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]
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.
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]
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
editEmirates
editThe 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 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]
References
edit- ^ Dudley, Billy J. Parties and politics in northern Nigeria. ISBN 978-1-315-03271-9. OCLC 868979133.
- ^ "Northern Nigeria from Independence (1960) to 1979", Muslim-Christian Dialogue in Post-Colonial Northern Nigeria, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, doi:10.1057/9781137122575.0009, ISBN 978-1-137-12257-5
- ^ a b Goitom, Hanibal (February 2017). "National Parliaments: Nigeria". www.loc.gov. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
- ^ "The Politics of History in Northern Nigeria" (PDF): 6.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "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
- ^ 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. JSTOR 24520423.
- ^ 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
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Nigeria buries revered Muslim ruler". BBC News. 2014-06-06.
- ^ Muhammad, Abdussallam. "sunusi1". allafrica.com. Retrieved 2014-01-07.
- ^ 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) - ^ 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.