Having engaged with the simultaneous sedimentation of colonial states and their boundaries over the course of more than half a century, I turn now to consider some of the distinct attributes of the colonial states in question. In a formulation that has commanded widespread support, Fred Cooper depicts African colonial states as carrying out little more than “gatekeeping” functions.2 In a more elaborated comparison between the British colonies in Africa, Ewout Frankema depicts the West African colonies as ‘night watchmen’ or ‘minimalist’ states whereas Kenya leaned more towards the ‘extractive’ mode.3