Chapter 904 – The Four Great Constructions

“It’s embarrassing for me to always have your company.” Before leaving the apartment, Alan Wilson was quite sentimental, grateful to Hedy Lamarr for once again securing the logistics, “It’s an eventful time in the UK, every aspect of the country needs money, then again, you raised twenty-five million dollars during the war in the first place, can you do it again.”

“Sure, I’ll consider auctioning off my kisses once more, as long as you can stand it.” Hedy Lamarr didn’t have the heart to say, “I’m afraid you’ll come to Africa with no one around to take care of you, and you’re going to humiliate me like this?”

“Unintentional.” Alan Wilson stepped forward and kissed Hedy Lamarr on the forehead, then lifted his wrist and said, “Let’s go, it hasn’t been a few months since the last meeting. The economic crisis has disrupted our lives, and it would lack a bit of mystery if we always met.”

It was only in the middle of last year that we met in Aden, and it was only the beginning of this year that we ran off to Lagos for another meeting. It was a little too frequent and seemed undignified, but with the economic crisis, it had to be done.

The annual meeting of colonial commissioners, from the end of the year to the middle of the year, has now become the beginning of the year meeting.

Lagos is already the largest city in Africa in this day and age, and there is no other place in the whole of Africa that has as large a population as it does, and the reason why Nigeria became a British colony started with this, and colonizing Nigeria in the name of the abolitionist movement.

In the name of Lagos being the center of the African slave trade, Britain occupied Lagos under the banner of emancipation of the black slaves and in turn colonized Nigeria.

Lagos had such a population because after the British occupation of Lagos it was declared a free colony where all blacks were free and would not be trafficked. As a result, blacks from all over flocked to Lagos, making it the most populous place in Africa.

The massive population wasn’t a problem because Allen Wilson’s white living quarters in Lagos were still inhabited by people in the white neighborhoods because Nigeria hadn’t officially become independent yet, but the whites would soon emigrate once Nigeria became officially independent. The now tidy white neighborhoods will be taken over by the black power elite.

Arriving at the former Nigerian Governor’s residence, the belated Allen Wilson entered the Governor’s residence under the guidance of the guards, and met with his colleagues who had already arrived, and said directly without much ado, “Colleagues meet again, and the frequency of our meetings has increased. But there is no way around it, the economic crisis is sweeping the world and Whitehall is expecting us to come up with solutions.”

“Governor Azikiwe has arrived, send him in?” Roberts, the Commissioner for Nigerian Interests, inquired.

“Tell him to wait a while, there are some things he’s not fit to know yet.” Alan Wilson took out a pile of documents and placed them heavily on the table with a muffled sound, then said, “The current economic crisis, has spread to all countries, and the British Empire is no exception. The use of conventional methods to cope with the effect is not very big, we change this time to a different approach, not only to pass the crisis peacefully, but also to buck the trend of growth. This is what I came for.”

“Increase development? But the gold mining on the Gold Coast has already reached its limit.” Ingram frowned, “There aren’t many other ways, the mining industry in the colony I manage is the backbone.”

“With gold you can place orders for local companies, but this time the solution is mostly in Nigeria. The population of the Gold Coast has little need to ship gold back home in exchange for grid orders, and that’s the end of the supporting electrification. We need to galvanize demand in Nigeria, the autonomous territory with the largest population in Africa.” Alan Wilson said refocusing on Roberts, “Nigeria has a large population Bureau of Agriculture, which is the general norm in the colonies. Think of ways from that aspect.”

“Specific measures to bulldoze the rainforests of the Niger River Delta, is there any data on that?”

Facing Allen Wilson’s question, Roberts said as if he had a number, “The Niger River Delta is the gathering area of the Igbo. The delta is 40,000 square kilometers, but with the surrounding developable land, there are more than 100,000 square kilometers.”

“Enough area for development, good.” Alan Wilson mused for a moment and said, “Acquire it at one-fifth of the original price of the European timber market and put it on the European market. This price will definitely not be unsellable, after the forest is destroyed, distribute the land to the locals, if I remember correctly, the Igbo have a good relationship with us.”

“Especially when facing the heathens in the north.” Roberts teased, “The north of Nigeria is not as viable as the south, but the Igbo population and the north are not dominant. Still, there’s a lot of goodwill toward Britain.”

“Developing the land for distribution is only the first step, we have previously established three center cities in the three regions. And now the plan is to connect them with railroads and roads.” Alan Wilson proposed a plan to establish a Nigerian road network, “As long as Nigerians can provide enough raw materials, we can even consider power grid degrees. Hydroelectric power plants can also be constructed as long as Nigeria needs them.”

