infrequent if it exists at all. A survey of the districts is being made with the view in mind of using waterborne transport on a postal agency basis. Equally interesting is the work done by mail runners in remote areas and those not so remote where road conditions are best described as indifferent, especially in the rainy season. The need for mail runners will continue for many years to come.

Developmental Program

About 15 percent of the funds projected from the Federal Government's 1955-60 economic program was allotted to posts, telegraphs, and broadcasting. The present condition of the Posts and Telegraphs Department dates back to the 1930 slump when it was necessary, for reasons of economy, to drastically reduce departmental personnel. Between 1930 and 1954, telegraph and telephone installations increased by 700 percent but the personnel available for servicing was 7 percent less than in 1930. Postal services increased by 800 percent with a staff increase of only 12 percent. These factors were given careful consideration, and, as a result, a policy paper was drawn up to cover the 1955-60 program. Success of the program is dependent on two factors-the ability of the Federal Government to finance the operation and also the success that would be attained in recruiting and training large staff increases to put the proposals into operation.

After consideration of other needs of the Nigerian economy, the Federal Government allocated a sum of £12,890,000 for the development of posts and telegraphs during the 1955-60 economic program. This figure includes approximately £6.7 million for the expansion of telecommunication services and £5.2 million for buildings.

The installation of 12 automatic telephone exchanges of more than 1,000 lines and 40 smaller automatic exchanges is scheduled. Seventy existing manual exchanges are proposed for extension while 34 new manual, primarily small magneto-type exchanges are to be installed in rural areas. Development also

includes the expenditure of approximately £2.4 million on local lines, both underground cables and overhead lines, to serve exchanges. This will give an overall additional capacity to the system of 30,000 subscribers.

In addition to the expected completion early in 1958 of the major very high frequency trunk system, which will provide a total of 36 channels between the Regional capitals and intermediate towns en route, and between Lagos, Abeokuta, Ijebuode, and Ibadan, some 360 miles of overhead lines are to be constructed and 39 3-channel and 11 12-channel carrier systems will be installed on new and existing routes.

An ultrahigh frequency radio system will be built between Lagos and Ibadan providing, initially, 120 channels. On minor routes, trunks will be provided by the installation of 9 very high frequency 5-channel radio systems, which will be installed over routes totaling 1,270 miles. The trunk system will provide for the introduction of subscriber trunk dialing at a later stage of development. Considerable expansion will occur in the use of teleprinters and high-speed automatic systems. Teleprinter switching centers will also be introduced.

Experiments will be undertaken with Department-owned Auster aircraft for the distribution of mail in the vast and relatively sparsely populated area of the Northern Region. Postal agencies provide postal facilities in the more remote areas, and new agencies are being set up at the rate of between 50 and 100 a year. The need for larger departmental post offices and replacement of postal agencies will receive attention. One hundred and nine post office buildings are scheduled in the economic program up to 1960.

Legislation was under preparation in 1956 to establish a statutory broadcasting corporation. It is estimated that £400,000 will be required to meet both the capital costs of the corporation and provision for rounding off the development of broadcasting services initiated under a preceding plan for the 1951-56 period. It was also necessary to allocate £232,000 a year to meet estimated increased recurrent costs.

EDUCATION

A tremendous surge of enthusiasm for education is exhibited both among Nigerian Government leaders and the populace at large. Emphasis has been placed on the achievement of free, universal, primary education and the achievements that have taken place along this line in the past few years are most remarkable considering the previous state of advancement.

Primary Education

Educational development in Nigeria received its initial impetus from Christian missionary activities, which still play an important role. The first missionary school was set up in 1842, 40 years before the first Education Ordinance of Nigeria was promulgated. The missions established the first teacher training college in Abeokuta as early as 1849. Missionary educational work was concentrated in the southern Provinces; their activities were restricted in the northern Provinces due to opposition by the Moslem Emirs. The educational results in the South and the non-Moslem areas of the North today largely reflect this missionary work, while in the North it is to a greater extent the product of Government working with and through the Native Authorities.

