THE DEVELOPMENT OF NORTHERN NIGERIA.

Evening Star, Issue 14117, 21 July 1909, Page 7

THE DEVELOPMENT OF NORTHERN NIGERIA.

Sir Percy Gironard, Governor of Nor- i thern Nigeria, who has reached England ; on leave, made recently a. journey of about two thousand miles, mainly through th> ! northern regions of (he Protectorate. It-', informed a representative of Router's Agency that during his visits to tha grcnt Emirates ho not only found the attitude of the big chiefs to bo excellent, but was greatly impressed by the grasp of ad- ' ministration possessed by the Emirs through whom the country is ruled and whoso hands it is the policy of the administration to strengthen as much impossible. Sir Percy remarked upon the knowledge possessed by the native judge;;. ■ —Contentment of the Native. l ?.- - t Commenting on his journey, Sir Percy Gironard said : Wherever I went- I was struck with the contentment of the, people. There is now very little hindrance to caravans even among the pagan tribes. > I found no sign of the trueiflent atti- ; tudo which formerly characterised some : of the people. The hist, u.nfortumite ! affair at Gussove. when Mr Vanrenen's ! party was ambushed, is one of the.se un- ' happy incidents which must -arise in dealings with raw p-:igans of whom the Ouari population is composed. But there need not be the slightest fear that this will lead to further trouble. Out of a total area of 250.000 square miles only a. few thousand remain to be brought under administrative control. . . . This is being done in such a v:iy as to render hostilities unnecessary, in the case of the pagans we seek to introduce better government and peace by establishing markets and getting them into touch with the oubsido world. —Railway Construction.— With reference to the question of railway construction Sir Percy Gironard rema; ked : In the direction of Kano. earthworks .-■re in construction to mile 180 from Ba.ro. This high water another 150 miles of rails will be delivered, making a total of 500 miles in the country. Kano, it is hoped, will be reached at the end of 1911. It, is a matter For great satisfaction that the Lagos Railway is completed to Jcbba, and that the work of further linking up the two systems is_ being proceeded with by the Southern Nigerian authorities. . '.