Ecology, identity, developmentalism and displacement in northern Nigeria

Journal of Asian and African Studies

Volumn 32, Issue 1-2, 1997, Pages 66-80

  Shettima, Kole Ahmed ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO   (Canada)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

IRRIGATION SCHEME; MIGRATION; POPULATION DISPLACEMENT; STATE INTERVENTION;

NIGERIA;

EID: 0031459767     PISSN: 00219096     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/002190969703200106     Document Type: Article

References (85)

1. This article draws on an earlier paper, "Beyond the Politics of Oil: Politics, Identity and Environmental Change in the Yobe Basin of Northern Nigeria," presented at the Panel on Trends in Northern Nigeria Research, 37th African Studies Association Annual Meeting, 1994, Toronto. I gratefully acknowledge Mwikali Keiti, Paul Ocheje and David McDonald for their useful comments on an earlier draft, but, of course, they share no responsibility for any faults that remain.
2. See, for instance, Andrew C. Okolie, "Oil Rents, International Loans and Agrarian Policy in Nigeria 1970-1992," Review of African Political Economy 64 (1995): 87-91; Michael Watts, ed., State, Oil and Agriculture in Nigeria (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987).
3. See, for instance, Andrew C. Okolie, "Oil Rents, International Loans and Agrarian Policy in Nigeria 1970-1992," Review of African Political Economy 64 (1995): 87-91; Michael Watts, ed., State, Oil and Agriculture in Nigeria (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987).
4. Maitatsine literally means "one who damns." It derives from Tsine, damning. Members of the movement are called Yantatsine because of their damning of oil-based consumerism and materialism in general.
5. At the Berlin conference of 1884-1885, European colonialists partitioned the former Borno empire among the British, the French and the Germans. British Borno refers to the territory that became part of British Northern Nigeria.
6. Lake Alau derives its name from Mai Idris Alauma. He was said to have been buried on the banks of the river.
7. Okello Oculi, "Multinationals in Nigerian Agriculture in the 1980s," Review of African Political Economy, 31 (1984): 88.
8. The Shehu was the sovereign ruler of Borno in the nineteenth century.
9. Ahmed Mohammed, personal communication, 1994.
10. Laurie A. White and Jennifer D. Slack, "Communities, Environments and Cultural Studies," Cultural Studies, 8, No. 1 (1994): 1-31.
11. Quoted in Egwugwu Illah, "The Desert as a Metaphor of Cultural Invasion," in: Sustainable Development in Nigeria's Dry Belt: Problems and Prospects, ed. K.O. Oloye (Lagos: Nigerian Environmental Studies and Action Team, 1991), 57.
12. Segun Famoriyo, Land Tenure and Agricultural Development in Nigeria (Ibadan: National Institute for Social and Economic Research, 1979), 12.
13. Edward E. Mburugu, "Dislocation of Settled Communities in the Development Process: The Case of Kiambere Hydroelectric Project," in: Involuntary Resettlement in Africa, ed. C. Cynthia (Washington: World Bank, 1994), 49.
14. Illah, "Cultural Invasion," 58.
15. See M.W. Adams, Wasting the Rain: Rivers, People and Planning in Africa (London: Earthscan, 1992), 101-106.
16. David E. Apter, Rethinking Development: Modernization, Dependency and Postmodern Politics (Newbury Park: Sage Publications, 1987), 9.
17. Tom Forrest, Politics and Economic Development in Nigeria (Boulder: Westview Press, 1993), 181-183; Adams, Wasting the Rain; Lloyd Timberlake, Africa in Crisis: The Causes, the Cures of Environmental Bankruptcy (London: Earthscan, 1988), 6.
18. Tom Forrest, Politics and Economic Development in Nigeria (Boulder: Westview Press, 1993), 181-183; Adams, Wasting the Rain; Lloyd Timberlake, Africa in Crisis: The Causes, the Cures of Environmental Bankruptcy (London: Earthscan, 1988), 6.
19. Charles H. Wood and Marianne Schmink, "The Military and the Environment in the Brazilian Amazon," Journal of Political and Military Sociology, 21, No. 1 (1993): 102;
20. Jan Nederveen Pieterse, "The Dilemmas of Development Discourse: the Crisis of Developmentalism and the Comparative Method," Development and Change, 22 (1991): 5.
