SIR HUGH CLIFFORD AS GOVERNOR OF NIGERIA: AN EVALUATION

Abstract

War, British colonial governors in tropical Africa exercised virtually unlimited executive and legislative functions. Their charge to preserve law, order and good government indicated that they had to devise and implement policies beneficial to both British and indigenous interests. The extent to which these governors were able to fulfil their responsibilities is a subject often ignored by African colonial historians. One reason (which might have been significant in the past) is the unavailability of the records essential for an objective comparative assessment. But the passage of time and the liberalization of access to public records has diminished the significance of this reason. Another might be the difficulty of establishing the parameters on which a comparative evaluation might be based. For example, settler presence in Eastern and Southern Africa made conditions there different from those in West Africa and the governors in both regions had to adopt divergent policies. Economic and cultural differences among the colonies also circumscribed the initiative of the governors. Nevertheless, it is still possible within a given colony to evaluate and compare the contributions of successive governors. In particular, it is possible from the vantage point of post-independence Africa to assess which governor adopted policies that changed for good or ill the course of history in a given colonial territory. In the case of Nigeria, studies relating to the tenure of some governors have been undertaken without a critical evaluation of their impact based on the above criteria. An impression is thus conveyed of the continuity of a predetermined colonial policy which, in fact, is contrary to the evidence.' What amounts to a classic example of the initiative which a far-sighted colonial governor could take is Sir Hugh Charles Clifford who governed Nigeria between 1919 and 1925. In most studies connected with his tenure, Clifford appears as the unpredictable governor who, after excoriating the West African nationalists for demanding representative government, injected the elective principle into the colonial legislature.2 Those interested in colonial administration have also pointed out his establishment of a central secretariat in Nigeria which departed from the perfunctory system operated by his predecessor, Sir Frederick (later Lord) Lugard. However, Clifford's tenure has far more significance than these