VALEDICTORY SUMMING-UP

CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK

A speech made to the press at the Racecourse, Lagos on 3rd September, 1959.

Over six million seedlings of the high yielding Amazon variety of cocoa will be available for planting by farmers in 1959. Control of pests is taken seriously in hand. When we assumed office in 1952, black pod and capsid were dreaded diseases to cocoa. Today they have been completely overcome. Not only are farmers instructed in the best ways to deal with these diseases, which do grave damage to cocoa, by spraying, but also they are assisted with loans to purchase chemicals and spraying equipment. To date, 28,500 farmers have been trained in black pod control measures, and 32,453 in pest control measures against capsid. Through the Western Region Finance Corporation, the loan finance currently available to farmers has reached the level of £¾ million. Government has also provided subsidies in respect of purchases of planting materials, or, in partnership with the Marketing Board, in respect of chemicals required by farmers for combating pests and diseases. Through its agency, namely, the Western Nigeria Development Corporation, the government has also assisted plantation development and phenomenal progress has been made in this field. The corporation had in 1958 six plantations of its own, covering an acreage of20,517. In partnership with Co-operative Societies of Local Government Authorities, it has eleven plantations covering 8,468 acres. The crops grown include rubber, cocoa, oil palm, citrus, cashew and coffee. There are plans for expansion, and the establishment of new plantation which will bring the total acreage to about 56,000 acres in 1960.

Forest estate has been increased and by next year 5,000 acres will have been added to the plantations for the supply of timber, fuel and poles for local consumption, and 200,000 acres to the total areas of Forest Reserves for regeneration.

In pursuance of the policy of increasing the yields of fish from inland fisheries and exploiting the sea fishing resources 32 new fish ponds have been constructed since 1955 and 16 more are under construction. Moreover, 12 local reservoirs have been stocked with quick growing species and recently the Western Nigeria Fishermen’s Association was formed in order to encourage deep-sea fishing.

The two main animal husbandry centres at Fashola and Agege are flourishing and facilities for animal health have been considerably expanded.

The aim of the government since 1952, however, has been to promote the growth of secondary industries in the region pari passu with agricultural development. The need to diversify our economy has always been realised. Not only has government, therefore, facilitated the growth of private enterprise in the industrial field by removing all those obstacles that tend to inhibit economic growth and by providing basic services, but it has also entered the field of industriliasation through its agencies, the Development Corporation and the Finance Corporation. On its own, the Development Corporation has financed, and managed, three projects including the Ikpoba Rubber Factory which produces crepe rubber. In partnership with overseas investors and industrialists, it has invested funds in nine undertakings including the gigantic West African Portland Cement Company Works at Ewekoro. By March 1960, it is estimated that the corporation will have invested about £2 million in large-scale industrial enterprises alone.

Government has also pursued as vigorously as possible its policy of promoting rural industries. Three textile training centres for the training of school-leavers in broad loom weaving, designing and dyeing and six Co-operative Weaving Societies, with combined annual production of the order of20,000 yards of cloths of various designs, have been established in the region. Brick and tile making is another rural industry that is being developed.

The Finance Corporation is the government agency for making loan finance available to Nigerian entrepreneurs who have sound industrial and commercial projects in hand but are short of capital to start or expand them. The total industrial loans at the disposal of the corporation for 1955-60 are estimated at 1:407,000; those of I 959-60 amount to about £ 150,000. The scope of its activities extends to equity participation in local business and between 1957 and 1959 It invested £279,000 in shares and equities.

We have fostered the growth of the Co-operative Movement in the region in every way. The Co-operative Bank was established in 1953 with a capital of £1 million and the Co-operative Buildings, with their ten-storey block of offices, an Assembly Hall and a shop, were opened in 1957 and constitute a worthy architectural landmark in Ibadan. A Co-operative College has been planned and the number of Co-operative Societies has risen from 564 in 1953-54 to 926 in 1957-58. Their activities cover producer, consumer, thrift, credit, crafts and other aspects of the movement. The paid-up shares of these societies have also risen from £42,410 in 1953-54 to £102,414 in 1957-58.

