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Why was indirect rule difficult to apply in eastern Nigeria?

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Map of North America in 1763 using color coding to show colonial territories: the 13 American colonies in red along the Atlantic coast, other British territory in orange across much of present-day Canada, Spanish territory in purple covering most of the southern and western regions, Russian territory in green in the northwest, and large areas of unclaimed land in white. Major bodies of water such as the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Hudson Bay are labeled. — Western colonialism North America during the colonial period.

The British policy of indirect rule was designed to govern through existing traditional hierarchies, a system that proved highly effective in the centralized emirates of northern Nigeria. However, applying this model in eastern Nigeria was difficult primarily because the region lacked such centralized monarchical states.123

Instead of a single ruler or clear-cut hierarchy, many societies in eastern Nigeria—particularly the Igbo—were organized into autonomous local communities, self-contained villages, or federations of village groups. Authority in these areas was typically vested in councils of lineage heads, elders, and influential men rather than a single chief.34

Because the British administrative system required traditional intermediaries to pass orders down to the population, the absence of clear-cut, centralized authority structures made the implementation of indirect rule problematic. In their attempts to force this system upon the region, the British occasionally created political hierarchies where none had previously existed, often ruling through individuals who were considered malleable regardless of whether they held traditional positions of authority.12