BRITISH WEST AFRICA

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25089, 22 January 1947, Page 3

BRITISH WEST AFRICA

“ NEXT FEW YEARS WILL BE CRITICAL ”

FORMER CHRISTCHURCH MAN ON FURLOUGH

“The next few years will be critical ones for the colonial service in British West Africa. About 150,000 soldiers from the area served overseas during the war; and we are not quite sure what ideas they have brought back from India snd the Middle East.” said Mr Michael Macdonald, a member of the administrative staff of the Colonial Service in Nigeria, in an interview yesterday.

“There will be a lot of new influences at work. A spirit of unrest prevails almost throughout the colo'nial Empire—the natives were brought more frequently into contact during the war with Europeans, and they earned more money than ever before. “In all the colonies there are schemes for very considerable development of roads, schools, and medical services, for which the British taxpayer has produced a considerable amount of money—£23,ooo,ooo for Nigeria. A university college will be established in Nigeria; at present natives who wish to have more than a secondary school education have to go to an English university, and few of them are able to do so. The trouble is that there is a shortage of natives with sufficient education to take responsible posts, and a shortage of trained Europeans to teach them and to put through the proposed developments. Until now the native has been satisfied with his way of life, but we think he wants something better, and it is up to us to provide it. It is up to us, too, to make good during the next few years and show, with the help of the money made available, that we really are there for the good of the native and that we really mean what we say.” Mr Macdonald, who is on furlough in Christchurch, was educated at Christ’s College, and in 1935 went to Cambridge University to study geography and economics. After taking a degree, he returned to New Zealand in 1938, but on being accepted for the Colonial Service returned to Cambridge for a year’s training. He reached Nigeria early in 1940. He joined the armed forces in Nigeria, and served for three years, attaining the rank of captain. Most of the administrative officers were released at the end of 1943 to help push up the production of palm oil and fats. Mr Macdonald returned to his administrative post. He will remain on furlough until April, when he will return to Nigeria. Lack of Staff Nigeria had two quite different climates, said Mr Macdonald yesterday. The southern portion, about one-third of the whole area, was in the coastal forest belt, and : had a very high degree of humidity all the year round, although the temperatures were not great. Further inland, in the northern portion, which was administered separately, the country was open and there was a low rainfall, with high temperatures and low humidity. Mr Macdonald spent practically all his time in the northern section. In West Africa, he said, the natives had been given a considerable degree of local self-government. The population had been estimated at 22,000.000 —it was the most thickly-populated part of Africa —and the full establishment for the administration was only 350, a figure which had never been attained. In the northern portion only 90 officers were on duty at one time, so it was impossible to do a'ny direct administration. They were there only in a supervisory capacity, to check the worst abuses. The fact that they were neutral gave natives the right of appeal. The administration in northern Nigeria was quite new. Mr Macdonald said. The country had been conquered between the years 1902 and 1905. The north was very law abiding, but the south was rather more turbulent. The peasants in the north had a traditional respect of their rulers which had never been lost, and the administration had also sunported the rulers. Misunderstandings over taxation gave rise to trouble, Mr Macdonald stated. The natives found the system difficult to comprehend—as many better educated persons did in other parts of the world. What disturbances there had been in the south, however, had been due more to the native chiefs than the administrative staff. The administration assessed taxes in lump sums, and each village divided its assesment according to the wealth of the individual. The system was open to abuse, and the administration’s duty was to prevent that as far as possible. Before the money reached the native treasury, it had to pass through the hands of several minor officials, and the administration had to prevent them from taking any—although “some of it was bound to stick to their fingers.”

Primitive Farming A large percentage of the natives were peasant farmers, who worked a few acres with the assistance of their families, and used a hoe to do it. Attempts had been made to introduce the plough, drawn by bullock; but the natives preferred the old system. The farmers did not live on their properties, but removed all the stock every night and returned, sometimes several miles, to their villages or towns. The largest purely native town in the north was Kano, which had d* population of 100,000. It was the centre of the ground nuts —or peanuts—trade. The nuts were not important as such, but as a source of vegetable oil. which was used in Great Britain’s margarine. The standard of living of the natives was quite adequate, Mr Macdonald said. Most of them lived in fairly clean huts, in well built compounds. and the huts were usually in good repair. In a good year very few of the natives went hungry. The native courts administered law and custom in as far as it complied with the administration’s ideas of justice—the more barbaic practices had been curbed. No counsel were allowed and the natives had to manage their own de-, fence. The courts were graded, however. and the chief one had full powers up to the imposing of death sentences, subject to the approval of the Governor. In the higher courts there were European magistrates—the bigger towns had mixed populations and Eu* ropean judges were necessary, although natives officiated if the persons concerned were from the same tribe. In these higher courts counsel were permitted. In the north, a large part of the population was Moslem. They were subject to Koranic law. There were quite large groups of Pagans; but the predominant influence was Islamic.

Trade was booming—all the vegetable oil. hides, and skins that could be produced could be sold. Mr Macdonald said. Tin had been exported during the war—after the fall of Malaya Nigeria had been the most important source of tin production in the Empire—but it was not likely to develop, as the best deposits had already been worked. The production of vegetable oil was menaced by plantation production, such as had been undertaken in the Congo and the Du+ch East Indies. The administration had refused Europeans permission to open plantations in order to keep the natives on the land. That was a sound policy. If plantations were opened, the natives would be emnloy,ed as labourers, and in times of depression they would suffer. In their 'present state they could, in bad times, still grow enough food for their families. Trained Personnel Needed Plans for development had been made, and the money was available; but there were insufficient trained Europeans to carry them out, Mr Macdonald said. Engineers, doctors, and agricultural experts were wanted. The success of the long-range development scheme might stand or fall on the question of labour. If the labour was available, the scheme could be carried out—it if were not, development would be a slow process indeed. During the war, the Royal Air Force Transport Command had established internal air services in Nigeria, Mr Macdonald said; and the trip from Kano to Lagos, which took two days and a half by train, was reduced to four hours. The service had ended; but a subsidiary company o£ British

Overseas Airways Corporation had been formed to take it over. Mr Macdonald stated that he quite liked the work in Nigeria. There was no fine scenery such as in East Africa —the country was flat and uninteresting—but he liked the people, and did not mind the climate—“one gets used to that”