Book Review: Africa: The British in Northern Nigeria, Recollections of British Administration in the Cameroons and Northern Nigeria 1921–1957: “But Always as Friends.”, Colonial Cadet in Nigeria
| DOI | 10.1177/002070207002500326 |
| Author | Edward E. McCullough |
| Published date | 01 September 1970 |
| Date | 01 September 1970 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
BOOK
RE•IEws
655
The
British
in
Northern
Nigeria.
By
ROBERT
HEUSSLER.
London:
Toronto:
Oxford
University
Press.
1968.
xxii,
210pp.
$6.35.
Recollection8
of
British
Administration
in
the
Cameroons
and
Northern
Nigeria
1921-1957:
"But
Always
as
Friends."
By
Sm
BRYAN
SHA,-
WOOD
SMITH.
Durham:
Duke
University
Press.
1969.
xviii,
460pp.
$11.50.
Colonial
Cadet
in
Nigeria.
By
JOHN
SMrIH.
Durham:
Duke
University
Press.
1968.
202pp.
$7.50.
These
three
variations
on
a
single
theme
have
as
their
keynote
the
proposition
that
the
road
to
Nigerian
independence
was
paved with
good
intentions.
The
authors
share
a
common
set
of
basic
premises
and
draw from
them
broadly
similar
conclusions.
All
three
believe
in
the
superiority
of
European
civilization
and
in
the
determination
of
British
officials
to bestow
its
benefits
on
Africa:
they
measure
the
success
of
imperialism
by
the
extent
to
which
the
societies
it
ruled
acquired
a
European
mould.
Nigeria,
the
largest
and
most
populous
colony
in
British
Africa,
played
a
historic role
in
the
development
of
British administration
on
that
continent.
Northern
Nigeria was
the
home
of
the
system of
so-
called
"indirect
rule"
through
African
chiefs,
which
was
adopted
in
most
colonies,
including
many
where
chieftainship
had
to
be
created
to
accommodate
it.
Studies
of
this
region have,
therefore,
far
more
than
local
significance.
Taken
together,
the three
books
present an
almost
complete,
if
somewhat
one-sided,
picture
of
the
British
administrative
machine
in
northern
Nigeria.
Cadet
John
Smith takes
us
through
his
first
five
years as
a
beginner
in
the
countryside,
Sir
Bryan
Sharwood
Smith
continues
through
the
entire
career
of
a
successful
official,
and
Robert
Heussler
provides
a
masterly
view
of
the
whole period,
1900
to
1960,
at
all
levels,
based
on
official
papers,
letters,
books,
and personal
interviews.
The
results
may
be
examined
from
two
points
of
view:
firstly,
they may
be
considered
as
apologies
for
empire,
which
is
undoubtedly
one
of
their
purposes;
secondly,
they
may
be
judged as
sources
of
information
on
the
conduct
and
effects
of
British
administration
in
northern
Nigeria. In
both ways,
all
three
books
make
a
significant
contribution,
although the
second
function
succeeds,
to
some
extent,
at
the
expense
of
the first.
John
Smith
has
produced
by
far
the
most
successful apology
for
empire.
He
writes,
as
he
has
evidently
conducted
himself
in Nigeria,
with
ability, sincerity, and
charm.
He
comes
through
clearly
as
one
who
genuinely
believes
that
he,
and
many others,
gave
their
very
best
to
Nigeria.
The
most
reluctant
critic
of
the British
empire
will
find
it
hard
to
resist
a
similar
conviction.
At
the
same
time,
his
eagerness
to
accomplish
great
things
quickly
prompts
him
to
criticism
of
the
apathy
and
obstructionism
in
the
higher
ranks
of
the
service.
One
gets
the
impression
that
many
officers
had
a
constant
struggle
with
higher
authority
to achieve
any results,
and
that
there
was
a
great
deal
of
administrative
waste and
inefficiency.
Comments
in
his
report
from
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