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of all times and of all kinds, was a paramount influence. However, EGB did not influence the direction of my regional interest, primarily in Africa and more generally in the Third World. Indeed, he advised me against the former, saying that I was 'temperamentally unsuited' for Nigeria! And this was at a time when Wooldridge was discussing with some disdain geographers who suffered from 'otherwhereitis', adding with customary biblical emphasis that 'the eyes of the fool are at the ends of the earth' (Woolridge 1950). I rejoice to have suffered long and happily from this disease which I acquired by contagious diffusion from Ogilvie and Geddes, but most of all from Miller, at Edinburgh. Thus three years after leaving Aber and having experienced my first 'foreign' country, Scotland, I moved to Africa. The direct Bowen influences were now somewhat reduced but have been far from eliminated even with the passing of many years. THE IMPORTANCE OF PEOPLE Nigeria in the first half of the 1950's was a fascinating place in which to work. It was the time of change from colonial rule, which had been expected to continue for several more decades, to the prospect of political independence which was to come in 1960. Political changes were accompanied by socio-economic changes greater than those which had occurred throughout the first half of the twentieth century. They were associated with the late start after the Second World War in colonial development and welfare. There were unlimited opportunities for academic research in geography and in other social sciences which might at the same time have important practical implications. In the many problems to be tackled for example those associated with relationships between people and land, and the redistributions of population which were occurring to meet some of the difficulties created by these relationships there was an obvious need for wider interdisciplinary perspectives. However, the colonial infrastructure was highly departmentalized with the result that several investigations of the same problem might be instituted without much reference to one another, even without knowledge of one another. In some instances the interests of different departments involved were in conflict, with very limited opportunitites for such conflicts to be satisfactorily resolved. Experience of these was sufficient to write (with temerity) at the time on 'Tropical studies: the geographical approach and the need for integration' (Prothero 1953). Though there were no satisfactory means for resolving the lack of integration there were opportunities for personal involvement on a small scale in an integrated and interdisciplinary fashion (Prothero 1956, 1960, 1961). In this way it became possible to appreciate further the importance of people. There are few things more complex than the