Politics of Northern Nigeria

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The government of Northern Nigeria was modelled after the Westminster system. A premier acts as head of government and presides over the day-to-day affairs of government, while a governor acts as head of state and commander-in-chief of the constabulary. [1] [2] The Lower house of parliament, called the House of Assembly, is composed of elected representatives from the various provinces of the country. The Upper house of parliament, called the House of Chiefs, is similar to the British House of Lords. It is composed of unelected emirs of the various Native Authority Councils of the nation's provinces. [3] Before 1963, the Queen of the United Kingdom served as the sovereign of Northern Nigeria. [3]

Contents

Political roots [4]

In the period immediately after the world war II, Nigerian politics took a new direction. In 1946 the British colonial administration introduced the Richards Constitution which divided Nigeria into three regions – the North, the West and the East. Nigerian political representation was introduced at the federal and the regional level, and Nigerian political parties were allowed. The dominating political party in Northern Nigeria was the Northern People’s Congress, dominated by the Islamic political elite in the North and widely perceived as a Muslim party. To the Christian communities like the Bachama's and others throughout the Middle Belt the Northern People’s Congress was perceived as the chief political enemy, and Christian dominated parties were founded in the Middle Belt, especially the Middle Zone League and the United Middle Belt Congress which were supported by most Bachama's. To the Christians of northern Nigeria the main political aim of the period was to avoid Muslim domination and to resist what they saw as a long-standing British imperialism and Muslim Fulani sub-imperialism in northern Nigeria.

Pre-colonial legacy [5]

The structure of Northern Nigeria's governments is entwined in the administrative structure of the Sokoto Caliphate, In 1903, the governor of Northern Nigeria, Lord Lugard, guaranteed the administrative structure of the region when he decided to preserve the emirate system of the caliphate; in later structural adjustments the emirates were slowly translated into provinces, some of which became composed of multiple emirates. [6]

Northern Nigerianism [7]

As opposed to Nigerian Nationalism, Northern Nigeria never experienced a phase of nationalism that usually preceded the independence of most African countries, Northern Nigerianism on the other hand was directed against the perceived dominance and influence of the Nigerian South. [8] In the 1940s the Northern Nigerian delegation opted to maintain Nigeria's federal structure and subsequently voted against Independence. In 1952 another rejection of Independence by the North led to attacks on the Northern Delegation to the Lagos conference; News of the attacks led to the 1953 Kano Riots and the famous "mistake of 1914" speech delivered by the sardauna.

In the 1970s organised Northern Nigerian activism slowly led to the emergence of powerful pan-northern interest groups, these groups were however severely decapitated by the sweeping victories of Shehu Yar'adua Peoples Democratic Movement in 1993. since 1999, Northern Nigerianism has continued to suffer electoral setbacks.

Administrative and political structures

Emirates

The emirs of Northern Nigeria preside over the numerous emirates of the country; their number has gradually grown since the introduction of sub-class emirates in the third and fourth Nigerian Republics. Although constitutionally nominal since the first republic, they continue to be a source of authority and influence throughout Northern Nigeria. [9] In 2014, the selection of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as Emir Kano led to a four-day standoff purportedly instigated by the president, who was afraid of the influence that Sunusi would garner from the office. [10]

Local and state governments [11]

Local politics in Northern Nigeria has been plagued by kleptocratic interest groups since the fall of the Northern Central Government. Organized kleptocracies in the form family compact political groups usually rule the Northern Nigerian grass roots. Some have speculated that cultural influence of the Nigerian South could be responsible for the endemic corruption that is plaguing Northern Nigeria's political polity. [12]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kano (city)</span> Capital city of Kano State, Nigeria

Kano is a city in northern Nigeria and the capital of Kano State. It is the second largest city in Nigeria after Lagos, with over four million citizens living within 449 km2 (173 sq mi); located in the Savanna, south of the Sahel, Kano is a major route of the trans-Saharan trade. The city has been a trade and human settlement for millennia. It is the traditional state of the Dabo dynasty who since the 19th century have ruled as emirs over the city-state. Kano Emirate Council is the current traditional institution inside the city boundaries of Kano, and under the authority of the Government of Kano State.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sokoto Caliphate</span> Islamic state in West Africa (1804–1903)

The Sokoto Caliphate was a Sunni Muslim caliphate in West Africa. It was founded by Usman dan Fodio in 1804 during the Fulani jihads after defeating the Hausa Kingdoms in the Fulani War. The boundaries of the caliphate are part of present-day Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Nigeria. It was dissolved when the British and Germans conquered the area in 1903 and annexed it into the newly established Northern Nigeria Protectorate and Kamerun respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Nigeria Protectorate</span> British protectorate from 1900 to 1914

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Region, Nigeria</span> Former autonomous division within Nigeria

Northern Nigeria was an autonomous division within Nigeria, distinctly different from the southern part of the country, with independent customs, foreign relations and security structures. In 1962 it acquired the territory of the British Northern Cameroons, which voted to become a province within Northern Nigeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ado Bayero</span> Emir of Kano

