Annual Report of the Colonies, Nigeria, 1917
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COLONIAL REPORTS—ANNUAL. No- 1008. NIGERIA. REPORT FOR 1917. (For Report for 1916 see No. 946.) presented to parliament b£ command ot t>te /fcajeats. November, 1919. LONDON:' PUBLISHED BY HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE. To bo purchased through any Bookseller or directly from H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE at the following addresses: IMPERIAL HOUSE, KINGSWAY, LONDON, WiC. 2, and 28, ABINGDON STREET, LONDON, S.W. 1 ; 37, PETER STREET, MANCHESTER ; 1, ST. ANDREW'S CRESCENT, CARDIFF ; 23, FORTH STREET, EDINBURGH ; or from E. PONSONBY, LTD., 116, GRAFTON STREET, DUBLIN, 1919. [Cmd. 1-31]. Price 2d Net> CONTENTS. FINANCIAL POSITION— PAGE. REVENUE;.. .. .. 3 EXPENDITURE 4 ASSETS AND PUBLIC DEBT .. .. "4 FINANCES OF NATIVE ADMINISTRATIONS 4 TRADE, AGRICULTURE, AND INDUSTRIES— IMPORTS AND EXPORTS .. 4 MINING 7 AGRICULTURE 8 FORESTRY 10 LANDS .. 11 SHIPPING 11 EDUCATION .. ..11 GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS 13 SAVINGS BANK . 14 JUDICIAL STATISTICS .. .. 14 POLICE 14 PRISONS .. .. .. 15 VITAL STATISTICS.. 16 PUBLIC HEALTH .. .. .. 16 SANITATION.. 17 METEOROLOGY .. 18 POSTS AND TELEGRAPHS 19 MILITARY OPERATIONS 20 RAILWAY 20 LAGOS HARBOUR WORKS .. 23 MARINE SERVICES 23 PUBLIC WORKS 24 GENERAL- GENERAL EFFECT OF THE WAR 24 FINANCIAL POSITION AND TRADE .. • 25 PRINCIPAL EVENTS .. .. 27 POLITICAL 27 APPENDIX— TABLE SHOWING THE IMPORTATION OF SPIRITS, 1912-1917.. 29 COLONIAL REPORTS—ANNUAL. 3 No. 1008. NIGERIA. (For Report for 1916 see No. 946.) REPORT ON THE BLUE BOOK FOR T&E YEAR 1917. FINANCIAL. Revenue :—The gross total of revenue exceeded that for 1916 by the sum of £549,554 ; while the net total (£3,400,726), that is after deduct ing repayments from Loan funds and the Cameroons, exceeded the net total for 1916 (£2,816,552) by £584,174. Excluding the Grant in aid in both years the net revenue was £3,325,726 as against £3,362,507 in 1913, the last complete pre-War year. The results are, manifestly, most encouraging. There was a considerable increase under Licences and Internal Revenue, due to a larger yield from the royalties on tin ore, owing to the high price of the metal and increased production, and to higher peturns from Native Court fines. There was also a striking increase under Fees of Court or Office, etc., caused by larger coal sales which accounts for £127,000, repayments from the Cameroons account for officers lent to the adminstration of the British sphere (£27,000), sale of Military Stores (£8,000), growth in Native Court fees (£8,000), sale of steam yacht " Ivy " (£13,500), and payment by Lagos Municipality for Water Supply (£16,000). Customs receipts show an increase of £65,000 due to the export duties on palm oil, kernels, and cocoa and to a larger yield from the ad valorem duties in consequence of the enhanced cost of the goods. Under Railway an increase of £239,000 is shown—more than 30% on the previous year's figures. This is due to the fact that more steamers were available to take away our produce, to the moderate increase in Railway rates introduced during the year, and, in a small degree, to the receipts from the new Eastern line. Another very important factor was the supply of coal from local sources. Direct taxes show an increase of £38,000 due to the progressive assessment which is replacing the rough and ready method of earlier times. (C594) Wt.l/155. 1,000 & 90. 11.19. B.&F.Ud. 0.11. i COLONIAL REPORTS—ANNUAL. Expenditure'.—The gross expenditure was £3,219,957, or £389,681 less than in the previous year, but eliminating the expenditure on the construction of the Eastern Railway, War Costs, and expenditure in the British sphere of the Cameroons, the net recurrent expenditure of 1917 (£3,033,509) exceeded that for 1916 (£2,954,804) by a sum of £78,705. None of the items of expenditure seem to call for special comment except that of the Nigeria Regiment, which shows a decrease of £225,476. The expenditure brought to account in 1916 included large arrears of accounting from the Cameroons Campaign, and provision for part of the force only is included in 1917, the Contingent in E&st Africa being paid from Imperial funds, towards which Nigeria will later on make a contribution. The gross revenue for 1917 thus exceeded the gross expenditure by £272,781, and the deficit of £124,411 with which the year opened was converted into a surplus of £148,370 at the end of the year. It is true that there is a