(a) List the four towns that made up the four Communes of the French Colonial Administration in West Africa.
(b) State any four rights enjoyed by Africans in these four Communes.
This was another unpopular question because very few candidates attempted it. Those who attempted it performed very woefully and this could be a result of their neglect of the topic as it was centred on the francophone countries. However, the candidates were expected to give the following points as answers to the question
(a)
Dakar
St. Louis
Goree
Rufisque
(b)
They were legal citizens of France.;
they governed according to the French public laws;
they voted for one member to the French Chamber of Deputies in Paris;
they were permitted to rely on their own private laws for marriages and inheritance;
they had a local assembly to which the members were elected;
they could be appointed to any post in France or in the colonies;
they were exempted from forced labour;
they were also exempted from indigenat;
their taxes were fixed and receipts issued on payment;
they could marry French citizens;
they had access to higher education;
they were free from conscription into the army;
they had the right to engage in any legitimate economic activity.
