Impact of Colonial Activities on the Economy of Moro Districts, Ilorin Emirate, Nigeria

Abstract
This paper is on the impact of colonial activities on the economy of Moro Districts (Presently Moro Local Government Area of Kwara State, Nigeria), Ilorin emirate. With the incursion of Europeans into Ilorin Emirate and the subsequent influence of colonialism on its economy, the traditional economic activities in the Districts became reshaped through colonial policies that brought about quantitative and qualitative transformation to them. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to examine the extent of the effects of colonial activities on the economy of the Districts. Its objective is to debunk the sole attribution of the negative impact of European colonialism on African societies, through a pair presentation of the pros and cons of colonial activities on the economy of the Districts. This paper largely depends on primary sources, archival materials and oral information as its sources of data. This becomes important because the archival materials embed adequate information on the economic activities of the epoch as well as the effects of colonialism on them. Oral information on the other hand provides further explanation of the expressions in the colonial reports. The study adopts an analytical approach in its presentation of data, to create avenue for proper understanding. The findings of the study reveal that the economy of the Districts under examination was significantly impacted by the colonial activities and policies in positive ways that benefitted both the citizens and the government, and also laid a solid foundation for post-colonial economic status of the area. It concludes that as good as the colonial activities were, they also had maleficial effects which the economy of the area suffered during the colonial period and beyond.
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Citation
O. W. Kewulere – I. A. Jawondo, Impact of Colonial Activities on the Economy