much ivory and great numbers of skins, and all by way of the camel-tracks across the Sahara Desert. Once the British had subjugated the country, they tried the bold experiment of Indirect Rule, by which the Emirs and the Chiefs, having been stripped of their sovereign rights, were given back many of their powers and, still retaining their titles and their palaces, permitted to remain in office, but responsible to the British High Commissioner, and later the Governor, who had his resident representative in each of the capitals. Any Emir who would not agree to the terms of his reappointment was deposed, and another member of his family took his place. From the beginning the experiment was a success, and good will was established between Nigerians and British.