Browsing by Author "Afeadie, P.A."

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Ambiguities of Colonial Law: The Case of Muhammadu Aminu, Former Political Agent and Chief Alkali of Kano
(2009) Afeadie, P.A.
Colonial law in Africa involved European moral and legal codes representing some rules of western law, as well as elements of African customary law. In Muslim polities such as Kano in northern Nigeria, customary conventions included Islamic law. The colonial situation embodying political and economic domination, however, negated the ideal practice of the rule of law. Enforcing colonial law was neither clearcut and straightforward in British Africa, as reflected in the career of Chief Alkali Aminu, formerly a political agent in the British colonial administration of northern Nigeria. In 1920 Chief Alkali Aminu adjudicated a ransom for a “slave” girl, based on pre-existing Hausa custom and Islamic law, as well as British legislation. Aminu’s decision, however, provoked deliberations by senior colonial officials and acknowledgement of ambiguities in colonial law. Details of the deliberations, included in the paper, provide sources on African history including insights on policy making in British colonial administration.
Book Review – Femi J. Kolapo and Kwabena O. Akurang-Parry, eds., African Agency and European Colonialism: Latitudes of Negotiation and Containment
(University Press of America, 2010) Afeadie, P.A.
Brokering Colonial Rule: Political Agents in Northern Nigeria, 1886-1914
(2008) Afeadie, P.A.
A group study of African political agents, this work develops the role of the agents as brokers in the British colonial administration of northern Nigeria. African political agents bridged the communication gap between the foreign rulers and the indigenous people, a task only they could perform in colonial administration, owing to their knowledge of the local languages and cultures as well as some English and colonial government conventions. As brokers, political agents controlled communication between the colonial authorities and the indigenous rulers. Agents assisted government diplomacy and helped to establish and maintain relations between the colonial government and the native rulers. Agents gathered information that was needed for policy-making in administration, and many of them would perform administrative duties. In essence, the role of political agents reflects the dynamics of interdependence and power relations in colonial governance and administration in northern Nigeria. Knowledge of agents’ activities is important for the academic community including Africanist scholars, graduate and undergraduate students, as well as educated general readers.
Historiographical review of the European partition of West Africa
(Ghana Social Science Journal, 2019-12) Afeadie, P.A.
This paper reviews the historiography of the European partition of West Africa. The partition of Africa began in 1879 with French military officers in the Western Sudan. In their motivations, the French and other European governments were largely influenced by economic interests. The trade depression of the late nineteenth century in Europe enhanced the value of African markets for European exports. In addition, the depression adversely affected the terms of trade for African products, as their prices increased at a lesser margin than the prices of imported goods. This led to trade competition and rivalry between European merchants in West Africa, and disputes between the European merchants and African producers and traders. European merchants therefore engaged their chambers of commerce in Europe, who lobbied for government protection by way of annexations in West Africa. While African cooperation accelerated the pace of the European occupation, resistance prolonged the process.
Reforms in Katsina and the Kano Government Crisis of 1908
(2012) Afeadie, P.A.
This paper examines the success of colonial government reforms in Katsina division of Kano province in 1908, and the failure of the reforms in the neighbouring division of Kano within the same province. These developments, the study explores within the context of indigenous cooperation to colonial rule involving the concept of clientage and its attribute of pretended cooperation, taqiyya. The crisis of local government in Kano during 1908 derived from colonial consolidation such as reforms in territorial organization and tax administration, which met with resistance from indigenous rulers, contrary to the success of the reforms in Katsina. There, colonial reforms developed with capable and responsive indigenous clients, and astute management of relations between the colonial patron and clients. The reforms in Kano experienced some cooperation but passive resistance from the ruling emir. Efforts to nullify the emir’s opposition led to a crisis in administration and slackening of the reform movement. The Kano crisis and the contemporary reforms in Katsina epitomize the relationship of attraction and repulsion between the colonizer and the colonized in determining and implementing colonial policies. Considering the inter-dependent nature of colonial rule, the attitudes and values of the colonial clients would influence colonial ideology and practice.
Spoken Reminiscences of Political Agents in Northern Nigeria I
(2007) Afeadie, P.A.
The spoken reminiscences on political agents involved oral interviews on the role of indigenous service assistants in the establishment of British colonial rule in northern Nigeria. Conducting oral interviews was informed by the need to seek African perspective in historical inquiry. For a topic dealing with indigenous participants in the colonial establishment, historical enquiry would be enriched with the African opinion, which is largely contained in the oral traditions of the people. Such perspective would address issues such as the African mentality, which is hardly revealing in the written literature. Hence, the significance of the interviews in colonial historiography.
Spoken Reminiscences of Political Agents in Northern Nigeria II
(2008) Afeadie, P.A.
The spoken reminiscences on political agents involved oral interviews on the role of indigenous service assistants in the establishment of British colonial rule in northern Nigeria. Conducting oral interviews was informed by the need to seek African perspective in historical inquiry. For a topic dealing with indigenous participants in the colonial establishment, historical enquiry would be enriched with the African opinion, which is largely contained in the oral traditions of the people. Such perspective would address issues such as the African mentality, which is hardly revealing in the written literature. Hence, the significance of the interviews in colonial historiography.