What is now called the country of Nigeria consists primarily of what was once two separate entities- the protectorate of Northern Nigeria and the protectorate of Southern Nigeria.

While the British for years had informally had strong influence in the area that is now Nigeria, after the Treaty of Berlin in 1885, they officially established the protectorate of Northern Nigeria and the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria.

While in the Southern region, the British relied on an army of colonial administrators to govern, in the Northern region, there was a greater effort to include traditional rulers in colonial administration.  These leaders served as the go between for the colonial adminstators and the people.

In 1914, the British united the two protectorates – the Northern and Southern- to form the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. This was done under the administration of Lord Frederick Lugard who went on to become the first governor-general of the region.

The primary reason for what was called the “amalgamation” of the regions was economic.  While the Southern region was economically viable, in the North, the British found it difficult to cover their administrative costs.  Thus on the unification of the regions, while they were thread together administratively on the economic sphere, politically and in the style of governance, the British maintained the differing methods of rule between the two. Thus indirect rule with heavy reliance on traditional rulers was continued in the North, while in the South direct rule through British officials was upheld.

The result was that up until the time the country of Nigeria was formally established in 1960, the region had two distinct political identities and a governorship divide.  In the North, traditional rulers had maintained their relevance and political influence in the face of colonial control much more than in the South. Furthermore, the region became accustomed to greater political autonomy due to this method of indirect rule than the Southern region.

This political past explains in part the tension the country fell into following independence.  The perception of a Northern identity vs a Southern identify in the political arena stemmed from this years old divide.  Furthermore, the need to ensure the non-dominance of any region politically or the ascension of one at the expense of another grew out of it.

Thus in finding the causes of the Biafra War, the political divide between North and South that the British were unable to resolve at amalgamation and that survived formally even until the creation of the Nigerian state in 1960 was a key contributing factor.

This article is a part of the series on The Nigerian- Biafran War At 50 and which is part of our African Futures and Pasts Project.  To learn more about it and how you can be a contributor, see details here.