Indirect Rule and the Reconfiguration of Political Authority in Nasarawa Division, 1926–1960

This article examines how British Indirect Rule reshaped political authority in Nasarawa Division between 1926 and Nigerian independence in 1960. Relying on colonial administrative reports, Native Authority records, and oral interviews conducted in communities including Umasha, Buga, and Shafan Abakwa, it situates local developments within the wider history of colonial governance in Northern Nigeria. The study argues that Indirect Rule did not simply preserve existing institutions: it selectively appropriated, reorganised, and subordinated them to the requirements of taxation, territorial administration, and colonial justice. The establishment and adjustment of Native Authorities, the appointment and removal of district heads, and the reorganisation of districts altered the relationship between leadership and community consent. The experiences of Gade, Udege, Loko, Toto, and Yeskwa demonstrate that these changes were neither uniform nor uncontested. Disputes over appointments, the resistance associated with Ohimegye Odalla, and the reported tax protest at Toto in December 1937 reveal the limits of colonial authority and the agency of local communities. At the same time, colonial rule created administrative hierarchies whose influence survived independence and continued to inform debates about chieftaincy, jurisdiction, identity, and political representation. The article concludes that Indirect Rule in Nasarawa Division is best understood as a contested process of political reconfiguration produced through coercion, collaboration, negotiation, and indigenous action.