Prohibition and Paternalism: The State and the Clandestine Liquor Traffic in Northern Nigeria, c.1898-1918

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Periodical article

Title:	Prohibition and Paternalism: The State and the Clandestine Liquor Traffic in Northern Nigeria, c.1898-1918
Author:	Olukoju, Ayodeji
Year:	1991
Periodical:	International Journal of African Historical Studies
Volume:	24
Issue:	2
Pages:	349-368
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Nigeria Northern Nigeria Great Britain
Subjects:	colonialism alcohol policy illicit trade History and Exploration Economics and Trade
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/219794
Abstract:	This paper deals with prohibition and clandestine liquor traffic in Northern Nigeria during the period 1898-1918. Northern Nigeria fell within the prohibition zone as delimited in Brussels in 1890. Liquor smuggling became an issue of contention between the colonial administrations in Lagos and Northern Nigeria in c. 1898, following the northward extension of the Lagos Railways. The paper discusses clandestine liquor trade in the area up to the 1890s, the railway and liquor smuggling, other means of liquor smuggling and the attitudes of the 'lower classes' to prohibition, and the permissive attitude of the colonial government toward beer brewing and consumption in 'pagan' areas. The author shows that beyond the apparent concern for the health of the colonial subjects there were certain imperial and commercial interests which were served by the prohibition. He also highlights the hypocrisy and paternalism - arising from racism - that characterized official attitudes to the trade. Notes, ref.