Indirect Rule

1. Chiefs who were appointed were required to implement British policies to their fellow Africans.
2. Indirect rule forced and collected taxes from people.
3. Indirect rule aimed at getting cheap labor.
4. Indirect rule forced British law and ordinances.
5. Indirect rule aimed at maintaining peace and harmony on behalf of the British government.

1. Lack of manpower. British were few in number hence used indirect rule because it was very difficult to rule a large African population without assistance.
2. Communication problems. British adopted indirect rule because they had no good information links with the Africans than African local rulers such as chiefs and kings.
3. To avoid resistance. The British used indirect rule because they wanted to avoid resistance since there was no direct contact between Africans and British but Africans with their rulers.
4. The system was economically cheap. The colonial governments did not directly pay the African chiefs. In addition, the African chiefs could not demand services from the colonial government such as accommodation, transport, and medical services.
5. Number of colonies. Britain had many colonies in Africa but had very few officials to dispose in these colonies. Colonial offices were not enough to dispose from the grass root levels and above.
6. The system reduced resistance from Africans. Physical difficulties in Africa forced the British to use African chiefs. Thick forests, hostile climate, and remoteness of the area; the British found difficult to penetrate the hinterland because of the named problems.
7. Language barrier. Some Africans could not be organized through radio and other means of communication therefore the use of African chiefs was efficient. The African chiefs would communicate with their people using their language.
8. Tax collection. The system ensured the collection of tax from the African communities as the chiefs lived with their people.
9. Suitable for illiterate Africans. It was a suitable technique to govern illiterate Africans.
10. Tropical diseases. Tropical diseases killed many British personnel, e.g., malaria.

The British governor known as Sir Lord Frederick Lugard in 1900-1906 first applied indirect rule in Nigeria. Indirect rule in Nigeria was applied after British encountered many challenges from big tribes, which had strong traditional administrative systems like the Fulani aristocracy who governed Sokoto caliphate by using Islamic laws in Northern Nigeria.

Through indirect rule, Lord Lugard was able to control Nigeria by using their local traditional ruling system and cooperative leaders who performed the following activities:

1. To collect taxes.
2. To implement British laws and policies.
3. To reduce resistance from the people.
4. To reduce the political, economic, and military costs.
5. To rule their land under British control.

Therefore, the British found the following as the failure of indirect rule in Southern Nigeria:

1. Chiefs/local rulers of Southern Nigeria were not given respect by the Yoruba people.
2. Local rulers were appointed to implement the British policies but they failed, i.e., collection of taxes.
3. Southern Nigerian societies had strong traditional administrative system such as the use of chiefs; for example, Lagos had no chiefdom system.
4. Southern Nigeria was more decentralized than Northern Nigeria, which was more centralized.

1. Some African societies were centralized hence no need of the new colonial administrative system. For example, Sokoto caliphate, Buganda.
2. Some African communities were not competent to control themselves with the British assistance hence used indirect rule.
3. British wanted to spread their superiority complex over Africans.
4. They used indirect rule to avoid administrative costs.
5. British wanted to avoid communication barriers, for example language problems and poor infrastructures.
6. British were few in number so indirect rule solved the problem of manpower.
7. Lord Lugard preferred indirect rule because it avoided resistance and conflicts from local rulers and people.

Indirect rule administrative system, which was applied by the British in her colonies, was arranged in different structures to ensure effective colonial control over colony and good administrative machinery, which will prepare conducive environment for establishment of colonial economy.

The structure of indirect rule was as follows:

1. Colonial secretary stayed in London.
2. Governor appointed in UK and hired in colonies.
3. Provincial commissioner was a British who lived in certain regions to represent the governor.
4. District commissioner was a British who lived in district level representing provincial commissioner; he lived with people and gave them orders through local rulers.
5. Local chiefs were local rulers appointed by British who were given orders by colonial officers including provincial commissioners and district commissioners to supervise in the daily activities and local ordinances.
6. Headmen. These were Africans who received orders from local chiefs and implement them to the people by using force once people resisted.

1. Absence of centralized administration. In Northeastern Nigerian societies, such as Igbo and Yoruba were not well centralized like the Sokoto caliphate or Buganda kingdom hence made the application of indirect rule to be very difficult due to lack of cooperation and local rulers' support.
2. Illiteracy of the masses. Some societies in Nigeria such as the Yoruba and the Abeokuta who became independent in 1893; due to their illiteracy they organized people to oppose indirect rule.
3. Harsh British policies. Some of the indirect rule British policies such as forced labor and taxation which was introduced to the people were new and unpopular hence reacted by the people of Nigeria especially Igbo.
4. Opposition/resistance from local rulers. Some of the local rulers did not support British indirect rule, for example rulers from Yomba and Abeokuta.
5. Creation of puppet chiefs. Indirect rule faced challenges in Nigeria because British decided to create their own chiefs who were rejected and unpopular hence people opposed against them.
6. Poor infrastructures. Absence of good infrastructures such as roads, railways, and harbor phones made the failure to access information.

1. Tanganyika was formerly a German colony from 1886 after the Berlin Conference.
2. After the end of the First World War (1914-1918), Germany lost the Tanganyika colony to the British, who emerged victorious in the war.
3. During German rule in Tanganyika, they used a direct rule system and faced many resistances from Tanganyika societies, such as:
   • Hehe Resistance
   • Yao Resistance
   • Chagga Resistance

Sir Donald Cameron decided to introduce indirect rule in Tanganyika due to the influence and motivation from Governor Lord Frederick Lugard, who succeeded in controlling Nigeria through indirect rule.

1. Sir Donald Cameron wanted to copy that system of indirect rule and apply it in Tanganyika.
2. He met the following challenges:

1. Absence of traditional administrative system. Germany removed all local rulers' administration during their rule in Tanganyika, so it was difficult for Sir Donald Cameron to introduce them again.
2. Illiteracy and ignorance of the masses. Tanganyika was controlled and ruled by the German power for a very long time directly so indirect rule was a new system which was not known.
3. Poor organization of permanent chiefs. Few tribes in Tanganyika recognized their chiefs and they had status and power, less executive, financially and judiciary, for example the Chagga.
4. Poor infrastructure. Indirect rule got a lot of challenges in Tanganyika since the country was big while there was poor network and communication links to reach and coordinate local chiefs.
5. Absence of local authorities. In Tanganyika societies such as coastal tribes which had no traditional local authorities since Arabs' domination which introduced Islamic law. Due to this, Sir Donald Cameron got no support of local rulers in his administration.
6. Despite the fact that Sir Donald Cameron met a lot of challenges/problems in the introduction of indirect rule in Tanganyika as we have seen above, he preferred and forced to introduce indirect rule through.

1. Exploitation of African resources. Indirect rule was introduced by the British for the purpose of exploiting African resources easily through local rulers' support such as land, labors, and minerals.
2. Promotion of tribalism. Indirect rule separated African societies in ethnic/tribal identities since it favored some tribes including those whose local rulers were given different opportunities than the other tribes.
3. Weakening of traditional administration systems. Indirect rule system promoted the problem of education, health, and employment opportunities.
4. Introduction of social differences. Indirect rule system introduced and widened social differences among natives (creation of classes in the society).
5. Centralized bureaucracy. The system commented and centralized bureaucracy with district commissioners.
6. Exclusion of educated elites. The greatest fault in indirect rule was that it completely excluded from the local government the African educated elites whose number increased over the year.
7. Distrust of local rulers. It made Africans hate their local rulers/leaders who were used during indirect rule and made Africans not to believe in them.