West African Inter-Territorial Conference (Hansard, 30 May 1951)

§ Mr. J. Griffiths

After consultation with the four West African Governors I have decided that the West African Council as at present constituted shall be dissolved, and that there shall be substituted for it a body which will be known as the West African Inter-Territorial Conference. The reasons for this change, and the composition and functions of the new body, are as follow:

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The West African Council was set up in 1945 after the appointment of Minister Resident in West Africa had been discontinued. It consisted of the Secretary of State as Chairman and the four West African Governors as members, and was provided with a permanent Secretariat. Its functions were, in general, to deal with matters which were of common interest to the four West African territories.

The objects and functions of the Council have recently been reviewed by my predecessor and myself, in consultation with the four Governors and the Chief Secretary to the Council, in the light of experience of its working and of developments in West Africa since it was set up. In this review particular regard has been paid to the recent or impending constitutional changes in the territories, which make it desirable that, concurrently with the assumption of greater responsibility for executive government in their territories, Africans should take a greater part in inter-territorial consultation and collaboration.

I have now decided, with the full agreement of the four Governors, that the West African Council as at present constituted shall be dissolved. In its place there will be set up a new body to be known as the West African Inter-Territorial Conference. This body will consist of two members of the Executive Council (or Council of Ministers) from each territory nominated by the Governor in Council; such nominees may vary from meeting to meeting according to the business for discussion. The Chairman of the Conference will be the Governor of Nigeria or a deputy nominated by him after consultation with the other Governors. The first meeting will be held in 1952.

The Conference will meet not less than once a year and its functions will be:

(a) to receive from the Secretariat a report on inter-territorial collaboration on research matters and to review the progress made thereon;
(b) to receive from the Secretariat a report on inter-territorial collaboration in other social and economic matters as expressed in reports of conferences held during the previous year or in other convenient form and to make recommendations thereon;
(c) to consider international collaboration on matters covered by (a) and (b) and to make recommendations thereon;
(d) to consider the estimates for the West African Inter-Territorial Secretariat;
(e) to consider any other matters referred to it by any West African Government.

The Conference will take over the permanent Secretariat which at present serves the West African Council. That Secretariat, under its new title, will continue to be charged broadly with its present duties including in particular those of fostering international collaboration with other non-British territories in West Africa, organising inter-territorial collaboration on technical subjects, supervising 13W the administration of joint research services and co-ordinating the military and civil aspects of West African defence. The headquarters of the Secretariat will remain at Accra.

The cost of the West African Council and its Secretariat, which had hitherto been borne on United Kingdom funds, has been taken over by the four West African Governments with effect from April, 1950, and those Governments have agreed that the cost of the new organisation should be borne by them from its inception.

The setting up of this new body will not affect the holding of periodical conferences of the four West African Governors as may be necessary, and the attendance at such conferences of myself or one of my Ministerial colleagues if circumstances make it desirable.