THE TROPICAL ENVIRONMENT AND MALARIA IN THE TROPICAL ENVIRONMENT AND MALARIA IN ... I also appreciate the department of history and the platform of the ‘History in the Making’

THE TROPICAL ENVIRONMENT AND MALARIA IN

SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA, 1861 – 1960

BY

ADEDAMOLA SEUN ADETIBA

Thesis Presented for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Department of

History, RHODES UNIVERSITY

Supervisor: Prof. Enocent Msindo

FEBRUARY 2019

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CONTENTS

Contents……………………………………………………………………………… i

Abstract……………………………………………………………………………… ii

Acknowledgement…………………………………………………………………... iv

Chapter 1: Introduction: Malaria, Colonial Subjects, and Empire ………………….. 1

Chapter 2: Encountering the Tropical Environment: Early European Perceptions of

Southwestern Nigeria ……………………………………………………………… 24

Chapter 3: The Politics of Preventive Medicine in Southwestern Nigeria, 1861-1960 ….. 56

Chapter 4: The Early Stage of Malaria Research in Lagos, 1890 – c. 1930 ………………… 100

Chapter 5: Development Planning and Malaria Control in Southwestern Nigeria ………… 148

Chapter 6: The Contributions of Africans to Antimalarial Schemes in Southwestern Nigeria 194

Chapter 7: Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………… 236

Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………… 248

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ABSTRACT

This thesis is a social history of malaria in southwestern Nigeria. It contributes to the

burgeoning literature in the historiography of medicine, specifically the medicine and empire

debate. Key to the issues raised in this thesis is the extent to which the limitations in colonial

medical policies, most especially malaria control programmes, inspired critical and ingenious

responses from African nationalists, doctors, patients, research volunteers, and indigenous

medical practitioners. Challenged by a wide range of diseases and a paucity of health facilities

and disease control schemes, African rural dwellers became medical pluralists in the ways they

imagined and appropriated ideas of Western medicine alongside their indigenous medical

practices. Beginning with a detailed historical exploration of the issues that informed the

introduction of curative and preventive medicine in southwestern Nigeria, this thesis reveals

the focus of colonial medicine. It exposes the one-sided nature of medical services in colonial

spaces like southwestern Nigeria and the ways it shaped multifaceted responses from Africans,

who were specifically side-lined till the 1950s when the rural medical service scheme was

introduced.

The focus of colonial medicine is drawn from relatively rich but often subjective historical

evidence, such as a plethora of official reports of the department of medical and sanitary

services, official correspondences within the colonial government in Lagos and Nigeria, and

between the colonial government and the colonial office in the United Kingdom. Details of

African responses to medical policies were garnered from newspaper publications and

correspondences between the African public and the colonial government in Lagos. They

reveal very interesting details of the ways Africans imagined, reimagined, and appropriated

malaria control ideas and schemes.

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The central argument in this thesis is that attempts to control malaria in southwestern Nigeria

till the 1950s, were shaped by a single concern to ameliorate the implications of the disease on

the colonial state. It argues that this one-sided nature of malaria control programme informed

the basis for medical pluralism in most rural spaces where African communities became

patrons and sponsors of Western medicine and at the same time custodians of their indigenous

medical practices. The series of justifications for the sustenance of these services were

reinforced on the basis of the failure of the colonial state to guarantee the health needs of their

colonial subjects. The aim of the thesis is to reinforce arguments that portray colonial medicine

as a “tool of empire” but goes a bit further to explain the extent to which Africans related to

this reality. It states quite categorically that Africans were not docile and silent, but that they

acted decisively in ways that suited their varied interests and courses.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The work presented in this thesis benefited immensely from the contributions, encouragements,

and support of my supervisor, Professor Enocent Msindo. Professor Msindo was involved in

every phase of the research and the thesis through his critical comments and his kind reception

whether I faced certain hurdles. Also, he was instrumental in recommending the African

Pathways Scholarship to me during the first year of my studentship. He has since played the

role of a supervisor, mentor, and career advisor.

The data used in writing this thesis were garnered from several onsite and digital archives and

libraries. I would like to acknowledge the archivists that assisted me during my ten-month

fieldwork at the National Archives, Ibadan, Nigeria. I also appreciate the London School of

Hygiene and Tropical Medicine archives, for allowing me to access several documents in their

Ross Collection. Adam Matthew Digital Archive was generous enough to grant a trial request

to my University Library when I made a request, even at a short notice. I was able to access

their rich collections of the CMS medical missions in Africa and other records of the colonial

office. The British Online Archives was also useful in my quest to garner more information

about the colonial office.

I am immensely grateful to the staff of Rhodes University Library. They made this research an

easy and productive one. I was able to access bountiful newspaper records on colonial Nigeria

through the library interface. I also owe a load of gratitude to the department office, especially

the departmental secretary for helping with some admins, even when they were not convenient.

This research benefited from a generous joint-scholarship award from the National Institute of

Humanities and Social Research (NIHSS) and the Council for the Development of Social

Science Research in Africa. The funds, workshops, conferences, and mentorship provided by

the NIHSS were important in the successful completion of this thesis. Professor Paul Maylam

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and Professor Fred Hendriks, mentors of the NIHSS in Rhodes University, were very

supportive with their encouragement and feedback during the period of my study in the

university. I also appreciate the department of history and the platform of the ‘History in the

Making’ seminar where some of the ideas in this thesis were presented and highly critiqued by

colleagues and academic staff of the department.

Most of all, and quite appropriate for this thesis and programme, I would like to appreciate my

family, for their unconditional love and care throughout these years. My parents, Pastor and

Mrs. Adetiba, my siblings, Kayode, Bisola, Busayo and my wife, Adepeju have been very

supportive during these couple of years. My friends, Deji, Dimeji, Afolabi, Dotun, Thapelo,

Jako, Sinazo, Omowunmi (and her beautiful family), Niran, John Onakwe, Bankole, Kola, and

Adeola Samuel have also assisted in very important ways during the course of writing this

thesis. Yinka Anifowose provided some funds to cushion some of my expenses during the first

year of the programme. After receiving these individual and institutional supports, I remain

solely responsible for any omissions and mistakes that may be found in this thesis.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION: MALARIA, COLONIAL SUBJECTS, AND THE PLIGHT OF

EMPIRE

The challenges of malaria remain a topical and recurring issue in discourses on development

in sub-Saharan Africa. State and non-state institutions have been committed to channelling a

feasible course for ameliorating the impact of the disease on infant and maternal health. Since

the 1950s, controlling the disease has featured in development goals of the United Nations, and

has been a significant item in the foreign policy of African states and that of foreign donors.

At present, tackling malaria remains a contingent part of the Sustainable Development Goals

and the agendas of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Global Funds, and the World

Health Organization. Since 1998, the World Health Organization has invested considerably to

eradicating the disease in Africa through her Roll Back Malaria programme. While the malarial

problem remains perpetual in this part of the world, remarkable progress has been recorded

elsewhere. The WHO, in May 2015, launched the Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016-

2030 programme to keep track on