COLONIALISM AND FAMINES IN NIGER PROVINCE, 1900 – 1945: A STUDY OF AN ASPECT OF COLONIAL UNDER-DEVELOPMENT

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COLONIALISM AND FAMINES IN NIGER PROVINCE, 1900 – 1945: A STUDY OF AN ASPECT OF COLONIAL UNDER-DEVELOPMENT

Abstract:

Basically, this study seeks to explain the relationship between British Colonialism and the incessant famines which Niger Province experienced in the period 1900 – 1945 It also attempts to grapple with how the phenomenon of famines at this period, became a fundamental factor for the poverty, impoverishment and disease which completely engulfed the area. Thus, in pursuance of the above, the Thesis was organised into six chapters. In Chapter one, we examined the various interpretations that have been given by the developmentalists, under-development and dependency schools to the general issue of under development and the specific issue of famines in the third world countries, drawing attention to their respective areas of difficulty,. We consequently came to the conclusion that the mode of production framework is more useful for our analysis of the relationship between imperialism and famines in former Niger province in the period 1900 – 1945. Thus, the impact of colonialism in creating famines could only be scientifically explained by the extent to which the modes of production: production of the area transformed to cause the dislocation of the forces of production of their under development., On this, it was argued that although Niger province was incorporated into the World Capitalist System, roughly from 1900, yet this only led to a highly restricted transformation of the pre-capitalist modes of production of the area. For only the sectors of the pre-capitalist society that helped the extraction of surplus remained unchanged as far as its moans of production were concerned. This imply that famines in Niger province in the period 1900 to l9*+5 must be linked to the specific social system in which they occur and the differential abilities of the systems to cope with the effects. Thus, in chapter two, we examined the social formation of Niger province on the eve of British conquest with a particular focus on the mediums that were evolved by the poole to cushion the impact of famines, we arrived at the conclusion that collectively, the pre— colonial indigenous mechanisms mitigated the impact of famines in our area of study. However, in chapters three and four, we argued that the conquest of [Tiger province, roughly from 1900, and the subsequent imposition of the colonial economy led to the erosion of the indigenous social response mechanisms, which, in turn, led to the famines. These were the conquest, itself with its negative consequences on food production, the introduction and encouragement of the production of cash crops the monetization of the economy, introduction of taxation and the transformation of the indigenous land tenure system. Others included the British colonial policies of abolishing slavery, the introduction of forced labour and the deliberate destruction of supplementary economic activities in the area. Moreover in chapter five, it was argued that the outbreak of the great economic depression (1929 • 1933)As for the archival material, the bulk of it comes from the National Archive in Kaduna. These were supplemented with information derived from published and unpublished works. Those are available in the K.I.L ABU) Zaria.

COLONIALISM AND FAMINES IN NIGER PROVINCE, 1900 – 1945: A STUDY OF AN ASPECT OF COLONIAL UNDER-DEVELOPMENT

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