' ‘- W..- . 0.0. a: 0‘ v.9..o-.-\. "~“"“““~V‘I"WMO THE master-105m cnoss RIVER AS A COMMERCIAL HmHWAY-m ~ SOUTH EASTERN NEG-EMA - ‘thesis for the Degree 5f :14. A. ' MECHFGAN STATE UNWERSIW GRACE EKDNG - ' 1974 ' 11:4,! ""111an III llllll 1mm «7111 mm] [In 931 SSSSSS ABSTRACT THE DECLINE OF THE CROSS RIVER AS A COMMERCIAL HIGHWAY IN SOUTH EASTERN NIGERIA BY Eyibl'o Grace‘Ekong The major purpose of this thesis is to examine the main causes of the decline of the Cross River waterway and its ports for commercial purposes in South Eastern Nigeria. Within this context, it is intended to determine whether the major factors underlying the decline of that waterway were purely physical and geographic or they were social and political. In other words, the aim of the study is to test and ascertain whether such causes were natural or man made, and also whether such causes were related or unrelated to the cause-and- effect conditions which generally follow developments in a developing and expanding region. The study first traces the historical development of the Cross River waterway and its ports in the wake of European contacts and international trade between West Africa and Europe and America dating back to the early 17th century. This area's prominence lasted well into the early 20th century. After the First world war, the area steadily declined in commercial importance and conditions became so deplorable that by early 19603, it was but a ghost region of the former Eastern Nigeria. Grace Ekong The hotly debated question among the natives of the Cross River basin was whether the decline of the area was due to social and political reasons or just a function of natural factors. Two hypotheses are tested and those are: (1) whether the locational, site and physical characteristics hitherto responsible for the prominence of the area had since changed for the worse; and (2) whether political and social actions taken by the controlling authorities were responsible for such a decline. Drawing from analysis of available statistical tables, graphs and diagrams and opinions of experts, the two hypotheses are examined. It was discovered that those geographical and physical factors such as site, locational and physical characteristics which had hitherto made the area strategically important in commerce have not declined in their role. If anything, they have become more prominent in making that zone important from transportation and commercial standpoint. Rather the misfortunes of the Cross River waterway and its ports were the outcomes of a series of political directives dating back from the British Colonial governments and worsened by the political decisions of the Nigerian indigenous governments. The study traces the decision to connect the coal mines at Enugu to Port Carcourt and not Calabar, even when it cost more to deepen and open the waterway from Port Harcourt to the sea as the beginning of such actions. The removal of the administrative head- quarters of the country from Calabar to Lagos and the later decision to develop the ports of Lagos and Port Harcourt for ocean shipping Grace Ekong while neglecting Calabar port all indicate the biased nature of those political decisions. The government of the former Eastern Nigeria worsened the situation by economic neglect of the area, reversal of the flow of traffic north-south to east-west to help Port Harcourt and the use of the Regional Marketing Board to enhance the use of Port Harcourt at the expense of Calabar. All helped to ruin the Cross River and its ocean port of Calabar. In conclusion, the reasons for the decline of the area are found to be more political and social than geographic and physical. This knowledge thus raises the hope that the current efforts to reactivate the Cross River basin and waterway for economic and general commercial purposes will, all things considered, yield reasonable dividends for the future. THE DECLINE OF THE CROSS RIVER AS A COMMERCIAL HIGHWAY IN SOUTH EASTERN NIGERIA By {$59 GraceAEkong A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Geography 1974 tgggékfto\ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am deeply grateful to my husband, Bassey U. Ekong for making my study in Michigan State university possible. He has given me all the physical, moral and financial support needed for this pursuit. My sincere appreciation also goes to Dr. I. Matley, my academic adviser, for his great faith in me by giving me his time, generous advice and direction throughout both my course work and this research. I want also to express my thanks to Dr. D. Stephenson for his assistance, to Mr. Hollander for his cartographic work and advice and other faculty members of the Geography Department for all their help and contributions to me. My sincere gratitude goes also to my parents Ni. and Mrs. Eyibio Akpan Efiong for my basic education which laid the groundwork for this ultimate university education. I thank them for the spiritual and moral support. 11 Chapter II III IV V Appendix TABLE OF CONTENTS THE PROBm. O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Problem Definition. . . . . . . . . . . Objectives of the Study . . . . . . . . Scope of the Study. . . . . . . . . . . Assumptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hypo theses O C O O O O O O O O O O O O O O Justification of the Study. . . . . . . Tools of Analysis and Methodology . . . Plan of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . THE GEOGRAPHIC AND HISTORICAL COMMERICAL BACKGROUND TO THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CROSS RIVER. O O O O O O O O C O O O O O 0 Geography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Location Factors . . . . . . . . . . Physical Advantages. . . . . . . . . Pre-Colonial Inland Trade . . . . . . . Pre-Colonial International Trade. . . . Slave Trade. . . . . . . . . . . . . The Rise of Legitimate Trade . . . . Palm Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Colonial Trade . . . . . . . . . . . THE DECLINE OF THE CROSS RIVER AS A MAJOR COMMERICAL HIGHWAY . . . . . . . . . . . . FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE COMMERCIAL DECLINE OF THE CROSS RIVER WATERWAY. . . . SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS. . . . . . . . . . Bibliography. . .‘. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 0000me H \O 10 11 12 12 16 18 20 22 23 25 26 29 34 46 7O 77 87 Table A01 A02 A.3a A.3b A.4 A.5 A.6 A.8 A.9 LIST OF TABLES Cross River Transport Information. . Slaves Exported from Calabar in Liverpool Ships. I O I O O O O O O O O O O O 0 Exports of Palm Oil to United Kingdom (Selected Years) . . . . . . . . . . Total Tonnage Handled at Various Selected Nigerian Ports (000 tons). . . . . . . . . . . Port Traffic in the 19308 (Selected Years and Ports) (000 tons). . . . . . . . . . Shipment by Various Ports (Selected Years) (000 tons) . . . . . . . . . . . . . Secondary Schools in Eastern Nigeria Plantations and Estates. . . . . . . Large Estate Concentrations. . . . . Forest Reserve Distribution. . . . . Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Foreign Trade Cargo Handled at Nigerian Ports-Cargo Loaded. . . . . . . . . Palm Oil Passed for Export . . . . . Palm Kernel Passed for Export. . . . Capital Expenditure on Roads 1957-63 Road Development . . . . . . . . . . Palm Produce Export and Prices . . iv Page 19 24 28 32 40 42 65 77 78 79 80 81 82 82 83 83 84 Table A.10 A.11 A.12 Page Location of Industries 1962-63. . . . . . . . . 84 Tonnage of Cargo Shipped Coastwise--Cargo Loaded o o o o o o o o o o o o o a a o o o o o o 85 General Cargo Handled From 1955-56 to 1972-73 (All Ports) (Metric Tonne). . . . . . . . . . . 86 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1 Nigeria Showing Location of South Eastern Nigeria. . . 2 2 Political Divisions of South Eastern State of Nigeria 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O I O O O O O O O O O 4 3 Main Physiographic Regions of South Eastern Nigeria. . 14 4 Ports of the Cross River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . l7 5 Proximal Location of Ports in Southern Nigeria . . . . 48 6 Nigeria Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 vi CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM Introduction The earliest European contact with West Africa dates back to the Fifteenth Century.1 This contact was mostly spurred by trade because, according to Dike,2 the whole history of modern West Africa is one of five centuries of trade with European nations. Possibly out of the desire to procure and control trade among other reasons, several groups of adventurers--religious, commercial, military--politica1 and settler elements have come to Africa. While the early contacts were with the coastal natives, certain ocean terminals offered better facilities for shipping and trade than the rest. In particular, in the area now known as Nigeria, the town of Lagos on the Lagos Lagoon; Akassa, Brass and Bonny in the Niger Delta and Calabar on the Cross River had in time gained great commercial importance. These early contacts led to the introduction of slave trade across the sea of African natives--the unfortunate victims of the nefarious triangular economic deals linking Africa, Europe and America. 