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  • Raw Material Production for Export in Northern Nigeria: The Experience of the People in the Livestock and Allied Industries under British Rule c. 1900–1960
  • Abubakar Babajo Sani (bio)

Introduction

This research covers mainly Hausaland and Borno as the major producers of livestock in Northern Nigeria. Much of the research conducted in the livestock and related industries also happens to be centered in these areas. Geo-politically, much of the areas covered by the Hausa and Borno in the pre-colonial era, were either incorporated in the Sultanate of Borno or the Sokoto Caliphate, respectively. The areas they covered stretched from the banks of the rivers Niger and Benue, extending northwards to the Lake Chad basin in the northeast, as well as much of the present states of Zinder and Maradi in the Niger Republic. The vegetation of the areas is largely savannah and the region has two main seasons, roughly dividing the years into two. The first half is the rainy season, while the second half is hot, with a few months that are invaded by cold winds. The principal resources in Northern Nigeria include minerals like tin and agricultural products like grains, cotton, groundnuts, Shea butter, Bennie seed, indigo and tobacco. While there are plenty of livestock like cattle, sheep and goats which make the region a very good producing center of livestock and hides and skins. The livestock related products include a tanning industry and leather manufactures, among others. The primary objective here is to review the experiences of the people in the livestock and related industries under colonial rule. To do that meaningfully, one must understand the status of these industries in the pre-colonial era.

Livestock in the Pre-colonial Economy of Northern Nigeria

Pastoralism has always been crucial to livestock production in many traditional societies.1 In order to determine the role livestock played in [End Page 103] the traditional economy of producers in Northern Nigeria, the relationship between the pastoralists, who are predominantly Fulani (or Fulbe), and the sedentary population must be considered. Generally, pastoral activities include the rearing of cattle, goats, sheep, and camels. Pastoralism has a significant role in the economy of Northern Nigeria, especially in breeding livestock. The organisation of pastoral living is based on patrilineal units, which form the main base of the family established within the pastoral society. Several such families come together to form a whole unit referred to as Ruga in the Fulbe language.2 Within this unit (Ruga), the younger members looked after the herds, taking them for grazing and generally superintending them at night, while the adults dealt with the more lofty issues of health and transhumance. Despite the transhumance culture of the producers of livestock in Northern Nigeria, a situation that takes away many herds out of some territories especially in the dry season to look for pasture, pastoralism was well integrated into the economies of livestock producers and society in general. The extent of this integration is well illustrated in the system of exchange that developed between the pastoralists and the sedentary agrarian and artisan populace. Moreover, livestock have long been serving as source of food in form of meat, milk, butter, hides and skins. It also provided raw materials for the manufacture of various items in form of hides and skins, bones, horns, hoofs etc. Even their waste matter served as manure in cultivating farm lands.3

Another significant use of livestock in the pre-colonial economy of Northern Nigeria was as a trade commodity. The German explorer Heinrich Barth divulged that trade in cattle had been a well integrated aspect of the market business in the Hausa states for centuries.4 Merchants from Hausaland and Borno (in Northern Nigeria) traveled to distant areas to purchase cattle and export them to southern destinations like Ilorin, Nupeland, Ibadan etc. In 1857, Samuel Ajayi Crowther gave an account of the existence of such trade from Hausaland to Yoruba country through Nupe territory.5 Apart from the livestock reared by the pastoralists, supplies came from the Lake Chad region and from as far as [End Page 104] the Sudan. There was also supply from the desert side to Northern Nigerian areas that are contiguous...

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