How British Colonial Policies Entrenched Lifelong Discrimination Against Igbo, Nigerian Christians
By Dr Chike Obidigbo
A Legacy of Division
In Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, two groups face persistent discrimination that traces back over a century to British colonial rule: the Igbo ethnic group and the Christian community. While their struggles are distinct, both stem from deliberate colonial policies that fragmented what could have been a unified nation, leaving scars that remain visible—and deadly—today.
Although it is not ancient history, the structures created by British administrators between 1900 and 1960 continue to determine who holds power, gets resources, and in some tragic cases, who lives and who dies in modern Nigeria.
1914 Amalgamation: Forced Unity Without Integration
To understand today’s crisis, we must return to 1914, when British colonial administrator Sir Frederick Lugard merged two vastly different territories—the Northern and Southern protectorates—into a single colony called Nigeria. The name itself was coined by a British journalist, Flora Shaw (later Lady Lugard), from the Niger River.
Britain’s motivation was simple: administrative convenience and profit. The resource-rich South could fund the underdeveloped North, reducing Britain’s colonial expenses. But, this “marriage of convenience” joined peoples with different languages, religions, political systems, and economies without their consent or any plan for integration.
While the South, particularly the Southeast-home to the Igbo people- was predominantly Christian, with decentralized, democratic governance traditions, the North operated under Islamic law with centralized emirates and sultanates. These differences weren’t merely cultural—they represented fundamentally incompatible visions of how society should be organized.
Britain’s decision to use Southern resources to fund Northern administration while maintaining separate development created resentment that persists 110 years later.
Indirect Rule: Favoritism With Consequences
Britain governed its colonies through “Indirect Rule”—using existing local leaders rather than direct British administration. This system worked smoothly in Northern Nigeria, where emirs and sultans already ruled. The British simply co-opted these leaders, preserving their power in exchange for cooperation.
But in Igbo territory in the Southeast, this approach failed catastrophically. The Igbo traditionally governed through village councils, age grades, and family compounds—a system of distributed power rather than centralized authority. There were no kings or chiefs for the British to work with.
Unable to find traditional rulers, the British invented them. They appointed “Warrant Chiefs”—men who held written warrants from the colonial government but had no legitimate authority in Igbo culture. These imposed leaders became instruments of oppression, particularly when tasked with collecting taxes.
The result was explosive. In 1929, Igbo women led one of Africa’s first major anti-colonial uprisings—the Aba Women’s Riot. Thousands of women protested the warrant chief system and proposed taxation. British colonial forces responded with bullets, killing at least 55 women and wounding thousands more.
Meanwhile, the educational divide deepened. Christian missionaries established schools throughout the South, including Igbo areas, while the North resisted mission schools to preserve Islamic education. By independence in 1960, the South had far higher literacy rates and dominated the educated workforce—a disparity that fueled accusations of Igbo dominance and intensified ethnic resentment.
Independence Without Equality (1960-1967)
When Nigeria gained independence on October 1, 1960, many hoped colonial divisions would heal. Instead, they calcified into national policy.
Despite British promises of democratic transition, political maneuvering—with British influence—resulted in Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, a Northerner, becoming Prime Minister. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, a prominent Igbo nationalist and one of Africa’s foremost intellectuals, was relegated to the largely ceremonial role of Governor-General, despite his wider experience and popular support.
More troubling was the introduction of the “Northernization policy” by Northern Premier Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto. This policy explicitly favored Northerners for government positions. In a candid 1964 interview with foreign journalists, Sir Ahmadu Bello stated he would rather employ foreigners than Igbos in the northern civil service, citing fears of Igbo domination.
For Igbo, the message was clear: despite their education, enterprise, and contributions to building modern Nigeria, they were unwelcomed in their own country.
The Biafran War: Nigeria’s Unforgettable Genocide (1967-1970)
Mounting discrimination, coupled with political instability and military coups, led to catastrophe. In 1967, the Igbo-dominated Eastern Region declared independence as the Republic of Biafra. The Nigerian government responded with total war.
What followed was one of the 20th century’s most devastating conflicts. The Nigerian military imposed a complete blockade on Biafra, cutting off food, medicine, and humanitarian aid. Starvation became a weapon of war.
The images that emerged shocked the world: children with distended bellies, their limbs reduced to sticks—a condition that became known globally as “kwashiorkor” from this conflict. While exact figures remain disputed, credible estimates suggest between one and three million people died, the vast majority Igbo civilians, primarily from starvation.
Post-War Punishment: Economic Asphyxiation
The Nigerian government implemented what can only be described as economic warfare against the Igbo population. Every Igbo person who had money in Nigerian banks before the war—regardless of whether they had thousands or millions of pounds—received exactly £20 (twenty British pounds).
To understand the magnitude of this policy: imagine a successful business owner, a medical doctor, or a wealthy trader with £50,000 in savings (equivalent to nearly $100,000 in 1970 dollars) receiving the same £20 as someone who had £50. Life savings, business capital, family wealth—all reduced to £20.
Systematic Exclusion: From 1970 to Today
In the 55 years since the war ended, Igbos have been systematically marginalized from Nigeria’s power structures:
• Political Leadership: No Igbo has served as President, or Chief Justice since the war. When an Ijaw, Goodluck Jonathan, became President, as a Southerner from the former Eastern Region, through succession, not election; Igbo supported him amid intense opposition.
• Military and Security: Despite the Igbo tradition of military service, they are conspicuously absent from top positions in the armed forces, police, customs, immigration, and intelligence services.
