State how the British colonial policies contributed to the rise of nationalism in West Africa....

Explanation

The British colonial policies contributed to the rise of nationalism in West Africa in many ways. These include:

(i) The crown-colony policy was not acceptable to the nationalists, e.g. both the legislative and executive councils were dominated by British officials. Only illiterate African chiefs were nominated as members of the legislative council.

(ii) The land law was unfavourable to the chiefs and people.

(iii) The whites adopted colour bar and social segregation, e.g. housing estates, recreational facilities, hospital and schools.

(iv) Economic inequalities between 9. the whites and the indigenes especially in commercial enterprises contributed a lot to the rise of nationalism, e.g. granting of loans by banks, the activities of companies like UAC, UTC and P.Z.

(v) There was little or no opportunities for the advancement of the Africans in the public service.

(vi) There was inequality in wages between whites and natives especially in commercial enterprises were.

(vii) Provision of educational facilities through missionaries made the Africans politically conscious.

(viii)There opportunities for the Africans to participate in government through constitutional developments.