ABSTRACT
The rationale to present a closer assessment of state building policies implemented by the British in the Niger basin is underscored by the magnitude of their respective impacts on politics in the Niger basin during and after de facto colonial rule. All four policies were inspired by and implemented to satisfy the preference that British colonial actors showed towards the forms, norms, and practice of authority in the Caliphate society. Although the campaign predated the shift to the Indirect Rule policy, those who orchestrated it were motivated by a desire to totally subjugate the inhabitants of the Niger basin to absolute colonial control and pave the way for super profitable commerce. Colonial state building in the upper Niger impacted negatively on the economic development of indigenous societies in both the short and long terms. Hausa-Fulani political leaders who believed that the end of colonial would jeopardize their authority and privilege incited those riots.
