The endemic and devastating nature of malarial fever in Africa in the later end of the nineteenth century is worthy of examination for a number of reasons. First is the fact that the ailment as it adversely affected the colonization process in most British territories in West Africa influenced highly pragmatic policies from the government and the indigenous population. Second is the fact that the ailment attracted a large number of social issues - worthy of mention are the racial and demographic problems generated during this period. This paper investigates and invariably provides a historical explanation to the sanitary policies adopted by the government in one of the earliest British colonial settlements in West Africa, Lagos. In fulfilling this herculean yet intriguing task, this paper relied wholly on archival and written materials.
| Published in | History Research (Volume 3, Issue 6) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.history.20150306.11 |
| Page(s) | 65-71 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Malaria and Sanitation in Colonial Lagos: A Historical Appraisal
| [1] | W.J. Simpson, Report on Sanitary Matters in the East African Protectorate, Uganda, and Zanzibar (Nairobi: Government Printer, 1914), 53. |
| [2] | Amina Issa, “Malaria and Public Health Measures in Colonial Urban Zanzibar, 1900-1956,” Hygiea International 10, no. 2 (2011): 35 |
| [3] | Philip Curtin, “Medical Knowledge and Urban Planning in Colonial Tropical Africa,” in The Social Basis of Health and Healing in Africa, ed. Steven Feierman and John Janzen (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992), 241. |
| [4] | Steven Feierman, “The Social Roots of Health and Healing in Modern Africa,” African Studies Review 28, no. 2/3 (September, 1985): 91. |
| [5] | The Royal Society was established as a research institution that probed into developments and issues related with tropical medicine. Though it was formally instituted in 1907, the institution and its founding members since the nineteenth century, played salient roles in providing important scientific information and advice to the colonial government in British West Africa. |
| [6] | Thomas Gale, “Segregation in British West Africa,” Cahiers d’ Etudes africaines 20, no. 80 (1980): 496. |
| [7] | S.R. Christophers and J.W. Stephens, “On the Destruction of Anopheles in Lagos,” Reports to the Malaria Committee of the Royal Society, 3rd Series (London: Harrison and Sons, 1900), 20. |
| [8] | Gale, “Segregation in British West Africa,” 496. |
| [9] | William MacGregor, “A Discussion on Malaria and its Prevention” The British Medical Journal 2, no. 2124 (September 14, 1901), 682. |
| [10] | G.C. Denton to W. MacGregor, “Colonial Annual Report, 1898” 31 October 1898, No. 284 of 1898, Para 5. |
| [11] | Ibid. |
| [12] | George Denton to Chamberlain, “Report on the Lagos Blue Book, 1899” 18 August 1900, No. 321, Para. 17. |
| [13] | Ibid. |
| [14] | J.J. Thorburn to Lyttelton, “Report on the Lagos Blue Book, 1904,” 9 September 1905, No. 470, Para. 9. |
| [15] | Sir W. MacGregor to Mr. Lyttelton, “Report on the Lagos Blue Book, 1903,” 19 August 1904, No. 427, Para. 15. |
| [16] | William MacGregor to C.H.H. Moseley, “Colonial Annual Report, Lagos,”30 November 1901, No. 348, Para. 17. |
| [17] | Sir W. MacGregor to Mr. Lyttelton, “Report on the Lagos Blue Book, 1903,” 19 August 1904, No. 427, Para. 15. |
| [18] | J.J. Thorburn to Lyttelton, “Report on the Lagos Blue Book, 1904” 9 September 1905, No. 470, Para. 9. |
| [19] | J.J. Thorburn to the Earl of Elgin, “Colonial Annual Report, Southern Nigeria, 1906,” 21 October 1907, No. 554, Para. 77, 190. |
| [20] | Gale, “Segregation in British West Africa,” 497. |
| [21] | Carl Nightingale, Segregation: A Global History of Divided Cities (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012), 179; Gale, “Segregation in British West Africa,” 498. |
| [22] | Gale, “Segregation in British West Africa,” 504. |
| [23] | Ayodeji Olukoju, “The Segregation of Europeans and Africans in Colonial Nigeria,” in Security, Crime and Segregation in West African Cities since the 19th Century, ed. L. Fourchard and I.O. Albert (Paris: Editions Karthala et IFRA, 2003), 283. |
| [24] | Nightingale, Segregation: A Global History of Divided Cities, 188. |
| [25] | Colonial Annual Report, 1925, February 26, 1926, No. 1315, 53. |
| [26] | Report on Anti-Mosquito Campaign, Lagos, December 1929, 22, CSO 26, file no. 15120, National Archives, Ibadan. |
| [27] | Interview with S.A. Akindayo, (Medical Practitioners, Calvary Medical Centre, Mushin), Lagos State, December 16, 2014. |
| [28] | Gordon Harrison, Mosquitoes, Malaria and Man: A History of the Hostilities since 1886 (London: Dutton Publishers, 1978), 186. |
| [29] | Annual Medical and Sanitary Report, Nigeria, 1931, 24, NAI. |
| [30] | Harrison, Mosquitoes, Malaria and Man, 211. |
| [31] | Interview with P.A. Kappo (Medical Director, Abolayo Hospital, Egbeda, Akowonjo), Lagos State, December 16, 2014. |
