THE NIGERIAN STUDENT
SIB,—May I reply briefly to the more important criticisms of my article, made by Mr. J. A. Ajibolal He regards my statement that the African's " lack of judgement . . . is a great handicap, especially in the practice of medicine" as unfortunate and suggests that it was written rashly.,. The
wording of this sentence was careful and it is apparent that Mr. Ajibola has failed to understand my meaning. I referred deliberately to the practice of medicine, which is a different matter from the study of medicine ; the fact that Nigerians have gained higher qualifications in medicine, and I was not unaware of their praiseworthy achievements, has little to do with the point at issue.
Mr. Ajibola has done nothing to disprove my contention that the bulk of Nigerians live in villages, and I believe my remarks to be accurate. Unfortunately I am at present unable to gain access to any statistics ,to support my belief. It was not my intention to deprecate the improvements made in communications within the colony. I intended to show that a large number of the population live in areas not easily accessible when one was thinking in terms of the organisation of a comprehensive educa- tional service.
My remarks on the subject of religion were intendedas a mild criticism of missionary technique rather than of the African. When I wrote of the tendency to " imbue the African with Christian dogma before he has acquired the intellectual background to enable him to grasp not only the Word but also the Spirit of the Christian teaching," I was thinking of Africans I knew well who had vast scriptural knowledge but whose beliefs were coloured by primitive superstitions and whose code of honesty was lacking by British standards. It is odious to begin a controversy on the comparative morals of Africans and Europeans, and I will not say more except that the African's failings, or rather failings to British eyes, seem related to. the indigenous codes of morality and ideas of justice to which Mr. Ajibola refers. These codes contain many excellent ideas, but I think that many of the beliefs and superstitions to which they give rise will have to be eradicated- if the African is to cultivate the better Christian spirit of which Mr. Ajibola writes.—I am, Sir, yours faithfully, R. A. HENSON, Capt.. B.L.A.
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