9 FEBRUARY 2002, Page 33

Tribal matters

From Veronica Bellers Sir: Boris Johnson's article (Slack Africa, white guilt', 2 February) encourages those of us whose families served colonial Africa with dedication and compassion.

C.R. Niven. in Nigeria in 1946, wrote:

In 1880 a man or woman would not have dreamed of walking alone, say, the 50 miles between Kabba and Lakoja. Thirty years later, in a single generation, no one would have thought twice about it. As the Hausa says, 'A virgin can now carry a calabash of eggs from Kano to Sokoto [250 miles] and neither would be spoilt on the way.'

That was how it was. How did we ever get into this misguided guilt trip?

Veronica Bellers

Stathern. Leeds