THE IMPACT OF BRITISH COLONIAL DOMINATION ON THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STRUCTURES OF THE SOCIETY OF KANO, 1903-1950

THE IMPACT OF BRITISH COLONIAL DOMINATION ON THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STRUCTURES OF THE SOCIETY OF KANO, 1903-1950

Abstract:

This subject matter of this thesis deals with the impact of British colonial domination on the social and economic structures of the society of kano It covers the period from 1903 to 1950-a period. in which a colonial society, with dependent structures, emerged. It was geared towards serving Britain, through colonial trade, as a market and as a source of Industrial raw materials. The establishment of this colonial relation, among other things, entailled the re-orientation of the system of production and transformation of pre-existing institutions along capitalist lines. The Aristocracy, the power that controlled and regulated the Emirate system of production, was subjected and transformed so as to allow for the re-orientation. The re-orientation of the system of production was carried out through the policies of the colonial state in the areas of land, labour and fiscal policies. Out of the process of the establishment of the colonial system of production new classes and class relations with capitalist values began to develop* The result was the emergence of a new type of polarisation within the society made up of cash-croppers and labourers on the one hand and a ruling class on the other. The ruling class was made up of top bureaucrats which included the Emir, Hakimai. Pagatal and their advisers and trading agents. This division was sustained and sharpened by new forms of accumulation and aporopriation of portions of proceeds of labour. Through these new forms of appropriation and accumulation of proceeds of labour British imperialists and their surrogates, the ruling class, benefited immensely. Thus, the period between 1903 and 1950 was one in which the Emirate social and economic structures underwent profound changes in the interest of British capitalism.

THE IMPACT OF BRITISH COLONIAL DOMINATION ON THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STRUCTURES OF THE SOCIETY OF KANO, 1903-1950