Ado Bayero CFR, LLD, JP was the Emir of Kano from 1963 to 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahmadu Bello</span> Nigerian politician (1910–1966)

Ahmadu Ibrahim Bello, Sardauna of Sokoto, knighted as SirAhmadu Bello, was a conservative Nigerian statesman who masterminded Northern Nigeria through the independence of Nigeria in 1960 and served as its first and only premier from 1954 until his assassination in 1966, in which capacity he dominated national affairs for over a decade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colonial Nigeria</span> British colony and protectorate from 1914 to 1960

Colonial Nigeria was ruled by the British Empire from the mid-nineteenth century until 1960 when Nigeria achieved independence. British influence in the region began with the prohibition of slave trade to British subjects in 1807. Britain annexed Lagos in 1861 and established the Oil River Protectorate in 1884. British influence in the Niger area increased gradually over the 19th century, but Britain did not effectively occupy the area until 1885. Other European powers acknowledged Britain's dominance over the area in the 1885 Berlin Conference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richmond Palmer</span> English barrister, colonial supervisor & rugby union player

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sanusi Lamido Sanusi</span> 14th Emir of Kano from 2014 to 2020

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, known by the religious title Khalifa Sanusi II, is a spiritual leader in the Tijanniyah Sufi order of Nigeria. He is a member of the Dabo dynasty and was emir of the ancient city-state of Kano. He was born in Kano in 1961 into the royal family as the grandson of Muhammadu Sanusi I. He succeeded his great-uncle Ado Bayero to the throne on 8 June 2014, and spent most of his reign advocating for cultural reform in Northern Nigeria, until his dethronement on 9 March 2020 by the state government.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kano Emirate</span> Muslim state in northern Nigeria

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For the Arab Hutaymi tribe, see Sulluba

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muhammadu Sanusi I</span>

Alhaji Sir Muhammadu Sanusi I, KBE was the Acting Governor of Northern Nigeria (1957) and Emir of Kano from 1954 to 1963. He was the eldest son of Emir Abdullahi Bayero. He was a powerful Emir that had substantial influence in the colonial Northern Nigeria. He hosted a grand durbar festival for Elizabeth II when she visited Kano in 1956. The power tussle between him and his distant cousin Sir Ahmadu Bello the Sardauna of Sokoto and accusations of financial malfeasance led to his abdication, and subsequent self-exile in Azare 1963. His grandson, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria was Emir of Kano from 2014 to 2020. Sanusi belonged to the reformed Tijaniyya order of Ibrahim Niass

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The Kano Peoples Party was a Nigerian political party in the first republic. Formed in 1963, it soon became the second largest opposition party in Northern Nigeria overtaking the United Middle Belt Congress. In 1966, the Party was proscribed along with other political parties by the military.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kano Emirate Council</span> Northern Nigerian Emirate in Kano Emirate

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The Colonial history of Northern Nigeria extends from the British pacification campaigns to the independence of Northern Nigeria in 1953.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muhammad Abbas (Emir of Kano)</span> Emir of Kano

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sokoto Sultanate Council</span> Northern Nigerian Emirate in Sultanate of Sokoto

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References

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  3. 1 2 Goitom, Hanibal (February 2017). "National Parliaments: Nigeria". www.loc.gov. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
  4. "The Politics of History in Northern Nigeria" (PDF): 6.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. "Building New Bridges of Relationships in Postcolonial Northern Nigeria and the Evolution of a New Northern Nigeria", Muslim-Christian Dialogue in Post-Colonial Northern Nigeria, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, doi:10.1057/9781137122575.0015, ISBN   978-1-137-12257-5
  6. Apata, Z.O. (1992). "LUGARD AND THE CREATION OF PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATION NORTHERN NIGERIA 1900 – 1918". Transafrican Journal of History. 21: 111–123. ISSN   0251-0391.
  7. Forrest, Tom (2019-09-11), "Military Government and Politics, 1970–1979", Politics and Economic Development in Nigeria, Routledge, pp. 47–72, doi:10.4324/9780429302367-3, ISBN   978-0-429-30236-7
  8. Bello, Ahmadu. "Sarduana of Sokoto. His take on Igbo People and why there is no such thing as "One Nigeria"". youtube.com. youtube.com. Retrieved 2014-01-07.
  9. "Nigeria buries revered Muslim ruler". BBC News. 2014-06-06.
  10. Muhammad, Abdussallam. "sunusi1". allafrica.com. Retrieved 2014-01-07.
  11. Adedeji, Adebayo, editor. Rowland, L., editor. (197). Local government finance in Nigeria: problems and prospects. Published for the Institute of Administration [by] University of Ife Press. OCLC   539096.{{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. Kayode, Femi-Fani (2013-12-08). "The Nerve of Lawal Kaita and the Shame of Junaid Mohammed, by Femi Fani-Kayode". premium times. Retrieved 2014-01-07.