THE HISTORY OF SHIKA 1928-1980
THE HISTORY OF SHIKA 1928-1980
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Date
2011-06
Authors
IBRAHIM, Abubakar Zaria
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Abstract
This thesis attempted to locate the socio-economic and political development
of Shika in historical perspective. It traced and analyzed the growth it experienced as
a settlement established during the colonial period up to 1980. Although the thesis
focused on the period 1928-1980, the historical background which entailed the
emergence of various settlements in the area before 1928 was treated in some detail.
The processes leading to the establishment and growth of the Government
Stock Farm during the period 1928-1937 which became the National Animal
Production and Research Institute (NAPRI) in 1976 was examined. In this regard we
stressed that the colonialists established Shika in an area where indigenous
settlements were already in existence. We also showed that right from the moment
the Shika Stock Farm was established in 1928, it started having visible impact on the
pre-existing settlements. In particular, we considered how Makoye and Mahuta were
dispossessed of their agricultural lands and households from 1928. This allowed us to
bring out the major purpose of colonial economy: the siphoning of the wealth of the
colonized for onward movement to the metropolitan country. This is evident in the
production and sales of stocks from the Stock Farm, the revenue of which was never
used for infrastructural development the area.
We further demonstrated that migration and settlement played a significant
role in the growth of Shika. This was influenced by the continued arrival of the
labour force needed to work in the colonial Stock Farm. The subsequent neo-colonial
economic development that led to the establishment of a tobacco farm also proved
disadvantageous. This was because, in addition to neglect in the provision of
infrastructure in both the colonial and the post colonial periods, the land of the
peasants was expropriated primarily to execute projects by the colonial and neovi
colonial states. This trend, however, played a role in the transformation of the Shika
society from a homogenous to a heterogeneous one; and from an agrarian society to a
service oriented one. The resultant effect of this transformation is clear in the new
social and economic activities deviant from those of pre-colonial setting that emerged
in the area. While socially there was the introduction of the Sarauta system to aid the
collection of taxes, the school and the clinic, economically there was the
diversification of occupation and high cost of living. We also most significantly
examined the administrative changes since the Makoye era, around 1902, up to the
period in which Shika became a district headquarters in 1980.
Description
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL, AHMADU
BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA NIGERIA
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF
MASTER OF ARTS IN HISTORY
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA NIGERIA
JUNE, 2011
Keywords
HISTORY SHIKA,