The 50 per cent. balance is divided roughly into two. One of the two
parts is for the Emir of Zaria Province, who has a fixed civil list
for his personal expenditure and the expenses of his Court and for the
payment of native Judges and police and the upkeep of a central prison;
the other part is apportioned among the town Chiefs of the Province,
who pay their subordinate officials a salary previously decided on the
proportion it shall bear from the collected taxes. The salaries must not,
however, exceed the figure decided when each appointment is made.
Of course, any attempt, detected, on the part of the Chiefs or village
Headmen who collect the taxes to act in an irregular manner is dealt
with severely. The natives know they can appeal against injustice to the
British Resident. But the Residents do not interfere between the native
Chiefs and the population unless some great principle is violated. By
utilising the machinery of social organisation, which has existed for
hundreds of years, for the purpose of native government, a Civil Service
has been obtained of men who understand their own people in a way no
white could be expected to, and is obtained at a fraction of the cost
incurred in having the work done by Englishmen, who could not carry it
out with a tithe of the efficiency.
The Government officials’ bungalows at Zaria are the best in Northern
Nigeria. Nearly all are of brick. The roads are excellent. They were
laid out by the Public Works Department, with the exception of the
main trading road to Zaria native city, which was made by the Emir
with his own people, directed by those of them who had been on railway
construction. The highway is 60 feet wide and is planted both sides with
trees, which give a comforting shade.
Two groups of rest-houses are at Zaria. One is within a few feet of the
station, in charge of the railway staff, and is very convenient for
persons who arrive by a main line train and leave the following day by
a branch line train, or _vice-versâ_; the other group is used by the
Resident for travellers who may be staying a little longer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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