Nigeria

by E. D. Morel

PLATE-LAYING ON THE NORTHERN NIGERIA RAILWAY.

To all these incongruities must be added the series of events which have led to the creation of two competing railway systems, and, consequently, to open rivalry between the two Administrations in the effort to secure the traffic from the interior, a rivalry which is certainly not lessened by the circumstance that the method of railway construction followed in one Protectorate differs radically from that pursued in the other. This rivalry, needless to say, is perfectly honourable to both sides, but it is deplorable, nevertheless, and not in the public interest, and were the two systems placed under one management before the amalgamation of the Protectorates, i.e. if Southern Nigeria took over the Northern line, which it very naturally wishes to do, having lent the money for its construction, and not appreciating the rôle of milch cow without adequate return, friction between the railway management and the Political Staff would be inevitable owing to the fundamental divergence of method already referred to. Moreover, the results achieved by Mr. Eaglesome and his staff in laying the Baro-Kano railway have been of so revolutionary a character as to suggest the advisability of reconsidering the whole policy of railway construction in British West Africa, such as has been pursued hitherto. I will refer briefly to this method in a moment. Meanwhile the position of the competing lines is roughly this. Southern Nigeria has built—or rather is building, for the last section is not quite finished—a railway from Lagos which crosses the Niger at Jebba, proceeds therefrom to Zungeru, the capital of Northern Nigeria, and onwards to a place called Minna.[13] Northern Nigeria has built a railway from Baro, a spot 407 miles up the Niger to Minna, where the junction is effected, and thence to Kano. Southern Nigeria, which looks upon the Northern Protectorate as its natural hinterland, wishes to attract the trade of the north over its line to Lagos, and desires that the through rates it has drawn up should be accepted by Northern Nigeria, and claims the right of fixing the rates on the section of its railway from the point where it enters Northern Nigeria territory (Offa) to the point of junction. The Northern Nigeria Administration, which does not in the least regard itself as the natural appanage of Southern Nigeria, desires to feed the Baro-Kano railway in conjunction with the Niger, and declares that the through rates proposed by Southern Nigeria are so manipulated as to ensure the deflection of the northern trade to Lagos and thus to starve the Baro-Kano line, which would tend to reduce a considerable section of it, apart from its very definite strategical importance, to scrap iron. That was the position when I left the country, and I do not gather that it has greatly advanced since. There has been a conference, but it has not resulted, and could not result, in agreement as to the question of what line is to get preferential treatment; and that, of course, is the main question which should be decided by an impartial authority, having regard to the interests of Nigeria as a whole. Now a word as to the two systems. So far as governing principles are concerned, it would probably be regarded as a fair description to state that the Southern Nigerian method is less concerned with capital expenditure and with rapidity of construction, as with the advisability of securing permanently good construction and putting in permanent work throughout, including stone ballast, fine stations and so on. The Northern Nigerian method, on the other hand, aims at keeping down initial capital expenditure and interest, exercising strict economy in the matter of buildings, both for the public and for the staff, combined with rapidity of construction and improving the line as the traffic grows. These ideas represent two schools of thought, and beyond the general remark that a rich Administration may be able to afford what a poor one certainly cannot, the non-expert had best not venture upon an expression of opinion lest peradventure he be ground between the upper and the nether millstone. But as regards the respective systems under which these principles are carried out, it is impossible to resist the conclusion that Northern Nigeria has demonstrably proved its superiority so far as actual construction is concerned. The Southern Nigeria line has been, and is being, constructed on the old model. Consulting engineers in London are employed by the Colonial Office, and appoint the staff in Africa. They are unchecked, for the Colonial Office has no independent railway adviser for tropical Africa, no railway board, or department, or anything of that kind. Thus there are two distinct staffs concerned, a staff appointed by and responsible to the Consulting Engineers in London, and the General Manager’s Staff in the Dependency. Where the responsibility of one begins and the other ends, both would probably find it difficult to define; and no one who knows West Africa can fail to appreciate the divided counsels, the friction, the waste of time and money which such a system must inevitably entail, even though every human rivet in the machine were endowed with superlative qualities. It is very difficult to arrive at a clear idea as to what the average expenditure of the Southern Nigerian railway has been per mile, but it does not appear to be disputed that the cost of construction of the first section of 120 miles to Ibadan, plus the capital expenditure incurred on the open line and the working capital for stores, was enormous, viz. £11,000 per mile. The expenditure upon the remaining sections will probably be found to work out at an average of between £5000 and £6000 per mile, exclusive of railway stock and maintenance. Contract labour has been employed except in the later stages, when the line entering Northern Nigeria territory has come under the system of political recruiting which will now be described.