The first Government school was opened in 1899 in Lagos for the education of Moslems, and generally Government education in the South concentrated on those areas that were not served by the missions. Grants-in-aid, however, were made by the Government to assist established mission schools, such grants being made to selected schools on the basis of efficiency.

During and following World War I, the increase in numbers of "nonassisted" schools was so rapid that the Government felt the need for more effective control. The Education Code

of 1926 for southern Nigeria established requirements for registration of teachers and the inspection of all schools. But, the mission schools continued to be the primary educational media. In 1937, 66 percent of all primary students in the South were enrolled in the nonassisted schools, 29 percent in assisted ones, and 5 percent in Government or Native Authorities' schools. In the North, Governmentsupported Native Authorities' schools played a more active part and their schools accounted for 36 percent of all primary students.

Intensified interest in and demand for education by Nigerians became increasingly manifest during the war years, and the resources of the mission underwent severe strain. The resultant rapid expansion of educational facilities necessitated employment of a large number of untrained teachers, who by 1946 outnumbered certified teachers by 6 to 1. The Government recognized the need for extension of secondary education and teacher training as necessary prerequisites for expansion of primary educational facilities. Provision was made, therefore, for these purposes in Nigeria's original 10-year plan of economic development introduced in 1946. In 1949, provision was made for the payment of grants on a basis of 100 percent of teachers' salaries if the school had the minimum standard of staffing and efficiency.

Role of Federal and Regional Governments.— Until the 1954 Constitution, the Regions controlled education but received large financial grants from the Federal Government, which also played a significant role in setting standards throughout. Exclusive jurisdiction for primary and secondary education now lies with the Regional Governments The Federal Government has authority over institutions in Lagos, all institutions of higher learning, and the Technical Institute and Trade Center at Yaba.

The Western Region, in 1952, announced its

intention of having free universal primary education by 1955. It is significant of the popular desire for education that this goal was one of the platforms on which the Action Party came into power that year. The Eastern Region also set forth a similar aim for 1957. The Federal Government, while more cautious about setting a date, announced the same target.

The magnitude of the task set before the country is reflected in primary school enrollment figures, which place the total in 1953 at 1,072,245 out of an estimated 5 million children between ages 7 and 14 as shown in the following tabulation:

As of 1953, in all Regions, the greater part of the primary schooling was provided by voluntary agencies. Even in the North they claimed 60 percent of the total enrollment, and elsewhere the proportion was much greater. It is estimated that about two-thirds of all primary school teachers did not have an education beyond the first 8 years of primary school.

Expansion program.-Both limited enrollment and the inadequate supply of trained teachers presented a formidable obstacle in implementing Regional plans for universal primary education. Fears were expressed that the general standard of education would fall but notwithstanding the Regions went ahead with their

plans for universal primary education while attempting to meet the teacher problem through an expansion of teacher-training schools. Although current National Government statistics are not available, there is no doubt that standards of staffing have suffered and that the lack of trained staff still remains the principal handicap to adequate primary education.

A universal primary education scheme was implemented by the Western Region on January 17, 1955. On that day, 400,000 6-year olds attended school for the first time. The present total attendance of 908,022 pupils compares spectacularly with that for 1953. Of these pupils, 274,756 were girls. During the first year of its program, the West spent £2,500,000 on school buildings alone.

This favorable development must be viewed, however, in the light of the fact that between 1954 and 1955, although there was a total increase of 54.9 percent in the teaching force, almost all additions were untrained teachers. The expansion of teacher-training facilities should, however, produce material results in the near future. As of March 31, 1955, there were only 5,899 trained teachers as compared with a present enrollment of 6,900 teachers in training.

Universal primary education came into force in the Eastern Region in January 1957. To meet the greater demand for teachers, training facilities were being expanded to insure the provision of 3,000 trained teachers by the end of 1957.

