Compiled and Improved by Dr Ugo Onumonu

Department of History & International Studies, Adeleke University, Ede,

Osun State

Phone Number: 08067429348

NIGERIAN PEOPLES AND CULTURE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

What is History?

History is life. Indeed, history could be regarded as life in terms of evaluating its

importance in the human society. In order words, it could be argued that history is

as important as life itself. Imagine a world without any account of history or

records of the past. Such scenario would have made the world an empty place full

of vacuums and emptiness. The records of events and memory of humans in

perspectives are no doubt the building blocks that help in making human society

habitable with interesting and exciting realities. In view of the value of history in

the human society, one could say that history is synonymous to learning or source

of knowledge. Most of the sources of knowledge come through historical

knowledge or accounts. Knowledge is regarded as light because it illuminates.

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Imagine a society living in literal and figurative darkness. The study of history or

history itself captures the activities of man in his physical environment and other

metaphysical accounts recorded which give man the idea about his past and how to

relate in the physical world.

The word ‘history’ emanated from the Greek word ‘historie’. ‘Historie’ in Greek

language means ‘inquiry’, ‘learning by inquiry’ or ‘the outcome or result of

inquiry. It is on record that Herodutus, a Greek, who as the ‘Father of History’

because he was the first person to write an organized account of the past event or

past occurrences, wrote on the the Graeco-Persian war. He used interview

method to record the responses of people from both sides of the war (the

Greeks and the Persians, as well as neutral men and women).

History which is the subject matter of historiography has not yet got any

universally accepted definition. Different scholars have defined it in various ways.

Arthur Marwick for instance, defined it on three levels. Firstly, that history

connotes ‘the entire human past as it actually happened’ Secondly. And more

usefully, history connotes man’s attempts to describe and interpret the past and

thirdly, that history is a systematic study of the past. While Professor G.

Barraclough defines history as ‘the attempt to discover on the basis of fragmentary

evidence the significant thing about the past’ he nevertheless cautions that ‘the

history we read, though based on facts, is strictly speaking, not factual at all, but a
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series of accepted judgments. On his part, E.H. Carr defined history as ‘a

continuous process of interaction between the present and the past’. In fact, in his

view, interpretation is the life-blood of history.

Professor Obaro Ikime is of the view that many answers would be given when we

ask the question-what is history? Really, many practicing historians will respond

differently when seeking to answer such a question, because every historian will

definitely have his or her particular emphasis while defining what history is. Ikime,

while answering the question quoted Robert V. Daniels, who defined history as the

‘memory of human group experience’ Ikime stresses further that if such a memory

of human group experience is forgotten or ignored, we, as people will cease in that

measure to be human. He maintains that without history, we have no knowledge

of who we are or how we can have come to be, like victims of collective amnesia

groping in the dark for identity. Ikime believes that it is the event recorded in

history that that generated all the emotions, the values, the ideals that make life

meaningful, that have given men something to live for struggle over and die for.

He concludes that what Rober V. Daniels is saying is that without history, without

the events that have happened in the past, there would be no countries, no nations,

no religions, no classes and humanity would have no meaning.

In view of the foregoing, it therefore, means that history is what actually fills up

our consciousness in our earthly sojourn. We gain consciousness of our existence

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and human society because events are recorded. Learning and teaching are passed

across to generation yet unborn with the aid of recorded events. History sustains

learning through events and written documents. Discovery of great ideas and

scientific breakthrough are also achieved through history. Scholars who make

marks in their societies and times carry out such achievements through re-search. It

is called re-search because it has been worked upon before. Re-visiting past works

or re-searches as it were is part of historical studies. It therefore appears that the

whole process of teaching and learning is part of historical study.

Other historians define history from other angles. For instance, Adeyinka in 1986,

referred to as:

… the study of life in society in the past, in all its aspects,

in relation to present developments and future hopes. It is
a story of man in time, an inquiry into the past, based on
evidence. Indeed, evidence is the raw material of history
teaching and learning.
Speaking in the same vein, Elton defined history as ‘the study of human sayings,

thought, deeds and sufferings which occurred in the past and have left present

deposit’ Professor Akinjogbin sees history as an organized critical study of the past

activities of human beings as had produced significant effects on subsequent

course of events or on other human beings in the course of events. He concluded

that the soul of the nation is its history, which is knowledge, and that it can grow, it

can change and it can die if not nurtured.

