The British Colonial policy in her West African territories was marked by the following strategies and structures except

Step 1: Analyze the question The question asks which option was NOT a strategy or structure of British colonial policy in West Africa. This is an "except" question, so three options are true of British rule and one is not.

Step 2: Review the concepts

• Divide and rule: The British exploited ethnic, religious and regional differences to prevent unified resistance. An example is the separate administration of Northern and Southern Nigeria.
• Economic exploitation: The colonies supplied raw materials such as palm oil, cocoa, groundnuts, cotton and tin, and served as markets for British manufactured goods.
• Indirect rule: Lord Lugard's system governed through traditional rulers and existing institutions, especially in Northern Nigeria.
• Investments in the colonies: The British did build railways, roads and ports, but these were mainly meant to move raw materials out and goods in, so they served British interests. Large-scale, deliberate development investment for the colonies' own benefit was not a hallmark of the policy.

Step 3: Eliminate options

• A, B and C were clear features of British colonial policy.
• D does not describe a defining strategy. The colonies were expected to be self-financing, with the colonial administration funded by local taxes and revenue, and little genuine investment in their development.

Step 4: Answer The option that was not a mark of British colonial policy is D. investments in the colonies.

Exam tip: Remember the British principle that "the colony must pay for itself." Colonial policy centered on control (indirect rule, divide and rule) and extraction (economic exploitation), not development. In "except" questions, look for the option that sounds most beneficial to the colonized people.