OVERSEAS OFFICERS, NIGERIA (Hansard, 1 August 1958)

§ The Secretary of State for the Colonies (Mr. Alan Lennox-Boyd)
With permission, Mr. Speaker, I will now make the statement promised to my hon. Friend the Member for Wycombe (Mr. John Hall) yesterday, about overseas officers serving in Nigeria.
I am glad to tell the House that after consideration of Sir John Martin's recommendations following his visit to Nigeria we put forward proposals to the Nigerian Governments designed to encourage overseas officers to remain in their service. These proposals, with the exception of certain minor details, are acceptable to the Governments of the Federation of Nigeria and of Northern Nigeria. The Governments of Western and Eastern Nigeria, while not accepting the proposals, have put forward alternative suggestions which I am considering.
Sir John Martin summarised the reasons which were causing overseas officers to tender notice to retire from the Nigerian services as partly political, partly the attractions of lump sum compensation and partly dissatisfaction with the remuneration offered by the Nigerian Governments. He expressed the view that the Special List proposals negotiated last year with the Nigerian Governments had proved unsuccessful because overseas officers were unwilling to surrender their freedom to retire with lump sum compensation if they felt that conditions in Nigeria were becoming too difficult, and because the assurances in regard to unemployment pay and further employment on their leaving Nigeria were not sufficiently attractive.
In the light of this analysis of the problem, which Her Majesty's Government accept, we have proposed to the Nigerian Governments modifications of 1783 the compensation schemes so as to provide financial inducements to encourage overseas officers to continue in their service. Briefly, the proposals are that officers should receive interest-free advances of 90 per cent. of their entitlement to compensation, half the cost of which would be met by Her Majesty's Government; that increased use might be made of the device of freezing an officer's entitlement to compensation at the point in his career when it is highest and that Her Majesty's Government should meet any additional costs of compensation resulting from this proposal; and that the advances on account of compensation to younger officers who would not benefit from the freezing arrangements should be abated by 20 per cent. of the officer's annual salary for each year he remains in the service of the Nigerian Government after the introduction of that Government's compensation scheme.
Officers who wish to take advantage of these benefits would be admitted to a Special List "B" and the compensation and pensions due to them on their ultimate retirement would be paid by Her Majesty's Government, who would be reimbursed by the Nigerian Governments concerned.
It is estimated that the cost of these measures to Her Majesty's Government would be £1 million in the present financial year, if all the Nigerian Governments participated in the scheme, and £1½ million next year with diminishing sums for subsequent years. I am not yet in a position to say what effect the modifications proposed by the Western and Eastern Regional Governments will have on these estimates, but a Supplementary Vote to cover the expenditure will be submitted to Parliament in due course.
A summary of the proposals in more detail is being published in a White Paper today.

§ Mr. Brockway
Can the right hon. Gentleman say how these proposals compare with the decisions which were reached in Ghana and Malaya? Would it be possible to have model proposals so that there would not be any anxiety among members of the overseas service and that any conflict with Colonial Governments as they reach independence might be avoided?

§ Mr. Lennox-Boyd
There was no comparable scheme in Ghana. I think it would be unwise to assume that the circumstances of a huge territory of over 32 million such as Nigeria would be necessarily applicable elsewhere. Of course, we learn as we go on, and we can profit by experience here.

§ Mr. John Hall
In expressing my appreciation at the generous and imaginative approach to this problem shown in this statement, and which, I am certain, will be very warmly welcomed by the overseas officers serving in Nigeria, may I ask my right hon. Friend whether the proposals advanced by the Eastern and Western Governments differ very radically from the proposals just announced?

§ Mr. Lennox-Boyd
There are substantial differences, but I am examining them, and I will make a statement in due course.

Mr. Creech Jones
It has long been recognised that there are certain difficulties in the arrangements about the Special List, and, therefore, the Secretary of State has been obliged to face up to the problem and find a way out of the difficulties which members of the administrative and technical services in Nigeria have been experiencing. I think that it is indispensable, if the country goes forward to independence in the coming year, or 1960 or whenever it may be, that there should be an administrative service that is well organised inside a suitable framework so that that administration can play an effective part.
We would seek time, of course, to study the proposals which the Secretary of State has put forward. I take it that we shall be having the benefit of a White Paper, but, at first sight, the proposals seem generous, though I think that one must reserve one's judgment until one has had an opportunity of studying the proposals now made.

§ Mr. J. Griffiths
While joining in the view which has been expressed that these are very generous terms, may I say that I am sure that the Secretary of State will agree that it is desirable to remove whatever difficulties there may be, so that these experienced officers can stay in Nigeria in the very difficult transitional period. I take it, therefore, that he will continue to ensure that these officers are 1785 allowed to stay at their posts to help Nigeria through the difficult period of transition to independence?

§ Mr. Lennox-Boyd
I can say to both my right hon. predecessors that I agree throughout with what they have said. Nothing has worried me more, personally, over the last four years than this matter, and I believe that the announcement I have made today represents a substantial step forward.