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Considering the above definition, it is apt to assert that the earlier description of

history as being ‘life’ is the high point of its essence to human beings. One may

begin to wonder why history is today seen as a lesser discipline Nigeria. It is a

reality that History as a subject was suspended or scrapped from our primary and

junior secondary school curriculum for over 50 years ago. It was just restored just

last year through the efforts of Historical Society of Nigeria headed then by

Professor C.B.N. Ogbogbo of Department of History, University of Ibadan.

History is the candle stick and light of any nation as no nation can survive or have

any head way without self-discovering through a deep inquiry or investigation of

the past. It is the knowledge of the past that gives further direction to a better

future. A wise person learns better by avoiding the mistakes of other people. A

Nigeria adage says he who does not know where the rain starts beating him will

not eventually know where it stops beating him.

In the opinion of Thurstan Shaw, the word ‘history’ is commonly used in two

different senses. According to him:

First, it is used loosely in everyday speech meaning

simply the story of the past; but secondly, and more

precisely, it is used to mean the story of the past derived

from written records or from reliable oral traditions.

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 Students of history usually incline towards the second of

these two usages.

History is therefore an attempt to rethink the past. It inquiries into the past, in

terms of what happened, when it happened and how it happened. It equally

examines the developments and changes that have occurred in different human

societies in the past and how such changes effect, influence and determine the

present conditions of life in the society. Considering the above, Smith, in 1978

stressed that history deals with the explanations of how and why certain events and

situations have come about of both change and stability. Professor Oloruntimilehin

maintains that history is the study of society in time perspective. He stressed

further that the point has also been made that society is history. The term ‘history’

could therefore be used to describe the study of the past as a systematic discipline.

Although history is the study of the past, however, J.H. Plumb maintains that the

past which the historian studies is not a dead past, rather, it is past that is constantly

impinging on the present. P.J. Lee too is of the opinion that we, as people, cannot

escape from the past as the past is built into the concept we employ to cope with

the everyday physical and social world. J.P. Lee and P.I Rogers had in two

separate chapters in a book titled Learning History maintained that ‘whether we

are consciously aware of it or not, our present is, in varying degrees, a function of

our understanding of the past’.

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The second aspect of the question focuses attention on what history concerns itself

with. History concerns itself with the explanation of how and why certain events

and situations have come about in the past. Highlighting what history is all about;

Robert Smith has this to say.

The pursuit of truth, in this case specifically the pursuit

of truth about the past of human beings and their

institutions, which requires both a setting aside so far as

possible of all prejudices and the exercise of empathy;

the sensitive and imaginative effort to understand

societies and events in their own terms.

Considering what history concerns itself with, Ikime opines thus:

There is thus no present without the past. History is

supremely concerned with a study of the past. History,

therefore, in the sense in which the past and present have

been linked above, holds the key to our understanding of

the present. If only for that reason, we cannot but teach

history, our history as well as the history of other lands,

to our people. History may not prepare the individual for

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 a specific profession. It is, nevertheless, a human

necessity.

International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences discloses that the historian is

massively engaged in finding out what happened and how it happened. It

emphasizes further that for the historian to do these things, he must formulate

rough hypotheses, often very rough, about what happened and how it happened,

and then examined the available records to verify or correct his hypotheses. E.H

Carr sees history as a dialogue between the present and the past, while Arthur

Marwick stresses that each age must reinterpret its own past, and that history

should be a dialogue between the historian and the reader.

Professor Tekena Tamuno while discussing what history concerns itself with,

declares thus’… it is sufficient to emphasize at once that the true goals of history

are understanding and interpreting the past’. In like manner Professor Adeyinka

believes that ‘History is, or should be, an attempt to rethink the past’. He concludes

that history is more than a mere accumulation of historical facts that history deals

with facts but these are meaningless without interpretation or judgments. In his

own contribution on what history concerns itself with, Professor Olatunji

Oluruntimehin stresses that ‘the task of the historian is to study and interpret the

changes embodied in society and explain reasons for them, and that the task of the

historian is neither easy nor exclusive’

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Therefore, in his effort to understand the past, the historian has to establish the

events of the past, that is, what actually happened, and explain how and why the

event happened. He is also expected to assess or interpret such event, that is, how

important such events are. History concerns itself with the study of man in society,

lays emphasis on the reconstruction of the past actions, achievements and failures

of man, probes into the past of man’s economic activities, looks into the

development of man’s physical and mental powers. History also deduces its facts

from causes within and without and equally explains the consequences. It explains

the actions of man as a continuous process.