1The Portuguese came around 1450 to 1460 before even the Treaty of Tordessilas in 1494. See J. W. Blake: European Beginnings in West Africa, London, 1937. 2Dike, Kenneth 0. Trade and Politics in the Niger Delta, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1956. at E % 22m 5230598 717/2 3:99.59: 22m «5- //..m ////%..Nt889: 4....38 958.8. x — '00. 83233 382.25 .8/25 .//. N- 3E8. 893m 98:... €3.50 . \ \ \c 0.9 .3 Jo :fl? rue .593. \ cmxm. emwthfl/t\%€.. £255.25 .. a, 35: :88 SE62 6. a... .//o Nantewmuxhvm _ égmmwmknnee v 9.83 O _ - C l/ A N .l“ gs. %5 (in... 3.3 .. _. 5 .3 gym .9)\ ”H Jog/M/ ¢\\AW|1/2x=.az \\).\\ . “OH .1\\ llllllll o ...\|\ \. . l - M. - u 23.32. 1‘ N\\\ I}, N 9o . \\ a w ,5 .__ 5992:. A o \\ I a .0. hi\/ . \ r\ x. 5.39: ,__ n. ,7; EEC WP: . z . J O I; \. \V‘INK ‘VQx _ ) l 1.. u b \N - 282mm __ N. ., ., 1W . \ \Iflxxl / V» o x 9 L A x , a9 53.. ., \ 1U .1 \\v N llllllll $lw \— \\\\ N O \ 9 a\\\ .01 \\J—— —\ III/l 0" AIM“!!! \\\\\ k 0 \\ I \\ fl _ III-I \ I pl \\ on N 999 x N ICELIKJ .. 92v ~\n & I/ .y \x I.“ I .I \\ 1/ \\\ III/(J 9“ A. 0 ll“ .. o .\ ~ .V as _ ”\III N: . a .. N. ., O a/IA\ “J :5 a W . 2 3 akmkmvm- {a $65 .7.» #2558 fr---\. 5 A .. .. -xxKQQQ \. . \x// N — \\ III u \- \\ — O \\\\\ / .. x r ::::::: x x 9: ~ .\ AII; III, . °\N\!z xxx. QQIVKMHVKA If \ x x\ . . $2262 .. u \ _, V (\.. Q \V ‘L\ A V 0 \\ a ‘\\ a ~35 .\\ g! o n ,9. \\ x . co \\ \\ — .x.. A .. r _ _ I’ll \‘WDI: \ I’ll .1 ‘\~ N 53.» \\.. /.. \. m u o _ z .I \.. ”*fiu [- In this trade, both the Cross River waterway and the Port of Calabar played a leading role. With its official abolition in 1807, greater 3 Palm attention was paid to what came to be called "legitimate" trade. oil, and later palm kernel, came to be the principal articles of exports from the Bights of Benin and Biafra. Indeed, the importance of palm oil exports from the area lent the area the name of Oil Rivers Protectorate. By the 1830s palm oil trade had made both the Cross River and the port city of Calabar famous. This export commodity was shipped down from the hinterlands of Old Ogoja Province, Old Calabar Province and parts of Old Owerri Province to the Port of Calabar. The period between 1885 and 1920 made the Cross River a busy commercial highway. Indeed, exports via Calabar port constituted a major part of the total Nigerian exports up to and including the First World War years. Between 1920 and 1966 the Cross River and the Port of Calabar passed through three stages into complete decadence. Directly after the First World War a period of stagnation sets in. During and after the Second World War, from 1939 to 1954, the area passed through a critical stage in which major economic shifts were being made by traders to areas west of Calabar. Between 1954 and 1966, Calabar and the Cross River declined to a point where the port city was nothing but a ghost town. Little, if any, of the export-import trade then passed through the Cross River waterway anymore. The contrast between the Cross River waterway and Calabar port in 1860 and 1960 must have been heartbreaking to a centenarian. 3Dike, K. 0., 92, cit., pp. 48-49. POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF THE SOUTHEASTERN j \"3 STATE OF NIGERIA Ogoja ' KR OGOJA OBUDU I © State capital 0 Major cities and towns Q --- International boundary ’ I KO M 00 -. .- State boundary 9' ‘2 (3‘ ------- Internal political (z 'Obubra '3 ' \“ divisions c, I” .- I} (0" 9 0 OBU BRA \,\.-:‘ .. AKAMKPA ..... l ”Um, ..- (L; CA LA BAR El‘i’ene'fi, Calabar ' lKOT EKPENE A... 3W0 if...“ Amt..." UYO -. ABA K jog ORON \9‘5:...f:-;.3.: 1 \ ----- OPOBO FAKE“ gt>Opobo " ' ' What is involved in this study is the rise and fall in the commercial activities of a region of Nigeria. Quite varied reasons--relevant and irrelevant--have been offered in trying to explain the decline of the Cross River waterway and its parts. Some have been based on physical factors of geography, such as: location, site, proximity to rich and busy areas. These are the usual factors involved in analysis of location of business activities. Other reasons offered are purely economic, while the rest are either social and political or else associated with a philosophy of development. This study intends to examine these reasons with a view to unravelling those which principally underlie the decline of the Cross River waterway and its ports. Problem Definition A study conducted on the factors responsible for the emergence and later decline of the Niger Delta ports4 has generally attributed the reasons to such geographical factors as locational advantages, site advantages and change of economic activities. The Udo—Ogundana thesis has treated the problems of the rise and fall of these regions as an evolutionary process inherent in economic development of a developing nation. This treatment upholds the "survival-of-the-fittest" argument. The thesis also accepts competition as a potent weapon for selection of economic activities and their locations. 0n the other hand, the peoples of the Cross River area have accused the government of the former Eastern Nigeria with deliberate 4Udo, Reuben K. and Ogundana, Babafemi. "Factors Influencing the Fortunes of Ports in the Niger Delta," Scottish Geographical Magazine, No. 82, 1966, pp. 169-183. economic sabOtage of their area through calculated neglect and diversion of activities to other areas but theirs.5 Whether there is enough sub- stance in this allegation depends on ability to isolate the geographic and normal economic factors from the events leading to the decline of the Cross River waterway, its inland ports and the seaport of Calabar. The problem is to distinguish between the sets of purely physical geographic factors and of socio-political factors and to determine which set has contributed more to the decline of the Cross River waterway and its parts. It is firmly held that a region rises into prominence because of specific advantages it enjoys--physical, social and economic. Its fall must be due to the decline of those factors either by comparison to other more superior nearby regions or a decline which is absolute. In either case, the decline must be a function of changed situations for the worse. This study intends to classify those factors, geographic and physical, economic, social and political, which contribute to the decline of the Cross River waterway for commercial purposes. This will enable facts to be isolated from fictions. A knowledge gained in this way will prove or disprove the evolution theory held by some geographers6 with respect to the rise and fall of the Cross River region. How far the dynamic factors which make for specific changes in the fortunes or mis- fortunes of the Cross River waterway are due to chance or to deliberate decisions of socio-political authorities would be revealed in this study. 5Aye, E. U. Old Calabar Through the Centuries, Calabar, 1967, and Latham, A. J. H. Old Calabar 1600-1891, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1973. (Epilogue 1891-1971). 6Odo-Ogundana, op, cit. Objectives of the Study This study is expected to throw light on the thorny question of whether geographical factors by themselves are capable of causing regional decline in the absence of nongeographic reasons. In general, the question is on the power of geographical advantages as factors in the location of economic activities. What happens when locational, natural endowments, site and physical characteristics and relative economic advantages change for the worse? What part do changes in social and political fortunes of a region play in the promotion or retardation of the region? Specifically, these theories must be examined with reference to the Cross River inland ports and the seaport of Calabar in the commercial history of Nigeria. Since diverse reasons have been offered in explana- tion of the decline of that region's trade, a proper knowledge will: 1. Place facts in their proper perspective so as to enable wild and unsubstantiated allegations to be isolated from the truths as they are. 2. Offer opportunities for people to know the facts and thereby disabuse their minds of the oft-repeated allegations against, the former government of the area if the allegations are untrue. 3. Offer the present government proper tools on which to base their decisions in the current effort to reactivate the Cross River waterway and the economic development and rehabilitation of the area generally and Calabar port in particular. 4. Help test the theories of geography on locational analysis and the conventional factors affecting such location of economic activities. Scope of the Study This study is confined to the commercial fortunes and misfortunes of the Cross River waterway, its inland ports and the seaport of Calabar in the context of South Eastern Nigeria, (usually known as Eastern Nigeria). The area involved is that zone west of the Cameroon Mountains and east of the Niger River, but covering the two continguous Old Calabar and Ogoja provinces. Specifically, the area of study will relate to the Cross River basin,7 to the South Eastern Nigeria and references to places outside the area will only serve historical connections or illustrative purposes. Facts and figures will be drawn from available sources--commercial, historical, etc. to strengthen discussions. Assumption In this study it is assumed that casues of the rise and later the decline of the Cross River waterway for commercial purposes are mainly physical, economic and socio-political. 