GST 112

NIGERIAN PEOPLES AND

CULTURE
PRE-COLONIAL NIGERIAN ECONOMY
BY
MRS. U.A. AMAJOR
 INDIGENOUS (PRE-COLONIAL)
ECONOMY OF NIGERIA
 Before the coming of colonial masters there was nothing called Nigeria, we had only
Communities and ethnic groups like the Hausa, the Igbo, the Yoruba, the Nupe, the Jukun,
the Ibibio, Ijaw Kanuri, Fulani, Efic, Tiv, etc.
 The indigenous pre-colonial Nigerian economy consisted of agriculture, local industry and
crafts, trade and services.
 AGRICULTURE IN PRE-COLONIAL ECONOMY
 It was the basic pre-colonial activity with the pattern of specialization dictated by ecology
and culture.
 crude implements, such as hoes, cutlass, sickles, etc. were used.
 The principal articles of food grown were guinea corn, millet, beans of several varieties,
yam of various species, sweet potatoes, pepper of various kind, kola nuts and vegetables
of all sorts, cotton, etc.
 Other pre-colonial occupations that were related to farming were hunting, fishing and
pastoralism
 A very important aspect of economic importance of a hunter, during pre-colonial period
was killing elephants whose tusks were ivory

 was killing elephants whose trunks were ivory.

