'The Wind of Change': Decolonisation in British West Africa Author(S): Kevin O'sullivan Reviewed Work(S): Source: History Ireland, Vol

Home , British West Africa

'The Wind of Change': Decolonisation in British West Africa Author(s): Kevin O'Sullivan Reviewed work(s): Source: History Ireland, Vol. 14, No. 4, Ireland & Africa (Jul. - Aug., 2006), pp. 40-45 Published by: Wordwell Ltd. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27725487 . Accessed: 07/02/2013 20:58

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THE WIND OF CHANGE':

decolonisation in British West Africa

Kevin O'Sullivan discusses the four-year period (1960-4) during which eight African states were granted independence from British rule.

The wind of change is blowing through this continent and, whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact. We must all accept it as a fact, and our national policies must take account of it.' Western Sahara occupied by - Morocco 1976 British Prime Minister Harold 1960 Macmillan's speech to the Senegal South African houses of Gambia 1965 Djibouti yi977 parliament on 3 February 1960 has become firmly associated with the process of decolonisation in British Africa. Macmillan's speech, however, had first been delivered almost unnoticed to an audience in the of 'Rwanda Accra, capital 1962 independent Ghana, only a few days "Burundi 1962 previously. If in South Africa he to the future of British attempted explain British mandate Britain in Africa to an apprehensive French French mandate audience, in Accra his speech was delivered to a nation free from Belgian ambique already Belgian mandate colonial rule. Ghana, formerly known Portuguese as the Gold Coast, had been one of Spanish Italian Zimbabwe 1980 Britain's greatest successes in Africa. South African (Rhodesia UOI1965) and South African mandate Swaziland Economically strong politically r 1968 well it Lesotho relatively developed, provided 1966 (SarahGearty) an obvious starting-point for the implementation of reform on the continent of Africa. demands emanating from Africa, but undertake an extended tour of Britain's also to activity elsewhere in the empire African colonies. His travels produced Britain readjusted its approach to and to the weight of international the 1941 report Native administration one of 'partnership' after World events. It had become clear to some and political development in British Warll British analysts that changes were Tropical Africa, which questioned Although independent Ghana would necessary in order to maintain their whether the colonial authorities could prove an inspiration to Africans, influence in Africa. The system of expect the continuation of 'that degree whether under British, French, 'indirect rule', by which authority was of acquiescence in our rule which is a Belgian, Portuguese or Afrikaner rule, wielded through local chiefs and necessary condition of administrative their own march to freedom was rulers, had by 1939 become somewhat progress'. Hailey believed that Britain heavily dependent on London and the restrictive as African needs and should readjust its approach to one of colonial authorities. From the years demands evolved. 'partnership', giving the colonial immediately preceding the Second In December of that year one Lord peoples a greater say in their economic World War, British colonial policy Hailey, who had produced the and social development. came to react more perceptibly to the encyclopaedic African Survey in 1938, A reaction to international pressure political, social and economic was asked by the Colonial Office to to replace empire with trusteeships,

40 History IRELAND July/August 2006

This content downloaded on Thu, 7 Feb 2013 20:58:13 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Right: British prime minister Harold Macmillan in conversation with South

African prime minister Hendrick Frensch Verwoerd in the course of his 1960 tour of Africa. (Macmillan Archives)

