Bussa rebellion

The Bussa rebellion, also known as the Boussa rebellion, was a small insurrection in the town of Bussa against the policy of indirect rule in British-controlled Nigeria in June 1915. The rebellion was triggered by British deposition of the local Emir of Bussa, Kitoro Gani, and his replacement with a Native Administration. The rebels attacked and killed around half of the members of the Administration, while the rest fled, leaving the rebels in control in Bussa. Despite the ongoing Kamerun Campaign against the German Empire, the British were able to use a small force of soldiers which quickly suppressed the rebellion incurring no casualties.

The Bussa Rebellion was the subject of a major work by British historian Michael Crowder.

During World War I, the increased demands on the colonial state, combined with its growing shortage of manpower, put strain on British and French colonial holdings in West Africa. Uprisings in British Nigeria and French Dahomey particularly served to "embarrass" colonialists and special precautions were taken to suppress them. Rebellions by the Egba people and the Iseyin caused particular concern.

Bussa was located in Borgu province in the west of Northern Nigeria. Traditionally, Bussa had been part of the Borgu Emirate but had been captured by the British and annexed into the Northern Nigeria Protectorate. Between 1912 and 1914, under the auspices of Frederick Lugard, Northern and Southern Nigeria were merged into a single Nigerian Protectorate. Lugard was a chief proponent of allowing limited self-determination to local states, known as indirect rule, based on traditional tribal groups but within the aegis of general British control.

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