Colonial letter: Three tiers of northern political groups

This declassified secret and personal letter was written by the Governor of Northern Nigeria, Sir Bryan Sharwood-Smith (1949-1957), before his transfer. It was sent to the Minister of Colonies in London on March 14, 1957. The letter reported on the activities under the Native Administration. This was when Nigeria was preparing for independence, and the […]

This declassified secret and personal letter was written by the Governor of Northern Nigeria, Sir Bryan Sharwood-Smith (1949-1957), before his transfer. It was sent to the Minister of Colonies in London on March 14, 1957.

The letter reported on the activities under the Native Administration. This was when Nigeria was preparing for independence, and the North was shaped to govern under democracy. These are direct quotes from Mr Sharwood-Smith under one section of the letter titled, “The present overall political picture in the region and its changing shape under the impact of new ideas.”

He started by politically identifying Northern Nigeria “as a region with three tiers.”

“At the top are the ministers and the large majority of chiefs together with, in both instances, their immediate advisers and associates. This group, although not always devoid of self—interest, particularly in material matters, genuinely and honestly strives for the good of the people of the region. Almost all that is best in the region is to be found in their ranks.”

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“In the second tier lies that body of citizens which has adopted politics almost entirely from motives of self-interest and has clambered on one party “bandwagon” or the other, or each in turn, with the object of securing material advantage and power often at the expense of established authority, either constitutionally or by acts of violence.”

“Unhappily, and in common with other parts of the world, those Northern Nigerians who have first come to take an active interest in party politics, as opposed to politics in the higher sense, are largely men who are neither character nor education qualified to advise and organise their fellow men.”

“The field of politics has been so far largely the playground of the unemployable, the bully-boy, the ex-convict with a grudge against authority, of rootless men, “the Yan Iska”, “children of the wind”, in local parlance. The worst of these do not hesitate to employ as their tool children and, under the guise of feminism, women of the oldest profession.”

The governor deduced that “matters must inevitably continue until a respectable, educated middle class now gradually emerging becomes sufficiently numerous and influential to carry due weight with the public as a whole. This class, however, will, unless the present ruling and official classes considerably modify their outlook and attitude, tend increasingly towards extreme radicalism.”

“The last tier comprises the vast mass of the people, so they are only affected sporadically by the ferment of modern ideas. Five years ago, the regional government, as a major act of policy, undertook means of a vast and highly organised campaign to bring enlightenment to the population as a whole before, with literacy alone to guide them, they became, as has happened so often in other parts of the world, the dupes of demagogues and instruments of planned subversion.”

The governor cautioned that “with these ingredients, it is of the greatest importance that traditional authority liberalised in outlook and conscious that it is accountable to the people, should remain in the saddle to counter subversion if the country is to be saved from anarchy.

“The future of the region, in fact, will depend on the wisdom and foresight with which those called to positions of responsibility and those already established by tradition in such positions contain and canalise the forces already released as they gather violence and momentum.”

He also looked back at the history of the ruling classes of Northern Nigeria. He recognised that the rulers were “constrained by a sense of responsibility and by deep-rooted political wisdom.” In the past, before the British rule, they “were accustomed to be accessible to the public to remedy popular and individual grievances and to maintain public confidence. Should they fail in this duty, the British Administration was there at their elbow to remind them.

“Equally, the people of the region, loyal and tolerant by nature, accepted autocracy provided that autocracy remained reasonably benevolent and did not exploit to the point of extortion the traditional system of “give and take”.”

He went on to elaborate. “In other words, protection, patronage, and bounty are in return for periodic consideration in cash or kind. Their successors, however, seem too frequently to have lost the common touch. Fearful of new ideas and encouraged their personal following, relics of a feudal ace, many have concluded that their survival as a class depends on the repression of liberal ideas. They have, in consequence, allied themselves too closely with the machinery of the political party in power and have used as willing tools local government officialdom to repress by victimising the supporters of those who challenge their vested interests.”

The conclusion of the section was about the outcome of the modern ideas brought by British rule. “The first fruits of this change in the attitude of the ruling class have been the birth and unobtrusive growth of what could well mature into a major political and social revolution against the “old order”.”

“This development could be admirable in its effects on the life of the region if it is contained and controlled and if it leads to a fundamental change in existing relationships between the ruling and official classes and the people as a whole. It could, on the other hand, be anarchical in its effects if the subversive influences, political and pseudo-religious, which are now attempting to dominate it are not rapidly checked.”

You are not alone in seeing this letter as relevant to our times. Little has changed in terms of the political groups. Yet, we still lack enough influential, respectable, and educated politicians capable of shouldering the burden of the northern people.