Likewise, the Federal Government has undertaken a program1 designed to provide free compulsory primary education in the Federal Township of Lagos. Lagos' education program was planned to require three stages. The first, involving provision of primary school facilities for all children of school age, has already been implemented. The second stage was slated to begin in January 1957 when fees were to be abolished in all grant-aided schools. At a later date, schools will be established for retarded and handicapped children. The Government has started a Lagos Day Training College to supply teachers for the program.

In all the Nigerian schools, instruction is carried on in the local African dialect for the first 2 years of primary school, after which English is emphasized. All final exams are marked by the University of Cambridge Examination Syndicate according to standards in the United Kingdom.

Secondary Education

In 1953, a total of 1.1 million children attended primary school, but only 31,500 youths

1 As set forth in the White Paper on Education, Federal Government Printer, Lagos, 1955.

were receiving some kind of secondary education. Of these, two-thirds were in general secondary schools, which are modeled on the English grammar school. The Federal and the Western Regional Governments now plan to send 25 percent of those finishing primary school on to a secondary education.

Technical and vocational studies, apparently, have not had the same attraction for Nigerians as academic schooling preparatory to university training, and facilities for the latter are more extensive than for technical training.

In the North, progress has been made in reorienting instruction to make it of more practical benefit by offering such subjects as handcrafts and agricultural science, and this tendency is now manifesting itself in the other Regions as well.

In 1947, the first technical institute and trade center was opened in Yaba near Lagos, and, as of 1953, there were 7 additional trade centers3 in the North, 2 in the West, 1 in the East, and 1 in the Southern Cameroons. Two other technical institutes have been opened, at Kaduna and Enugu, and there are 18 handcraft centers.

The technical institutes provide training at subprofessional and professional levels in mechanical, civil, and electrical engineering, building, and commerce. These institutes maintain close relationships with industry and cooperate with industry's needs. Part-time day and evening courses are given for persons already employed. The object of the trade centers is to provide a limited number of skilled craftsmen. Students work largely on an apprenticeship basis. Existing facilities cannot attempt mass training of the number of skilled and semiskilled workers needed in the industrial and mechanical trades, such as masons, carpenters, and electricians. Consequently, the larger companies tend to institute their own industrial training programs, as for example, those of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, the West African Airways Corporation, the United Africa Company (UAC), and the tin-mining companies on the Plateau. Various governmental units also have their own training programs. Apart from the general and technical secondary schools, there are also schools for training primary school teachers. Adult education courses are also provided.

Higher Education

Nigeria boasts of a modern university of high caliber by any standard. This is the University College at Ibadan, which began operations in 1948. The university, financed by the Federal Government, is open to students from all parts of Nigeria and prepares them for a degree awarded by the University of London in arts,

science, agricultural and veterinary sciences, medicine, pharmacology, economics, and social studies. There is no instruction in law or engineering. At the end of 1956, the university had a student body of 600 and a teaching staff of 125. Full degrees are granted, and, in 1955, 12 doctors of medicine degrees were awarded.

A second institution of higher learning is the Nigerian College of Arts, Science, and Technology, which was opened in 1952. It provides an education somewhat different from that offered by the university but similar to a polytechnic institute in the United Kingdom or the United States. Unlike the university, the college has three campuses-at Zaria, Ibadan, and Enugu; in 1956, total enrollment stood at about 600. Training is given for teachers in secondary schools, primary teacher-training centers, and technical industries. Instruction is also provided in building, engineering, mining, geology, agriculture, forestry, veterinary science, surveying, medical auxiliary service, and secretarial and commercial training.

The Eastern Region began plans in 1955 for the establishment of a Regional university, financed from Regional funds. The United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is providing expert advice. The Federal Government is going ahead with a scheme for establishing a teaching hospital in Ibadan. Medical students will thus not be forced to go abroad to receive their clinical training. A further source of higher education exists in the form of scholarships at universities in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. In 1953, 133 of these were awarded.

