Colonial history of Northern Nigeria

Frederick Lugard proclaimed the protectorate of Northern Nigeria at Ida in Kogi on January 1, 1897. The basis of the colony was the 1885 Treaty of Berlin, which broadly granted Northern Nigeria to Britain on the basis of their protectorates in Southern Nigeria.[4] Hostilities with the powerful Sokoto Caliphate soon followed. The Emirates of Kabba, Kotogora and Illorin were the first to be conquered by the British. In February 1903, the great fort of Kano, site of the Kano Emirate, was captured, followed by Sokoto and much of the rest of its caliphate shortly after. On March 13, 1903, the Grand Shura of the Sokoto Caliphate conceded to Lugard's demands.[5]

Lugard became governor; with limited resources, he administered the region with the consent of local rulers. He governed through a policy of indirect rule, which he developed into a sophisticated political theory. Lugard left the protectorate after some years, serving in Hong Kong, but eventually returned to work in Nigeria, where he decided on the merger of the Northern Nigeria Protectorate with Southern Nigeria in 1914.[4][6] Agitation for independence from the radically different Southern Protectorate, however, led to a formidable split during the 1940s. The Richards constitution, adopted in 1945, gave overwhelming autonomy to the North. This autonomy eventually included the legislative arenas of foreign relations and customs policy.

Northern Nigeria was granted independence on March 15, 1953, with Sir Ahmadu Bello as its first Premier. The Northern Peoples Congress under Sir Ahmadu Bello dominated Parliament, while the Northern Elements Progressive Union became the main opposition party.