One aspect of economic development, which is sometimes overlooked, is the provision of basic services. The Western Region Government recognised from the outset that there must be electric power, good and reliable water supply, and efficient means of communication, if economic development is to be well founded. It has, therefore, granted to E.C.N. a loan of £1.3 million free of interest for a number of years, in order to speed up the provision of electric power in the Region both for domestic and industrial purposes. It is planned that by 1962, electricity should be available to all the principal towns in the region. The pilot scheme, which is now in some smaller towns and villages, is expected to provide the information and experience upon which to base a region-wide rural electrification programme. Since 1952, eleven towns have been supplied with pipe-borne water. The Ibadan scheme has been extended and several more schemes are under construction or are about to begin. Rural water supplies have also been developed in several places in the Region and experiences are proceeding with boreholes supplies.

As regards roads and bridges, the position was most unsatisfactory when we look office in 1952. Roads were untarred and badly maintained whilst bridges were narrow and were becoming inadequate for the volume of traffic that they were expected to carry. We, therefore, embarked upon the strengthening, widening and tarring of the most important roads, and the rebuilding of bridges. Local authorities were encouraged, by means of generous grants to construct new feeder roads. The result is that apart from, Trunk Road ‘A’ which are Federal Government’s responsibility, there were by March 1959, 1,600 miles of bituminous surfaced roads in the Western Region as against 178 miles in 1952. The Legislature has approved a capital expenditure of £2.5 million for a special Road Development Programme and by 1960 the total mileage of roads tarred in the Region (excluding Trunk Roads ‘A’) will not be under, and may be more than, 2,200 miles.

 

Social Services

I come now to the provision of social services which, in an under-developed country such as Nigeria, is as much an instrument of economic development as expenditure on roads, industries and agriculture. To educate the child is to lay the solid foundation of future social and economic progress; to provide health services is to combat diseases which are wasting on human resources and, therefore, reduce our productive potentialities. The Government has, for these reasons, brought about the greatest social revolution in the history of black Africa within the past seven years.

In the field of Education, our Universal Free Primary Education Scheme was launched in 1955 and it has been so firmly and successfully established that everyone now takes it for granted, despite initial predictions of failure by many well-meaning persons. The primary school population has risen from 429,542 in 1953 to 1,037,388 in 1959.

The figures for secondary education are equally impressive. In pursuance of our policy of providing secondary education for at least 10 percent of the pupils who have successfully completed their primary school course, many secondary grammar schools have been opened. The total is now 139 instead of only 46 in 1953. In addition, there are 363 secondary modem schools in the Region providing places for over 50 per cent of the primary school-leavers. Thus while there were 9,000 pupils in secondary schools in this Region in 1954, our secondary school population (Grammar, Modem etc.) in January this year, stood at 84,374. This is by far larger than the combined population of all the Secondary Schools in other parts of Nigeria.

We have recognized the pride of place which Teacher Training must occupy in our educational programme. The number of Training Colleges has doubled since 1952 and we have about 11,000 trainees in them this year. We have also improved the salary scales and employment conditions of men in this important service. We are resolutely tackling the problem of technical education. If our development pro-grammes are to succeed we need skilled labour. In order to produce the requisite number of technicians, skilled workers and managers, therefore, two Technical Schools are being opened. The Sapele Trade Centre has been considerably expanded and five more at a being established. The provision of post-secondary scholarship tenable in Nigeria and overseas has soared; over 1,000 have been awarded, and this year 200 more have been advertised.

As regards Medical and Health Services, the Government has fully implemented its policy of establishing at least one hospital in every Administrative Division in the Region, and has proceeded to provide hospitals for some of the more important towns. Three mobile dispensaries take hospital and other medical facilities to remote parts from bases in Ibadan, Abeokuta and Benin Provinces; two touring launches do the same from Epe and Forcados; and three ambulance launches stationed at Badagry, Okitipupa and Warri take patients to hospitals. Grants have been given to Local Authorities to enable them to provide Rural Health Centres in their areas. From 1952 to 1958 the number of dispensaries has risen from 200 to 342 and that of maternity centres from 122 to 293. Big Expansions in these fields are now ill progress. The Western Region Government’s practice of providing free medical treatment to persons under eighteen years of age, is unique and without a parallel in this country.