JUSTIFICATION FOR STUDY OF HISTORY

Having looked at the meaning or definition of history from different perspectives,

it is now imperative to also look at some justification for the study of History. The

justifications for the studying of history are so many. For the sake of this course,

we shall look at a number of them to help enrich your understanding coupled with

the definition you have been given.

In the first place, history is necessary because it provides societies with knowledge

about themselves. It is only through knowledge of its history that a society can

have knowledge of itself. A society or a nation without recollection or self-

knowledge, according to Arthur Marwick, a distinguished historian, is a society

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adrift. A society has to know itself and understand its relationship with the past

and with other societies and cultures. History meets this need. It makes people

aware of the character of their time. This it does by providing them with

information about their past which they can study as well as compare and contrast

it with other peoples’ experiences. The major result of this comparison and contrast

is that it familiarizes us with variation in social forms i.e. it educates us on the

varieties of life, and so cures us of a fear of change. However, history does not

only provide societies or nations with knowledge about themselves, it also meets

the need of the individual man. Most individuals have an inborn curiosity and

sense of wonder about the past. History satisfies the curiosity of providing the

nations with information about the past.

Apart from providing knowledge, history also helps us to understand the present.

To ignore history is to refuse to understand the present. A study of history equips

us with the knowledge of the past, which we can use to weigh and evaluates the

present. For instance, the present political scene in Nigeria can only be understood

if one is familiar with our past. Third Republic, the apathy to military government,

the nervousness of the military government about any disruption of their transition

to civil rule programme, and the general political atmosphere in Nigeria can only

make sense to somebody who is familiar with both the remote and the immediate

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historical developments in the country. In this sense, history is useful in meeting

new situations and in solving the problems of the present more intelligently.

Lastly, as a mediating discipline, history is also very useful and important. This is

because everything has a history. You have the history of medicine, of banking, of

legal practice, of teaching of religion, of commerce etc. History, as a discipline

thus covers a wide range of issues. A nurse would definitely find knowledge of the

history of nursing in her locality very useful, while military personnel could also

find the history for different disciplines and this makes it fascinating.

From all we have said about the necessity of history, one thing comes out clearly

as being the fundamental justification for the study of history, and that is the fact

that man must know his past to be better equipped to handle the present.

WHAT IS CULTURE

Culture is a very important aspect of human life. The distinguishing characteristics

of humans or what gives them coloration in the pattern of life is simply, culture.

Human beings are naturally same in view of their origin or source which is

normally attributed to God. There is no particular set or group of people with

special origin or special material for their formation. In line with the biblical

knowledge, all humans are created in the image of God out of the dust of the earth.

Therefore, the distinguishing factor that has made human beings to appear different

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in different human society and across the globe is culture. This reality underscores

the importance of culture in human history and existence.

Moreover, culture is an encompassing natural feature that captures the sum total of

human social behavior and norms in human society which includes; knowledge,

belief system, law, arts, customs, potentials and capabilities of individuals or group

of people in a given locality.

In view of the above, you can see that what makes human society and animal

society is culture. The culture of human beings serves as their guide in their

everyday life. Apart from sharpening the behavour of human beings, culture helps

in sustaining the acceptable conducts of humans which are seen as the norms.

Those who go contrary to such traditions are seen as deviants. For example,

generally across the globe, it is not a norm to have sex openly in public places for

whatsoever reason. Due to dynamism of human culture and behavior influenced by

western ‘popular culture or acclaimed rights of humans’, such behavior like

lesbianism and gay tendency are gaining ground but are not completely embraced

or acceptable even in those so called civilized countries. However, that does not

mean that such weird social behaviours have not been part of human behavior.

Indecent human behaviours such as the ones described above had started from the

Bible days. In Sodom and Gomorrah, having sex with same sex was seen as an

acceptable behavior. Both Bible and Quran all have records of prostitution. We all
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have generally culture peculiar to us as humans. For example, it is seen as evil to

kill fellow human wherever in the world. In the animal world or society, that does

not apply as they experience what is known as the survival of the fittest.

Human acquire culture through the learning processes of enculturation and

socialization, which is shown by the diversity of cultures across societies. A

cultural norm codifies acceptable conduct in society; it serves as a guideline for

behavior, dress, language, and demeanor in a situation, which serves as a template

for expectations in a social group. Accepting only a monoculture in a social group

can bear risk, just as a single species can wither in the face of environmental

change, for lack of functional responses to the change. Those in military cultures,

valor is counted a typical behavior for an individual and duty, honour, and loyalty

to the social group are counted as virtues or functional responses in the continuum

of conflict. In the practice of religion, analogous attributes can be identified in a

social group.

GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENT

Geography deals with the study of the world, especially in matters relating to

relief, drainage, temperature, land formation and many others. The knowledge of

geography will no doubt assist the historian to understand the relationship between

man and his physical environment and how it has affected man’s historical

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development. Such knowledge will assist the historian to understand the influence

of spatial and physical factors on human life. Through geography, the historian

leans about location, geographical features and climatic changes of an area.

Through the study of geography, historians are able to know that the desiccation of

the Sahara gave rise for the migration of people from the north to the south, which

is an important historical development. Also, historians are able to know that the

geographical location of Ethiopia (Abyssinia) aided her survival during the age of

partition of Africa. In the same vein, the geographical features of the country

encouraged separatist tendencies and they were used to defeat the Italians at the

battle of Adowa in 1896. Geography therefore gives clarity of understanding to

different historical occurrences, hence the close affinity between the two subjects.

In another vein, the environment could be described as the surrounding in which

man lives. History cannot be separated from the surrounding one finds him or

herself. In actual sense, the features of the surrounding are the elements that

influence events that constitute history. Different people around the world find

themselves in different surrounding by circumstance of birth of migration. Over

the years, the features of each given society find a way of shaping the conduct and

character of the people in certain way which inform their action and inaction.

These actions are invariably what determine the kind of history that is recorded in

every society.

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Sources of Knowledge about Pre-colonial Nigeria

In order to have an accurate account of the past, the historian needs to consult

various sources from which he can obtain facts and information regarding the past.

Professor E.J Alagoa opines that historians are concerned with gaining knowledge

of events and actions that occurred in the past. However, since such events and

actions were no longer available for direct study, hence historians have to reply on

information on any evidence from the past, concerning the past events or persons.

According to him ; A historical source, or document is any material, in whatever

shape, form or size, from the study, analysis or interpretation of which, knowledge

of the past actions or events may be gained’.

Oral Sources

Oral sources consist of oral tradition, oral evidence, oral literature which include

proverbs and folktales or folklores. Oral tradition is a worthwhile source of history

of most parts of Africa. Oral traditions are the folk lores, stories, legends, myths,

customs that are handed down from one generation to another by words of mouth.

In other words, oral traditions represent what the people remember of their past.

Oral tradition as are very valuable in reconstructing the past. They provide many

materials in writing history, especially in the absence of any written documents.

Some of the stories and myth throw much light on the history of any particular

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group, e.g the myths concerning the origin of the Yoruba people. However, there

are limitations to the use of oral traditions in history. For instance, oral traditions

may not give answers to many questions-such as who led a particular migration?

When did the migration take place?

As mentioned above, it must be acknowledged that there are limitations in the use

of oral traditions as a historical source for any serious study. One needs to be

extremely careful not to accept oral traditions on their face value, as there may be

inaccuracies in the account given by the narrator. Therefore, in order to establish

the veracity or otherwise of the oral sources, histories have supplemented oral

sources or oral traditions with other sources to produce an accurate of what

happened in the past. Such events of the past have been committed to human

memory and passed on from one generation to another.

As indicated in the earlier part of our discussion, the history of a given people

could also be deduced from their songs, proverbs, poems, folklores or folktales and

even from their language. All the sources mentioned above should be carefully

analyzed by the historian in his effort to reconstruct the history of the people

concerned.

Archival Material equally constitutes an important primary source. Documents

relating to the history of a given place could be examined in National Archives,

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located at Ibadan, Lagos, Enugu, Kaduna and in other places. Also, historical

information could be collected in other places like the Nigerian Institute of Social

and Economic Research (NISER) at Ibadan. Also historical materials could be

collected in the British Public Records Office, London and in other British

depositories.

Let us now examine areas where written sources could be found before the colonial

period. Egypt has an ancient civilization. In the Nile valley, hieroglyphics writing,

which was one of the most ancient writing systems in the world, was useful for the

reconstruction of the Egyptian history. This type of writing hieroglyphics was

inserted on statues and on the tombs of the Egyptian pharaohs and this has helped

a great deal in throwing much light on the history of ancient Egypt.

