THE AMALGAMATION OF NIGERIA Union of Lagos and Southern Nigeria.—

In 1904 it was decided to unite the two Nigerias and Lagos under one government, and as a first step in that direction Sir Walter (then Mr.) Egerton was appointed both governor of Lagos and high commissioner of Southern Nigeria.

This was followed in Feb. 1906 by the amal gamation of these two administrations under the style of "the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria," with headquarters at Lagos town. The former colony and protectorate of Lagos (q.v.) became the western or Lagos province of the new adminis tration. In the year of amalgamation the revenue reached a record figure, the amount collected being LI,o88,000, to which Lagos province contributed Over 8o% of the revenue was derived from customs.

In the same year the expenditure from revenue was £1,056,000.Northern Nigeria Railway.—Northern Nigeria continued to be a separate protectorate, and in 1907 Sir Frederick Lugard was succeeded as high commissioner by Sir Percy Girouard.

In August of that year the British Government, on administrative, strategic, and commercial grounds decided on a railway to give the cities of Zaria and Kano direct communication with the perennially navigable waters of the Lower Niger. In view of the approaching unification of Southern and Northern Nigeria, the money needed, about £1,250,000, was raised as a loan by Southern Nigeria.

The route chosen for the line was that advocated by Sir Frederick Lugard. This important work, essential for the welfare of the northern territories, was begun under the superin tendence of Sir Percy, the builder of the Wadi Halfa-Khartoum railway. At the same time the Lagos railway was extended to join the Kano line near Zungeru, the Niger being bridged at Jebba.Land Tenure.—Sir Percy Girouard gave much attention to the land tenure, probably the most important of administrative ques tions in West Africa. He adopted the land policy of Sir Frederick Lugard and recommended "a declaration in favour of the nation alization of the lands of the protectorate." This was in accord with native laws—that the land is the property of the people, held in trust for them by their chiefs, who have not the power of alienation.

In 1909 he was succeeded as Governor (the titleHigh Commissioner having been changed) by Sir H. H. J. Bell; and meanwhile the secretary for the colonies had appointed a strong committee, which, after hearing much evidence, issued a report in April 1910 in substantial agreement with his recom mendations. This policy was adopted by the Colonial Office and the natives of Nigeria were secured in the possession of their land—the Government imposing land taxes, which are the equiva lent of rent. The exclusion of the European land speculator and denial of the right to buy and sell land and of freehold tenure was held by all the authorities to be essential for the moral and material welfare of the inhabitants of a land where the duty of the white man is mainly that of administration and his material advantages lie in trade.


Amalgamation of Northern Nigeria.—

The constitution of Southern Nigeria (1906) left the protectorate still divided into two very different, and, for political purposes, distinct depend encies of the Crown. Southern Nigeria, with an area of about 76,000 sq.m., stretched inland from the Guinea coast through a tropical belt of generally dense forest land to a line irregu larly corresponding with the latitude of 7'i o" N.

Northern Nigeria, with an area of 255,700 sq.m., composed largely of open prairie, hill country, and dry desert plains, extended from the lati tude of 7'i o" to the frontiers of the French and Zinder territory on the north, to French Dahomey on the west, and to the Ger man Cameroons on the east. The population of Southern Nigeria was about 8,000,000 and the population of Northern Nigeria, with more than three times the area, was about 9,000,000.

In both divisions primitive and very backward races had been over run and influenced by civilizations of a higher type. In the south the new civilization had been European and Christian ; in the north, Arab and Mohammedan.


The interdependence of these two regions was obvious and their amalgamation had long been urged upon the Imperial Gov ernment. It was not, however, until 19II that the secretary for the colonies, Mr. L. V. Harcourt, determined to adopt the policy. Sir F. (Lord) Lugard, who had been the first high commissioner for Northern Nigeria, was asked to initiate and carry out a scheme of amalgamation, being in 1912 appointed governor at the same time of both Southern and Northern Nigeria.