21. See Richard Palmer-Jones, "Irrigation and the Politics of Agricultural Development in Nigeria," in: State, Oil and Agriculture, ed. Watts; Gunilla Andrae and Bjorn Beckman, The Wheat Trap: Bread and Underdevelopment in Nigeria (London, Zed Press, 1985).
22. See Richard Palmer-Jones, "Irrigation and the Politics of Agricultural Development in Nigeria," in: State, Oil and Agriculture, ed. Watts; Gunilla Andrae and Bjorn Beckman, The Wheat Trap: Bread and Underdevelopment in Nigeria (London, Zed Press, 1985).
23. See M.J. Mortimore, Adapting to Drought and Desertification in West Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989); Jan Van G. Apeldoorn, Perspectives on Drought and Famine in Nigeria (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1981).
24. See M.J. Mortimore, Adapting to Drought and Desertification in West Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989); Jan Van G. Apeldoorn, Perspectives on Drought and Famine in Nigeria (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1981).
25. Palmer-Jones, "Irrigation and Politics," 163.
26. See Okolie, "Oil Rents;" Palmer-Jones, "Irrigation and Politics," 157-167; Andrae and Gunilla, Wheat Trap.
27. See Okolie, "Oil Rents;" Palmer-Jones, "Irrigation and Politics," 157-167; Andrae and Gunilla, Wheat Trap.
28. See Okolie, "Oil Rents;" Palmer-Jones, "Irrigation and Politics," 157-167; Andrae and Gunilla, Wheat Trap.
29. Food and Agricultural Organization, Agricultural Development in Nigeria 1965-1980 (Rome: FAO, 1966), 37.
30. Are Kolawole, "Monitoring and Evaluation of Nigeria's Irrigation Systems: The Case of the Bakolori Irrigation Project," Journal of Water Resources Development, 9, No. 1 (1993): 75-85.
31. Palmer-Jones, "Irrigation and Politics," 160.
32. Attahiru Jega, "The State, Peasants and Transformation in Nigeria: A Case Study of the Bakolori Project in Sokoto" (Ph.D. diss., University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1985), 93, 172, 174.
33. Kolawole, "Bakokori Irrigation Project," 78; Okello Oculi, "The Political Economy of the Planning the Bakolori Irrigation Project: 1974-1980," in: Political Repression in Nigeria: A Selection of the Basic Documents, ed. Yusuf Bala Usman (Kano: Bala Mohammed Memorial Committee, 1982), 109.
34. Kolawole, "Bakokori Irrigation Project," 78; Okello Oculi, "The Political Economy of the Planning the Bakolori Irrigation Project: 1974-1980," in: Political Repression in Nigeria: A Selection of the Basic Documents, ed. Yusuf Bala Usman (Kano: Bala Mohammed Memorial Committee, 1982), 109.
35. Adams, Wasting the River, 148.
36. Kolawole, "Bakolori Irrigation Project," 80; W.M. Adams, "Rural Protest, Land Policy and the Planning Process on the Bakolori Project, Nigeria," Africa, 58, No. 3 (1988): 30; Michael Watts, Silent Violence: Food, Famine and Peasantry in Northern Nigeria (Berkeley: University of California, 1983), 496.
37. Kolawole, "Bakolori Irrigation Project," 80; W.M. Adams, "Rural Protest, Land Policy and the Planning Process on the Bakolori Project, Nigeria," Africa, 58, No. 3 (1988): 30; Michael Watts, Silent Violence: Food, Famine and Peasantry in Northern Nigeria (Berkeley: University of California, 1983), 496.
38. Kolawole, "Bakolori Irrigation Project," 80; W.M. Adams, "Rural Protest, Land Policy and the Planning Process on the Bakolori Project, Nigeria," Africa, 58, No. 3 (1988): 30; Michael Watts, Silent Violence: Food, Famine and Peasantry in Northern Nigeria (Berkeley: University of California, 1983), 496.
39. Tina Wallace, "Agricultural Projects and Land in Northern Nigeria," Review of African Political Economy, 17 (1980): 61-62.
40. Oculi, "Bakolori Irrigation Project," 106.
41. Cited in Andrae and Beckman, Wheat Trap, 105.
42. W.M. Adams, "The Traditional Agriculture and Water Use in the Sokoto Valley, Nigeria," The Geographical Journal, 15, No. 1 (1986): 30.
43. Wallace, "Agricultural Projects," 65.
44. M. Idris and M.B. Saidu, "Problems and Prospects of Managing the Water Resources of the Hadejia Valley for Sustainable Development," in: Oloye, ed., Sustainable Development, 102; A. Ahmed, "Irrigation Hazards Due to Poor Management: a Case Study of Kano Irrigation Project, Nigeria" in: Techniques for Environmentally Sound Water Resources Development, ed. Richard Wooldrige (London: Pentech Press Limited, 1991), 21; Wallace, "Agricultural Projects," 60.
