Factors and Actors in the Kola Nut Trade in Adamawa Emirate in the Twentieth Century Hamza Tukur Ribadu, Phd Department of History, University of Maiduguri

Factors and Actors in the Kola Nut Trade in Adamawa Emirate in the Twentieth Century Hamza Tukur Ribadu, PhD Department of History, University of Maiduguri Abstract This paper examines the factors and actors in Kola nut trade in the twentieth century Adamawa Emirate. Kola nut was very important in exchange in the market system of the Emirate during that time. In fact, Kola trade traversed various regions of Nigeria with some acting as suppliers while others were consumers of the product. Adamawa, especially in the ninetieth century, was both a consumer and a supplier of a variant of a kola known as Ganjigaga. The factors that influenced/inhibited kola trade in Adamawa in the twentieth century included the imposition of colonial rule which introduced colonial currency and also partitioned the kola nut producing area of the emirate. Other factors are the rise in export earnings which encouraged the production of cash crops, improved transportation and affluence among the people. The actors in the trade are mainly wholesalers and retailers of the commodity and in the 20th century Adamawa there was the predominance of Wudirawa (people from Katagum) in the trade. Introduction The trade in kola nuts thrived well in the precolonial Adamawa emirate in which it was both an exporter and receiver of the commodity. Adamawa was the producer of the Kola variety known as Ganjigaga from its Bamenda region while it received other Kola varieties from Borno and Hausa land. However, with the imposition of colonial rule in the early decade of the 20th century, the nature of the trade changed drastically. This article, therefore, examines the factors that influenced Kola trade in the 20th century as well as those engaged in the trade. Imposition of Colonial Rule Heinrich Barth, who explored the Central Sudan on behalf of the British government, was the first European to visit Yola in 1852. His eyewitness accounts revealed that Adamawa has the potentials of being a big market. The next group of Europeans to come to Yola was a delegation of the Church Missionary Society, who came in 1880, but was refused entry into Yola(Abubakar,1984). In 1891, through the influence of William Wallace of the Royal Niger Company which later became the United Africa Company, was allowed to trade in Yola by the emir, Zubayru. The fate of the upper Benue region and the rest of Adamawa was, however, decided by the signing of the Anglo-German treaty by Wallace of RNC. The treaty partitioned Adamawa between the British and Germans, after he succeeded in uprooting French influence in Adamawa. The Charter given to the RNC was revoked at the end of 1899, and from the 1st January, 1900, Adamawa became part of the new protectorate of Northern Nigeria (NNAK). Lugard subsequently sent the proclamation to Zubayru informing him of this development. However, Zubayru remained hostile to the British and refused to acknowledge their superiority. In 1901, on the charges of slave-raiding, the British ordered an expedition against Adamawa in order to pacify it and de-throne Zubayru. Thus, an expeditionary force of the West Africa Frontier Force left Lokoja, on 26th August, 1901, under the command of Col. Morland. Yola was subsequently raided and occupied, and Zubayru forced to flee. The imposition of colonial rule on any subject people leads to the disruption of activities in all spheres of their lives. The British occupation of Adamawa was also not an exception. The hither to flourishing trade in the emirate came to a standstill, and subsequently began to decline coupled with general decline of the economy. In 1902, just nine months after the occupation of Yola, Barclays alleged that “Yola’s prosperity as a market centre in the older days, that is, before the imposition of colonial rule was due to the slave and ivory trade which the British stopped the former and the Germans, the latter”. In 1903, the British Resident in Yola, also complained that “no caravans came to Yola now as there is nothing to induce them to do so. The trade with the outside world is now represented by a few peddlers who come in singly or by twos and threes.” (Tukur, 1979, p.767). A plausible reason for the decline, according to Mahmud Tukur, is the fact that the British had already and swiftly started collecting tolls and custom duties on all categories of native products. Another plausible explanation was that traders have perfected ways of eluding British patrols and toll stations. A large caravan usually breakup on reaching the vicinity of tolls station and regroup later. The economic policy of the colonial authorities was the exploitation of the natural resources of the colony for the benefit of the mother country. The cardinal principles of the colonial economic