1. For the study of the Cross River waterway, the river ports of the waterway would be included as major areas of the study. 2. It is intended that the usual factors in geographye-location and site-believed to be responsible for the rise and fall of locations for economic activity purposes will be examined with respect to the Cross River waterway and its ports. 7R. K. Udo differentiated between Cross River District and Cross River plain or basis, the latter including the former. See Journal of Tropical Geography, No. 1066, Singapore, 1965, pp. 65-72. 3. It is assumed here that if the rise and fall of the Cross River waterway were evolutionary, nothing done currently to revive its commercial importance would succeed in restoring the area to the regional commercial greatness. Hypotheses major hypotheses to be tested in this study are: That the advantages--locational, site and physical character- istics as well as proximity to the rich productive hinterlands which hitherto made the Cross River waterway commercially important are no longer prevailing and hence the decline of that waterway and the region. That the major problems of the area--the economic and social decline--are mainly due to political factors rather than to geographical or economic circumstances. Justification of the Study This study deals with the commercial operations of the Cross River waterway and its terminal port of Calabar in the context of the former Eastern Nigerian economy. This choice is based on the fact that: 1. Fairly adequate facts as are relatively available are up to date and handy to facilitate analysis. It is one of the parts of the former Eastern Nigeria where economic decline had been outstanding over the years. It is an area occupied principally by the then minority ethnic groups in the former Eastern Nigeria. lO 4. It is the area where the controversies of state creation were very pronounced and where the regional government was accused of deliberate economic sabotage for political reasons. 5. A test of the major factors which are accountable for the decline of that region will make it easy to determine which factors were mostly responsible for that region's decline. 6. Only on such grounds can proper knowledge be obtained such that either the former regional government is exonerated or blamed, based on factual evidences. 7. This study should also offer one more opportunity of testing the theoretical factors of geography which generally affect location of major economic activities, in this instance, inland and ocean shipping and foreign trade. Tools of Analysis and Methodology Most of the analysis in this study will make use of statistical tables, graphs and diagrams along with expert opinions of practical people to draw the necessary conclusions. The gaps likely to exist in the available information where conclusions may not be supported by empirical evidence will be filled by theoretical arguments where available. Deductive analysis will be used in combination with the interpretation of available data and standard theses in the field, to explain the factors responsible for the decline of the Cross River waterway and its terminal ocean port of Calabar. In most cases, the conclusions may be based more on qualitative than quantitative analysis, unless sufficient explanatory data exist to make such analysis sufficiently quantitative. 11 Plan of the Study Chapter II of this study will explore the geographic and historical background to the importance of the Cross River as a great commercial highway in South Eastern Nigeria. Chapter III will examine and analyze the decline of the Cross River as a commercial highway along with its ocean port of Calabar between 1920 and 1966. This should involve the comparison of traffic volumes before and after the World war I years on the Cross River. Chapter IV analyzes the major factors responsible for the decline of the Cross River waterway for commercial purposes of the former Eastern Region. Here tests will be made of geographic factors affecting location of economic activities and even the political factor of power possession and its use. Chapter V contains the major summaries and conclusions on the factors affecting the rise and decline of the Cross River. Which factors are and which are not positively contributing to the decline of the Cross River region. Major statements on the role of the factors will be made in this chapter. CHAPTER II THE GEOGRAPHIC AND HISTORICAL COMMERCIAL BACKGROUND TO THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CROSS RIVER Geography For the purpose of this study, the area designated as South Eastern Nigeria will cover and include that whole administrative part of Nigeria formerly known as Eastern Nigeria, but which is today made up of three contiguous states-~South Eastern, East Central and Rivers.8 The area is bounded on the west by the River Niger, on the east by the Cameroon Republic and the north by the Benue-Plateau State and on the south by the Atlantic Ocean at the Bight of Biafra. The land area is 29,484 square miles and has a population estimated at 17.5 million by 1973. The chief physiographic distinction of this area lies in its predominantly level plainlands, which are well watered by a number of rivers flowing into the sea. The coastal plains with their peculiar soil types derived from relatively undisturbed young sediment of the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods, which have been eroded to form extensive plains, only slightly incised by river action.9 The presence 8Created by the military decree of 1967. See Federal Gazette, May 27, 1967. For circumstances of the decree and the Nigerian Civil War, see Akpan, N.U. The Strgggle for Seccession—-l966-l970, Frank Cass, London, 1971. 9Geolggical Survengeports, Bulletin Nos. 6 and 8, Nigerian Government, Lagos, 1925. 12 13 of younger sediments within the crystalline or metamorphic blocks has resulted in the occurrence of mineral fuels like lignite and coal of the East Central State, oil and natural gas of the Rivers and the South Eastern States.10 The physiographic features of the area show a gradual slow ascent from the Niger Delta in the southwest to the Cameroon Mountains in the east and northeast, interrupted by a series of steplike scoops running through the center of the region. Indeed, South Eastern Nigeria thus has five major geographical zones running from northeast to southwest: l. The Western Spurs of the Cameroon Mountains. 2. The Cross River Basin 3. The Plateau and Escarpment Zone of the East Central State 4. The Coastal Plains of Onitsha, Owerri, Uyo and Annang Provinces and Port Harcourt areas. 5. The River Plains and Deltas of the Niger and Lower Cross River basin areas.11 (Figure 3, Map) The climate here, like most of Nigeria, is controlled by the forces of the Northeast and Southwest trade winds. The former is responsible for the dry season and the latter the rainy season. The mean annual temperature is around 80° F and the mean rainfall annually is over 200 m.m., graduated in intensity north to south with the coastal areas having 10Karmon, Yehuda. A Geography of Settlement in Eastern Nigeria. Jerusalem, 1966, p. 8. 11Classified by Karmon, Yehuda, pp. cit., see also Oduah, 8.0. Geoggaphy of the Eastern Provinces of Nigeria, Cambridge University, 1966, p. 136. 14 Same—z ZKNPmdm IIPDOw “.0 mzoamm o.:m1n_ 2.42 mm! .5. o \hfillll I . . . .. \\ I Q .o.. .a.' ’ hh—JWS—QOE—MI o o. \.I . [III-"I z 328.. /// . / .. / I :0 \ x.-. $8 .. o II F” \.I’ 3% A IA .1. 7/ \x no I xv. I \ J I! vQ I .. 3 II V I I” Id I v. II 9 f m. .s 6// «.99. l/ 3 o .. «o a! \\.ll «8‘ I 00 .d A V” I \\ I e /o G ’8 a: A. \1 ..\ u w .. “a ”m o.8 .. 0. \ll “(mace \ A“ a/ Mu. W. 10 .. \Vn \ f‘\ m u new ’1’ R u M .v . .m a E \ ..\ 500 .. mmoao " a If. u .a NI. 9W / 254m «529 ... U a. w .. . A n K . E . \l’ T . / \3. x . N M n .\ lv’ R "‘k \\ (1....» I/ K a. b\\ 4“ 15 the heaviest.12 The drainage system can be classified into three: 1. The Niger River and Delta system. 2. The Cross River system. 3. The independent streams. The Cross River rises in the Cameroon Mountains and flows north- west until it meets the Anyim River. There it turns southwest toward the Enyong Creek from where it flows southeast to the sea, some thirty- five miles from the port city of Calabar. The Cross River plain is well watered and bordered by the very rich agricultural lands of the entire southeastern Nigeria. The area covers Ikom, Obubra, Akamkpa, Itu, Calabar and Oron Divisions and are close in proximity to such divisions as Abakaliki, Afikpo and Bende in East Central State as well as Uyo and Ikot Kepene Divisions of the present South Eastern State. The Cross River thus forms the major drainage system of the eastern part of the South Eastern Nigeria. Udo13 noted that "The Cross River has been the main connecting unit between this region and the outside world. The slave traders, the missionaries and later the political agents of the British Government reached the region by way of the Cross River." The major question now is: What factors made the Cross River such a major transportation and communications artery to so vast an area covering the borders of Western Cameroon to the Igbo areas of Abakaliki, Afikpo and Bende Divisions as well as the Ogoja-Obudu down to Calabar 12Meteorological Report, Enugu, 1964. 