Colonialism, Migration, and the Emergence of Urban Spaces in Colonial Nigeria

• Authors: Samson Adesola Adesote , Babatunde Olabiyi Osiyale
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Arguably, urbanisation, which entails spatial, social, and temporal phenomena, is social process that describes the manner in which cities grow and societies become more complex. From this point of view, urbanisation is not a new phenomenon in Nigeria in particular, and Africa in general. The process of urbanisation in Nigeria began in the pre-colonial period and continued during colonial and post-colonial periods. However, the factors or conditions that facilitated urbanisation in each historical epoch of urbanisation in Nigeria have changed over time. This paper, therefore, interrogates the effect of colonialism on the emergence of urban spaces in Nigeria between 1900 and 1960. It argues that migration, which constituted one of the main drivers of the emergence of urban spaces in Nigeria during this period, was promoted by the introduction of the British colonial policy of administration. Of the three main trends of internal migration during colonial Nigeria, our focus in this paper is the third trend, which involves a drift from the rural areas and the lesser towns to the new urban centres of commerce and administration that developed in response to the establishment of formal colonial rule in the country. This trend of internal migration was witnessed in different parts of Nigeria such as Lagos, Ibadan, Ogbomoso, Osogbo, Benin City (all in Western Nigeria); Onitsha, Enugu, Calabar, Port Harcourt (all in Eastern Nigeria); Kano, Jos, Makurdi, Zaria, Sokoto and Kaduna (all in Northern Nigeria) between 1900 and 1960. It concludes that the physical spaces in these cities have had a fundamental significance for the host communities, migrants and for host/migrant relations. The methodological approach adopted in this paper is historical, thematic, and analytical, utilising materials from both primary and secondary sources.

Keywords

EN

Colonialism; Migration; Space; Nigeria; Urbanization

• Publisher: University of West Bohemia, Pilsen, Czech Republic
• Journal: West Bohemian Historical Review
• Year: 2023
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 61-82

Contributors

author

Samson Adesola Adesote

• Department of History and International Studies, Osun State University, Nigeria

author

Babatunde Olabiyi Osiyale

• Department of History & Diplomatic Studies, Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, Ogun State, Nigeria