THE AMALGAMATION OF NIGERIA Union of Lagos and Southern Nigeria.—In 1904 it was decided to unite the two Nigerias and Lagos under one government, and as a first step in that direction Sir Walter (then Mr.) Egerton was appointed both governor of Lagos and high commissioner of Southern Nigeria. This was followed in Feb. 1906 by the amal gamation of these two administrations under the style of "the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria," with headquarters at Lagos town. The former colony and protectorate of Lagos (q.v.) became the western or Lagos province of the new adminis tration. In the year of amalgamation the revenue reached a record figure, the amount collected being LI,o88,000, to which Lagos province contributed Over 8o% of the revenue was derived from customs. In the same year the expenditure from revenue was £1,056,000.
Northern Nigeria Railway.—Northern Nigeria continued to be a separate protectorate, and in 1907 Sir Frederick Lugard was succeeded as high commissioner by Sir Percy Girouard. In August of that year the British Government, on administrative, strategic, and commercial grounds decided on a railway to give the cities of Zaria and Kano direct communication with the perennially navigable waters of the Lower Niger. In view of the approaching unification of Southern and Northern Nigeria, the money needed, about £1,250,000, was raised as a loan by Southern Nigeria. The route chosen for the line was that advocated by Sir Frederick Lugard. This important work, essential for the welfare of the northern territories, was begun under the superin tendence of Sir Percy, the builder of the Wadi Halfa-Khartoum railway. At the same time the Lagos railway was extended to join the Kano line near Zungeru, the Niger being bridged at Jebba.
Land Tenure.—Sir Percy Girouard gave much attention to the land tenure, probably the most important of administrative ques tions in West Africa. He adopted the land policy of Sir Frederick Lugard and recommended "a declaration in favour of the nation alization of the lands of the protectorate." This was in accord with native laws—that the land is the property of the people, held in trust for them by their chiefs, who have not the power of alienation. In 1909 he was succeeded as Governor (the title
High Commissioner having been changed) by Sir H. H. J. Bell; and meanwhile the secretary for the colonies had appointed a strong committee, which, after hearing much evidence, issued a report in April 1910 in substantial agreement with his recom mendations. This policy was adopted by the Colonial Office and the natives of Nigeria were secured in the possession of their land—the Government imposing land taxes, which are the equiva lent of rent. The exclusion of the European land speculator and denial of the right to buy and sell land and of freehold tenure was held by all the authorities to be essential for the moral and material welfare of the inhabitants of a land where the duty of the white man is mainly that of administration and his material advantages lie in trade.
Amalgamation of Northern Nigeria.—The constitution of Southern Nigeria (1906) left the protectorate still divided into two very different, and, for political purposes, distinct depend encies of the Crown. Southern Nigeria, with an area of about 76,000 sq.m., stretched inland from the Guinea coast through a tropical belt of generally dense forest land to a line irregu larly corresponding with the latitude of 7'i o" N. Northern Nigeria, with an area of 255,700 sq.m., composed largely of open prairie, hill country, and dry desert plains, extended from the lati tude of 7'i o" to the frontiers of the French and Zinder territory on the north, to French Dahomey on the west, and to the Ger man Cameroons on the east. The population of Southern Nigeria was about 8,000,000 and the population of Northern Nigeria, with more than three times the area, was about 9,000,000. In both divisions primitive and very backward races had been over run and influenced by civilizations of a higher type. In the south the new civilization had been European and Christian ; in the north, Arab and Mohammedan.