13Udo, Reuben K. "The Cross River District of Eastern Nigeria," Journal of Tropical Geography, op. cit. 16 Division? What were the relationships of this river waterway and its ports to the internal and external commercial activities of these areas? To understand the importance of the Cross River waterway and its ports in the context of Nigeria's early commerce is to analyze these factors which gave rise to the importance of this river way. Location Factors.-The major reason for the most immediate importance of the Cross River and its inland and ocean ports was locational.14 Most of the early European trade with Nigerian natives was concentrated at river port entrances linking the hinterlands with the ocean. In Nigeria, apart from the Niger Delta and the Lagos Lagoon, the other major seaport connection with the hinterland by the waterway to the sea was Calabar on the Cross River. Initially, early shipping trade with the Nigerian natives was at the coastal towns and ports which acted as intermediaries between the European traders and the inland natives who invariably produced the major articles of trade. The strategic location of the Cross River within the rich areas producing the trade cargoes made the river a major highway. From Calabar up to Itu (50 miles up the river) a large inland market for food, oil palm and kernels and salves (during the slave days) had developed. At this confluence of the Cross River and Enyong Creek-—the meeting point of the peoples of Umon, Afikpo, Ibibio and Efiks of Enyong Creek-~a large market for all types of local commodities as well as imported goods had developed at Okopedi and the water side. Further up the Cross River, some 105 miles from Calabar, are the adjacent towns of ll.Udo, Reuben K. and Ogundana, Babafemi, op. cit. l7 PORTS OF THE CROSS RIVER Abakaliki. Obubra .Emuramuro Umon 0 ”WWW ©CALABAR u, Oku lboku J "‘90 ' \w\amba \ “hf. .. _ o "s __ avg/2x 0f s/afr'a Z w. 25 Mamfe' 18 Afikpo, Ediba and Itigidi, which became river ports on their own right for the movement of produce from the hinterland peoples. I Obubra, 136 miles from Calabar is the natural port of that area, covering Ogada, Ofombunga, Ofunatam, Awakande and areas near Apiapum. These are rich agricultural areas noted for their yams and cocoyams. Ikom.and Mamie, 44 and 128 miles, respectively, from Obubra are ports covering the large rich districts of Ikom, Nsofang and the Western Cameroon borders. Details of the peoples and life style there was 15 Thus the locational advantages enjoyed by the sketched by Patridge. Cross River and its inland and ocean ports are relative to the rich borderlands and the products for which it offered means of transportation for trade purposes (see Figure 4, Map)- Rhysical Advantaggg,--At a time when there were no roads nor rail lines, the Cross River offered natural advantages for transportation purposes. Dugout wooden canoes, rafts and later launches made travelling and the carriage of commodities easy. The river is navigable all the year round to Itu, only navigable between May and November between Itu and Afkipo and up to Ikom between June and October, whereas traffic to 16 Details of the Mamie is only possible between July and October. physical characteristics of the waterway and traffic possibilities are outlined in Table l. 15Charles Patridge. The Cross River Natives. Hutchinson and Co., London, 1905. 16Netherlands Engineering Consultants. Development of the Ports of Nigeria 1970-1990, The Hague, 1971, pp. 10-11. 19 Table 1. Cross River Transportation Information. Ports Distance Maximum Navigable Maximum From. Depth at Periods Dimension Calabar High water of Convoys (Miles) (Feet) (Feet) Calabar 0 25-30 All year No limit Oku Iboku 39 20—25 All year 650 x 75 Itu 50 15-20 May-Nov. 650 x 75 Afikpo 103 25 May-Oct. 450 x 65 Ediba 105 30 May-Oct. 450 x 65 Itighidi 105 30 May-Oct. 450 x 65 Obubra 136 30 June-Oct. 250 x 65 Ikom 183 35 June-Oct. 250 x 65 Mamie 264 35 June-Oct. 250 x 65 Source: NEDECO, pp. V, 10-11, 1971. Initially, traffic was based on canoes for which depth of water was no serious hinderance and traffic was undisturbed all the year round between the upper country and the coastal areas of the Cross River. Even the early European traders had boats which were by modern standards small, but since they were restricted to the coastal areas while the middle men alone penetrated the hinterlands, the traffic was never disturbed by physical factors except hostilities which arose from intertribal and inter-community conflicts on the river way. The Cross River has one major advantage again in respect of its land borders and types of soil. The flood plains have low silting rate and, but for this, the absence of artificial channel clearance would have led to the closure of the waterway altogether. The only problem between Oku-Iboku and Itu is the tidal flow and ebb on which navigators 20 must depend to regulate their transportation. The mangrove swamps around the Calabar river area simply do not extend to the upper reaches of the river and hence the problems of dredging are not so acutely felt. The solid land by the waterways assisted the development of landing stages and river ports as well as inland markets for collecting and distribution of goods down to Calabar or the hinterlands. The seaward approaches into Calabar and hence the hinterlands through the Cross River had been most favorable for the trade of the area. The navigation channel to Calabar has a length of about 42 miles marked with buoys and beacons. Silting here is indeed minimal since "dredging has never been carried out and the channel profile d."17 This seems to change only little as far as the depth is concerne compares with ports like Lagos and Port Harcourt where very costly dredging is annually maintained.18 Thus, from the seaward approach and the landward approach the Cross River offered a unique waterway for transportation purposes. It is well located by rich and productive hinterlands. It is mostly navigable for most parts of its course, and that for most months of the year. Inside the river course are good inland ports acting as collecting and distribution centers for exports and imports of the area. Pre-Colonial Inland Trade The peoples who lived around and on the borders of the Cross River basin had been holding some commercial intercourse before the coming of UNEDECO, J. cit., p. 1-19. 18Nigerian Ports Authority Annual Reports 1958-1959 and 1969-1970. 21 the Europeans and colonialism to that part of the world. Even though the picture painted by early European reporters and writers about the Cross River area was one of "primitive" and "savage" headhunters, very reliable evidence indicated that the Europeans met well-ordered societies 19 It would appear that with laws and cultures distinctly their own. as a result of soil types, characteristics of the peoples and their orientations, different localities specialized in certain economic activities and trade naturally arose among the different ethnic groups or clans. The Igbos around Aro-Chuku were famed for their Long Juju as an oracle and fertility spirit.20 To the west of the Cross River were the Ibibios--the home of the palm oil and palm kernel which became the greatest article of external trade after the slave trade abolition.21 The riverurine peoples specialized in fishing and salt making from the salt water of the coastal swamps. The bulk of the yams are produced around Afikpo, Obubra, Ugep, Ikom and Abakaliki and Ogoja where rice is richly produced. Canoe traffic on the Cross River assisted the exchange of products from each area. Indeed, the yams from Obubra and Afikpo were exchanged with palm oil at Itu, Oku Iboku, Ifianyong and Ikpa markets as well as 19Ekundare, R. Olufemi. An Economic History of Nigeria 1860-1960. Africans Publishing Co., New York 1973, pp. 37-38. 20Daryll Forde and G. I. Jones. The Ibo and Ibibio-Speaking Peoples of South Eastern Nigeria, London 1962, p. 52. See also Dike, 22, cit., pp. 37-41. 21Anne Martin. The Oil Palm Economy of the Ibibio Farmer, (Ibadan, 1956). 22 to the down river settlements around Calabar. In return shrimps, fish, salt and prawn were sent inland where petty traders helped to distribute them farther inland. 