Recruiting for the British colonial forces in West Africa in the nineteenth century

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Periodical article

Title:	Recruiting for the British colonial forces in West Africa in the nineteenth century
Author:	Ukpabi, S.C.
Year:	1974
Periodical:	Odù: Journal of Yoruba and Related Studies
Issue:	10
Pages:	77-97
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	English-speaking Africa West Africa
Subject:	black soldiers
Abstract:	With the increase in British territories in West Africa during the course of the nineteenth century it became impracticable to rely on purely Eurpopean forces for the defence of these territories. Efforts were made therefore to form colonial forces made up of the indigenous inhabitants. This called for the organization of recruitment depots, the setting up of adequate machinery for this purpose, and the offering of sufficient inducements on the part of the colonial government to encourage the indigenous inhabitants to enlist. But recruitment gave rise to unforeseen problems which often compelled the British colonial government in West Africa to vacillate between a clear-cut recruitment policy and a haphazard one as dictated by expediency. This paper examines these problems (which the colonial governments encountered in their efforts to recruit Africans into their forces) and their political, social and military consequences. Notes and ref.