Sources of Urban Concentration in the Nigerian Countryside

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Periodical article

Title:	Sources of Urban Concentration in the Nigerian Countryside
Author:	Otite, Onigu
Year:	1988
Periodical:	African Studies Review
Volume:	31
Issue:	3
Period:	December
Pages:	17-27
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Nigeria
Subjects:	urbanization urban history small towns Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) History and Exploration
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/524069
Abstract:	Most settlements in Nigeria were originally founded by deserting military settlers, refugees, ostracized offenders, breakaway descent groups, and adventurers. Several factors contributed to the subsequent expansion or decline of such settlements. The specific combination of the natural resources and of the human and occupational assets in each settlement has attracted government and private investments and determined the process of urban concentration. This paper deals with the case of Okitipupa town in Ondo State, which illustrates this process of urban growth. The study periodizes urban concentration in Okitipupa from the 15th century to 1900; from 1900 to 1966; and from 1966 to 1986. Okitipupa is described as a place endowed with abundant natural resources, whose development was catalyzed by external factors, resulting in a remarkable concentration of population and materials for accelerated growth. Bibliogr., note.