WAEC Government 2011 Theory — Question 8

Model answer

i. The policy of assimilation was a form of direct administration which required heavy financial commitment from France, imposing a heavy financial burden. ii. The policy was not widely applied - only the four principal communes of Dakar, Goree, St Louis and Rufisque enjoyed it fully. iii. Africans' love for their own culture and tradition made them reject the policy, which was based on changing Africans into French citizens without considering their own culture. iv. The policy allowed obnoxious practices such as the indigenat policy (imprisonment without trial) and forced labour, which many Africans opposed.