Northern Nigeria, despite its wealth of natural resources and strategic position, has faced significant challenges in achieving industrial development. While southern Nigeria has seen substantial economic growth and industrialization, the North has remained largely agrarian and underdeveloped in terms of manufacturing and infrastructure. This series of articles will explore the historical, political, and economic factors that have contributed to this disparity.
In this first article, we explore the colonial legacy and how British policies shaped the economic foundations of Northern Nigeria, creating structural barriers to industrialization. The following articles will focus on key post-independence efforts, including the Sardauna of Sokoto’s initiatives in the 1960s aimed at stimulating economic development, as well as the political and policy challenges that impeded these efforts.
This series will trace the trajectory of Northern Nigeria’s industrial development, from its colonial origins to the present day, and analyze the steps needed to overcome historical obstacles and unlock the region’s industrial potential.
Colonialism in Nigeria has often been characterized as an extractive, exploitative system, but its long-term effects on industrial development are more complex. Northern Nigeria, in particular, faced a distinct set of colonial policies that stunted its industrial growth. These policies were shaped by the British Empire’s strategy of resource extraction, which emphasized the region’s agricultural output while deliberately sidelining industrialization.
The British colonial state’s reliance on local intermediaries, like traditional rulers and middlemen, further hindered the region’s industrial prospects by centralizing power in the hands of a few elites and leaving the broader population economically marginalized.
At the heart of British colonial policy in Northern Nigeria was the extraction of raw materials to fuel Britain’s own industrial revolution. The region’s economy was predominantly agrarian, producing crops like groundnuts, cotton, and hides, which were exported to Britain. The colonial administration focused on strengthening this agricultural base and ignored the possibility of developing local industries. This resource-dependent economic model entrenched Northern Nigeria in a cycle of agricultural output for export, without the support or infrastructure for industrialization.
In contrast to the South, where some industrial infrastructure and manufacturing were encouraged, the North remained largely agricultural. The lack of investment in local manufacturing, coupled with limited attention to industrial ventures, meant that Northern Nigeria’s industrial base was practically nonexistent during the colonial period. Colonial policies were explicitly designed to maintain the North’s role as a supplier of raw materials for Britain’s industrial economy, leaving little room for domestic industrial development.
A defining feature of British colonial governance in Northern Nigeria was the system of indirect rule, which relied heavily on local rulers—emirs and traditional chiefs—as intermediaries. These local elites were tasked with enforcing colonial policies and maintaining order, but their role in governance largely had significant consequences for the region’s economic development.
Under indirect rule, power was concentrated in the hands of a few traditional elites, the Native Authority (NA), who controlled both political and economic resources. The colonial state empowered these elites, allowing them to act as gatekeepers for economic opportunities. Local rulers often had little incentive to promote industrial development, as their wealth and power were tied to agriculture, land control, and the colonial economic system.
Consequently, the interests of a small group of elites took precedence over the collective needs of the broader population, preventing the implementation of policies that could have fostered industrialization.
An exception to this pattern was the case of Kano, under the leadership of Sarkin Kano Abdullahi Bayero, who notably introduced the city’s first electric power station and promoted some limited manufacturing, such as the establishment of the Masaka textile factory. However, such initiatives were rare and isolated, with the broader region lacking widespread industrial policies.
The colonial government also neglected Northern Nigeria’s infrastructure, a decision that had lasting implications for its industrial future. Southern Nigeria, with its proximity to ports and trade routes, saw greater attention to infrastructure, including the construction of ports, and factories that supported local industrialization. In contrast, Northern Nigeria, with its arid climate and distance from major ports, was left underdeveloped in terms of both transportation and energy infrastructure.
The lack of infrastructure in Northern Nigeria meant that agricultural products had to be transported at high cost, and the absence of energy resources hindered the growth of local industries. While the South benefited from a more industrial-friendly environment, the North remained isolated, lacking the necessary infrastructure to foster industrial growth. This infrastructure gap exacerbated the regional divide, leaving Northern Nigeria economically underdeveloped.
The colonial policies that marginalized Northern Nigeria economically have had lasting effects on the region’s post-independence industrial development. While the economic elite in the South increasingly took control of manufacturing industries left by the British, the North remained primarily focused on trade. This divergence in economic activities contributed to the North’s limited industrial infrastructure and continued reliance on agriculture, making it more difficult for the region to diversify its economy after independence in 1960. In contrast to the South’s progress toward industrialization, the North’s focus on trade and agriculture deepened regional economic inequalities that persist today.
The relationship between the British colonial state and local elites in Northern Nigeria was not just economic but deeply political. By relying on traditional rulers and middlemen to enforce colonial policies, the British created a political system that concentrated power in the hands of a few. These elites, in turn, had little incentive to challenge the economic status quo, as their wealth and power were tied to agriculture and resource extraction. The result was a political economy that entrenched agricultural dependency and prevented the emergence of an industrial economy.
The lessons from this historical analysis are clear: the persistence of colonial-era economic structures has continued to shape the political and economic fabric of Nigeria. Northern Nigeria’s industrial backwardness is not merely a product of past neglect but a consequence of an economic framework imposed during colonial rule. This colonial legacy still defines the region’s economic challenges today, from underdeveloped infrastructure to a reliance on agriculture without a robust industrial foundation.
As the series progresses, the focus will shift to the efforts made by the Sardauna of Sokoto in the 1960s to drive economic transformation in Northern Nigeria. What was his vision for industrialization, and how did it confront the deep-rooted issues of the colonial past? Did his initiatives manage to overcome these challenges, or were they insufficient in addressing the systemic issues that had been entrenched long before independence?
In the coming articles, we shall see how colonial legacy continues to affect development policies in Northern Nigeria. Can Northern Nigeria’s industrial future be revitalized, or will it remain limited by its colonial history? These questions will be explored in greater detail in the coming articles. The path forward may be difficult, but it is one that must be followed to achieve a balanced and sustainable development model for Nigeria as a whole.