LANDING-PLACE AT BARO.

GROUP OF RAILWAY LABOURERS—BARO.

The great advantage which the Northern Nigerian system possesses over that of Southern Nigeria is unity of direction. But the vital difference between the two systems is this: Northern Nigeria has shown that it is possible to construct a railway without the services of Consulting Engineers in England at all. Now this is a fact which cannot be too pointedly emphasized; because Consulting Engineers are most expensive luxuries if they are not necessities. The logical deduction is, either that Consulting Engineers can be, and if they can be should be, dispensed with for any future railways in West Africa; or that the Baro-Kano railway, without them, is a failure. It appears to me that the Baro-Kano railway has been a marvellous success from the point of view of construction. What are the facts? The Administration, i.e. its Public Works Department, with the help of a few Royal Engineer officers lent by the Home Government, has been its own builder. The absence of any foreign body has reduced friction to a minimum. In fact, there has been no friction whatever, because the Railway Staff has co-operated in every way with the Political Staff, and the exercise of the Political Officers’ legitimate duties in protecting the interests of the natives has not been resented or looked upon in the light of vexatious interference by the railway management. I should be the last to wish to minimize the excellence of the individual work performed by the engineers in charge of the Southern Nigeria line, which I was able to admire, and from whom I received the greatest hospitality and kindness at various stages in my journey; but the nature of the system there followed precludes that enthusiastic co-operation of all the elements concerned which is the predominating characteristic of Northern Nigerian methods. And, as already stated, there is a very considerable item of expense to be considered through the employment of Consulting Engineers in London. In the Northern Protectorate every one, from the Governor—the Baro-Kano railway owes, of course, its inception to Sir Percy Girouard—down to the foreman, has been, as it were, a member of a single family. In fact, one might almost say that the line has been built on the communistic principle. In no direction does the system show better results than in the organization of labour. It has proved to demonstration what is the right way of dealing with native labour in West Africa, viz.: that the labourer on public works shall be drawn from the neighbourhood where the public works are situate, that he shall proceed to the scene of his labours accompanied by his own Village or District Headman, the native authority to whom he owes allegiance, and whom he knows and trusts; that he shall perform his duties in the presence and under the supervision of that Headman, and that for the conduct of the Headman himself, and for the whole proceedings under which recruitment is carried on and labour performed, the Political Officer shall be responsible. In other words, it shows the right procedure to be that of recruiting through and with the co-operation of, and by the orders of, the natural authorities of the people under the supreme control of the Resident, combined with a form of payment which shall ensure the wage being placed in the wage-earner’s own hand, not in somebody else’s hand. By this system alone can the labour of the country employed in agricultural and industrial pursuits be capable of bearing an additional burden for public purposes, without injustice, without ferment, without dislocating the whole labour system of the region. Persuaded of this truth, the Political Officers of Northern Nigeria, aided by the ready willingness of the Railway Staff, have achieved a veritable triumph of organization which should ever remain a model to follow. And in that triumph can be read a deep political lesson. That such organization has been possible in Northern Nigeria is due, primarily, to the existence of a native political organization to which we could appeal and upon which we could rely. The principle adopted on the works themselves has been to give to each foreman his own set of Headmen, with their own gangs to look after, and to so regulate the labour that no individual should work more than eight hours per diem. Built under conditions such as these, the Northern Nigeria railway, constructed under great difficulties with wonderful rapidity and at a cost of well under £4000 per mile, rolling-stock and stores included, is not only in itself a striking performance—with, I believe, if free conditions of development are assured to it, a bright economic future—but a political and educational work of permanent value. It has helped to bring the Political Officers into closer personal touch with the population. It has increased the confidence of the people in the honesty of their alien overlords, and has imbued them with a personal interest and friendly curiosity in the railway. It has taught them many things which they did not know before, things which will be useful to themselves in their own social life. It has brought previously hostile tribes together into the same trench, effacing tribal barriers and burying old feuds. It has largely increased the use of silver coinage, and stimulated commercial activity. The same system is being followed in the construction, now proceeding, of the branch line towards the tin-fields; but many more railways will be required to develop the commercial potentialities of Northern Nigeria, and the fact constitutes one more argument to those already given in favour of an amalgamation of the two Protectorates, and the evolution of one set of governing ideas.

VILLAGE HEAD-MEN.