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Nigeria Further Development of Colonial Policy
Lugard's immediate successor, Hugh Clifford (1919-25),
was an
aristocratic professional administrator with liberal
instincts
who had won recognition for his enlightened governorship
of the
Gold Coast. The approaches of the two governors to
colonial
development were diametrically opposed. In contrast to
Lugard,
Clifford argued that it was the primary responsibility of
colonial government to introduce as quickly as practical
the
benefits of Western experience. He was aware that the
Muslim
north would present problems, but he evinced great hopes
for
progress along the lines that he laid down in the south,
where he
anticipated "general emancipation" leading to a more
representative form of government. Clifford emphasized
economic
development, encouraging enterprises by immigrant
southerners in
the north while restricting European participation to
capitalintensive activity.
Uneasy with the amount of latitude allowed traditional
leaders under indirect rule, Clifford opposed further
extension
of the judicial authority held by the northern emirs,
stating
bluntly that he did "not consider that their past
traditions and
their present backward cultural conditions afford to any
such
experiment a reasonable chance of success." He did not
apply this
rationale in the south, however, where he saw the
possibility of
building an elite educated in schools modeled on a
European
method. These schools would teach "the basic principles
that
would and should regulate character and conduct." In line
with
this attitude, he rejected Lugard's proposal for moving
the
capital from Lagos, the stronghold of the elite in whom he
placed
so much confidence for the future.
Clifford also believed that indirect rule encouraged
centripetal tendencies, and he argued that the division
into two
separate colonies was advisable unless a stronger central
government could bind Nigeria into more than just an
administrative convenience for the three regions. Whereas
Lugard
had applied lessons learned in the north to the
administration of
the south, Clifford was prepared to extend to the north
practices
that had been successful in the south. The Colonial
Office, where
Lugard was still held in high regard, accepted that
changes might
be due in the south, but it forbade fundamental alteration
of
procedures in the north. A.J. Harding, director of
Nigerian
affairs at the Colonial Office, defined the official
position of
the British government in its continued support of
indirect rule
when he commented that "direct government by impartial and
honest
men of alien race . . . never yet satisfied a nation long
and . .
. under such a form of government, as wealth and education
increase, so do political discontent and sedition."
Clifford's recommendations, as modified by the Colonial
Office, were embodied in the 1922 constitution (known as
the
Clifford Constitution). While administration in the north
was
left untouched, a new legislative council was established
in
common for the two southern regions, replacing the Lagos
Legislative Council and the moribund Nigerian Council. For
the
first time, direct elections took place outside Lagos,
although
only four of the council's forty-six members were elected.
Moreover, the introduction of the legislative principle
encouraged the emergence of political parties and
ultimately the
growth of nationalism in Nigeria. By 1931 strong
sentiments had
emerged in the north in reaction to Clifford's reforms.
Data as of June 1991
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