Page 42 - Volume 1_Go home mzungu Go Home_merged with links

Some Key Terms

“Go home m’zungu, Go Home !”

Indirect Rule

“ Indirect rule was a system of governance used by the British and others to control parts
of their colonial empires, particularly in Africa and Asia, which was done through pre-

existing indigenous power structures. Indirect rule was used by various colonial rulers:
the French in Algeria and Tunisia, the Dutch in the East Indies, Portuguese in Angola and

Mozambique and Belgians in Burundi. These dependencies were often called
"protectorates" or "trucial states". By this system, the day-to-day government and

administration of areas both small and large were left in the hands of traditional rulers,
who gained prestige and the stability and protection afforded by the Pax Britannica (in
the case of British territories), at the cost of losing control of their external affairs, and

often of taxation, communications, and other matters, usually with a small number of
European "advisors" effectively overseeing the government of large numbers of people

spread over extensive areas.

***
The ideological underpinnings, as well as the practical application, of indirect rule in

Uganda and Nigeria is usually traced to the work of Frederick Lugard, the High
Commissioner of the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria from 1899 to 1906. Indirect rule
was by no means a new idea at the time, for it had been in use in ruling empires

throughout history

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According to Lugard, Indirect Rule was a political doctrine which held that the Europeans

and Africans were culturally different to this extent, Africans had to be ruled through the
Africans own institution. To achieve this objective:

 Chiefs and or Royalty continued to exercise their traditional powers over their subjects;

 Chiefs were appointed for areas with no chiefs;

 Aspects of traditional government repugnant to "European ideas of what constituted
government were modified." e.g. the abolition of human sacrifice.

***
When Lugard and his men conquered the Sokoto Caliphate of Northern Nigeria, in early
twentieth century, his limited resources in terms of men and money, made it

impracticable for him to rule the vast territory. Fortunately for him, however, the Sokoto
Caliphate already possessed a highly developed and efficient system of administration

headed by emirs, with the Sultan of Sokoto as the supreme head. The hierarchical nature