The Impact of Colonial Economy on the Poverty Index in Northern Nigeria, 1927-1960

Volume: 2 , Issue: 1 , October 2023

The Impact of Colonial Economy on the Poverty Index in Northern Nigeria, 1927-1960

Abstract

This study analyses the impact of the Colonial Economy on the poverty index in northern Nigeria during the period 1927-1960. The paper examines the history of change in the economies and societies of the region. It focuses on the socio-economic impact of the various British colonial economic policies and how they undermined the process of growth and consequent development in the local economy. This was achieved by turning industrial and agricultural production to fend for the capitalist need for raw materials and markets for European products. The work argues that this particular development in the history of the states and societies in the Northern Region was responsible for the state of socio-economic challenges that confronted the area. The socio-economic backwardness of Northern Nigeria is believed to be the springboard of the nature of the exploitative colonial policies adopted by the imperialist that have contributed to the poverty state of this region. The paper’s position shows that the domination of the local economy by the imperialists was the colonial tools of exploitation. The colonial economic policies adopted by the British as well as the activities of the colonial trading companies weakened the local industries and redirected agricultural food production to cash crops. The introduction of taxation and forced labour led to the impoverishment of the people of Northern Nigeria. This study adopts secondary sources and has uncovered a good number of archival records aimed at understanding the key reasons behind the policies of the British colonialists in Northern Nigeria.