Metropolitan Adamawa and Its Erstwhile Outlying Principalities, 1922-1960: A Re-Examination of Inter-African Relations under Colonial Rule

Abstract

Since the beginning of the twentieth century relations between Adamawa and its former dependent territories have been strained.  The strain has been explained in terms of the degradation of the people of the periphery by the metropolis which, put in plain language, meant little more than the de-establishment of their ruling dynasties in favour of potentates imported from the centre.  But the explanation is patently deflective.  What constitutes a sound explanation was the raison deetre of British colonization.  Indirect rule as implemented by the British colonial administration in Northern Nigeria demanded strict compliance with policies, order and directives for which the Emir was held solely responsible.  Under the circumstances, the Emir had in alternative but to replace a recalcitrant local ruler with a trusted appointed from the metropolis who would carry out orders to the letter.  This policy, which in the end resulted in the overthrow of the peripheral ruling dynasties was not only unprecedented in the history of relations between Adamawa and its dependent territories but, regardless of the benefit which the Emir and the metropolitan aristocracy may have derived from it, was possible only with the encouragement and support of British colonial administration.