WAEC Government 2014 Theory — Question 9

Model answer

i. Under the French colonial policy of assimilation, educated African elite were not discriminated against; they were recruited into the civil service and some of them were even elected into the national parliament in France. This made the educated elite not oppose the system, which is the reason why the development of nationalist activities in the French colonies was slow when compared to that of the British colonies. ii. France regarded her colonies as an extension of French territory. This view made the French colonial officers introduce a system of direct rule in which all French colonies in West Africa were governed directly from France. This attitude on the part of France did not encourage nationalism among the people of the French colonies, and subsequently resulted in slowing down the tempo and development of nationalist activities in French West Africa colonies. iii. The absence of political parties denied the people of French West Africa a political platform to oppose colonial rule. The slow development of political parties was one of the factors responsible for the slow development of nationalistic activities in French West Africa. iv. The political parties formed after the Second World War were off-shoots of the parties in France, and therefore could not mobilize the people for self-rule. v. All French colonies in West Africa were centralized under a loose federation with headquarters in Dakar; therefore, the formation of legislative councils in each of the French colonies was for a long time not possible. More so, many Africans were elected as deputies into the French parliament; this slowed down nationalist activities in French West African colonies because the elected African deputies did not oppose French rule for a very long time.