A B737-300 FLC ON A NIGHT VISUAL APCH HAS DIFFICULTY IN ACTIVATING THE RWY LIGHTING SYS FOR RWY 9 AT SAV; GA.

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APCHING SAV ARPT FROM THE NNE; WE WERE BEING HANDLED BY ZJX. WE WERE DSNDING OUT OF 5000 FT FOR 2000 FT AND WERE HDG TO A POINT ABOUT 4 NM W OF MAVIS; THE LOM FOR RWY 9. WE COULD SEE THE SAV ROTATING BEACON; THE RAMP AREA; AND THE LIGHTS FOR RWY 18. THE TWR HAD CLOSED FOR THE NIGHT; SO WHEN ZJX CLRED US FOR A VISUAL APCH TO RWY 9; I BROADCAST OUR POS ON L BASE AND THEN TURNING FINAL ON 119.1; THE CTAF. AS WE INTERCEPTED THE RWY 9 LOC OUTSIDE MAVIS; I WAS SURPRISED WE COULDN'T SEE THE RWY LIGHTS SINCE MY BROADCAST AND REPEATED KEYING OF THE MIKE SHOULD HAVE REACTIVATED THE RWY LIGHTS. WE CONFIGURED THE ACFT FOR LNDG; COMPLETED THE CHKLISTS AND INTERCEPTED THE GS. AT 1000 FT; EVEN THOUGH WE COULD SEE THE ARPT ENVIRONMENT AND WERE ESTABLISHED ON THE ILS; WE STILL DID NOT SEE THE RWY 9 RWY LIGHTS. I VOICED MY CONCERN ABOUT NOT HAVING THE RWY LIGHTS AND RECOMMENDED A GAR SO WE COULD GET THE LIGHT SIT STRAIGHTENED OUT. THE CAPT ELECTED TO CONTINUE. I CONTINUED TO KEY THE MIKE AND RESET THE CTAF. THE RWY LIGHTS FINALLY CAME ON WITH US ON SHORT FINAL. LNDG AND ROLLOUT WERE UNEVENTFUL. I'M NOT SURE WHAT THE PROB WAS ALTHOUGH I SUSPECT THAT EVEN THOUGH THE RADIO WAS SET TO 119.1; IT MAY HAVE BEEN BTWN FREQS AND THAT MY RECYCLING IT ON SHORT FINAL MIGHT HAVE TAKEN CARE OF THE PROB. WHILE I'VE NEVER HAD A PROB OF THIS NATURE BEFORE OPERATING INTO AN UNCTLED ARPT; I DO BELIEVE THAT ANY DISTR OF THIS NATURE COUPLED WITH WORKING 2 RADIOS (CTAF AND JAX) SIMULTANEOUSLY; CONFIGURING THE ACFT FOR LNDG AND ACCOMPLISHING THE CHKLISTS REMOVES ONE OF THE LAYERS OF SAFETY WE LIKE TO HAVE. WHILE I DON'T CONSIDER THIS INCIDENT UNSAFE; I FEEL IT WOULD CERTAINLY BE MORE SAFE IF A MANNED; OPERATING CTL TWR WERE KEPT OPERATING DURING PART 121 OPS.