Colonial Letters: What lies ahead

This section is from the last secret dispatch of Sir Bryan Sharwood-Smith, the Governor of Northern Nigeria, dated 16 September 1957. Sir Bryan did not hold much back in the final section of this declassified letter titled “What lies ahead.”

“So much for the past and the more immediate future. What looms in the murk beyond? For those who have assisted over the past half-century in creating what is now northern Nigeria, there is little comfort in the immediate future. There is comfort yet, however, for those who are prepared to look further ahead.

“The picture at present is one of a body of weak, deluded men, who as yet lack the moral courage to appeal to the wealth of common sense which the wider public in the Region could provide but who prefer to serve the devils of their own creation—the scattered groups of vicious and unprincipled men located only in the main centres of the Region, who control the Party machine.”

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“The country, indeed, is now entering a period during which these political leaders, acutely sensitive about their dignity and status, and reacting against—rather than despite—their dependence on a European civil service, will commit mistake after mistake and possibly lose an appreciable proportion of that service. Its members will certainly not tolerate the victimisation of individuals or retaliation for imagined slights or honest expressions of opinion in matters where fundamental principles or individual conscience are involved. Neither will they relish favouritism lavished on unworthy colleagues. This phase may last a matter of months or even a year or more until a more responsible public opinion asserts itself.”

“Ministers seem quite unaware of the rumblings of discontent throughout the Region, which their conduct has begun to provoke. Once, however, this phase has passed, there is enough good sense and inherited experience in the Region to form the foundations, at least in the Northern provinces, of a stable and progressive administration. Whether the southerly areas of the Region will continue to form part of the Region is another matter.”

“It is correct to say that the [Northern People’s Congress] N.P.C. represents, in a general way, all that is best in the Region, but the power within the party lies in the hands of all that is worst in the Region.” He blamed specific positions in the party that “have repeatedly been responsible for the most damaging public speeches or letters to the Press, well calculated to harm the reputation of this Region overseas and to sap the confidence of overseas civil servants.

“Ministers know the truth in their hearts, though many have ceased to admit the stark fact that, with no civil servants of their own, only a loyal and contented overseas civil service can save the Region from disaster while training the local civil service which will succeed them. But although some Ministers deplore these speeches, they seem powerless to prevent them.”

“What then is to happen? What lies ahead is a period during which ministers will make many mistakes as the result of overconfidence or bad counsel from the Party. They will often blame the service for these mishaps; but sooner or later public opinion will, I trust and believe, compel them to reform.”

“It is a coldly sobering thought, though far from unique in the history of new nations, that the Region’s main hope of salvation lies in the integrity and moral courage of one man alone, in this case, the newly appointed Federal Prime Minister [Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa].

“To what extent, however, and how soon he will be enabled to project his influence beyond the orbit of his purely Federal activities is hard to see, but he, and he alone, is key to rooting out the evils that are corrupting the whole political life of the Region. Were he at the head of regional affairs today, there is little doubt that a new Party would be formed?”

“The only other personality who is strong enough to influence present trends is the Emir of Kano, [Muhammadu Sansui I]. In company with the other great chiefs, he is immune to the influence of the Party pressure group.” This could mean Sardine’s influence, a name he chose not to mention.

“He has also, in company with other chiefs, for long condemned attacks on European civil servants and also on Southern Civil Servants and artisans.”

“The Emir, in company with other chiefs less determined in character than himself, is deeply concerned with the progress of his peoples in all fields of activity. He is fully aware that the progress he desires is impossible to fulfil without the assistance of overseas officers. When, therefore, the effect of party interference with the civil service and attacks upon individual civil servants becomes manifest, his reactions will be very strong indeed and, in this, he will have the support not only of the other principal chiefs but also of their administrations.”

He concluded by making two individuals stand out. “In brief, the survival of the North will greatly depend, firstly, on the personal influence of a very small handful of men, of whom the two most important are Alhaji Abubakar, Prime Minister of the Federation, and the Emir of Kano; and, secondly, on the degree to which the foundations we have laid in the provinces and the structure which we have imposed upon those foundations take the strain.”

Sir Bryan prolifically validated the Emir and Prime Minister; many will probe why he was silent on the Premier, Sir Ahmadu Bello. Nevertheless, the Emir of Kano became the Acting Governor of Northern Nigeria after Sir Bryan left in 1957, albeit in a symbolic role. But unlike Tafawa-Balewa, who led Nigeria to independence, he only lasted six months. And the succeeding Governor—Sir Gawain Bell—had reservations about the Emir’s spell.

For modern relevance, the letter raises questions about leadership integrity, institutional foundations, and political reform in the North. It also calls for reflection on how colonial governance shaped the Region today.