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Difficulty: Very hardIndirect Rule System in Western and Eastern Nigeria

The primary structural cause of political unrest following the introduction of British Indirect Rule in Western Nigeria was the colonial government's elevation of paramount rulers to 'Sole Native Authorities', which disrupted traditional constitutional mechanisms of checks and balances.

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Answer

True. The British designation of paramount rulers as Sole Native Authorities centralized executive power and dismantled traditional Yoruba constitutional checks (such as council oversight), creating widespread public discontent and administrative conflict.
The statement accurately reflects historical governance dynamics: Indirect Rule in Western Nigeria led to severe political friction because the colonial office empowered paramount rulers as Sole Native Authorities, thereby neutralizing traditional council oversight and constitutional balances.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the pre-colonial political structure of Western Nigeria (Yoruba kingdoms).
Pre-colonial Yoruba governance relied on constitutional monarchy, where the executive authority of the Oba was balanced by council bodies like the Oyomesi and secret societies like Ogboni.
Establishing the baseline political architecture is necessary to understand colonial disruption.
2
Identify how Indirect Rule modified traditional executive positions.
Lord Lugard's system appointed paramount chiefs as 'Sole Native Authorities', placing supreme local judicial, fiscal, and administrative power in the monarch while making them accountable only to British officers.
Isolating institutional modifications reveals how power dynamics were altered.
3
Evaluate the political consequences of bypassing traditional checks and balances.
Deprived of customary constitutional safeguards, citizens resisted royal autocratic power and direct taxation through anti-colonial revolts.
Confirms that institutional distortion of pre-colonial checks was the primary cause of administrative unrest.

Key Concept

Disruption of Traditional Constitutional Checks under Western Nigerian Indirect Rule
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Topics

Indirect Rule System in Western and Eastern Nigeria