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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The development of palm oil trade at Oguta, eastern Nigeria, with special reference to the role of Kalabari traders |
Author: | Ekechi, F.K. |
Year: | 1981 |
Periodical: | Nigeria Magazine |
Issue: | 134-135 |
Pages: | 51-70 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Nigeria |
Subjects: | Kalabari mercantile history palm oil |
Abstract: | The growth of Oguta as an international palm oil centre owes its origin to the establishment of the Royal Niger Company's factory there in 1884. From that time on Oguta was inexorably drawn into the vortex of the international capitalist system. For all practical purposes, the development of palm oil trade significantly transformed Oguta from a predominantly fishing community to a relatively prosperous urban community. It was not until the pacification of the Igbo hinterland that the Kalabari immigrants established permanent settlements at Oguta and other places. Details of how the immigrant traders achieved commercial hegemony are not clear, but reports from about 1920 reflect the increasing influence of the Kalabari merchants in both wholesale and retail trade. The continued downward trend in the prices of palm produce ultimately led to the decline of Oguta. The Kalabari traders closed their operations at Oguta by the 1930s. Notes, tab. |