Nigeria

Before amalgamation the administration of northern Nigeria required grants-in-aid to meet expenses, which were partly fur nished by her richer neighbour, southern Nigeria. Since amalga mation, Nigeria has been self-supporting, though revenue in some years falls short of expenditure. In 1914 revenue was £3,048,000 and expenditure £2,967,000; in 1923-24 revenue had risen to £6,260,000 and expenditure to L5,501,000. The figures for 1926-27 were, revenue £7,734,000, expenditure £7,584,000. Revenue is de rived from customs duties on imports fixed at r 5% ad valorem in 1922; on the chief exports (this duty was first imposed in 1916) ; by direct taxation; and, in the colony only, and since 1927, income tax. It may be noted that a special West African currency is in circulation and that for purposes of trade between natives it has been necessary to mint a coin valued at one-tenth of a penny. The Bank of British West Africa and the Colonial Bank have agencies in the chief towns. British weights and measures are in use.

Economic Conditions.

There is a very large internal trade, as to which no statistics are available, but it is believed to exceed in value the external trade. The great majority of the people are agriculturists, including, in the north, cattle-rearing. Native manufactures are of minor importance—they include in the Hausa States the making of "Morocco" leather; mining (tin and coal) owes its development to the British. Fishing is largely fol lowed in the delta. In a broad generalization the products of southern Nigeria are sylvan, palm oil and palm kernels taking the leading place. Cocoa and cotton are other products. From the middle belt come benniseed and shea-butter—both adding to the oil output. From northern Nigeria come groundnuts (a basis for margarine), hides and skins, cattle, and, in increasing quantities, cotton. (Cotton and maize are the only crops common to the northern and southern provinces.) Add to the products named coal and tin and timber, and the leading exports have been stated.

The coast peoples, since the 15th century, had traded directly with the European merchants who came to their ports, but the dense forest belt cut off intercourse with the interior—though the Niger and Benue might have afforded means of penetration. But up to the middle of the 19th century the trade of Hausaland and Bornu (that is northern Nigeria) was either with the Medi terranean by caravan across the Sahara, or east and west to other parts of the Sudan. Direct, but, at first, very limited, trade with the interior followed the efforts of the British government and merchants to open up the country by sending expeditions up the Niger and Benue. Modern developments date from the founding of the Royal Niger company by Sir George Goldie and the con quest of the Fula emirates by Sir F. D. (Lord) Lugard. (See p. History.) The trade of Lagos and the oil rivers, the last the eastern part of southern Nigeria, partly through having been long established, was, up to 1928 at least, more valuable than that of northern Nigeria, which contains large areas sparsely peopled and little cultivated, and was not fully opened to trade with the south until the beginning of the loth century. (This

trade via the Gulf of Guinea, together with minor causes, almost killed the trade via the Sahara.) In 1901 when the total external trade of the southern regions was valued at over £4,000,000 that of northern Nigeria was probably (statistics are lacking) not £250,000. With the completion of the railway to Kano in 1911, there was a great increase in trade in the north. Since the amal gamation of southern Nigeria (including Lagos) with northern Nigeria in 1914 statistics are given for the country as a unit. In that year the imports were valued at L6,276,000 and the exports at £6,420,000. In 1924, when normal conditions following the World War were considered to be restored, the figures were :— imports L10,948,000; exports L14,460,000. In 1927 the external trade was nearly L30,000,000—imports being L14,146,000 and exports L15,654,000. These figures exclude specie.

Almost all sylvan and agricultural work in Nigeria is done by native owners, peasant farmers with small holdings, usually about 3 acres. The main concern of the farmer is to produce food crops—guinea corn and millet, yams and bananas, and maize— f or himself and his family ; he works for sale only in his spare time and to get luxuries. The great occupation in the delta is the production of palm oil and palm kernels. The yearly export is about ioo,000 tons of oil and double that weight of kernels.

Native methods of treating the fruit waste about half of the oil; up to 1928 only one factory had been started to deal with the fruit. Cocoa plantations were started in south Nigeria about 1905; the production of cocoa grew by 1928 to 40,000 tons in the year. Cotton growing for export dates from the early years of the loth century; in 1912 an American variety of cotton was introduced and found suitable. In the centre and south a native cotton is also grown for export. By 1925 the export had reached 35,000 bales; two or three poor seasons followed; the 1925 out put was nearly reached again in 1928, and the acreage under cotton increased. Many ginneries have been set up. The culti vation of groundnuts in northern Nigeria—climate and soil are well suited to the crop—grew rapidly with increased transport facilities. In the year 1927-28 (April and March inclusive) the railways carried 96,00o tons of nuts as against 4,800 tons of cot ton. Generally, farming in Nigeria is not on a high level, partly because fertilizers are not used. The exhaustion of much land within easy reach of transport caused grave concern to the Gov ernment which from 1926 onward took measures to instruct the farmers in the use of manures and other fertilizers. There are, however, good stock farms in the north with large herds of cattle and flocks of sheep and goats.