Arabic writing was also introduced into the northern part of Africa. It has been

suggested that the spread of Islam and the settlement of the Arab in the north

Africa dated to the 7th century A.D. Through the Arabs, it was possible to know a

great deal of the historical development of the areas of North Africa. As Ade Ajayi

and Alagoa noted:

But in sub-Saharan Africa, the earliest written sources are

usually those of the Arab geographers, travellers, traders,
scholars and holy men who operated from North Africa
base to the West African Sudan and from the Indian
Ocean to the Swahilli coast of East Africa.

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The settlement of the Arabs and the subsequent introduction of Islam into the East

African coast also facilitated the growth of Arabic writing in the part of Africa.

Therefore, a great deal of the historical records of East African coast is mainly of

Arab origin.

The Portuguese presence in the continent of Africa right from the 15 th century

equally provided some written records particularly in the coastal areas of western,

southern and eastern parts of Africa whereby they operated. The Portuguese were

very active in Cape Verde islands, Island of Sao Tome and Principe as well as in

Mozambique and Angola. In these areas there were written records, though not

much, left behind by Portuguese.

There are some few indigenous written sources in other parts of Africa which had

not been thoroughly examined and which could throw more light on the historical

development of Africa when such writings are deciphered. For instance, A.E.

Afigbo has noted the existence of a form of writing called Nsibidi in some part of

the southern-eastern Nigeria particularly in the valley of the Cross River of

Nigeria. In like manner, the Meroitic Script, which is another form of writing used

in Meroe, is yet to be thoroughly deciphered. In Liberia too, there was the Vat

Script which if investigated could throw much light especially on the historical

development of Liberia and its environments. There is the necessity therefore to

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examine these various indigenous forms of writing thoroughly because it will be

suicidal to dismiss such sources of documentation with a wave of the hand.

Pre-colonial: Peoples, Ethnicity and Culture

Though Westerners often tend to view it as one ‘country’ and lump its peoples

together as Africans, Africa is a huge continent (second only to Asia). These

generalizations oversimplify African civilizations and the continent’s diversity.

African environments are incredibly diverse, from dry deserts to dense rain forests.

Some are conducive to trade; others are surrounded by rich mineral resources,

while others possess rich soil suitable for farming. Africa’s peoples and

civilizations have adapted to these environments differently.

Though people have lived in Africa quite some time, the use of iron tools marks

the significant moment of African civilization. Iron tools enhanced weaponry,

allowed groups to clear and managed dense forests, plow field for farming, and

basically better everyday lives. Ultimately, iron tools allowed Africans to flourish

in every environment, and thus they could live in larger communities which led to

the formation of states and kingdoms. With state formation came the formation of

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modern civilizations with common languages, belief and value systems, arts,

religion, lifestyle and culture.

State Formation: Empires, Kingdoms, Stateless Societies and Chiefdoms

African people lived in an organized society before their encounter with the

Europeans in the pre-colonial era. Africa is home to a multiplicity of ethnic groups

and diverse nationalities. It also has some of the oldest empress and in the world.

Kemet was not the only classical kingdom of Africa. No continent has ever had as

many viable kingdoms and empires for as long a time as the continent of Africa.

The last reigning monarch of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, lost power in 1974 but even

his demise did not end the role of traditional royalty on the continent. Traditional

kings and queens abound all over the continent even at this present day. It is

possible to get some idea of the past by encountering the present. What we see in

many traditional kingdoms within the modern nation-state are the customs and

practices that were ancient before foreign elements corrupted African traditions or

values. Thus, when one considers the ancient kingdoms of Nubia, Carthage,

Ghana, Mali, Songhay, and others one confronts the grandeur of African history.

Nubia: the corridor of classical culture

Nubia is the name given to a region of Africa that included two important

historical kingdoms: Kush and Meroe, was located between the Fourth Cataract

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(traditional Third) and the Sixth Cataract (traditional First).Kush rose around the

fourth millennium BCE. It became a leading trading kingdom and reached its

height between 1700 and 600 BCE.

Axum: one of the four great empires

The Axumite Empire had been forming for a long time before its ultimate rise to

power around 220 CE. By the time it conquered Meroe, the Empire of Axum was

already one of the greatest kingdoms of the world. The Iranian prophet Mani, who

lived from 216 to 276 CE and was the founder of Manicheism, a belief that all

flesh was evil, wrote in a book Chapter called Chapters that there were four great

empires in the world: Axum, Rome, Persia, and China. The last one on this

segment is Carthage Empire. I charge you to research this empire on your own.

