Chapter XIII: as I observed it in being

I hope this part of the subject is not dwelt on unduly—it seems to me an intensely interesting study—by explaining how taxes are assessed, collected and allocated. The matter is stated pithily in the last annual report by the Governor of the Protectorate, then Sir Hesketh Bell, and his words, which cannot be bettered, are quoted. Possibly the statement does not make quite clear that the British official who fixes the assessment does so in conjunction with a representative of the Emir of the Province.

“In Sokoto Province each village is assessed, after careful
inquiries made on the spot by a British official as to
the resources of the inhabitants, at a lump sum, and the
apportionment of the amount payable by the individual is
left to the village Head and his Council. They are directed
to assess the individual in accordance with his wealth from
whatever source it may be obtained. In Bassa the individual is
assessed at a fixed and universal rate _per capita_.”

These two systems represent the extremes of divergence which occur in methods of assessment and are each suited to the conditions existing in the Provinces where applied, which differ in a corresponding manner. In Bassa the village Heads could not apportion the tax proportionately amongst the individuals, whilst in Sokoto the native would disapprove of a system which compelled the poor to pay as much as the rich.

“The total amount of the taxes paid by a native unit are
divided into four parts. Two of these form the Government share
and are paid into the general revenue. The other two are paid
into the Beit-el-Mal (native treasury). One is earmarked for
the payment of fixed emoluments individually to the Emir, his
councillors, his police, his official messengers, the officials
told off by him to look after roads, buildings, sanitation, and
public works generally, and to the payment of the native Judges
(Alkalis). Also to defray the cost of public works such as
markets, gaols, etc., road-making, well-making, of education,
and of the subsistence of persons who according to Moslem
tenets should receive State aid. Also towards establishing a
reserve fund, in case at any time, owing to the failure of
crops, it should be necessary to remit a portion of the taxes.

“The remaining fourth share is divided among the district
and village Heads in proportion to the amounts of rents and
taxes for the collection of which each is responsible. In
some Provinces the district Heads have been placed on fixed
salaries, notably Bornu, but it has not yet been decided as to
whether this system should be adopted generally.

“The organisation described in the preceding paragraphs has not
been entirely elaborated in the Pagan districts, but in every
case efforts are being made, and in many with considerable
success, to establish a common fund, administered on the lines
described.

“Generally speaking, it has been found expedient to pay the
native officials on a generous scale, and it must be said in
justice to them that a marked improvement in his work has
followed in every case where an official has been granted an
assured income. The funds administered by the Beit-el-Mal
throughout the Protectorate amounted to over £200,000 during
the year under review.”

TYPICAL DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS ALLOCATED TO NATIVE TREASURIES, TAKING KANO AS AN EXAMPLE, A TERRITORY OF 28,600 SQUARE MILES AND WITH A POPULATION OF 3,500,000.

£

Salaries, Central Administrations 6556
Salaries, District Administrations 20910
Salaries, Village Administrations 13940
Judicial 2760
Police 1769
Prisons 1438
Public Works Department 4836
Treasury 540
Education 1240
Land Survey 600
Hospitals and Sanitation 1024
Special Grants for Economic Development 500
Charity and Entertaining 500
Miscellaneous Contingencies 1000
Balances and Reserves 12027
------
£69640
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From the same source I also take the constitution of the native law Courts:

“The effect of the payment of the native Judges deserves
special notice. The improved position and growing efficiency
of the native Judiciary has now been established. In former
days the Judges had no fixed stipends and depended for their
livelihood on the generosity of the reigning Emir, or on the
fees collected through orders from their own Courts. In such
circumstances it could hardly be expected that the Courts
would be efficient or free from bribery and corruption. It is
now generally conceded that the former weakness of the native
Courts was caused rather by a radically bad system than by any
real lack of men who could, if properly supported, efficiently
administer justice.

“In Kano and Katsena a measure has been adopted which it is
hoped it will be found possible to extend elsewhere. In these
two Emirates the Courts do not execute their own judgments.
The Court informs the Head of the district in which it is
situated that an order has been given, and should this entail
the payment of a judgment debt, the Beit-el-Mal is also
informed by the Court. The district Head is responsible for
the execution of the order, for the collection of any amount
due and for its payment into the Beit-el-Mal. By this means
a complete check on both the Judiciary and the Executive is
established.

“At the present time in the Northern Provinces almost every
district has a salaried Alkali’s Court with considerable but
limited powers. Minutes of every case tried in the district
Courts are submitted monthly to the chief native Judges at
the various Capitals of the Province. Serious cases are
referred to the Courts in the Capitals of the Emirates....
Crimes of violence and robbery, which in the early years of
the Protectorate were so regrettably numerous, have almost
disappeared since the native Courts, with their corollary,
native police (dogari), have been given a free hand.”

In Kano Province last year the Alkalis’ Courts tried 20,740 cases, of which 1,267 were criminal indictments and 19,473 civil actions. I grieve to think that the last category includes no less than 9,020 instances of the disturbance of connubial bliss under the heading of “Matrimonial.” It is pleasant to learn that few of the assault cases were of a serious kind and still more gratifying to know that violence to women forms a small proportion.

An analysis shows that only ·07 of the population committed acts which brought the perpetrators within the law, whilst grave crime is so small in quantity that there is not a European nation which would gain by comparison with Kano Province, Northern Nigeria.