22 Indeed, during the 19th century, a pattern seems to develop whereby particular places specialized in the production of certain durable items. Pottery was made in Afikpo,23 canoes were constructed at Emuramura,24 raffia cloth at Ikot Ekpene and metal work by itinerant blacksmiths, mostly Ibibios and Igbos.25 To the east of the Cross River the people--the Ejaghams lived mostly by themselves and appeared to be self sufficient.26 The Pre-Colonial International Trade European adventurers reached west Africa in the middle of the 15th century. Contact with Africa were mostly with the coastal settlers who thereafter acted as middlemen between the Europeans and the hinter- land African people. According to Dike27 trade fluctuated with European policies and demands such that while gold was the main quest between the 15th and 16th centuries, slave trade predominated during the 17th 22Forde and Jones, op. cit., p. 81. 23$. and P. Ottenberg. "Afikpo Markets" in P. Bohannan and G. Dalton (ed.), Markets in Africa, Northwestern University Press, Evanston, 1962, p. 121. 24Revd. H. Goldie, Calabar and Its Mission, Edinburgh and London, 1901, p. 340. 25Jones, Trading;States, p. 13, Waddel, Journal, Vol. 8, p. 77, March 22, 1851. . 26Latham, A. J. H., Old Calabar 1600-1891, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1973, p. 7. 27Dike, K. 0. Trade and Politics in Niger Delta, Oxford 1956, p. l. 23 and 18th centuries. Calabar on the estuary of the Cross River was one of the many coastal markets where the wares of the hinterlands and the Europeans were traded through the coastal middlemen. Apparently, there is no accurate record of when the first European trade came to the port city of Calabar, and hence the Cross River.28 What is known is that the first European traders to those parts were the Portuguese whom the natives called "Boriki."29 Slave Trade.--Among the first and documented articles of trade from Calabar port and indeed from the Cross River area were slaves, taken to West Indian Islands by 1668.30 Calabar became a major West African slave market thereafter while the Cross River became the major highway for this nefarious trade. Sub-markets up the Cross River were established at Itu, Afikpo, Obubra, Abakaliki, Ikom and Ogoja areas where the middlemen bought slaves for onward shipment through the Cross River to Calabar. According to Latham the number of slaves handled at Calabar through the Cross River route averaged annually over 2,000 between 1752 and 1799 (Table 2). These estimates were made from different sources and must include some undercounting. Moreover, these estimates do not include those shipped away by other European traders or other British traders not based in Liverpool. Whatever the case, the figures 28Latham, A. J. H. _p. cit., p. 17. 291:. N. Amaku. Edikot Nwed Mbuk, Vol. II. 30Latham quotes John Watts, an English sailor, who reported in that year of entering Cross River with their ship to take on slave cargo, _p. cit., p. 17. 24 indicate that Calabar and, for that matter, the Cross River area were major slave markets. Table 2. Slaves Exported from Calabar in Liverpool Ships Year Ships Slaves 1752 8 3,130 1771 11 3,250 1784 11 4,200 1785 8 31,50 1786 13 5,150 1787 7 2,360 1798 6 2,473 1799 6 2,275 During the two hundred years that the Calabar people were selling slaves to the European slave dealers how were they able to obtain the slaves? According to Latham 31 the development of a powerful internal marketing system which was able to channel slaves from the hinterlands to the coast originated from the Aro Long Juju.32 Situated at Aro Chuku in Bende Division of what is now the East Central State, the oracle was used by the priests for judgments in matters of some disputes. Fees and fines were exacted in slaves believed to have been devoured by the oracle. The slaves were hidden and later sold. 31 Latham, _p. cit., p. 37. 32 1939, pp. 100-103. From those points they G. 1. Jones. "Who Are the Arc?" Nigerian Field, Vol. 8, No. 3, 25 were taken to the slave markets and sold to dealers who delivered them to Calabar merchants. Where the Long Juju was not the origin, inter- tribal wars and raids provided victims--(war prisoners) for sale to the slave dealers in the hinterland. When, however, slave trade was officially abolished by the Act of Westminister of 1807, it required the British naval patrols and forces to effect compliance. In most cases, as in Calabar, cash rewards were needed to persuade slave merchants to give up the trade. The sum of 2,000 Spanish dollars33 was paid annually for five years to Calabar chiefs to persuade them to enter into a treaty in 1841 in order to put an end to the nefarious trade. The Rise of Legitimate Trade The vacuum created by the abolition of slave trade was filled by what came to be "legitimate" trade. Local exports of palm oil and kernel, monkeys, ivory, elephant tusks, camwood and other dyes as well as other commodities were exchanged for European textile cloths, spinets, and household furniture. Aye34 even noted that some of the ships' captains exported yams to England-~l,000 yams were sold to Captain Savage, 6,000 to Captain Hughes. But, of all the export goods, palm oil, according to Dike,3S was the one factor in the trade expansion between Nigeria and Europe by the 18603. 33Latham,'_p. cit., p. 22, valued at L416 133 4d per year. 34E. U. Aye, 9p. cit. 35Dike, Kenneth 0., _p. cit. 26 Palm Oil.--By the 18508, Liverpool merchants were important oil traders in Old Calabar and Latham36 holds that James Penny and Jonas Bold were the first Liverpool firms to trade in palm oil at Calabar and the Cross River area. The Calabar traders were the middlemen who controlled trade on the Cross River from the interior and cited as the go-between for the European traders on the one side and export producers of the interior on the other. Udo and Ogundana37 noted that, ". . .in the early days of shipping along the Nigerian Coast (that is beginning from the period of the slave trade) and indeed up to the end of the nineteenth century local kins like Peppel of Bonny, Jaja of Opobo and Eyo Honesty of Calabar held jurisdiction over the waters within their kingdoms. European vessels could only trade in such areas with the permission of the local overlord and even then the trade was confined to the coast towns." The restictions placed on the areas of trade of the European traders forced them to house their wares on board their boats anchored outside the wharf. The European merchants lived and slept on these floating warehouses later called the supercargoes.38 For want of capital to handle the expanding trade, the Calabar middlemen could not c0pe with such demands. A system was then developed by the European traders by which the European traders trusted the local traders with a considerable amount of goods in exchange for an equivalent value of slaves or palm 36Latham,_o_p. cit., p. 56. 37Udo, Reuben K. and Ogundana, B. "Factors Influencing the Fortunes of Ports in the Niger Delta," _p. cit., p. 173. 38Dike, pp, cit., pp. 88-89; Latham, pp. cit., p. 58. 27 oil to be delivered by a specified date.39 The goods in trust might consist of gunpowder, cloth, iron goods, utensils and alcohol in various forms. Nair4O noted that the profit made by the Calabar middlemen and the Europeans were "scandalously high." Europeans inflated prices and exaggerated the values of goods they handed to the Calabar middlemen. The Calabar middlemen, on the other hand, paid ridiculously low prices in the hinterland markets even though they sold the European wares at higher prices. Trade thus benefitted the European traders and the Calabar middlemen at the expense of the interior producer and consumer. These types of profits helped to promote the trade all the more. Latham noted that in quantity terms, Old Calabar exported 700-800 tons of oil per annum in the last years of the legitimate slave trade.41 From the calculations of Latham the contribution to the oil export through Calabar are sketched out in Table 3. At the same time, the West African total exports of oil are calculated by both Lathaml'2 and.Ekundare43and are shown along in Table 3. Apparently some reliable records were kept for Calabar for most of the years which may be absent from the West African trading area. What is important, however, is 39Kannen, K. Nair. Politics and Society in South Eastern Nigeria 1941-1906, Frank Cass, London, 1972, p. 22. 40 . cit., p. 22. L? 41 . cit., pp. 65-66. 