ABSTRACT
Decolonisation was less difficult in the four British West African colonies than in most other regions of the continent. Here there were no settler communities to get in the way of progressive change. Colonial advisers in Britain were already saying, even before 1945, that steps toward self-government for these four colonies would have to be taken. Governor Burns in the Gold Coast even appointed two Africans, in 1942, to be assistant district officers: a big step, as many thought then.
