17 JULY 1953, Page 16

Calling in the New World

SIR,—Representatives of India and Pakistan have been chosen to assist in the. difficult task of planning the future of the Sudan. An Indian presides over the Commission to superintend the elections in October. A Pakistani is included in the International Commission which is to advise the Governor-General during the next three critical years.

Is it not possible to extend the process to other delicate situations of a more domestic nature ? At this moment the problem of Nigeria is defying the best endeavours of the Colonial Office and the Nigerian administration. It seems almost impossible to obtain agreement as between the Northern Region and the rest of the country. In the

North a population based on a tribal organisailua which is over- whelmingly Moslem refuses co-operation with "the more sophisticated political groups under Dr. Azikiwe and Mr. Awolowo in the South. We are faced with the old problem of minorities which governed conditions on the sub-continent of India and which will be presented in varying forms in the future as a recognised feature of a Common- wealth in evolution.

What more suitable mediator could be found than a new Moslem nation, loyal to the Commonwealth association, which has itself been through the teething troubles of finding its political freedoms and