Abstract: | The industrialisation of timber production in Nigeria was undertaken by the colonial administration in the interests of the administration and for the placation of the colonial subjects in order to enable the implementation of an unpopular colonial policy, that of forest reservation designed to protect merchantable timbers for exploitation by European firms. Sections: The manual method of sawing timber, pit-sawing - Government interest in pit-sawing - An attempt to mechanise the industry, the role of the sawmill - Government sawn timber venture fiasco -Sawn timber for local consumption or export - Efforts to supply cheap sawn timber to the indigenous population. Notes. |