10 JANUARY 1914, Page 2

On December 80th the Ring and the Colonial Secretary sent

congratulations and good wishes to Sir Frederick Lugard on the amalgamation of Northern and Southern Nigeria. The new Nigeria, of which Sir F. Lugard is Governor-General, comprises the old Colony of Lagos, the separate existence of which came to an end in 1906 when it passed into Southern Nigeria ; the territories of the Royal Niger Company, which were divided into Northern and Southern Nigeria when the Company's charter was surrendered in 1900; and the Niger Coast Protectorate, which passed into Southern Nigeria six years earlier than Lagos. The appointment of Sir F. Lugard as Governor of both the Nigerias in 1912 indicated that the two protectorates would eventually be united.