The Quality of Liquor in Nigeria during the Colonial Era

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Periodical article

Title:	The Quality of Liquor in Nigeria during the Colonial Era
Author:	Heap, Simon
Year:	1999
Periodical:	Itinerario: European Journal of Overseas History
Volume:	23
Issue:	2
Pages:	29-47
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Nigeria Great Britain
Subjects:	colonialism trade alcoholic beverages History and Exploration Health and Nutrition
Abstract:	The liquor trade in Nigeria during the era of British colonialism provoked fierce debate: was it advancing development or fashioning an economy based on the unproductive consumption of alcohol? A prime motivation for the critics to stop the liquor trade came from what they saw as the damaging export of unhealthy alcohol to Nigeria. Was the liquor imported of such poor, even dangerous, quality? In the light of a recent article in 'Itinerario' (vol. 21, no. 2 (1997), p. 66-81) by Ayodeji Olukoju the present paper re-examines the quality of liquor imported into Nigeria during the colonial era. Whereas Olukoju concludes with a damning indictment of the bad quality of imported spirits, the present paper argues a more positive line by analysing five areas of disputatious argument over liquor quality in the colonial era: the general quality of imported liquor, the effect on liquor quality of the extensive practice of diluting spirits; the comparative quality of local liquors; unhealthy substitute alcoholic beverages; and domestically distilled spirits. Notes, ref.