The preliminary work was completed in about 18 months, and on Jan. I, 1914, the governments of Southern and Northern Nigeria were formally amalgamated, Sir Frederick Lugard receiving the personal title of governor-general. The geographical divisions of north and south were maintained. Two lieutenant-governors were appointed, one for the northern and one for the southern province. An administrator was appointed to the colony, the executive council of which became the executive council of the protectorate, while the jurisdiction of the legislative council was confined to the narrow limits of the colony's 1,400 sq.m.

At the time of amalgamation Northern Nigeria was divided into 12 provinces, the native communities being for the most part each under its native ruler, the five principal native states being known as first-class emirates, while each independent chief tainship, however small, retained its treasured liberty, and this system of government was maintained.

The southern provinces at that period consisted of three divisions under provincial com missioners.

They were the territories east of the Niger, west of the Niger, and the hinterland of Lagos. The native races in the hinterland of Lagos and to the east of the Niger were in a much less advanced state of tribal organization than were the tribes in the north and scarcely fitted for any form of enlightened self-rule. Fetish worship, cannibalism, and barbarous practices were rife.

On the west of the Niger, however, three native states, Yoruba, Egbe, and Benin, were strongly organized. They were induced to renounce the exceptional position they enjoyed, under treaties made with Great Britain, and to accept conditions similar to those of the first-class emirates of the north.

The introduc tion of the new system was accompanied by some difficulty, and in 1918 an easily suppressed rising in Egbeland gave momentary uneasiness. Indirect rule has now been fully accepted in both Egbeland and Yorubaland and the report of 1924 stated that it was working admirably in Benin. The way for the extension of such indirect rule as might be found possible was prepared by the division of Southern Nigeria into nine provinces (later in creased), each under a British resident, as in the north.


The World War.

The outbreak of the World War within seven months of amalgamation postponed the consolidation of the new system. Patriotic sentiment in the protectorate ran high.Every department was depleted by volunteers for active service, and it was with difficulty that the administrative machine was held together with the remnant of overworked staff retained. For four years, the first thought of every Englishman in Nigeria was given to the war. And not of the Englishmen only.

The War served at once to test and to exemplify the solid results of Brit ish rule. Throughout the War period the great native chiefs of the north were constant and unflagging in their loyalty.The native troops of the West African Frontier Force did gallant service, both in the arduous campaign carried out under the leadership of Generals Dobell and Cunliffe in the Cameroons, and in what was to them foreign service in East Africa.

The Cameroons campaign which opened in August and September 1914, with reverses all along the British line, at Mora (Aug. 25) and Garua (Aug. 29) in the north, and at Nsanakang (Sept. 6) in the south, lasted until Feb. 1916. It was a severe test for the troops engaged. The fighting was heavy, but they stood it well. Early in 1915 the campaign, in which French troops took an active part, was reorganized. British forces in the north were placed under the command of General Cunliffe, and the final taking of Garua and the storming of Banyo Hill under his leader ship on Nov. 6, 1915, in face of a hail of dynamite bombs, was a feat of which any regiment might be proud.

The conquered territory was divided between France and Great Britain, to be administered under mandate according to the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. The portion taken by Great Britain was 31,000 sq.m., with an estimated population of 600,000 (see CAM EROONS).the War by arresting material development also delayed the application of schemes for the moral welfare of the native population, some progress was made. The judicial and legal systems of the two protectorates were, on amalgamation, combined. One chief justice for the whole of Nigeria and four puisne judges were appointed, and each lieutenant-governor was provided with a legal adviser. The reorganization of the two systems and the revision of the laws of the two protectorates, was a long and heavy job.

The first reforms were initiated in 1914. Notwithstanding the difficulties of the moment, an edu cation ordinance was promulgated in 1916 having for its object the reform and co-ordination of the systems of the north and south. It set a definite standard, of which the principal aim was to substitute self-discipline and the formation of character for set examinations in literary subjects, and generally to fit local education to local needs.

A forestry ordinance of the same year (1916) dealt with the rapid destruction of the forests, which con stitute the principal wealth of the southern provinces.

Not the least achievement of the War period was the elimina tion of the traffic in foreign "trade spirits," on which the revenue of the southern provinces had largely depended. It was the de clared policy of the amalgamated Government to kill this trade by gradually raising the duty. Conditions of war hastened the process. Before the War the revenue from this traffic formed 34.26% of the revenue of Southern Nigeria. By the end of the War it had fallen to a proportion of 1.23. It was held that this result established two important conclusions.