45. M. Idris and M.B. Saidu, "Problems and Prospects of Managing the Water Resources of the Hadejia Valley for Sustainable Development," in: Oloye, ed., Sustainable Development, 102; A. Ahmed, "Irrigation Hazards Due to Poor Management: a Case Study of Kano Irrigation Project, Nigeria" in: Techniques for Environmentally Sound Water Resources Development, ed. Richard Wooldrige (London: Pentech Press Limited, 1991), 21; Wallace, "Agricultural Projects," 60.
46. M. Idris and M.B. Saidu, "Problems and Prospects of Managing the Water Resources of the Hadejia Valley for Sustainable Development," in: Oloye, ed., Sustainable Development, 102; A. Ahmed, "Irrigation Hazards Due to Poor Management: a Case Study of Kano Irrigation Project, Nigeria" in: Techniques for Environmentally Sound Water Resources Development, ed. Richard Wooldrige (London: Pentech Press Limited, 1991), 21; Wallace, "Agricultural Projects," 60.
47. See Ahmed, "Irrigation Hazards;" Palmer-Jones, "Irrigation," 159; Cecile Jackson, The Kano River Project (Hartford: Kumarian Press, 1985), 3.
48. See Ahmed, "Irrigation Hazards;" Palmer-Jones, "Irrigation," 159; Cecile Jackson, The Kano River Project (Hartford: Kumarian Press, 1985), 3.
49. See Ahmed, "Irrigation Hazards;" Palmer-Jones, "Irrigation," 159; Cecile Jackson, The Kano River Project (Hartford: Kumarian Press, 1985), 3.
50. Tina Wallace, "The Kano River Project, Nigeria: The Impact of an Irrigation Scheme on Productivity and Welfare", in: Rural Development in Tropical Africa, eds. Judith Heyer, Pepe Roberts and Gavin Williams (London: Macmillian Press, 1981), 281; Wallace, "Agricultural Projects," 61.
51. Tina Wallace, "The Kano River Project, Nigeria: The Impact of an Irrigation Scheme on Productivity and Welfare", in: Rural Development in Tropical Africa, eds. Judith Heyer, Pepe Roberts and Gavin Williams (London: Macmillian Press, 1981), 281; Wallace, "Agricultural Projects," 61.
52. P. Bolton, A.M.A. Imevbere and P. Fraval, "Procedure for Identifying Environmental and Health Hazards in Irrigation Schemes", in: Irrigation in Tropical Africa: Problems and Problem Solving, eds. W.M. Adams and A.T. Grove (Cambridge: African Studies Centre, 1983); Wallace, "Kano River Project," 289; Wallace, "Agricultural Projects," 60.
53. P. Bolton, A.M.A. Imevbere and P. Fraval, "Procedure for Identifying Environmental and Health Hazards in Irrigation Schemes", in: Irrigation in Tropical Africa: Problems and Problem Solving, eds. W.M. Adams and A.T. Grove (Cambridge: African Studies Centre, 1983); Wallace, "Kano River Project," 289; Wallace, "Agricultural Projects," 60.
54. P. Bolton, A.M.A. Imevbere and P. Fraval, "Procedure for Identifying Environmental and Health Hazards in Irrigation Schemes", in: Irrigation in Tropical Africa: Problems and Problem Solving, eds. W.M. Adams and A.T. Grove (Cambridge: African Studies Centre, 1983); Wallace, "Kano River Project," 289; Wallace, "Agricultural Projects," 60.
55. M. Idris and M.B. Saidu, "Problems and Prospects," 102.
56. Jackson, "Kano River Project," xiv; C. Jackson, "Hausa Women and Agricultural Change on the Kano River Project, Nigeria," in: Adams and Grove, eds., Irrigation and Tropical Agriculture, 67.
57. Jackson, "Kano River Project," xiv; C. Jackson, "Hausa Women and Agricultural Change on the Kano River Project, Nigeria," in: Adams and Grove, eds., Irrigation and Tropical Agriculture, 67.
58. S. Jackson, "Hausa Women on Strike," Review of African Political Economy, 13 (1978): 23.
59. D.H.L. Thomas and Michael Dyer, "Microprojects: Towards Sustainable Resource Use in a Sudano-Sahelian Flood Plain: The Hadejia-Nguru Wetland Conservation Project," in: Oloye, ed., Sustainable Development, 91.
60. See Michael Watts and Allan Richard Pred, Reworking Modernity: Capitalism and Symbolic Discontent (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1992); Sabo Bako, "Ecological Crisis and Social Conflict in Northern Nigeria's Dry Belt," in: Oloye, ed., Sustainable Development; Paul Lubeck, Islam and Urban Labour in Northern Nigeria: The Making of a Muslim Working Class (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986).