Social development has also been vigorously pursued. Literary campaigns have been successful. Youth services have been expanded, and the spirit of self-help by communal effort is being vigorously promoted, The Shasha Training Course is now well known. Remand Homes for boys and girls are being opened, and Juvenile Courts are doing excellent work.

In order to ease the general shortage of houses in the Region, particularly in large urban areas and encourage house ownership, the Government has established the Western Region Housing Corporation, The Corporation is setting up a 350-acre housing estate at Bodija in Ibadan with well-drained roads and modem sewage disposal; 173 houses are being constructed there now, Another 750-acre Estate is being laid out at Ikeja; of this 200 acres will be for industry and the remainder will be residential. Forty-four houses are already under construction there, and the first factory building is expected to start shortly. The Corporation also grants loans to borrowers who want to build their own houses, Forty- four loans totaling £110,000 have been granted on mortgage to borrowers within a year. Members of the public are encouraged to deposit their savings with the Corporation against future housing transactions: £12,000 has been so deposited in the short time since the facility became available.

 

Public Relations and Other Matters

I come now to the sphere of Public Relations where we have advanced beyond recognition from the puny efforts of the Public Relations Department which we inherited in 1952. ‘Western News’ and ‘Western Nigeria Illustrated’ publicise our activities throughout the Region, and our daily Press Releases help to feed other public organs of information, We have carried enlightenment and entertainment to remote areas through the Government Free Cinema Scheme, Last year there were in use 40 Cinema Vans and 6 Cinema Barges, We now have our own Film Production Unit, and one of its outstanding achievements is the 85-minute film in colour which covers all aspects. of our self-government celebrations and the visit of Her Royal Highness the Prince Royal, Of all the Governments in Africa, we are the largest film producers, having the largest Government cinema audience as well.

External publicity is much needed in our drive for capital participation from abroad for our development projects. This has been provided for the Region by the appointment of a well-known and reputable firm of Public Relations Counsel in London.

In the maintenance of Law and Order, the efforts of the Nigeria Police need to be supplemented by those of local police’ forces, We have accordingly reconstituted the former Native Authority Police units into the Local Government Police Force which is being provincialised, and which is second to none in the Federation, We have recruited a Regional Fire Service in the Region starting with Ibadan. Our Nigerianisation policy is the boldest and the best in the whole of the Federation, Even when We did not have the power directly to influence Nigerianisation, We initiated the brilliant device then known as the ‘frigidare policy’. We have not looked back since then, With the result that today the number of Nigerians in the higher rungs of the Civil Service in the West is 1,275, that is 75 percent of the total actual strength of senior officers as against 18 percent in 1952.

Our latest effort is the provision of a television service which will be the first of its kind in the whole of Africa. This is a complicated project. It is, however, one ‘of the boldest conceptions in our endeavour to bring the latest in entertainment and, above all, enlightenment to the people of this Region. Owing to technical difficulties the Scheme will be limited at first to the Ibadan and Ikeja areas, but will be extended as soon as possible to Benin. When the official transmission of this Television Project is launched at the end of October this year, it will be the crowning climax of the achievements of the Western Region Government under my direction, and it will once more proclaim and confirm the Action Group as a ‘pace-setter’ in the Federation of Nigeria.

With all these achievements which up-do-date are truly unparalleled in the annals of Nigeria, I shall be leaving the Western Region in December next with complete satisfaction as well as profound gratitude to God and to our very loyal and patriotic people of the Western Region. As I proceed to the Centre, I resign myself entirely to the Providence of Almighty God to make use of my talents and experience there as He pleases.

CONTINUES NEXT WEEK