First, that the Gov ernment of Nigeria could dispense with revenue derived from spirits; secondly, that the produce trade could be conducted suc cessfully without them. As from Feb. 1, 'gig, the importation of trade spirits was formally prohibited in all the West African colonies and protectorates.Constitutional Changes.—Sir F. (later Lord) Lugard retired at the end of the War, and Sir Hugh Clifford succeeded him as gover nor of Nigeria in July 1919.

It was an era of prosperity, and at the end of Clifford's term of governorship great economic progress had been made. Sir Hugh's tenure of office was also notable for two modifications in the system of administration. The first was the extension and reorganization of the central secretariat, a step which in practice tended to curtail the responsibility and initiative of the lieutenant-governors and residents of provinces. The second was the abolition of an advisory Nigerian council established under the amalgamation scheme, and the restoration of the jurisdiction of the legislative council for the colony over the whole of the southern provinces. In the new and enlarged council the elective principle was introduced. The introduction of this elective prin ciple, of which experience in the West Indies has not been alto gether encouraging, was new to West Africa, though it has since been applied to Sierra Leone and the Gold Coast.

The new coun cil retains an official majority, but includes three elected unofficial members representing the municipal area of Lagos, and one elected unofficial member representing the municipal area of Calabar. The unofficial element also includes members chosen by the three Chambers of Commerce (Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Kano) and the Chamber of Mines, two members representing respectively the banking and shipping interests, and eight the otherwise unrepresented African population of the colony and the southern provinces. The first elections for this council were held in Sept. 1923, and the council was inaugurated by the gov ernor on Oct. 1, 1923. The governor retains the power to legis late for the northern provinces, but the council may discuss affairs of interest to any part of Nigeria. In Sept. 1925

Sir Hugh Clifford was succeeded as governor by Sir Graeme Thomson.Improvement of Communications.—During his first year of office Sir Graeme made extensive tours, in one of which he trav ersed the protectorate from Lagos to Lake Chad, the whole dis tance being covered for the first time by motor; and in Feb. and March, 1926, Mr. W. G. A. Ormsby-Gore, the under-secretary of state, visited Nigeria. Later in the year proposals for the improvement of communications were submitted by the governor and approved in general by the secretary of state.

In his address to the legislative council on Feb. I, 1927, Sir Graeme outlined a large programme of accelerated road and railway construction. In the next five years the Nigerian Government proposed to in crease the 2,97om. of then existing roads by 200M. per annum, and to add to the 1,597m. of railways then open, new branch lines (to feed the main trunk lines) at the rate of 15om. a year The necessity for a big improvement in the transport facili ties was emphasized by the condition of the cotton industry. In the years 1906-1926 the value of the external trade of Nigeria rose from 5 to 34 millions sterling. More than half of the ex ports (of the total value of L16,888,361 in 1926) are palm oil and kernels, but among other industries cotton growing, intro duced by the British Cotton Growing Association in 1902, is notable, as affording a prospect of mutual benefit to the Africans of the protectorate and to Britain. It is only in recent years, however, that the production of lint for export has been replaced largely by the growing of the long staple American cotton. In the season 1924-25 the amount of American cotton exported was 28,10o bales, and in 1925-26 it rose to 38,350 bales. When in this hopeful stage of development the industry was threatened with disaster by the fall of the world-price of raw cotton in 1926.

To meet the danger the Government carried cotton on the railways at nominal rates, and, in response to Sir Graeme's appeal, the British Cotton Growing Association reduced the ginning charges and Messrs. Elder Dempster their sea-freights. Six months later he was able to announce the success of these measures to a Manchester audience. "A practicably established but growing industry," he said on Sept. 3, had been saved "from a very serious set-back." At the same time, in view of the rela tive failure of the American cotton when grown in mixture with other crops (as is customary among the African farmers), the Agricultural Department of Nigeria is trying to produce a strain of native cotton with the long fibre required by the Lancashire cotton spinners. If such strains can be produced in sufficient quantities, it is believed that the area under cotton will be largely extended in the near future.


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