Black on the Map
By GEORGE SCOTT
THE dismantling of the British Empire, piece by piece, is largely taken for granted in Britain today. As each new date is fixed for in- dependence, it is noted in the social calendar along with the Cup Final, the first Test, the open- ing of Ascot and the Royal Academy Banquet. So long as it lasts, and the independence days are nicely spaced out, it provides employment for the map-makers. 'Don't forget there's two more. bits of pink to take out this year, Alf.' All right, mate, you show me where they are, and I'll fix 'em.'
And I suppose there is some sort of royal rota for doing the honours at independence day cele- brations. How else does one arrive at the Duke of Kent for Sierra Leone on April 27? Ghana: the Duchess of Kent; Nigeria: Princess Alexandra; Sierra Leone: the Duke, Happily, in the countries concerned, inde- pendence can never be a matter of routine. The Day is n unique occasion for them, no matter how many other such Days there have been else- where in the world.
In Sierra Leone last month I found a mood of quiet eagerness. Quiet, perhaps, because there has been no record of violence in the passage to independence, no leaders with memories of im- prisonment or with files of cuttings from British newspapers to remind them of their metamorpho- sis from 'terrorist,' 'rebel' or 'extremist leader' into 'distinguished Commonwealth statesman. Sierra Leoneans look forward to the day when they are on their own; they expect, somewhat Optimistically, big advances in their country when the British have gone, but they speak to a Briton about the British with impersonality. In that small piece of West Africa, at any rate, we are regarded not as hated rulers but more as a hindrance, like traffic lights fixed at red. This is not altogether fair to us. or it is not fair to the last few years we have been there, It is not fair to the Governor, Sir Maurice Dorman, who has done a lot to get things moving in Sierra Leone. But then, it all depends what you mean by 'fair.'
The first decorations were going up in the streets of Freetown before I left. coloured discs suspended at rooftop level. Not up. or down, to Regent Street standards, but on the other hand Freetown has no Regent Street. or anything like I!. The decorations were borrowed from Nigeria, I was told. One can make a lot of that fact if one wants to.
Sierra Leone is the third of Britain's tormer territories in West Africa to become independent, although it is the one with which we have had the longest association, going back more than ISO years to the days when reformers like Wilberforce and Granville Sharp, with more conscience than foresight, founded Freetown'as a home for freed slaves. (And shipped some sixty white women from the streets of London out there to give the place a good start.) The Creoles. the descendants of those first African settlers, led the way throughout the nineteenth century in academic and professional attainment, and Sierra Leone fed neighbouring West African countries with the talents they lacked. Today, the University College of Sierra Leone still attracts students from all over Africa. The aspirations of its Principal, Dr. Davidson- Nicol, sacrificing an outstanding career in the West to return to his own people, are matched by the rapid, general expansion of educational opportunities throughout the country.
Yet Sierra Leone does tend to play follow-my- leader after Ghana and Nigeria. The dynamic energy with which the Ghanaians are building their new country is openly admired by politi- cians and people alike, while Nigeria is the big brother, and not in the Orwellian sense.
This emulation is hardly surprising, but the extent of it can be exaggerated. Sierra Leone's Prime Minister is most wary of any talk of West African political federation. Economic tie-ups, yes, but it may take a long time to forget Dr. Nkrumah's tactless statement last year that countries with fewer than three million people could not sustain independence. (Sierra Leone is about a quarter of a million short.) Travel does at least improve one's political geography and corrects the camera focus. It was a strange experience in Sierra Leone to hear rumours in the evening of, say, trouble in Laos, to turn for news to the next morning's paper, and to find not a word of Laos or the UN. President Tubman of Liberia had once more claimed the banner headlines. Still, there were also long- forgotten episodes of Buck Ryan and Garth to compensate.
Then there was the news of the voluntary re- turn from London of Mr. Siaka Stevens, leader of the All People's Congress, to face charges of sedition, libel and incitement. According to the paper. Mr. Stevens had been in Britain 'protest- ing about what he considers to be unsatisfactory political conditions in Sierra Leone.'
Just before the London Constitutional Con- ference a year 'ago, which settled the date of independence, all political parties in Sierra Leone joined together in a United Front under Sir Milton Margai's leadership. Those parties are now represented in his coalition government. Mr. Stevens refused to sign the London Con- ference report and formed his new opposition party, the APC. But there remains virtually no coherent opposition to Sir Milton's government.
The Prime Minister finds this as it should be. In Africa, he says, newly independent countries must start with 'strong governments.' And, any- way, he adds, those members of the House of Representatives who are not in the Government (though others in their parties are) enjoy 'all free- dom to criticise Government action.'
It is hard to say how long this condition will persist, whether it will continue, for instance, after the general election scheduled for 1962, or whether former opposition parties, now in the coalition, are merely playing a waiting game. What is certain is. the Government is inhospit- able towards 'extremists.' What is also certain is that the country's prospects of a stable begin- ning do rest heavily on Sir Milton. There are plenty of arguments about what will happen after he has gone—he is sixty-five—and specula- tion about his attitude towards the succession. Is he keeping the seat warm for his brother, who is also a member of the Government?
Meanwhile,' he seems able to persuade his countrymen to subdue tribal differences—which exist strongly—and accept his lead in seeing Sierra Leone as one nation and not two, the old Colony, containing Freetown, and the former Protectorate, the hinterland.
If he can achieve this, giving Sierra Leone the stability it needs to attract investment (Sir Milton looks first and very genuinely to Britain and the Commonwealth), then much can and will be forgiven him.
'Well, su much for intc,,..! arum!'
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