The Sudanic Empire: historians and their narratives

Ghana Empire:

Around 300 BCE a group of people, probably Soninke, formed themselves into a

formidable trading kingdom near the upper waters of the majestic Niger River.

This state soon became an empire that impacted on all of its neigbbours, was

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written about by travelers, and influenced the course of West African history. Its

name became known as Ghana, a name that was really the title of paramount king.

Just as the ancient Egyptians called their paramount king Pharaoh, and the Asante

called their paramount king Asantehene, the Soninke state called its king Ghana,

meaning war king. Succeeding kings were known by their own names preceded by

the title ‘Ghana’. The country was soon called by the title given to the king. Under

this sub section, we have Mali Empire also.

As seen above we have been able briefly discuss empire and kingdom in the pre-

colonial Africa. It is important to note that the two most powerful settings of the

pre-colonial Africa empires and kingdom. Both of them shared similar feature

which is central leadership led by the king.

Stateless Society and Chiefdom

It is important to state that before the formation of modern states in Africa in the

19th century, African people lived in different regions with peculiar settings. In

other words, the current modern or nature of states and countries existing in Africa

were products of western world that brought different African societies together in

its current form as it were. Having identified empire and kingdom as part of the

pre-colonial African society, it is important to shed some light on stateless society

and chiefdom society respectively.

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Chiefdom is that traditional African societies whereby the king presides over the

members of the society with the help of various chiefs who render assistance to

him in the daily running of the administration of the society. The administration or

government is based on a form known as hierarchical political organization. Of

course this particular style of leadership was more effective and operational in the

pre-colonial era. Therefore, it was the original pattern invented by Africans as part

of their heritage which they explored long before their encounter with the colonial

masters. The head of the government is no doubt the king. The members of ruling

families enjoyed the special privilege of producing kings after a given period of

time. Most times in this case, a king would be selected in any event of the death of

a serving king. The chosen families are by custom mandated to produce kings

periodically without any controversy as the rest communities know and understand

what the traditions stands in this regard. In other words, it could be said that the

elites form a political-ideological relative to the general group. There are African

people who have distinguished themselves with chiefdom in the pre-colonial era.

Such people have not completely lost this heritage in the modern era of nation-

states. Good examples of such people are Igbo of Nigeria, Mende of Sierra Leone,

Mbundu of Angola, Zerma of Niger and a host of others.

In another vein, when we talk about stateless societies, we are simply referring to

those societies without a formal setting like what we have in the modern nation-

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states around the world. These societies were majorly found in the pre-colonial

African societies. In another hand, apart from point established above, stateless

societies in the pre-colonial Africa were societies without a central leadership. This

kind of leadership structure was practiced in pre-colonial Yorubaland where the

Oba held sway.

It could be said that a stateless society is the type of society where the leadership

structure or governance is not controlled by a state. A state in this regard is

referring to the Western modern (Europe and America) recommended structure of

governance adopting in Africa and other parts of the world. Africa as a continent

adopted this model since the 19th century. In stateless societies, there is little

concentration of authority, most positions of authority that do exist are very limited

in power and are generally not permanently held positions, and social bodies that

resolve disputes through predefined rules tend to be small.

One of the very remarkable features of stateless states is that they are not regarded

as sovereign states or nations.

Pre-colonial Economy: Markets, Trade and Exchange (Trans-Saharan Trade)

The pre-colonial African economy was sustained by the hard work of Africans.

Unlike the colonial and the post-colonial economy, the African people depended

on their environment for their survival through their ingenuity. Across different

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parts of Africa, Africans utilized the resources found on their lands for as the main

stream of their economy. The mainstay of their economy could be regarded as

agriculture. Farming was regarded as the major occupation of the people as there

were no white collar jobs like in the colonial and post-colonial eras. Through inter-

group relations, different communities interacted with one another as they sold

their farm produce. Market days were well organized and people from all walks of

life participated in market activities which was indeed one of the major economic

activities of the pre-colonial era. In the West African sub-region for example,

traders from migrated their territorial boundaries to interact with their fellow

traders in the neighboring communities or countries as it were.

Moreover, trading was very effective in the pre-colonial Africa. Various trade

routes were explored or used by traders who engaged one another in the adventure.

Different articles of trade were sold such as animals, grains, animal skins and a

host of other items considered as essential items. In the pre-colonial Africa, it

should be noted that trade by barter was also utilized in trading activities. Traders

travelled for days and in some cases months to in their trading transaction as there

were no effective means of transportation like in the colonial and post-colonial era.

REFERENCES

1.

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