| [32] | James Webb, Humanity’s Burden, A Global History of Malaria (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 160. |
| [33] | Interview with G. Adetayo (Medical Practitioner), Lagos State, December 16, 2014. |
| [34] | Interview with Wasiu Gbadamosi (Medical Director, Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba), Lagos State, January 5, 2015. |
| [35] | Interview with S.A. Agboola (Medical Director, Jobi Hospital, Ikorodu), Lagos State, December 16, 2014. |
| [36] | Annual Medical and Sanitary Report, Nigeria, 1927, 26, NAI. |
| [37] | Annual Medical and Sanitary Report, Nigeria, 1931, 25, NAI. |
| [38] | Report on Anti-Mosquito Campaign, Lagos, December 1929, 10, CSO 26, file no. 15120, NAI. |
| [39] | Annual Medical and Sanitary Report, Nigeria, 1927, 37, NAI. |
| [40] | William MacGregor to C.H.H. Moseley, “Colonial Annual Report, Lagos,” 30 November 1901, No. 348, Para. 13. |
| [41] | Annual Medical and Sanitary Report, Nigeria, 1931, 31, NAI. |
| [42] | Annual Medical and Sanitary Report, Nigeria, 1927, 31, NAI. |
| [43] | Annual Medical and Sanitary Report, Nigeria, 1927, 32, NAI. |
| [44] | William MacGregor to C.H.H. Moseley, “Colonial Annual Report, Lagos,” 30 November 1901, No. 348, Para. 13. |
| [45] | Annual Report of Medical Services, Nigeria, 1935, 18, NAI. |
| [46] | Annual Report of Medical Services, Nigeria, 1938, para. 105, NAI. |
| [47] | Report on Anti-Mosquito Campaign, Lagos, December 1929, 14, CSO 26, file no. 15120, NAI. |
| [48] | Annual Medical and Sanitary Report of 1927, 33, NAI. |
| [49] | Director of Medical Service to Chief Secretary to the Government, Lagos, 30 September 1946, CSO 26, file no. 43787/55, NAI. |
| [50] | Director of Medical Service to Chief Secretary to the Government, Lagos, 18 April 1947, CSO 26 43787/55, NAI. |
APA Style
Adetiba Adedamola Seun. (2015). Malaria and Sanitation in Colonial Lagos: A Historical Appraisal. History Research, 3(6), 65-71. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.history.20150306.11
ACS Style
Adetiba Adedamola Seun. Malaria and Sanitation in Colonial Lagos: A Historical Appraisal. Hist. Res. 2015, 3(6), 65-71. doi: 10.11648/j.history.20150306.11
AMA Style
Adetiba Adedamola Seun. Malaria and Sanitation in Colonial Lagos: A Historical Appraisal. Hist Res. 2015;3(6):65-71. doi: 10.11648/j.history.20150306.11
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Download@article{10.11648/j.history.20150306.11,
author = {Adetiba Adedamola Seun},
title = {Malaria and Sanitation in Colonial Lagos: A Historical Appraisal},
journal = {History Research},
volume = {3},
number = {6},
pages = {65-71},
doi = {10.11648/j.history.20150306.11},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.history.20150306.11},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.history.20150306.11},
abstract = {The endemic and devastating nature of malarial fever in Africa in the later end of the nineteenth century is worthy of examination for a number of reasons. First is the fact that the ailment as it adversely affected the colonization process in most British territories in West Africa influenced highly pragmatic policies from the government and the indigenous population. Second is the fact that the ailment attracted a large number of social issues - worthy of mention are the racial and demographic problems generated during this period. This paper investigates and invariably provides a historical explanation to the sanitary policies adopted by the government in one of the earliest British colonial settlements in West Africa, Lagos. In fulfilling this herculean yet intriguing task, this paper relied wholly on archival and written materials.},
year = {2015}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Malaria and Sanitation in Colonial Lagos: A Historical Appraisal AU - Adetiba Adedamola Seun Y1 - 2015/12/10 PY - 2015 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.history.20150306.11 DO - 10.11648/j.history.20150306.11 T2 - History Research JF - History Research JO - History Research SP - 65 EP - 71 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2376-6719 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.history.20150306.11 AB - The endemic and devastating nature of malarial fever in Africa in the later end of the nineteenth century is worthy of examination for a number of reasons. First is the fact that the ailment as it adversely affected the colonization process in most British territories in West Africa influenced highly pragmatic policies from the government and the indigenous population. Second is the fact that the ailment attracted a large number of social issues - worthy of mention are the racial and demographic problems generated during this period. This paper investigates and invariably provides a historical explanation to the sanitary policies adopted by the government in one of the earliest British colonial settlements in West Africa, Lagos. In fulfilling this herculean yet intriguing task, this paper relied wholly on archival and written materials. VL - 3 IS - 6 ER -
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