‘It is probable and natural that they will want to get expatriates out of the service as quickly as possible’: the Phillipson-Adebo Commission on Nigerialization of Civil Service in Nigeria

FCO 141/13358 (1953-54) and FCO 141/13359 (1954) are two files from the colonial ‘migrated’ archives that discussed the report on the Nigerianisation of the civil service by Sir Sydney Phillipson and S. O. Adebo. One of the public service commissioners in colonial Nigeria, T. Scrivenor, made confidential arrangements with the government printer to review galley proofs of the report before they were sent for checking by Phillipson and Adebo. Scrivenor provided a detailed commentary on the report on May 26, 1953 and sent a copy to Tom Williamson at the Colonial Office in London on July 1, 1953. It was written based on stolen glimpses of the report due to concerns that the final report might not be ready before his departure. On July 4, Williamson acknowledged receiving the commentary and indicated that he had not yet read the report but had it under lock and key for review at the earliest opportunity. This raises questions about the significance the Colonial Office attributed to the report, given Williamson’s delay in reading it. The report discussed the efforts to address compensation for the loss of career by expatriate officials, and the developing tension between indigenous and expatriate officials. It also covers the delayed publication of the Phillipson and Adebo report, objections raised by trade unionists and local media, and protests by Phillipson and Adebo regarding attributions made to them in the report’s preface. It reflects on discussions within the Council of Ministers and the Chief Secretary's memorandum refuting the arguments made by Phillipson and Adebo.

Arogundade Nurudeen Olatoye, Osun State University, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Arogundade Nurudeen Olatoye holds B.A. Ed (History), and M.A. (African History) from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. His research interests are legal, cultural, social and political history. He is a doctoral student at the Department of History and International Studies, Osun State University (UNIOSUN) at the Ikire campus, Nigeria. He has almost ten publications, both offshore and onshore. His ongoing PhD thesis is titled ‘A Sociocultural History of Death and Burial Practices in Ile-Ife, 1770 – 2015’.