Colonial Infrastructural Investments in Oyo North, Southwestern Nigeria, 1929 – 1956

Abstract

British colonial rule in Nigeria began in 1900 when the Southern Nigeria protectorate and Northern Nigeria protectorate passed from Royal Niger Company to the British Crown. By 1916 it had spread to Oyo North. The Okeho – Iseyin Rising of 1916 which typified an indigenous protest against colonialism in Africa attested to the presence of colonial rule in the agrarian border region of Oyo North since around 1916. Provision of basic infrastructural amenities like road networks, hospital facilities, wells/bore-holes, electricity, were important variables of colonial enterprise, most especially in Oyo North, Southwestern Nigeria. Between 1929 and 1956 aggressive policy of infrastructural investment was pursued by the British colonial government in Oyo North, connecting the region to the capitalist world, but only to appropriate the resources of the region to the advantage of the European World. The colonial past thus became the problem of the region's post-colonial present. It then became evident that economic purpose of foreign direct investment, more than serving the interest of the targeted or host community, was often intended to satisfy the private interest of the investor. This study, using historical methodology, examines colonial system of infrastructural investments. It also analyses the philosophical underpinning of the colonial infrastructural investments in Oyo North. Data are sourced from both primary sources such as National Archives Ibadan and Secondary sources, which include books and journal articles as well as internet source materials. The work suggests inter alia that provision of infrastructures should be done towards community development.