Hailey's ideas highlighted the British counter-argument that their approach to rule remained the most conducive to development. By then the British were facing increasing pressure not only from African but also from international quarters. The Atlantic Charter signed in August 1941 expressed 'the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under African members were appointed to empire'. The policy of 'new new which they live'. If for Britain and administrative councils in Nigeria, the colonialism', developing grand France this document referred solely to Gold Coast and Sierra Leone. In the projects and investing further in the liberated states of Europe, for the latter year the Elliott Commission African economies, had a great impact United States its central tenets were produced a report that stated that on the African populations. The more widely applicable and were 'somewhere in West Africa within a growing encroachment into their arguably incompatible with the century, within half a century, a new ordinary lives, coupled with the maintenance of empire. African State will be born'. From increased development engendered by While these influences became Hailey's proposal to concede political investment, served only to raise levels more pronounced in London, in the advances once the majority had of discontent. In the Gold Coast, post African colonies themselves the war developed sufficient political war opposition to the colonial had a significant effect on colonial consciousness, policy became centred administration was fanned by controls more to administration. New demands were on consistent development, on foreign trade, limitations placed on the African populations to affording concessions first to the educational advance and the hard-line service ports and airfields and to African ?lites before spreading them approach of the administration to the raw shoot disease that increase production of materials, slowly to the lower strata of society. problem of swollen and there was a large increase in British thinking focused on securing hit the territory's most important African service in the armed forces. their continued influence by ensuring export, cocoa. While the war led to unprecedented that it was they who shaped the In spite of this simmering levels of integration between the colonies' political and economic discontent, opposition had not yet African and British economies, futures. When Alan Burns was developed into a coherent call for shortages also encouraged the appointed governor of the Gold Coast independence. The United Gold Coast was development of self-sufficiency and a in 1941, he believed that any anti Convention (UGCC) party a degree of economic independence. British resentment was 'due to the founded in 1947 to provide political These pressures, and the new thinking policy of deferring concessions until it focus for African grievances, yet its within the administration, created is too late for them to be appreciated membership was based predominantly room as men and increasing for reformers such by the people'. around professional Andrew Cohen (who later became merchants from coastal towns. In head of the African division of the Discontent in the Gold Coast keeping with the general direction of Colonial Office) to influence future In spite of their concessions, it was British policy, it was the authorities policy. clear that the Colonial Office themselves who initiated significant To both coloniser and colonised it envisaged a slow and deliberate process change. In 1946 new constitutions became obvious that the war had towards independence spread over a were introduced in both the Gold accelerated the need for a further long period of time. Indeed, in the Coast and Nigeria that again increased redefinition of the basis of political immediate post-war period, the degree African representation. The degree of was collaboration. London responded by of investment in developing the change, however, tailored to suit developing ideas that quickly overtook British colonies was such that one the individual colony. The Gold Coast those contained in Hailey's influential commentator, R. F. Holland, has was seen as politically and document. Between 1942 and 1943, described it as 'the heyday of African economically more advanced than its

41 History IRELAND July/August 2006

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was neighbours and was thus afforded general secretary of the UGCC and 'bogus and fraudulent', based concessions. future of around a more dramatic call for 'Self greater ASl,...,..;.....,4..4 president independent While the British learned from Ghana. The men became heroes government?NOW'. In January 1950 a their experience of decolonisation in during their imprisonment, martyrs Nkrumah launched campaign of Asia, as India became independent in created by the authorities' hasty 'positive action' in pursuit of his goals. a arrest 1947 and the other Asian colonies response. Although it proved failure, the followed suit, it was from within It was, however, the investigation of Nkrumah and other prominent CPP British West Africa itself that the into the riots that proved most members served only to increase their impetus for the next phase of reform significant for the future of the popularity. In the 1951 election they arose. In the Gold Coast, as we have territory. From this eventually emerged were resounding victors, and Arden seen, the post-war political and the Henley Coussey Commission, led Clarke, who believed that Nkrumah economic situation had increased by a prominent African lawyer of that represented the only opportunity to African discontent. By late 1947 this name, whose recommendations, bridge the gap between progressive agitation had become particularly which included a new constitution African goals and the colonial directed against a group of European based on new democratic procedures approach, released the CPP leader from traders known as the Association of and greater representation for Africans prison to become 'Leader of West African Merchants. Early the at all levels, formed the basis of the government business'. following year, disillusionment future colonial approach. While they on became increasingly visible on the made these concessions, itwas obvious Impact Nigeria streets. A protest called by an ex that the British desired to retain strict Events in the Gold Coast had a servicemen's association on 28 control over the future of the Gold significant impact elsewhere in West February 1948 became a rallying point Coast, and in autumn 1949 Sir Charles Africa. While the authorities in Accra for those disillusioned with the Arden-Clarke was appointed governor led the way, their counterparts in administration. As the crowds reached of the territory. He had gained Nigeria were determined not to be left Christianborg Castle, the colonial considerable experience in the behind. Governor Sir John governor's residence, they were fired disturbances in British South-East Asia Macpherson and Chief Secretary Sir on by police. In the ensuing three days and came with the explicit concern to Hugh Foot seized the initiative in of panic and riots, 29 people were maintain control over the security of direct response to the 1948 riots in an killed and 237 injured. Although his new territory. Accra by announcing almost hardly an event to rival the greatest The increasingly radical nature of immediate review of the 1946 upheavals in the British Empire, it was nationalist politics had provided constitution through nationwide to be of great significance for the further impetus for his appointment. consultative forums. They dealt strictly future of the Gold Coast. Amid In June 1949 Nkrumah split with the with agitation of a similar nature own in rumours of a communist plot, several UGCC to form his own Convention within their territory an nationalist leaders were arrested, People's Party (CPP). Its approach, November 1949, when industrial saw including Kwame Nkrumah, then dismissive of the Coussey reforms as dispute at Enugu colliery police

