I was reading the report which Lord Lugard submitted to the British Parliament in 1917.

I graciously received the report from my egbon @araisokun during the week,

And a couple of salient issues struck me, which I will mention in this short thread,

1. The British analysis of

the basic character of Nigerians from various parts of the country (SW, SE/SS, NC, NE & NW) still holds true over a century later.

In other words, after a century of British assessment of our character, we haven't changed

2. The myth of a "rich" South and a "poor" North arose

from the stated reasons why Lugard decided to amalgamate the "countries" of Northern and Southern Nigeria.

The bureaucratic system was buoyant in the South due to its ability to generate excise duty from alcohol importation

Unfortunately, (alcohol being prohibited)

such taxes were unavailable in the Northern protectorate

Therefore, at the time of amalgamation, the colonial govt in the North was supported by an annual grant from the Crown, while the South was buoyant due to its income from alcohol taxes

However by 1917 when the report was

written, the coffers of the amalgamated Nigeria had been swollen exceedingly by receipts from the sale of Tin from Jos!

The "tables" had turned!

In other words, the ability of the colonial govt to rapidly achieve buoyancy in the South, was due to proximity to British monitored