 | Colonialism by Proxy: Hausa Imperial Agents and Middle Belt Consciousness in Nigeria Subjects: Middle Belt (Nigeria) -- Colonial influence; Middle Belt (Nigeria) -- Ethnic relations; Middle Belt (Nigeria) -- Politics and government; Great Britain -- Colonies -- Africa -- Administration; Muslims -- Political activity -- Nigeria -- Middle Belt; Hausa; Moses E. Ochonu explores a rare system of colonialism in Middle Belt Nigeria, where the British outsourced the business of the empire to Hausa-Fulani subcolonials because they considered the area too uncivilized for Indirect Rule. Ochonu reveals that the outsiders ruled with an iron fist and imagined themselves as bearers of Muslim civilization rather than carriers of the white man's burden. Stressing that this type of Indirect Rule violated its primary rationale, Colonialism by Proxy traces contemporary violent struggles to the legacy of the dynamics of power and the charged atmosphere of religious difference. Moses E. Ochonu is Associate Professor of African History at Vanderbilt University and author of Colonial Meltdown: Northern Nigeria in the Great Depression. |