16’ 42 16’ . cit. 43 cit., p. 51. I? 28 that the Cross River continued to be a large trading area both in the slave trade as well as in the palm oil trading days. Table 3. Exports of Palm Oil to United Kingdom (Selected Years). Year From Wgst From Wgst From 01g Africa Africa Calabar (cwt) (tons) (tons) 1821 n.a. 5,124 2,000 1828 n.a. 6,328 2,000 1833 266,990 13,345 5,000 1847 469,348 23,467 5,217 1848 499,719 24,986 4,634 1849 475,364 23,768 2,782 1850 434,450 21,722 4,260 1851 n.a. 29,224 2,838 1855 n.a. n.a. 4,090 1864 n.a. n.a. 4,500 1871 n.a. n.a. 6,000 1875 n.a. n.a. 5,085 1883 n.a. n.a. 7,365 1887 n.a. n.a. 7,000 aEkundare bLatham cLatham The strategic position of the port of Calabar and the Cross River waterway in these trades cannot be overemphasized. Not only did the waterway make traffic easier, but large inland markets--Oku Iboku, Itu, Umon, Afikpo, Itighidi, Obubra, Ikom, Nsofang and Mamfe up the Cross River made the collection and delivering of both internal trade 29 commodites as well as export and import articles possible. Without this waterway in the era when there were no motor roads or rail systems, such elaborate trade systems would have been almost impossible. Colonial Trade European trade in the Cross River and, indeed, throughout West Africa, was characterized by international competition and excessive rivalries. The British government's interest in the trade is revealed by the complaints made by their nationals against the Portuguese, the French and the Dutch. Most of the British firms were chartered to carry out such trade and British protection was always available in case of need. The suppression of slave trade exercises led to consular appointments to supervise the areas and make them safe for legitimate trade. One of such appointed for the Bight of Biafra was stationed at Fernando Po. When the treaties of friendships signed with different coastal chiefs degenerated into treaties of protection, the coastal areas became protectorate of the British Crown.44 By 1899 British government withdrew the charter granted to the Royal Niger Company to administer and trade in Northern Nigeria since 1886. By proclaiming Northern Nigeria a protectorate in 1900, formal British rule was instituted. The Oil Rivers and Lagos were unified in 1906 as the colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. The complete unification of both North and South into a single nation of Nigeria was accomplished in 1914. Some developments in transportation included the institution 44Sir Alan Burns, History of Nigeria. 30 of government marine services in 1905 for Cross River where three motor launches were used in the services. Railroads were built between Enugu and Port Harcourt between 1913 and 1920. Government withdrew from most of the inland water marine services and "transferred to Elder Dempster Lines the services on the Cross River between Itu and Ikom. These services were used by the company during high water, but the government retained control during the low water season."45 In terms of commerical activities, most British firms established at Calabar and maintained trading depots on the main inland markets up the Cross River between 1885 and 1940. As Latham noted, the "establish- ment of European trading stations at the main stations" up the Cross River tended to weaken the position of the Calabar middlemen. On the other hand, it enhanced the production and wealth of the people up the Cross River areas. Initially European traders were not allowed to build on Calabar soil. But after the constitution of the Mission Station at Calabar, traders established their factors on the waterfront of Calabar. Such names as "Matilda," "Southsea," "Ivy," and "Millerio" are reminders of those hulks on the river.46 The erection of the Consulate and government departments--the Police, Judiciary and Administration--around the turn of the last century helped most foreign firms to establish on Calabar soil as well 47 as on the inland markets on the Cross River. Nair noted that even 45Ekundare,gp_. cit., p. 133. 46Aye, E. U., pp, cit., p. 138. 471b1d., p. 240. 31 with the absence of specific figures on the Cross River trade, the general trend of the national trade and that of the Oil Rivers in 18803 and 18908 went together. Indeed, H. H. Johnston who went to Calabar about 1886 noted that, "Old Calabar in those times was sufficiently prosperous and the firms trading there sufficiently enlightened not only to maintain for their employees well built, bright, well furnished, but to support a first class doctor, who rose in time to be Principal Medical Officer of the Protectorate."48 At this point in time, the British government's policy was directed at stopping the French and German expansion into their trading areas. Where peaceful penetrations were not possible due to native resistance, punitive expeditions were conducted to extend British trading interests.49 To protect the trade, military posts were established at Unwana, Obubra, Obukun, Ediba and Arc Chuku in Bende Division. The Calabar monopoly of the Cross River trade was reduced by the introduction of silver coins, the regular shipping up and down the Cross River, the entry of new competitors on the area trade and the introduction of stated prices on commodities. These advantages led the European firms to establish upstream. The firms of George Miller Brothers, G. B. Ollivant, the African Association, etc. built up trading stations at Oku Iboku, Itu, Umon, 48Quoted in Nair, gp. cit., p. 240. 49Nair,l_p. cit., note the Aro Expedition of 1901-1902 as examples. 32 Ediba, Obubra, Ikom and Mamfe. Traffic on the Cross River continued to be of interest to both the United Africa Company and John Holt whose trading depots maintained the buying of export crOps into the early 19508. Apart from the British, the French and Levantine firms traded on the Cross River and made the waterway a very busy route indeed. Despite the opening of the Port Harcourt-Enugu railroad in 1916, trade on the Cross River to Calabar port continued to be significant. For example, ocean shipping between 1912 and 1933 showed the following distributions in respect of export tons (Table 4). Calabar, Burutu and, to an extent, Degema were the only ports which showed consistent growth over those years. And, since Calabar export trade depended on the Cross River route for all its external export commodities, the Cross River trade mu8t have been important. Notice should be taken again that the difference by 1932 and 1933 between what Port Harcourt and Calabar handled respetively showed very slight difference inspite of the heavy dependence by design of Port Harcourt on the Northern Nigeria produce. Table 4. Total Tonnage Handled at Various Selected Nigerian Ports (000). Year Sapele Koko warri Burutu PH Calabar Degema 1912 22 40 61 117 --- 89 22 1913 25 46 48 137 --- 86 27 1914 20 31 45 135 --- 73 25 1932 45 29 70 141 129 103 48 1933 33 21 65 170 111 108 50 Source: Trade Statistical Abstract, Lagos, Nigeria. 33 Thus, the Cross River waterway not only helped to unify the spatially far flung areas around the Cross River, it also made the transportation of bulky export produce possible. This makes for a cheaper mode of transportation and given technological advantages of barges and lighterage services, it became possible for the agricultural products of the hinterlands of the Cross River area to enter internal and international trade at a time when roads and rails were not available. D 50For details of the economic advantages of inland waterways see Ton Edward Bierman. "The chtion of the Oder River as an Artery of raI'ISporation,"Ph. D. Thesis, Michigan State University, 1970. CHAPTER III THE DECLINE OF THE CROSS RIVER AS A.MAJOR COMMERCIAL HIGHWAY For purposes of definition, the decline of the Cross River commerical route must be distinguished from the decline of the commercial role of the Calabar middlemen.51 At the same time, such a decline in the commercial importance of the Cross River waterway must be linked with the international trade importance of the port of Calabar for, as history has shown, the glories of the Cross River trade route have been always linked with the importance of Calabar port. This situation may be linked to the economic fortunes of the Cross River basin and its environs, since increased activities of the Cross River basin may, for certain reasons, make the river waterway important. The accounts of the decline in the commercial importance of Calabar by most history writers have focused on the loss of trade by Calabar middlemen. During the slave trade and the introduction of legitimate trade period Calabar traders acted as middlemen between European traders on the coast and producers and consumers in the 51Most writers about Calabar trade deal with the middlemen functions of the Calabar people and their eventual decline. See Aye, Dike, Latham and Nair on this matter. 34 35 hinterlands. Nair52 offered six reasons for the decline of that middle- men role of Calabar traders. AyeS3 while acknowledging these factors tended to blame the ruin of Calabar on such forces as exodus of Calabar teachers elsewhere, witchcraft and other social qualities of the Calabar peOple. Indeed, he is one of those who blame the ruins of Calabar on political factors. The decline of Calabar middlemen functions in local and inter- national trade ought not imply the ruin of Calabar as a seaport. Aye54 rightly disagrees with the view that the decline of Calabar port is due to its locational isolation. It was the "geographic position with its "55 It is overseas gateway that made it once commercially important. meanwhile difficult to believe that the earlier locational advantage had diminished over time. Observers had agreed that Calabar seaport and the Cross River waterway had declined. Latham,56 Nair,57 and Aye,58 among others, noted 52Kannan K. Nair, _p, £15., pp. 252-256. The reasons included the introduction of silver coins to replace barter system, the opening of hinterland to European traders, the introduction of barge service up the Cross River by European trading firms, the licensing system which later restricted Calabar traders to Calabar market and the hostilities of German government at the Cameroon borders are among the factors. 