42 History IRELAND July/August 2006

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open fire and shoot 21 miners. The governance, and ahead in many ways camp. Confident in the ability of their authorities' ability to contain the of the rest of British Africa. The successors, and eager to avoid a repeat effects of this incident illustrated two colonial authorities were also aware of these events in their prized West prominent features of colonial Nigeria: that the course they had embarked on African territory, the British made the the tight control commanded by the could not be stopped without the use decision to grant the Gold Coast authorities, and the lack of a Nigeria of force. This was an eventuality they independence. On 6 March 1957, to wide nationalist movement able to were eager to avoid after their the sound of celebrations across the capitalise on the incident's potential. experiences in Malaya and in Kenya, continent of Africa, the territory The authorities continued to remain a where the rebellion of Kikuyu became independent under the title of step ahead of nationalist demands and tribesmen known as Mau Mau an ancient West African kingdom: in 1951 they introduced a new, more continued to cause them difficulty. Ghana. liberal constitution, named after the There, the brutal British suppression governor, which followed the had led to public outcry at home and Nigerian politics regional rather advances made in the Gold Coast. severe criticism of the colonial than national In response to their experiences in authorities, centred particularly The increasing pace of change in the Africa and Asia, and to the extension around activities in the Hola detention Gold Coast again resonated directly in of the Cold War, the British began to further refine their thinking on the future of their African colonies. Eager to maintain their influence, they analysed the use of different avenues, such as the Commonwealth, as alternative futures for Africa. It soon became apparent that self-rule in Africa was becoming a closer target. The opportunities that these advances afforded were embraced with open arms in the Gold Coast by the CPP. Nkrumah pressed for faster moves to self-government and was granted extensive concessions in the 1954 constitution, which severely limited the position of the governor. The election that followed was again won by the CPP, who were by now engaged in an ambitious programme of social and economic reform. They used their position to tackle difficult social grievances, such as the swollen shoot issue, head-on, and won British admiration for the professional and democratic nature of their approach. By July 1956 Nkrumah felt confident enough to dissolve the assembly and contest a general election against a newly formed opposition party, the National Liberation Movement (NLM), which had been created to protect Asante interests against perceived CPP encroachment. Although they captured only 57 per cent of the votes cast, the CPP emerged victorious with a of seats and what majority they A perceived as a strengthened mandate from the people. It was enough to persuade the Opposite page: Macmillan visits Basutoland (later to become independent Lesotho) on colonial authorities that the state was his 1960 tour. (Hulton Picture Company) ready for independence. In British eyes, the Gold Coast had proved itself Above: President Kwame Nkrumah (right) celebrates Ghanaian independence at the to be more than capable of self Polo Grounds, Accra, in March 1957.

