Colonial Northern Nigeria and the Politics of Muslim-Christian Relations

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To sufficiently understand the interplay of Christianity, Islam, and British colonial authorities in colonial northern Nigeria, it is necessary to appreciate the undercurrents guiding that relationship. As Andrew E. Barnes correctly pointed out, the British colonial administration, established under the stewardship of Sir Frederick Lugard, operated in the north with the false assumption that Islam is by default the religion of the people, albeit the presence of traditionalists was evident. In the opinion of British administrators, the non-Muslim indigenous people would become Muslims eventually.1 Therefore, based on the stratagem to sustain this assumption, Lugard pledged to the Sultan of Sokoto the commitment of the British administrators to protect the Muslims of the north from Christian proselytization. Invariably, Lugard and subsequent colonial administrators ensured the protection of this pledge, which by implication suggested that Christian mission and activities of missionaries were not required in northern Nigeria. Moreover, as Barnes explained, the British administrators wished to avert the repeat of producing “denationalized Africans”2 and promote a truly African-styled civilization already underway through Islamization in the region.