a. Mention three former French colonies in West Africa. b. Identify four qualifications for assimilation of indigenous African into French citizenship.

Answer Details

(a) Three former French colonies in West Africa

1. Senegal
2. Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire)
3. Guinea

(Others include Mali, Niger, Dahomey/Benin, Upper Volta/Burkina Faso, Togo and Mauritania.)

(b) Qualifications for the assimilation of an indigenous African into French citizenship

Under the French policy of assimilation, an African could become a French citizen if he satisfied the following conditions.

1. Ability to speak and write the French language fluently.
2. Adoption of the French way of life and culture, abandoning indigenous customs, and profession of Christianity in place of traditional religion.
3. Rendering of service to France, for example serving in the French army or the colonial administration for a stipulated number of years.
4. Attainment of a certain level of Western education and being of good character with no criminal record.
5. A regular means of livelihood (gainful employment) and being of a prescribed minimum age (usually adulthood).