deferred programme of public works to be undertaken after the War, and that considerable expenditure must be incurred in restoring the Railway (plant, &c), to pre-War standards when materials and men can be procured, but it is estimated that there will be ample funds for these purposes as soon as the sum of £1,800,000 advanced from revenue for the construction of the Eastern Railway is repaid. This will be done as soon as a loan can be raised after the War. The unprovided expenditure incurred in connection with the military operations against the Cameroons amounted to £358,702 at the end of the year, of which £98,456 has been met by grants from Native Treasuries in the Northern Provinces. There was no change of taxation during 1917. The Public Debt stood at £8,470,593 on the 31st December, 1917, as in the previous year; and the accumulated Sinking Funds amounted to £473,531 as against £377,066 at the end of 1917. The surplus funds belonging to the Native Administrations in the Northern Provinces amounted to £228,469 on the 31st December, 1917, as compared with £129,979 at the end of 1916. £56,436 of thesfe balances is invested in England. The total revenue and expenditure of these Native, Administrations for the last two years have been as follows:— Revenue. Expenditure. £ , £ 1916 .. 393,420 304,721 1917 .. 440,990 329,444 In the Southern Provinces, 1917 .. 65,338 (approx.) 53,249 (approx.) TRADE, AGRICULTURE, AND INDUSTRIES. IMPORTS AND EXPORTS. t The total value of the imports during 1917 (exclusive of specie) was £5,808,592, as compared with £5,174,474 in 1916. As in the previous year, this increase in the values of imports was largely'due to enhanced prices of commodities, but in five of the items for which quantities are NIGERIA, 1917. 5 recorded, there were actual increases as shown in the following com parative table of imports in 1916 and 1917 :— 1910. 1917. Article. | Quantity i Value. Quantity. Value. £ £ Bread and Biscuits cwt 12,816 30,025 7,436 I 18,647 Fish 4,862 13,339 1,405 . 2,211 Grain and Flour „ 84,739 86,101 4 o,013 ; 67,576 Kola Nuts centals 89,198 134,698 113,344 | 169,020 Salt .. ., .. cwt. 894,864 234,239 900,985 ! 281,732 Spirits . gull, at 100° 394,000 219,194 94,000 1 92,905 Tobacco, Cigars, &c. 245,921 267,826 Kerosene, Imp. gall. 2,300,858 72,775 2,387,906 ! 95,124 Wood and Timber Sup. ft. 1,413,215 2J,185 1,069,852 j 17,916 Apparel 69,532 88,678 Coopers' Stores 346,986 594,702 Hardware, &c. 100,455 121,379 Furniture 24,070 50,277 Iron, Steel and Manufac turers thereof . ton 5,561 148,467 94,550 Machinery 125,058 60,891 Soap \ . .. cwt. 66,216 77,337 72,857 104,246 Cotton Piece Goods 1,521,258 2,098,182 Textile: Silk Manufac tures 141,810 43,943 107,574 48,661 do. Woollen do. .. 126,070 19,594 126,820 19,016 Bags and Sacks .. doz. '375,791 167,926 359,211 237,170 There was again in 1917 a marked diminution in the quantities and values of the imported foodstuffs shown in the first three items of the above return. The quantity imported in 1917 was only about 53% of that imported in 1916 and the quantity imported in 1916 was only 53% of that imported in 1915. Of the amount imported in 1917 only 7,574* cwt. came from the United Kingdom, as compared with 86,253 cwt. in 1916. There was an appreciable increase in the importations from the United States of America. In one case, that of rice, 16,184 cwt. were obtained from that source in 1917, while none had been imported from there in 1916. The outstanding feature in the return is the extraordinary diminution in the importation of spirits. 394,000 gallons were imported in 1916 but only 94,000 gallons in 1917. In 1910 the importation was 1,974,000 gallons. In 1913 the value of spirits imported including duty was over £1,500,000, in. 1917 it was £92,905 notwithstanding that the duty on spirits was 50% higher than in the former year. The value of imports from the British Empire increased from £5,012,000 in 1916 to £6,678,000 in 1917. Foreign goods were valued at £854,000, as against £768,000 in 1916. The United States of America and France show increases of £229,216 and £2,045 respectively. The total value of the exports (exclusive of specie) amounted to £8,602,486 in 1917, as compared with £6,029,546 in 1916, and was higher than in any previous year in the history of Nigeria. The nearest approach to the 1917 figure was that of 1913, viz., £7,097,646. 6 COLONIAL REPORTS—ANNUAL. The following is a comparative table of the principal items of export: 1916. 1917. Article. Quantity. Value, QuantUy. Value. £ £ Benniseed .