Colonial Agro Policies: The Bane of Economic Development in Eastern Region Nigeria (1939-2000)

Orji Boniface Ifeanyi
(Volume 2, Issue 1, July 2018)

Abstract

Evidence had shown that before the advent of colonialism in Nigeria, the industrial tradition, entrepreneurship and economic activities have been practiced by the people of the Eastern region. British interest on agricultural development in Nigeria during the colonial era was mainly for the purpose of acquiring raw materials, predominantly for British manufacturing industries. Therefore, they introduced Marketing Boards and some policies that retarded the development of economic and entrepreneurship activities in Nigeria which marked the beginning of Nigeria’s economic woos and dependency in the later years to come. This study historically examines the various colonial polices put in place by the colonial authority in the eastern region that didn’t encourage the growth and development of entrepreneurship development in the region even long after the exodus of colonialism. The study adopts a historical and multidisciplinary method in gathering and analyzing the data for this study. The study concludes that the British colonial economic policies were carefully put in place to stop the region’s (country)economic and entrepreneurship activities from developing which had made Nigeria to continue to be depending on foreign economy for all her needs many years after her independence.

Keywords: Colonialism, Policies, Economic Development, Entrepreneurship