61. See Michael Watts and Allan Richard Pred, Reworking Modernity: Capitalism and Symbolic Discontent (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1992); Sabo Bako, "Ecological Crisis and Social Conflict in Northern Nigeria's Dry Belt," in: Oloye, ed., Sustainable Development; Paul Lubeck, Islam and Urban Labour in Northern Nigeria: The Making of a Muslim Working Class (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986).
62. See Michael Watts and Allan Richard Pred, Reworking Modernity: Capitalism and Symbolic Discontent (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1992); Sabo Bako, "Ecological Crisis and Social Conflict in Northern Nigeria's Dry Belt," in: Oloye, ed., Sustainable Development; Paul Lubeck, Islam and Urban Labour in Northern Nigeria: The Making of a Muslim Working Class (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986).
63. Auwalu Anwar, "Report on the Field Work in Kano Submitted to the Chairman" (Maiduguri: University of Maiduguri Committee on Social and Religious Disturbances in Nigeria, 1985), 7.
64. Hijra is the act of migration of Muslims from a hostile location to a more receptive one. It is deliberately reminiscent of the hijra of the Prophet Muhammad.
65. Watts and Pred, Reworking Modernity, 26; Anwar, "Field Work in Kano," 36.
66. Watts and Pred, Reworking Modernity, 26; Anwar, "Field Work in Kano," 36.
67. Anwar, "Field Work in Kano," 12-17, 47, 49.
68. Kana'ana was the son of the Prophet Nuhu. He refused to follow the teachings of his father. When his father asked him to join him in the Ark to be saved from a torrential rain, Kana'ana rebuffed the offer and drowned. He is considered to have died a nonbeliever.
69. Anwar, "Field Work in Kano," 10-11.
70. Aniagolu Report cited in Bako, "Ecological Crisis," 49.
71. Ibid., 50.
72. Bjorn Beckman, "Public Investment and Agrarian Transformation in Northern Nigeria" (Zaria: Centre for Social and Economic Research, 1983), 4.
73. Michael Watts and Robert Shenton, "State and Agrarian Transformation in Nigeria," in: The Politics of Agriculture in Tropical Africa, ed. Jonathan Barker (London: Sage Publications, 1984), 200.
74. See Beckman, "Public Investment."
75. See Bako, "Ecological Crisis;" Watts and Pred, Reworking Modernity; Lübeck, "Islamic Protest and Oil-Based Capitalism: Agriculture, Rural Linkages and Urban Popular Movements in Northern Nigeria," in: Watts, ed., State, Oil and Agriculture, 270; Watts and Shenton, "State and Agrarian Transformation," 194.
76. See Bako, "Ecological Crisis;" Watts and Pred, Reworking Modernity; Lübeck, "Islamic Protest and Oil-Based Capitalism: Agriculture, Rural Linkages and Urban Popular Movements in Northern Nigeria," in: Watts, ed., State, Oil and Agriculture, 270; Watts and Shenton, "State and Agrarian Transformation," 194.
77. See Bako, "Ecological Crisis;" Watts and Pred, Reworking Modernity; Lübeck, "Islamic Protest and Oil-Based Capitalism: Agriculture, Rural Linkages and Urban Popular Movements in Northern Nigeria," in: Watts, ed., State, Oil and Agriculture, 270; Watts and Shenton, "State and Agrarian Transformation," 194.
78. See Bako, "Ecological Crisis;" Watts and Pred, Reworking Modernity; Lübeck, "Islamic Protest and Oil-Based Capitalism: Agriculture, Rural Linkages and Urban Popular Movements in Northern Nigeria," in: Watts, ed., State, Oil and Agriculture, 270; Watts and Shenton, "State and Agrarian Transformation," 194.
79. W.M. Adams, "Irrigation as Hazard: Farmers Response to the Introduction of Irrigation in Sokoto, Nigeria," in: Adams and Grove, eds., Irrigation and Tropical Agriculture, 123.
80. Adams, "Rural Protest," 325.
81. Adams, "Irrigation as Hazard," 123; Idowu Odeyemi, "How it all Started," in: Usman, ed., Political Repression in Nigeria, 87.
82. Adams, "Irrigation as Hazard," 123; Idowu Odeyemi, "How it all Started," in: Usman, ed., Political Repression in Nigeria, 87.
83. Adams, "Rural Protest," 325; Odeyemi, "How it all Started."
84. Adams, "Rural Protest," 325; Odeyemi, "How it all Started."
85. Odeyemi, "How it All Started," 95-99.