Northern Nigeria

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Identifikator:: 863607721

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-45464

Document type:: Monograph

Author:: Lugard, Frederick John Dealtry http://d-nb.info/gnd/117667412

Title:: Northern Nigeria

Place of publication:: London

Publisher:: His Maj. Stat. Off.

Year of publication:: 1907

Scope:: 1 Online-Ressource (65 Seiten)

Collection:: Economics Books

Usage license:: Get license information via the feedback formular.

6 COLONIAL REPORTS—MISCELLANEOUS. in one or more single taxes to wliicli legal sanction should be given by an ordinance of the Government. This involved a truly colossal task, for it meant that each Resident should visit every town and village in his province, and by the help of the native authorities should assess its tax-paying capacity. This has 'been the task of the past year, and as will be seen from the enclosure, very great progress has been made. The basis upon which this assessment has been carried out varies very greatly in different provinces (vide enclosure), but gener ally speaking it is framed upon the former scale of taxation shorn of its later extortions and unauthorised additions. The rulers (who share in the tax), are naturally ready to give all information, and this can be checked by the information derived from the former collectors, from the former fief-holder, and from the village itself. Finally, since the village may have increased or decreased in wealth and importance, the Resident himself exercises an original discretion as to the final assess ment. Where taxation had not been formerly imposed (as in the Sokoto Province, the Fulani of Yola, and pagan tribes not under Fulani rule, but which have submitted to Government), the Resident fixes the assessment at his own discretion, subject to confirmation by the High Commissioner. In provinces like Kano, where it has not yet been possible for the staff to visit and assess every town, the authorised taxation of former days is temporarily accepted and enforced. As time permits this will be verified, and where necessary amended by the staff, but in this province the system is reported as extraordinarily fair, well organised, and complete. Administrative Organisation. 5. To give effect to the scheme of reform alike in matters of taxation and in general administration of a province some administrative changes were necessary, more especially in order to decentralise executive authority, which had hitherto been concentrated in the hands of the Emir and his head slaves on the one hand, and in the Resident on the other. Each province was now divided into three or four “administrative divisions,” according to its size and the staff available, and each of these divisions became the immediate sphere of an Assistant Resident under the general control and supervision of the Resident-in- Chief. The whole province was also to he divided into a number of “ districts,” each under a “ district headman,” who was responsible for collecting the tax from the village headmen (who, in turn, were charged with the duty of distributing the tax imposed upon the village among the individuals in propor tion to their wealth and ability to pay). The district headman was also to be held responsible for good order in his district, and it was incumbent upon him for this purpose to reside in his district and not at the capital. By this means it was intended to put an end to the system of absentee landlords,

Access restriction

Copyright

fullscreen: Northern Nigeria

Monograph

Table of contents

Download

Monograph

This page

Image fragment

Citation links

Citation recommendation