Physical and Administrative Coercion under the British: The Case of Road and Railway Construction in Southern Nigeria, 1904-1918

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Periodical article

Title:	Physical and Administrative Coercion under the British: The Case of Road and Railway Construction in Southern Nigeria, 1904-1918
Author:	Oshin, Olasiji
Year:	1989
Periodical:	Africana Marburgensia
Volume:	22
Issue:	2
Pages:	3-23
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Nigeria United Kingdom
Subjects:	colonialism forced labour History and Exploration Development and Technology Economics and Trade
Abstract:	The incidence of physical and administrative coercion in goading indigenous peoples of Africa into building the infrastructure of the colonial economy, has received considerable attention from historians. The incidence of forced labour in Southern Nigeria, however, has suffered relative neglect. This paper examines the phenomenon of physical and administrative coercion in Southern Nigeria, with particular reference to forced labour on roads in Southwestern Nigeria (especially Egba country) and on the Eastern Railway into the interior of Igboland between 1904 and 1918. The author calls into question the claim that the British adopted a labour policy in Southern Nigeria that was substantially different from that in Northern Nigeria. Perhaps the only difference was that, whereas the existence of a hegemonic class in Northern Nigeria ensured a regular supply of forced labour, the absence of such a class in Southern Nigeria, especially amongst the Igbo of Southeastern Nigeria, resulted in physical resistance and a more vigorous enforcement of forced labour in Southern Nigeria. Notes, ref.