INDIGENOUS (PRE-COLONIAL)
ECONOMY OF NIGERIA
CONTINUOUS……
 Local industries and crafts in pre-
colonial period
 It is certainly difficult if not impossible to discuss fully
all works of art and crafts which pre-colonial Nigerians
engaged in.
 Natural and geographical factors dictated the art and
craft activities which pre-colonial Nigerian people
engaged in
 Some of the activities they engaged in were basket
and mat weaving, cloth making, pottery,
blacksmithing, beer brewing, soap making industry
and leather industries woodwork, etc.
 Closely associated with the leather industry was hide
and skin
 industry, which had a separate market of its own .
INDIGENOUS (PRE-COLONIAL)
ECONOMY OF NIGERIA
CONTINUOUS……
 Trade in Pre-Colonial Period
 Local Trade
 The exchange of goods in various parts of Nigeria has been of long
standing.
 most early exchanges were the results of surplus production over and
above the subsistence level.
 Local markets were organized at regular intervals of three, five or seven
days and occasionally fortnightly, for the exchange of products.
 The organization of such markets gave the people the opportunity to sell
local products at regular intervals. A sense of specialization soon grew.
 Items of local exchange included foodstuffs and household materials
such as, pottery and soap. These markets also developed as the central
markets for local products such as palm oil, which had begun to attract
the European merchants.
 In many of the communities, different markets were established for
locally produced and foreign goods to encourage local production as well
as to
attract long distance traders from other areas.
INDIGENOUS (PRE-COLONIAL)
ECONOMY OF NIGERIA
CONTINUOUS……
 Foreign Trade (Long Distance Trade)
 Long distance trading activities principally contributed to
emergence, growth and sustenance of states and empires that
controlled the different parts of the Nigerian area during the pre-
colonial era.
 There were also trans-saharan trades to countries of North Africa,
Nile Valley region and southern Europe as well as transnational
trade to neighbouring countries, including communities located
in present day Cameroun, Republic of Benin, Togo, Niger and
Chad.
 From the Sixteenth century, there developed trans-Atlantic trade
to countries of South and Latin America, and later to Western
Europe.
 The discovery of Kolanut in commercial quality in the Yoruba
countries of south-western Nigeria as well as the Asante forest of
present day Ghana subsequently led to the development of long
distance trading activities between the trading cities of Northern
Nigeria and Badagry in the Southwest and Gonja in the Asante
forest of Ghana.
INDIGENOUS (PRE-COLONIAL)
ECONOMY OF NIGERIA
CONTINUOUS……
 Around fifteen century Portuguese and British came to West
Africa, this made trade to expand to Europe and America.
 The Portuguese were the first Europeans to come to West Africa.
In 1485 there was a trade link between Portuguese and Kingdom
of Benin.
 At first the Portuguese imported from West Africa pepper, Ivory
and gold, the Portuguese started the Atlantic slave trade during
the fifteen century, and this attracted many other European
nations to West Africa.
 After Portuguese, English people found their way into West Africa
despite the resistance by Portuguese. By middle of the
Seventeenth century, more English traders became interested in
the West African trade, particularly in the slave trade.
 For a long period, European contact with West Africa was confined
to the coastal areas. The West African Chiefs and their peoples
served as meddle men between local people and Europeans in
trading.
INDIGENOUS (PRE-COLONIAL)
ECONOMY OF NIGERIA
CONTINUOUS……
 Currencies and Transport during Pre-colonial period
 Initially trade by barter was adopted as a system of exchange.
 it suited the predominantly subsistence economy of the country
before the advent of foreign trade.
 As a result of foreign trade a number of commodity-currencies and
foreign coins found their way into Nigeria. In Nigeria, the cowry
was the most generally accepted currency; the adoption of other
commodity-currencies was restricted to local areas; Other
currencies included Brass rodes, Manila, Copper wires, iron rods,
Cloth and Salt. In addition to these commodity-currencies, there
were a number of foreign coins which were real currencies in their
respective countries.
 The modern transportation facilities such as tarred roads, railways,
air transport were non-existent during pre-colonial era in Nigeria.
 The most widely modes of transportation in that period were
human portage, donkeys, camels, horses and ox in the northern
part and canoes which were used in natural water ways-the rivers
in the southern parts and few areas in the north along the Niger
 INDIGENOUS (PRE-COLONIAL)
ECONOMY OF NIGERIA
CONTINUOUS……
 The Fiscal System in pre-colonial era
 The natural rulers devised various means of raising adequate revenues for running their respective
administrations.
 Revenues were collected in kind, mainly in foodstuffs, and provided
for the “rulers” and their officials.
 The gradual adoption of a few commodity currencies, e.g iron
 rods, bracelets, manilas and cowries, simplified to some extent the payment of taxes.
 The structure and organization of the indigenous tax systems varied from one part of the country to
another.
 In some well organized areas of Northern Nigeria the principal taxes included the Zakka or tithe on
corn, the Kudin kasa or land tax, the plantation tax on all crops, the jangali or cattle tax and the Sokoto
Gaisuwa a varying sum, paid chiefly in horses and slaves by all other emirates to Sokoto and Gwandu.
Lastly there was the death duty (Gado), which passed the estate of the deceased to the Emir when there
was no recognized heir
 In southern Nigeria, a large rudimentary indigenous tax system existed. In most of the Yoruba
Kingdoms tax assessment were based on the ability to pay.
COLONIAL ECONOMY OF NIGERIA
 The colonial economy in Nigeria, like most of the other African
countries was the one designed to serve the interest of the
colonialists.
 The dominant motives of colonialism were the search for cheap raw
materials and expansion of market for the products of the
colonialists.
 To achieve these objectives, the colonial government developed a
number of policies in different sections of the economy.
 Agriculture and Tax Policies
 the colonial government, through so many devices, discouraged the
production of food crops while encouraged cash crop production.
 The raw materials which British needed included cotton for British
textile factories, rubber for tyres and other products, palm oil and
kernel for soap and margarine, groundnut for manufacturing oil, hides
and skins for leather products, timber for furniture as well as tin, coal,
among others.
 Introduction of tax. People produced more cash crops in order to earn
more money to meet their tax obligation. The desire was to avoid
penalties for the inability to meet up with their tax obligation
COLONIAL ECONOMY OF
NIGERIA CONTINUOUS…..
 Marketing board were established to buy these cash crops cheaply from
local farmers and sell them at higher prices in international markets.
 Banking and Currency
 A new and common currency was introduced to replace the different
currencies circulating in various part of the country.
 the government through Native Administration Insisted that taxes be paid
in colonial currency.
 Government paid its soldier as well as other (suppliers, contractors and
civil employees) In British minted coins
 The monetization of the Nigerian economy necessitated the
establishment of Commercial Banks.
 Industrial and Trade Policies
 The economic interest of the colonialists also led them to avoid promotion
of Industrial activities, particularly manufacturing, in order to protect the
market for the products from their home country
 All local industries continued to operate, if only at a much reduced
capacity. The increasing importation of foreign goods brought it new
tastes for better and sometimes cheaper, industrial goods from Europe.
This led to the death of many local industries.
COLONIAL ECONOMY OF
NIGERIA CONTINUOUS…..
 Multi-national firms established their firms in Nigeria.
 Transport Policy
 Development of transportation system in strategic places in order to ease
evacuation of cash crop produce from hinterland to coastal areas and at
the same time help in distributing imported British finished goods.
 Summary of Colonial Economic Policies
 Discouraging food crop production and encouraging cash crop production
 Establishment of marketing board which used to buy cash crop produce
from local farmers at low price compared to its price in the world market
 Introduction of British currency in order to control the economy
 Introduction of tax in order to force the acceptance of British currency and
force people to produce cash crops in order to get money to pay their tax
 Importation of cheap goods from Britain which later killed local industries.
 Development of transportation system in strategic places in order to ease
evacuation of cash crop produce from hinterland to coastal areas and at
the same time help in distributing imported British finished goods.

THE END