“Plans to connect the railroads and roads of the three regions, plans to renovate the black areas of Lagos, plans to develop the Niger River Delta, plans to explore the resources of the Niger River Delta, all projects to start immediately.”

“Alan, Nigeria doesn’t have that much money on its books?” Roberts exclaimed, “Where are we going to find the money.”

Money, of course, could not be conjured out of thin air, Nigeria’s oil resources had not yet been discovered, so the first capital, in addition to Nigeria’s own autonomous territorial reserves, could only be exchanged for agricultural products.

And the main export of Nigeria in this era is agricultural products, unlike later generations built on the oil industry.

“Empty all the granaries in Nigeria and ship the stored food to the mainland. This is the tropics, you can start planting anytime you want. Don’t worry, tropical climates are also fiddly to store, and we’re doing it for the sake of the citizens of the Autonomous Territories.”

With a broad stroke, Alan Wilson is going to empty the whole of Nigeria of produce and ship it back to the British mainland to stabilize prices.

Tropical rainforests were of little value in Allen Wilson’s eyes, and the average tropical rainforest was barren of land.

Even if it is turned into arable land will not take long to soil degradation, if the soil quality of the Niger Delta can be, it can still be used for decades, if and general rainforest is no difference, five to ten years of planting costs will be greatly increased.

But by that time Nigeria was independent, he didn’t worry about Nigeria after independence, only now.

Explaining the plans of the documents brought in clearly, he identified four areas of planning involving energy, hydropower, transportation and agriculture.

“Then starting from this year, the four major constructions in Nigeria will be officially launched. Roberts, call Azikiwe in.” After Alan Wilson finished the part that belonged to the colonial commissioner, he could inform Azikiwe of the final result.

At the moment, Azikwe was still in the dark, but that was a good thing, sometimes not knowing can be a blessing, like Czechoslovakia at the time of the Munich Conference.

Azikiwe is now the Governor of the Autonomous Dominions of Nigeria and, not surprisingly, will be the country’s first president once Nigeria becomes independent.

But that’s not certain yet? There are always accidents in this world, and once Azikiwe entered the conference room, Alan Wilson questioned Azikiwe’s reliability on behalf of the UK, “Mr. Honorable Governor, out of concern for the development of Nigeria after its independence, the Cabinet has drawn up a grand blueprint, banking on the hope that after Nigeria’s independence, it will be able to carry on its traditional friendly relationship with the UK and lead the whole of Africa in its development.”

In the face of Azikiwe’s modesty, Alan Wilson coldly smiled and said, “Governor Azikiwe should not be modest, with Nigeria’s population, has the ability to lead Africa. Of course, it is under British protection. I am sure you will not deny that.”

“Secretary General Wilson. The British Empire has been so good to Nigeria.” Azikiwe was Igbo, one of the more pro-British ethnic groups, “I wonder what we can do to help Britain.”

“Help? Nigeria doesn’t have that power yet. London was worried about Nigeria’s independence being taken advantage of by dangerous Soviet ideas. So it intends to support Nigeria, but the result is not easy to say right now, we also supported British India in the beginning, but British India split, and it’s obvious that the Indians are not yet capable of withstanding modern civilization. That would be totally different from Malaya.”

First disparaged the conditions of Nigeria, then Allen Wilson turned his words, “Britain hopes that Governor Azikiwe, play a leadership role, the Niger Delta is officially inhabited by the Igbo people, if we can mobilize the locals, we can regard Governor Azikiwe as a capable person, and enough to lead the country after independence, so that we can rest assured. ”

Meaning that he was not reassured yet, Azikiwe was shocked, the British wanted to replace himself?

Just about to say something, a pile of documents have been piled up in front of Azikiwe, Alan Wilson raised his wrist and looked at the time, “Mr. Governor has one day to understand the four major constructions of the city, water and electricity, transportation and agriculture. The time has come to prove your abilities.”

“This is the last test set by the British Empire to avoid the consequences of British India’s independence bringing Britain into disrepute. If Governor Azikiwe proves his ability, a future independent Nigeria will prosper under your leadership. If you fail to do so, it is not out of the question that you will be replaced, even if there may be some criticisms.”

Alan Wilson is up to his old tricks, bluffing the future Nigerian president who is about to arrive at the pinnacle of his life. It is up to Azikiwe to consider whether he wants to reach the pinnacle of his life or whether he wants to crash and burn in the middle of the road.

Azikiwe left in a daze, and Allen Wilson informed Roberts, “Let’s break the news of the four major constructions first and see how the Nigerians react.”