West Africa magazine2026-01-192026-01-191969-05-24https://nigeriareposit.nln.gov.ng/handle/20.500.14186/2424Issue 2712 of West Africa Magazine (May 24, 1969) dissects war finances, France's post-de Gaulle weirdness, and Nigeria's reforms. Published in London/distributed in Apapa, it probes Nigeria's oil-funded war budget, Northern States' NA shakeup, and books on empire psychosis. Key stories: “Paying for the War” says Nigeria’s oil funds fuel spending; “Roundabout” skewers France’s post-G de Gaulle farce; In Memoriam details Northern Nigeria NA reforms. Books notes Killam on colonial fiction. Elsewhere: West Africa agri output drops, Nigerian sugar turns profit (Commercial news), Guinea convicts 13 (Dateline Africa). A wonky, fiery mix oil, coups, and colonial ghosts.■ Paying for the War: Oil revenues will this year allow the Federal Govern ment to" undertake record expenditure without significantly increasing taxes; ■ Roundabout Paris: The headless Chicken: France, in this bizarre interim period this epilogue to the de Gaulle drama is full of contradiction not least the contradiction arising from the constitutional ■ In Memoriam: Native Authority: The second of two articles on the administrative reform in the new Northern States of Nigeria which are leading to sweeping changes in the Native Authority ■ Books and publications: The psychology of empire: Africa in English fiction, 1874-1939 by G. D. Killam ■ Commercial news: Agricultural output drops: Agricultural production per caput in most West African countries fell in 1968 according to a review ■ Commercial news: Exchange sweetener: For the first time ever, the Nigerian sugar company made a net profit last year. £N̈12,650 ■ Dateline Africa: Guinea: Thirteen sentenced to death: After transforming itself into a special revolutionary court from May 11 to 15 the National Revolutionary council of the ruling PDGenArticle