PALM OIL AND PROTEST AFRICAN STUDIES SERIES 59 GENERAL EDITOR J. M. Lonsdale, Lecturer in History and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. ADVISORY EDITORS J. D. Y. Peel, Charles Booth Professor of Sociology, University of Liverpool. John Sender, Faculty of Economics and Fellow ofWolfson College, Cambridge. Published in collaboration with THE AFRICAN STUDIES CENTRE, CAMBRIDGE OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES 6 Labour in the South African Gold Mines, 1911-1969 Francis Wilson 14 Culture, Tradition and Society in the West African Novel Emmanuel Obiechina 18 Muslim Brotherhoods in Nineteenth-century Africa B. G. 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Joseph 57 Entrepreneurs and Parasites: The Struggle for Indigenous Capitalism in Zaire Janet MacGaffey 58 The African Poor: A History John Iliffe PALM OIL AND PROTEST An Economic History of the Ngwa Region, South-Eastern Nigeria, 1800-1980 SUSAN M. MARTIN The right of the University of Cambridge to print and sell all manner of books was granted by Henry VIII in 1534. The University has printed and published continuously since 1584. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS CAMBRIDGE NEW YORK NEW ROCHELLE MELBOURNE SYDNEY CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sao Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521343763 © Cambridge University Press 1988 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 1988 This digitally printed first paperback version 2006 A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data Martin, Susan M. Palm oil and protest: an economic history of the Ngwa region, south-eastern Nigeria, 1800-1980 / Susan M. Martin. p. cm. - (African studies series: 59). Bibliography. Includes index. 1. Palm-oil industry — Nigeria — history — 20th century. 2. Igbo (African people). I. Title. II. Series. HD9490.5.P343N66 1988 87-17373 CIP 338.4'76643-dcl9. ISBN-13 978-0-521-34376-3 hardback ISBN-10 0-521-34376-3 hardback ISBN-13 978-0-521-02557-7 paperback ISBN-10 0-521-02557-5 paperback Contents page List of maps and figure vii Acknowledgements viii Abbreviations x 1 Introduction 1 2 Ecology, society and economic change to 1891 17 3 The Ngwa and colonial rule, 1891-1914 36 4 The expansion of the oil palm industry, 1884-1914 45 5 The end of the boom 56 6 Cassava and Christianity 67 7 Authority, justice and property rights 78 8 Trade, credit and mobility 90 9 Production and protest: the Women Riot, 1929 106 10 Cash cropping and economic change, 1930-80 119 11 Conclusion 137 Statistical appendix 1 Palm oil prices, Liverpool, 1879-1930 144 2 Palm kernel prices, Liverpool, 1888-1930 145 3 Lagos prices, palm oil and palm kernels; with U.K. wholesale price and Nigerian import price indices, 1911-48 146 4 Barter terms of trade for Nigerian cocoa, groundnuts and palm produce,1911-48 147 5 Volumes of cocoa, groundnuts and palm produce exported from Nigeria, 1900-48 148 6 Volumes of palm oil and palm kernels exported from Eastern, Western and Central Nigeria, 1906-48 150 Contents 7 Palm oil exports from selected ports of Eastern Nigeria, 1903-48 152 8 Palm kernel exports from selected ports of Eastern Nigeria, 1903-^8 153 9 Total quantities of palm produce, copra, coconut oil, groundnuts and cocoa entering world trade, 1909-13 and 1926-30 154 10 Income terms of trade for Nigerian cocoa, groundnut and palm producers, 1911-48 155 11 Population densities, Southern Nigeria, 1911-63 156 12 Opobo prices, palm oil, 1914-29 157 13 Opobo prices, palm kernels, 1914-29 158 14 Aba and Umuahia prices, palm oil, 1916-29 159 15 Aba and Umuahia prices, palm kernels, 1916-29 160 Notes 161 Interviews conducted in the Ngwa region, 1980-1 191 Bibliography 193 Index 204 VI Maps 1 Ports, river and rail trade routes, south-eastern Nigeria page 3 2 Ngwa-Ukwu (Ofo-Asato) village group 4 3 Rainfall zones, south-eastern Nigeria 19 4 The Ngwa: northern Village Groups and main routes of pre- colonial migrations 20 5 The Ngwa and their neighbours, 1930s 21 6 Markets and market-days, north-western Ngwa region, 1933 30 7 Population densities and flows of yams and migrants, south- eastern Nigeria, to 1938 91 8 Communications in the Ngwa region, 1910-35 96 9 Regional variations in palm oil production methods, south-eastern Nigeria, 1938 101 10 The Women Riot, 1929 115 Figure 1 Farmer's Calendar, south-eastern Nigeria, 1930s 24 vn Acknowledgements Among the many people who have helped in the preparation of this study, I would especially like to thank my supervisor, Professor A. G. Hopkins; and, in Nigeria, Dr E. J. Usoro, Drs Paul and Rina Okonkwo, and Mr G. G. Onyia, without whose help my fieldwork would have been impossible. Financial support for my first two years of research was provided by the S.S.R.C, and academic support during my stay in Nigeria was provided by the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan. My colleagues and students at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London have, over the past six years, provided me with rather more food for thought than can be reflected in this study; I would like to thank them, and my teachers and friends at Birmingham, especially Gareth Austin, Sue Hargreaves and Marion Johnson. I have also received many stimulating ideas, and some material support, from Professor A. E. Afigbo, Dr and Mrs I. O. Ako- bundu, Mrs Ify Anagbo, Dr S. Babayemi, Professor S. O. Biobaku, Mr A. F. B. Bridges, Mr K. H. Dickenson, Miss Ada Eneli, Dr A. Epelle, Dr J. I. Guyer, Dr C. Ifeka, Dr G. I. Jones, Dr A. J. H. Latham, Martin Lockett, Dr C. W. Newbury, Colleen and Dutch Newfield, Dr D. Northrup, Dr and Mrs A. Nwachuku, Mrs A. Nwokoye, Mrs C. Purisch, Dr and Mrs T. U. Torti and Dr B. N. Ukegbu. I would like to thank the librarians and archivists of all the collections on which I have worked, but especially Mr E. O. Unuigbe of the Nigerian National Archives, Ibadan, and Mr J. E. N. Nwaguru, Mr B. O. Nwaigwe, Cecilia Nwokoye and Innocent Udeh of the Nigerian National Archives, Enugu. Many members of the staff of the World Bank Smallholder Oil Palm Project expressed an interest in my research, and gave me a great deal of help during my stay in the Ngwa region: I would especially like to thank Mr Prince Cajetan Egbuka, and Mr Mba, Mr Ndukwu, Mr Lawrence Any a Njoku, Mr Dyke Ogbonnaya and Mr I.