How is it Governed?

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21812, 18 June 1936, Page 4 (Supplement)

How is it Governed?

The British possessions in West Africa are the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria, the Gambia Colony and protectorate, the Gold Coast Colony with Ashanti and Northern Territories, and the Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate. (Parts of Togoland and. the Cameroons, included in British West Africa as mandated territories, will be discussed in a later article dealing with British mandates in Africa.)

Nigeria The map reproduced on this page will show the existing boundaries of the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria; these boundaries have been through many changes. In August, 1861, a native king ceded Lagos, which was then placed under the protection of the Governor of Sierra Leone in 1868. In 1874 it was detached from Sierra Leone and was attached to the Gold Coast Colony until 1886, when it became known as a separate “Colony and Protectorate of Lagos.” In this year also (1886) the Royal Niger Company bad established a settlement in the Niger valley. Eventually the land claimed by this company, together with the separate Lagos colony, became w 1914 the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. It was put under the administration of a Governor and had its central government at Lagos. Then the Colony of Nigeria had new boundaries defined and the Protectorate was divided into northern and southern provinces, each with a Lieutenant-Governor appointed by the King and under the control of the Governor of the Colony and Protectorate. In the Colony It has been found possible to give the natives in some parts a share in the Government by allowing certain voting rights. But in the Protectorate provinces, especially Inland, toe Government is carried out largely through the native chiefs and emirs. Mohammedan end native lava are enforced by

15— BRITISH WEST AFRICA

these Kadis, Emirs, and chiefs, who are actually the subordinates of the British resident officials. When it is realised that there are important differences between the peoples of different parts of such a Colony as Nigeria it will be seen that the successful government of the country is a serious problem to those in charge. In the coastal towns, for instance, the natives have copied European habits, including the wearing of

European dress. They are moving towards an educated state in which they will be able i f > undertake sglx* government. Therefore the elective system is used tor various kinds of municipal government. But in the interior, the protectorates mentioned above, tribal war Care ana slave trading are among the difficulties with which British residents have had to deal. Since 1914 the Executive Council of the Colony has been the Executive Council of the Protectorate also. The Governor is assisted by senior officials. There is a Legislative Council (created 1922) consisting of the Governor, the Executive Council, and other official members (the number not exceeding 30), and 81 members elected or chosen to represent certain districts or certain interests such as banking and shipping. Area of Nigeria: 372,874 square miles. Population: 19,928,171. The EuroSeans are very few in number; iey are mostly missionaries, Government officials and trade agents. Governor: Sir Donald C. Cameron. Gambia

The early Portuguese navigators discovered Gambia, but made no settlement From the seventeenth century onwards traders of various nations established settlements which came under the control of Sierra Leone. In 1888 the British had established a settlement that had been recognised since 1843: now it became a Cwwa colony, with a

Protectorate attached, under the control of a Governor with an Executive Council and a nominated Legislative Council. Bathurst, the capital, stands on the island of St. Mary. Area: 69 square miles. Protectorate 3999 square miles. Population: 14,370; Protectorate 185,150. Governor: A. F. Richards. The Gold Coast

English and Dutch traders first sought to engage in the slave traffic in the Gold Coast in the seventeenth century; Portuguese navigators had discovered it and had talked about it as early as the fourteenth century. Both Dutch and English held settlements on the coast, but in 1871 the Dutch transferred theirs to the English. The position of the colony will be seen in the map; it extends 334 miles along the coast of the Gult of Guinea between the French Ivory Coast and Togoland. Inland are the provinces Ashanti and the Northern Territories attached to the Gold Coast for administration. One of the most interesting things about the Gold Coast is an experiment that has been made with the natives in recent years. It has been said very often that the natives are lazy and will not work willingly for any person or for any payment. But this has been disproved; in the Gold Coast the natives work their own land in their own way for their own profit. They produce enormous crops of cocoa every year; it is true that their methods are often old-fashioned and wasteful; but there the natives work hard and eagerly, producing crops for export, paying taxes and buying imported commodities. The plan suits the British colonisers, and is highly satisfactory to the natives. The Government is in charge of a Governor, with an Executive and a Legislative Council; chief commissioners act for the Governor in Ashanti and the Northern Territorifis Area (including Togoland): 91,843 square miles. Population: 3,271,557 (non-Afri-cans 3146). Governor of the Gold Coast: Sir Arnold W. Hodson. Chief Commissioner of Ashantis Major F. W. F. Jackson. Chief Commissioner of Northern Territories: W. J. A. Jones. Sierra Leone In 1788 the Colony of Sierra Leone had its romantic beginnings as a British possession. A small piece of land was bought front a native king by English settlers who wished to make it a home for African waifs in London, and also for the unfortunates rescued from the slave-ships. That was in 1788. It was scarcely 200 years later, when, in 1927, Lady Simon drew up a memorandum exposing the slavery that still existed in the British Colony and Protectorate of Sierra Leone. Steps were immediately taken to put an end to this barbarous practice in the territory, which was originally settled as a haven for those rescued from slavery 200 years before. The Governor has an executive and a Legislative Council of 11 official members, three elected unofficial members (only men of 25 years and more may vote), and seven nominated unofficial members including three important chiefs of the Protectorate. The elected members must hold their seats for five years. Atm of the Colony: 4000 square miles; of the Protectorate, 27,870 square miles. Population of the Colony; 96,422; of the Protectorate, 1.456,146. Governor: Henry Monck-Mason Moore.