RAILWAY POLICY AND AMALGAMATION
[Illustration: SCENE ON THE SOUTHERN NIGERIA (EXTENSION) RAILWAY.]
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: LANDING-PLACE AT BARO.]
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: VILLAGE HEAD-MEN.]
[Illustration: VILLAGE HEAD-MEN.]
I cannot leave the question of railway construction in the Nigerias
without expressing regret that in authorizing the construction of the
new line, the Colonial Office should have been led to break the gauge,
and to decide upon a 2 feet 6 inch line instead of the 3 feet 6 inch
standard. Apart from other objections, which can be urged more fittingly
by experts, it is obvious that this departure necessitates a complete
equipment of new rolling stock, and the erection of special engineering
shops to deal with it. Every freshly constructed line is bound to have
a surplus of rolling stock. The Baro-Kano railway is no exception to
the rule, and its surplus stock could have been utilized on the new
branch line. It is a penny wise and pound foolish policy, and, in all
probability, the ultimate result will be that this 2 feet 6 inch line
will cost very little, if at all, less than a 3 feet 6 inch would have
done.