History IRELAND July/August 2006 43

This content downloaded on Thu, 7 Feb 2013 20:58:13 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Left: The over ?^jHS ^^H?jl^SHEwV^ duchess of Kent presides I^H IBB the official handing over of power in the ' Ghanaian parliament, 6 March 1957. ITjH ?J^HIH i ^^b 4*JW wj^^U^H^^^^^Bfir Opposite page: The first president of independent Nigeria, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe.

- ?J^-^-w Ênto-ri?lElli ??l^p'?yBB^^Bra^^^Fr^^^^^^M^M^BBB^^BB^HBHBw?fe^B^^^^^^^^^^^B Changing perception of Britain's world role post-Suez The acceleration of change in West Africa was caused not only by the v jVÊmb^^^^^BI B? HIB '^B^MlM^î1 III IMUH^^^^^^^.-^HB^^ British strategy of adapting their approach to suit individual African *?**" *** ^ w*. ?^^^^^^^^^^^^^^B^Bi^B*:^B <^B ^B BrJ^^H ^ ^HlIIKIi^fl^^^^^^^^Vlw*?^^" ^^b ,.^^^^^^^^^^^^^^fl^BI^B'^B ^H' ^B ^^w^B '^B^bBI BBB^M^^^^^^^^^^^^^b regions and states but also by the changing perception of Britain's world role. After he replaced Sir Anthony Eden as prime minister in January 1957, the Conservative Harold :,?^**,,%P**i!" ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^m Jtfli^^Êrfd^^^^^B Macmillan concentrated his energies on restoring relations with the United Nigeria. The 1954 constitution, which the colonial authorities centred States, which had been damaged by replaced that created only three years around reconciling these regional the Suez crisis that had precipitated earlier, made moves towards greater divisions with the creation of a stable, Eden's resignation. He also desired to representation and emphasised the unified Nigeria. Overcoming this restore British prestige in the federal approach, which had become difficulty was foremost in the minds Commonwealth, and redirected central to British concerns for the of those who assembled at the British economic attention towards colony's future. Created by the Royal constitutional conference in London the emerging European market, Niger Company between 1885 and in May 1957. Aided by an increased particularly after the creation of the 1889, the artificial boundaries of willingness on the part of the European Economic Community in Nigeria encompassed over 250 ethnic Northern Muslims to waive their 1957. minorities. In administration, the opposition to a secular central state, The Cold War and the rapid territory had been divided roughly the British were by that stage anxious technological advances that between the three most dominant to complete the move to followed?particularly in nuclear groups: the Hausa/Fulani Muslims of independence. They appointed a power?redefined the role of empire as the North, the Yoruba of the West and commission to test minority a test of world power. British concern the Igbos of the East. Indirect rule had grievances, which reported in 1958 over the extension of Soviet and favoured the Muslim emirs in the that 'Nigeria means to follow the road Chinese power directed further north, and the new system continued of liberal democracy and attention towards the creation of to look upon them as 'more parliamentary government'. The stable democratic states in the post favourably disposed to [Britain] than findings convinced the British that independence years. In the Gold Coast the Southern Nigerians'. In they could conceivably quicken the such fears had led to claims of a accordance with these structures, pace of political freedom without communist plot in the 1948 Accra politics among the African population risking violent consequences, riots, repeated in Nigeria a year later. was organised predominantly along although the bloody civil war that Allied to their experience in Palestine, regional rather than national lines. followed independence, between 1967 India, Egypt, Cyprus and Malaya, not The North was dominated by the and 1970, eventually proved them to mention Kenya, the Cold War also Northern People's Congress, the West wrong. In 1960, however, buoyed by convinced the British of the need to by the Action Group, and the East by Macmillan's speech and the move to avoid violent confrontation. Even after Nnamdi Azikiwe, while central politics African independence across the a state had been granted operated on an often uneasy balance continent, such a situation was not independence, it was more than of their individual interests. envisaged, or at least not publicly conceivable that a lack of preparation With an eye on events in Accra, expressed, and the British joined the could lead to problems such as those and following the not insignificant Nigerians in a celebration of their that surfaced in Nigeria later in the milestone of Sudanese independence independence on 1 October of that 1960s. on 1 January 1956, the concerns of year, with the federal system intact. Post-1960 events in the former