• Infrastructure: The Southeast—one of Nigeria’s most densely populated and economically productive regions—has the least federal infrastructure investment. While other regions have multiple airports, seaports, and federal highways, the Southeast has been deliberately neglected.
• Federal Presence: Major federal institutions, agencies, and industries are rarely located in Igbo areas, despite constitutional provisions for federal character and geographic equity.
This marginalization has fueled renewed separatist sentiment. The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), led by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, emerged in 2012 advocating for Biafran independence. In 2025, Kanu was sentenced to life imprisonment on treason charges—a move many see as further evidence of state persecution.
A Literary Giant Speaks Truth to Power
Nigeria’s most celebrated author, Chinua Achebe—whose novel “Things Fall Apart” is among the most widely read African books worldwide—devoted his later years to documenting this discrimination.
In his 1983 book “The Trouble with Nigeria” and his 2012 memoir “There Was a Country,” Achebe argued that Nigeria suffers from an “Igbo problem.” Not that Igbos themselves are the problem, but rather that other Nigerian ethnic groups achieve consensus primarily through “shared resentment of the Igbo people.”
Achebe documented case after case of qualified Igbos being removed from positions and replaced with less qualified individuals from other ethnic backgrounds. He argued this practice—multiplied across decades and institutions—has crippled Nigeria’s development by prioritizing ethnic quotas over competence.
He attributed anti-Igbo sentiment partly to Igbo “competitive individualism and adventurous spirit,” which drove rapid advancement and created envy. He also acknowledged that some Igbo behavior—what he called “noisy exhibitionism”—could provoke resentment. But he insisted that systematic discrimination remained fundamentally unjust and was destroying Nigeria’s potential.
Contemporary legal voices echo Achebe’s concerns. Human rights lawyer Barrister Malcolm Omirhobo has repeatedly condemned ethnic profiling of Igbos as unconstitutional and dangerous. He argues that Nigeria’s constitution guarantees equality and forbids ethnic discrimination—principles that cannot be overridden by ethnic prejudice or religious authority.
“No people deserve to be collectively shamed because of the actions of a few individuals,” Omirhobo states. He maintains that Nigeria’s real problems are injustice, corruption, and poor governance—not any particular ethnic group.
Christians Under Siege: From Colonial Manipulation to Modern Persecution
While Igbos face ethnic discrimination, Nigeria’s Christians—roughly half the population—face religious persecution that has escalated dramatically in recent decades.
The roots, again, trace to colonial policy. British administrators often favored Muslim rulers in ethnically mixed regions, denying church permits and blocking missionaries while supporting Islamic authority. These patterns created underlying tensions that erupted after independence.
Sharia Law and Second-Class Citizenship
In 1999, when Nigeria returned to democracy after decades of military rule, twelve northern states declared Sharia (Islamic law) as their legal system. For Muslims, this represented cultural autonomy. For Christians living in these states, it created institutional discrimination.
Christians in Sharia states report:
• Denial of permits to build churches or repair existing ones
• Exclusion from government appointments and advancement
• Pressure on Christian students to study Islam in public schools
• Courts that apply religious law to civil disputes regardless of parties’ faith
• Being treated as “second-class citizens” in their own country
These are not isolated complaints but systematic patterns documented by human rights organizations, though the Nigerian government disputes many allegations.
According to international monitoring organizations, tens of thousands of Nigerian Christians have been killed in the past decade. Open Doors USA, which tracks Christian persecution globally, has ranked Nigeria among the world’s most dangerous countries for Christians for several consecutive years.
Government Failure and International Response
The Nigerian government’s response has been widely criticized as inadequate. Accusations include:
• Failure to prevent attacks despite intelligence warnings
• Minimal prosecution of perpetrators, creating a culture of impunity
• Security force appointments perceived to favor Muslims
. Dismissing religious motivations, instead framing attacks as “farmer-herder conflicts”.
Many Christians feel abandoned by their own government, leading to self-defense militias and vigilante justice—responses that further destabilize affected regions.
The crisis has attracted international attention. The United States designated Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” for religious freedom violations, citing systematic persecution of Christians by violent Islamist groups. This designation, while symbolic, places Nigeria alongside nations like China, Iran, and North Korea—countries recognized for severe religious persecution.
Conclusion: Breaking the Colonial Curse
Britain created modern Nigeria through force and administrative convenience, not organic development or popular will. The structural inequalities, ethnic hierarchies, and religious tensions built into Nigeria’s foundation have produced over a century of discrimination, marginalization, and violence.
The Igbo and Christian communities in Nigeria represent the most visible—yet often overlooked—victims of this colonial legacy. Their suffering is not ancient history but present-day reality, from economic exclusion to government marginalization to violent persecution.
International awareness and pressure are essential. When powerful nations ignore systematic discrimination and religious persecution for economic or political convenience, they become complicit in that suffering.
Nigeria’s crisis is a test of whether the international community genuinely cares about human rights or only invokes them selectively. The Igbo and Christian communities in Nigeria deserve more than sympathy. They deserve justice, equality, and security—rights theoretically guaranteed by Nigeria’s constitution but denied in practice.
The question facing Nigeria—and the watching world—is whether a nation built on colonial division can transcend that legacy and become truly one nation where all citizens are genuinely equal. The answer will determine not only Nigeria’s future but also whether post-colonial Africa can overcome the structures designed to keep it divided.
*Dr Obidigbo, an Elder Statesman, Political Analyst, and Historical Researcher Writes from Enugu, Nigeria
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