Future Developments

The importance universally attached to education is illustrated in Regional budget figures. Each of the Regions will spend in 1956-57 approximately one-third of their ordinary budgets on education, and about one-fifth of their capital budgets for 1955-60 is earmarked for educational projects.

Mass education of high standards for a previously almost completely illiterate population is a formidable task, and quick results are scarcely to be expected. But given the realization, by the leaders, of education as the keystone to economic and political development and the enthusiasm of the masses that exist in Nigeria, the prospects are undeniably bright.

HEALTH

The list of diseases encountered in Nigeria is long and imposing since, aside from the usual tropical diseases, many of the common ailments experienced in temperate climates are also prev

alent. Modern medicine has made sharp inroads on the incidence of disease, especially endemic diseases, such as smallpox, yellow fever, and relapsing fever, but general medical facilities are still far from adequate in coping with the total health problem.

Vital statistics are incomplete and difficult to amass in view of the size, diversity, and density of population. Such data as are available relate to 1953 and show that there were only 241 Government doctors in service in Nigeria, a ratio of 1 doctor to every 13,000 persons, and only 120 fully accredited nurses. Total Government hospital beds amounted to 7,467. The number of missionary doctors and private physicians in the employ of private companies is not known but do augment facilities substantially since the total number of hospital beds (Government, missions, and private enterprise) amounted to 11,194 in 1953.

These figures are appallingly low in relation to needs, but, even so, judged by a comparison with earlier medical statistics, they represent very substantial strides forward (see table 16).

cent of all recorded childhood deaths are ascribed to malaria.

Tuberculosis is also very common and said to be on the increase. Cases seen, unfortunately, are usually in advanced stages, and the death rate is extremely high, averaging around 12 percent. There are frequent epidemic outbursts of smallpox, which is a common cause of blindness in the North. Epidemics of cerebrospinal meningitis also plague the North-93,000 persons were affected in 1950. Deaths have been reduced, but epidemics cannot yet be halted.

Bilharzia, guinea-worm, and yaws are common in the Northern Region, and it has been said that "there must be relatively few Nigerians whose intestines do not harbor worms of one sort or another." 2 Internal disorders, such as bacillary and amoebic dysentery, and prevalent throughout Nigeria. The incidence of intestinal illnesses is heaviest during the rainy season, which is the period of the greatest agricultural activity, and thus has a direct relationship to productive efficiency. The economic consequences are difficult to ascertain but must certainly be great.

Medical authorities have often expressed the view that a direct relationship exists between incidence of disease in tropical countries and imbalanced diet. This relationship is as true in Nigeria as in many other parts of Africa. Dietary studies have shown that the Nigerian diet is heavily dependent on carbohydrates and is especially lacking in proteins. Effects of such diets show in persons of all ages, and one authority has stated that "Malnutrition in its various forms is a major hazard to health in Nigeria, ranking, in this respect, along with malaria."3

Real progress has been made, however, on a number of fronts. The Eastern Region was formerly regarded as one of the heaviest leprosy-infested areas in the world, but, thanks to the leprosy control program and the introduction of sulfone therapy, leprosy is declining rapidly. Relapsing fever, which once plagued the North, is being wiped out. There were 4,000 cases in 1948, only 280 in 1951. Yellow fever, for the most part, is successfully combated, though an occasional outbreak still occurs; one method of control, mass inoculation, is beyond Nigeria's present resources. The introduction of new drugs and clearance of tsetse fly-infested areas has reduced sleeping sickness to negligible proportions, but constant efforts are still demanded. Sleeping sickness prevents the raising of the larger types of cattle over one-half of Nigeria (including some areas in the South which are, however, relatively free from the type of sleeping sickness which affects humans).

Buchanan and Pugh, Land and People in Nigeria. Ibid.