53Aye, E. U., _p. cit. 5['Aye, E. U.,_gp. cit. SSIbid. 56Latham,gp. cit. 57Nair, K.K., gp. cit. 58Aye, E. U., pp, cit. 36 the commercial and political decadence of this port city and the waterway it commands. Latham noted that "only a brief outline of the decline in Old Calabar's importance can be indicated."59 Aye fully describes the plight of the old city under the caption of "Bleak Days" and the picture so painted is sorrowful. It only remains here to sketch out some stages by which this waterway and its terminal port declined. Latham noted briefly that, ". . .until 1900, Old Calabar was headquarters of the Niger Coast Protectorate, and then headquarters of the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria, which followed. Renamed Calabar in 1904, its future as an administrative center was ruined by the amalgamation of Southern Nigeria and Lagos in 1906--the latter becoming the new seat of government."60 Nair stated that the most important factor with long term consequences was the transport and communications factor.61 A tussel had developed within the colonial government's decision process as to the possibility of connecting the port of Calabar with the hinterlands by roads and rail transport system. The railway line decision was the one big factor leading to the neglect of Calabar. At this point it was decided to connect the rail line from the Enugu coal mines to Port Harcourt rather than to Calabar. Why was the decision so made and on what principles? As Nair62 noted, "Calabar harbor was still superior to most others at the beginning of the present century" and was described as the 59 Ibid. 6OIbid., p. 149. 61Nair,gp. cit., p. 255. 62 Ibid. 37 "finest port on the Bight of Biafra until the Lagos Bar was removed." The Chief Secretary to the Government of Nigeria63 in his report, noted of Calabar port, ". . .the approach to the river has no definite bar, but a series of flats with a least depth in the seward channel of 18 feet." The same report noted also that, ". . .at one time the seat of the Government of Southern Nigeria, Calabar has since lost much of its importance as a center of the administration, though it still retains all its activity from a commercial point of view."64 It was the same report which stated that "in 1907, when dredging operations were first started (in respect of Lagos port) the draught limit for the port was 9 feet: today it is 21 feet while the depth .T."65 This clearly showed of water on the bar is 24 feet L.W.O.S the comparative superiority of Calabar over Lagos as a port. Even when Port Harcourt is compared, the same report noted that Calabar has a channel width of 4 miles below the port, but about half a mile at the port area, whereas Port Harcourt had a channel width of 500-800 feet. Quite a number of geographers have made it appear that the choice of Port Harcourt was because of its deep water berthing and its connection 63The Nigeria Handbook, Government Printer, Lagos, 1924, p. 75. 6('The Nigeria Handbook, 1923, 92. cit. 65 Ibid. 38 with the heavily populated areas of the East Central State. Apparently, however, nobody has had time to examine the dredging problems of the 41 mile channel between Port Harcourt and the sea. It is, however, on record that while Port Harcourt channel had been kept open with continuous costly dredging, Calabar channel had never once been dredged.66 This must be why Nair noted on the decision to abandon Calabar that "it could not have been Calabar as a port which discouraged the railway builders."67 It was Aye, himself a Calabar man, who remarked that "Old Calabar unlike Port Harcourt which was a European built town, was purely of native origin."68 Port Harcourt, which was the chosen town, was built with equipment transported from England to the Port of Calabar and moved along the Cross River through Itu, Ikot Ekpene and Aba to the town site. Cross River people8--Efiks, Ibibios and the Anangs were conscripted to carry the iron bars on their heads on foot to Port Harcourt from Itu on the Cross River.69 Evidently because of the pains taken by Mr. Harcourt in constructing the new town, the British government was willing to reward his labor with port and railroad development no matter what the cost turned out to be. The decline of Calabar port and hence the Cross River waterway is sketched by Aye7O thus: 66Nigerian Ports Authority Annual Reports 1959-60 and 1969-70 and Inland Waterways Hydrographic Reports. 6792 cit,p. 260. 6592 cit,p. 129. 69Recounted by some of the chiefs and elders in Itu and Uyo Division. 70Aye, pp, cit. 39 "The thirties of this century may be described as a period of stagnation, but not of general retrogression. By the late forties Calabar had entered on a period more critical than any since the disaster of the thirties and although it emerged from its ordeal, it was hence- forth quite definitely on the down grade." This means that Calabar started its decline after the First World War and the period 1920-1939 marked the period of stagnation. For at that time, road construction was undertaken to such an extent that, as Nair remarked, ". . .the trade that came from the district at the back of the Enyong Creek near the new station of Ikot Ekpene did not, as it should have done,71 come to Calabar but went down to Eket, nganga and Bonny. In fact, this factor was to make Ibibio land look outwards to Ikot Ekpene, Aba and Onitsha as cultural and commerical centers."72 The stagnation of Calabar port for trade purposes at this period was more a function of all efforts to divert this unusual river traffic to the newly created port at Port Harcourt. There was little to dis- tinguish the port traffic of Calabar from Port Harcourt at this time even though Calabar carried the bulk of the South Eastern trade traffic before 1920-39. The diversion at this time tended to place the traffic on the Cross River and Calabar at a stable level. This is because, despite the diversion of traffic to Port Harcourt, stations on the Cross River ports 71Ikot Ekpene is 21 miles by road from Itu and 71 miles from Calabar while it is over 100 miles from Bonny. 72Nair,pp. cit., p. 260. 40 were still maintained and what was left naturally went to Calabar. Over the years this level of traffic continued to move to Calabar via the Cross River with little or no real variations (Table 5). Table 5. Port Traffic in the 19308 (Selected Years and Ports) (000 tons). Year Lagos Sapele Warri Burutu Calabar PH 1932 484 45 70 141 103 129 1933 448 33 65 170 .108 111 Source: Nigeria Trade Abstracts Even though traffic on Port Harcourt and Calabar did not vary substantially due to each port maintaining control of its immediate hinterland traffic, Port Harcourt controlled exports and imports from the Northern States as well as the Onitsha and Owerri provinces and the Rivers area. Calabar thus continued as the natural outlet for the export products of and imports for the Cross River basin. Naturally those areas appeared to have been their natural zones of transport control (see Figure l). The war years between 1940-1945 and the immediate post war period were to bring to Calabar more problems. This is the critical period in which Aye describes the long downward move of the Cross River and Calabar ports' commercial life. In particular the early 19508 saw the increasing Nigerian responsiblity running the affairs of the country. Prior to 1950 the Legislative Council depended on not elected but appointed representatives of major communities for governmental purposes. In 1951, the Nigerian Constitution had adopted the adult suffrage and 41 party politics. Seats to the National Parliament no more depended on selected comunities but on the representation of all peoples of the nation. The definite control of the different arms of government by Nigerians on the basis of parties and interest created difficulties for areas where differences of opinions existed. As a result of the creation of the autonomous Nigerian Ports Authority in 1954 to take care of Lagos and Port Harcourt, other ports were seriously neglected. At the same time, four Commodity Marketing Boards (Cocoa, Palm Produce, Groundnuts and Cotton) were created, but were later replaced by "all purpose" Regional Marketing Boards in 1954.73 These boards were empowered to control the purchase, storage, evacuation to ports, shipment and disposal in the world markets of the regions controlled produce. The Regional boards decided the producer prices for different stations and types of produce in the region. The boards also advised their buying agents by which transport channels the produce was to be transported and to which port outlets it was to be delivered. Udo and Ogundana74 admit that these marketing boards maintained a policy "to channel most of the traffic to the ports of Lagos and Port Harcourt which are the best equipped" by the Ports Authority which decided to neglect other ports. Calabar port and, indeed, the Cross River waterway lost most of its natural traffic by this device which had nothing to consider about distances and costs from production centers to the sea. So, what 73R. K. Udo and B. Ogundana. ._p. cit., p. 181. 