44 History IRELAND July/August 2006

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the Indian experience?was important when dealing with the divided ethnicities in Nigeria. Global concerns of power politics, the Cold War and economics also influenced and adjusted British priorities at crucial times and in crucial ways during the decolonisation process. Some writers have further suggested that independence marked not the end of empire but its continuation by alternative means: through the Commonwealth, aid, or the continued dominance by British and international companies of the 'independent' economies. It is most important, therefore, when analysing African decolonisation not to look at it in isolation from its world and pan-African influences. The case of British decolonisation in West Africa provides a good example of the effect of these competing factors, albeit without the significant white settler influence so crucial in East and Central Africa. As the forerunner of British Belgian Congo, where great power Tanganyika (now united with Zanzibar decolonisation in Africa it provided a involvement augmented brutal and as Tanzania), Northern Rhodesia Britain with a natural testing ground civil war that even a lengthy United (Zambia), Nyasaland (Malawi) and for its policies and one strong enough Nations peace-keeping force found Uganda all gain their independence. and important enough to provide it itself powerless to stop, could only with transferable lessons. Having have strengthened British resolve to Summing up begun with the words of Harold ensure the future stability of and their The difference between the East and Macmillan, it is perhaps apt to return over influence their former colonies. Central African experiences of to an earlier speech made in the year Macmillan's colonial secretary, Iain decolonisation, with their significant following Ghanaian independence to a Macleod, later opined that any policy and vocal settler communities, group of British officials in Singapore. other than 'would have our independence however, highlights the difficulties for 'Having lost pre-eminence in . . . led to terrible bloodshed in Africa the historian in interpreting material strength', tie told them, 'we The march of men towards freedom decolonisation in British Africa. The had to learn to exert our influence in can be guided but not halted'. ever-changing nature of British policy other ways. Once more we should be Ghanaian independence itself, in makes it difficult to attribute living by our wits, as we had in earlier particular Kwame Nkrumah's writings decolonisation to one major factor. In periods of history.' x on and speeches pan-Africanism, but the immediate post-war period, for also its early political and economic example, it appeared that the British Kevin O'Sullivan is a postgraduate student had a were successes, profound effect strengthening their ties with in the Department of History, Trinity throughout Africa. In 1958, buoyed by empire, yet by 1960 they had granted College, Dublin, and holds a Government Ghana's example, Guinea voted to independence to two of their most of Ireland Research Scholarship from the secede from France, and survived by prized colonies: the Gold Coast and Irish Research Council for theHumanities the goodwill of Ghana and other Nigeria. If at times it appeared that and Social Sciences. African states after the French British policy was a response to its withdrew all aid. InWest Africa it soon concerns at the changing international Further reading: became evident that since Ghana and environment and to mould African J.D. Hargreaves, Decolonisation inAfrica Nigeria had become independent there opinion, such an approach had to be (2nd edn, London, 1996). would be no to maintain at least to some attempt responsive extent to M. Meredith, The state of Africa: a over control the other British colonies African demands. We have seen that history of fifty years of independence in Sierra Leone and the Gambia. By nationalist successes in Ghana and (London, 2005). 1964, the 'wind of change' that blew Nigeria could provide an inspiration to N.J. White, Decolonisation: the British in first the western part of the other African states. Britain's broader experience since 1945 (London, 1999). continent had crossed to central and colonial experience in dealing with H.S. Wilson, African decolonisation eastern seen Africa, and Kenya, these nationalists?not least, perhaps, (London, 1994).

History IRELAND July/August 2006 45

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