Theory question 109
Colonial AdministrationSection B (answer two questions only from this section)
Why did the educated elite oppose the introduction of Indirect Rule in Southern Nigeria?
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Model answer
They were excluded from the administration, which used traditional rulers instead.
Many chiefs were illiterate and unfit for modern administration.
Indirect rule made the chiefs autocratic and puppets of the British.
In the East it imposed artificial warrant chiefs who lacked legitimacy.
It introduced direct taxation, which was resented (e.g. Aba riot 1929, Egba uprising 1918).
It slowed political progress towards self-government.
It encouraged ethnic and regional division.
The South already had educated people able to take part in modern government.
Explanation
Explain each reason.