74Ibid. 42 natural traffic was left in the 19308 and 19408 did not substantially increase due to the new political actions of the new marketing boards of the 19508 (Table 6). Even before the takeover of such produce buying and shipment by the Regional Marketing Boards, the British firms--the United Africa Company and John Holt which dealt in these produce marketing controlled the transportation routes for these produce. The United Africa Company owned the port of Burutu and the installations while John Holt owned Warri. These companies directed their agents to their ports only and even influenced the import hinterland by controlling the distribution of the foreign imported goods for their customers. Table 6. Shipments by Various Ports (Selected Years) (000 Tons). Year Lagos Sapele Warri Burutu Calabar PH Dagema 1942 1,273 71 63 144 110 380 63 1943 1,252 79 56 140 114 376 27 1952 1,727 162 52 103 148 507 74 1953 1,763 249 66 110 171 683 83 Source: Nigerian Trade Statistical Abstract. Based on these factors, the trade on the Cross River and the port of Calabar did not grow as it should, but continued to weaken in the commercial importance. Thus, Weigand75 must be right when he concluded that "human factors predominate in port geography,‘ since ports have 75Weigand, G. G. "Some Elements in the Study of Port Geography," Geographical Review, Vol. 48, 1958, p. 194. 43 been founded and have evolved despite physical obstacles when economic and political expediency were of overriding importance. Little wonder that the Nigerian government is prepared to maintain Lagos and Port Harcourt and neglect Calabar despite the high costs of doing 80. Between 1955 and 1967 (the latter year marking the outbreak of the Civil war in Nigeria) the Cross River ports and Calabar faced complete decline commercially. The effects of the takeover of export produce marketing by Regional Marketing Boards forced large companies to withdraw from retail trade altogether. In particular, when the Marketing Boards secured the legal rights to appoint licensed buying agents, they refused to appoint these firms which themselves saw opportunities for less profit levels than they had enjoyed before. On this score the major firms found Calabar no more a profitable place to operate and ceased operations. Their trading stations at Cross River stations like Oku Iboku, Itu, Umon, Ediba, Apiapum, Obubra, Ikom and Mamfe were closed down. The United Africa Company moved its Eastern headquarters off Calabar and John Holt, Kings-way and a host of other firms followed. It was at this time that the government of the Eastern Region embarked on road transportation development. The Premier76 had in 1955 just returned from economic missions overseas. What followed was ' a government sponsored series of developments in agriculture, industry, 77 education and transportation. The pattern of development was such 76Azikiwe Namdi and Ojukwu, L. P. (later Sir Odumegwu, footnote 76). Economic Mission to Europe and America, Government Printer (1955) Enugu. 7Eastern Nigeria Development Programme, Government Printer, Enugu, 1955-60 and 1962-68. 44 that the areas close to the Cross River and Old Ogoja and Calabar provinces received little or no major shares. For example, the Cross River basin was devoted to the position of raw material and agricultural zone (see Table A.1 in the Appendix). Road development was such that they ran East-West across the Cross River rather than North-South to Calabar. By 1964, not a single industry was sited at the Old Ogoja and Calabar provinces. Health and educational amenities were rather concentrated elsewhere than in this Cross River basin. What followed was the exodus of commercial firms. With this came economic depression. This is the period which Aye has described as "Bleak Days" in his book. Because of reduced commercial activities (Table A.4) unemployment set in. Poverty gripped the people and the inevitable resort was migration to Aba, Port Harcourt, Umnahia, Enugu and other ports of Nigeria. That area bordering the Cross River took on the look of a ghost land. Except the numerous plantations and estates developed in the available open lands (Tables A.2 and A.3a and A.3b) the area fell completely out of the economic wheel. The whole area became the producer of raw materials and food for the industries and cities located outside the Cross River area. To ensure that the water way would not be of any commercial significance, the major roads linking these places of plantations and estates ran east-west, thus isolating the Cross River waterway and its ocean port, Calabar, more and more. All these roads never crossed the Cross River by solid bridges, but by pontoons. Ikom, Ogoja and Obudu were connected to Abakaliki and Enugu. Ediba and Itigidi were connected by pontoon to Afikpo and Abakaliki to link Enugu or Umuahia. The Western Calabar district was linked by a pontoon road to Ikot-Okpora, 45 Arochuku and Umuahia. No efforts were made to link Itu to Calabar, nor was it deemed necessary to link Calabar with roads to Ikom, Obubra, Umon and even Ediba. Even when it was found to be shorter to transport produce via Calabar it still became necessary to ensure their shipment at Port Harcourt. The overall efforts of all these were to depress the area, cause out-migration of its people, retard progress and reduce the area to one of ghost estates. Except for the numerous plantations which employed more people from outside the Cross River basin area than the natives of the area,77 nothing of any economic importance in terms of modern industrialization, health and education, transportation catering for the general well-being of the people were done for the area. Thus what started out in 1905 as mere choice of another seaport by the government apparently turned out to set the path for economic neglect and general depression of the Cross River commerce and industry by successive governments. 77ENDC Progress Report, 1955-63. CHAPTER IV FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE COMMERCIAL DECLINE OF THE CROSS RIVER WATERWAY In the previous chapters of this study, the historical developments in the rise and decline of the Cross River waterway had been traced. The climax was reached during the decade preceding the Nigerian Civil war of 1967-70. During that period, both the Cross River inland ports, trading stations and the ocean terminal port of Calabar had become ghost areas. In this chapter efforts will be made to understand the real factors--economic, geographical, political and social--which caused the ruin of the area. A number of hypotheses will be tested and some literature opinions examined here. The first hypothesis is that the advantages--1ocational, site and physical characteristics as well as proximity to the rich productive hinterlands which hitherto made the Cross River commercially important are no more prevailingpand hence the decline of the waterway and the §£2é°78 The Cross River waterway became prominent in internal and inter- national commerce because of its locational advantages--proximity to rich hinterlands, all season ocean port, physical characteristics conducive to transportation development and the attitude to economic activities of 78See Hypotheses--Chapter I. 46 47 its diverse peoples. Most writers have tended to blame the decline of this region only on the rise of Port Harcourt as a seaport and a rail- 79 This claim can be partly refuted from two major grounds. way terminal. Firstly, the sources of traffic on the Cross River to Calabar differ from the source of traffic to Port Harcourt on the Bonny seaway. Secondly, this refutation can be best tested by considering the natural physical advantages of both areas. Writing on "port location and port spatial competition" of most Nigerian ports, Ogundana80 noted the potential area of influence of Calabar port to be significantly different from that of Port Harcourt (see Figure 5). The distance advantage of the Cross River and Calabar port from Port Harcourt is such that the Cross River could naturally have continued to draw its traffic from its area of influence without hinderance from Port Harcourt, rail line or no rail lines. In fact, Ogundana noted:81 "In eastern Nigeria, it is found that as much of the area is nearer to Calabar as to Port Harcourt. If each unit area had a given constant traffic potential, the possible traffic generation of Calabar's proximal area would thus be as large as that of Port Harcourt." Even when the concentric circles of the diagram are taken as the guide, Calabar still has a superior sphere of influence than Port Harcourt. 79Aye (1967), Nair (1972), Latham (1973), Ogundana (1966). 80"The Location Factor in Changing Seaport Significance in Nigeria,’ Nigerian Geoggaphical Journal, 1966. 81Ogundana,.pp. cit. 48 I d 0.0. .12 0 8:6 E 3.8 Go: 8556 26 $59“. .325 sec taootor ton ll Sodom sec «83 l. 83 923.9925 .... . DU “1...... . 4V l- 1...... 00 z ..... . K /....... . o \\\No Mam/(Wm. I. .. . om ..t. moe