relationship were to stimulate production and export of cash crops, to encourage consumption and expand the importation of European manufactured goods, and above all to ensure that as much as possible the trade of the colony, both imports and exports, was conducted with the metropolitan country. To facilitate these objectives, new currencies tied to the currencies of the metropolis were introduced which displaced barter system (Ajayi and Crowder, 1974). Thus, the colonial authorities re-directed the structure and pattern of trade to the effect that trade also served as the basis of unequal exchange, and therefore of exploitation. However, Mahmud Tukur noted that the decline in trade was not an uninterrupted one. Thus, some years after the imposition of colonial rule, Yola’s trade started to show some revival. The people were forced to resume trade both by sheer necessity and by a probable realization that the British were not likely to go away as quickly as the people had expected and that in the meantime, the economic life of the people had to be carried on in spite of the intruders’ harassments and imposition. It was in this regard that the Royal Niger Company recorded increase in trade between 1913 and 1914. Coupled with the imposition of colonial rule was the introduction of currency in exchange. Hitherto, that is, by 1900, there was no generally accepted currency. Most exchanges were conducted on barter system. The German Mark was introduced into Yola (Adamawa) Province by indigenous traders who were forced to accept it by the Germans in that portion of Adamawa occupied by them (Tukur, 1979). Gowers suggested the introduction of small coins i.e. pennies, half pennies and 1/10th of a penny, made in copper into the Adamawa market. This would hasten the establishment of the British currency. In 1907, there was a breakthrough when the British currency started to be accepted as a general currency and not just means of paying taxes as before(Tukur, 1979). The British coins were subsequently accepted as medium of exchange thus facilitating the growth of trade. The early part of colonial rule and up to the 1940s witnessed an increase in the volume of Kola coming from the Bamenda region. The Divisional Officer of Hun Division noted that a large number of Kola traders were passing through the Division from Bamenda on their way to Yola. They travelled in organized bands of twenty to a hundred (NNAK). It was perhaps because of the size of the trade and the authority’s attempt to generate revenue, that the Secretary of the Northern Provinces in 1946, proposed to introduce license for the sale of kola nuts (NNAK). The Ordinance proposed was targeted at itinerant hawkers and petty traders. Itinerant hawking in the Ordinance include hawking and peddling of Kola in any street or open space or travelling from market to market for the purpose of hawking. While petty trading means the selling or displaying for sale on any stall or table in any street or open space, but shall not include selling or displaying for sale in any shop or market. Among the articles carried by the Ordinance were: a) No person shall engage or be employed in itinerant hawking or petty trading in Kola nuts except under the authority of, and in accordance with the provision of a license issued by the Native Authority; b) A license shall not be granted to an applicant or class of applicants whom the Native Authority or any person authorized by it consider to be in any way unsuited to hold such license; c) The Native Authority, whenever it deems expedient may limit the number of licenses issued under these rules; d) Any person who contravenes or fails to comply with any of the provisions of these rules shall be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds, or to imprisonment not exceeding six months or to both such fine and imprisonment and to have his license, if any forfeited. However, this proposal was opposed by the Divisional Officers in the Adamawa Province on the grounds that it would stifle trade and due to the nature of the porousness of the border, it will be difficult to track and impose these provisions on the traders. The matter was subsequently shelved. In the home front, imposition of colonial rule ensued peace, thus, encouraging traders to undertake long journeys without the fear of being waylaid or robbed. Also, the introduction of currency meant that if a trader wants to buy kola in any part of the emirate, he does not have to have items for barter as before. As money is portable and secure, the buyer will just go with his money to the market and buy whatever quantity of kola he wants. This no doubt increased the volume of the Kola trade. The imposition of colonial rule was however, not without its problems, for it created a lot of difficulties which even independent Nigeria could not resolve.

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