Study Session 11: Labour and Culture in The Pre-Colonial Period

Study Session 11: Labour and Culture in The Pre-Colonial Period

This study session delves into the traditional culture of labour in pre-colonial Nigerian societies, exploring its characteristics, the methods of manpower development, and the eventual impact of colonial policies.

11.1 Introduction

The session introduces labour as a fundamental aspect of a people's culture, essential for material production and human existence. It highlights that labour involves applying physical and mental efforts to the natural environment, utilizing tools and means of labour that together form the forces of production. Culture, broadly defined as the totality of human expressions and activities, provides the context for understanding pre-colonial labour culture. The session aims to discuss the nature of this labour culture and how workers acquired training for productivity and efficiency across various kingdoms, chiefdoms, and empires.

Learning Outcomes for Study Session 11

At the end of this session, you should be able to:

• Discuss the nature of pre-colonial labour culture in Nigeria.
• Highlight how the pre-colonial workforce acquired training for productivity at work.

11.2 Labour and Culture in The Pre-colonial Period

Pre-colonial Nigerian society was built upon a communal economic system, prioritizing the expansion of social relationships over monetary gain. Key features of this labour system included:

• Absence of Wages or Remuneration: Labour was generally not compensated with salaries.
• Family Unit as Primary Labour Source: The family, especially women with many children, provided significant manpower for productive activities. Polygamy was encouraged to ensure an adequate labour supply.
• Mutual Reciprocal Culture: Collective contributions were common for community development projects (e.g., building, renovation, road construction). Young men offered labour without fee.
• Obligation to Feed Workforce: Chiefs or age-grade heads were responsible for feeding community members involved in collective work.
• Labour Scarcity: Despite abundant land, factors like low life expectancy, high infant mortality, epidemics, raiding, and kidnapping led to a scarcity of human labour.

Group Farming Methods:

To address labour needs and promote efficiency, various collective farming systems existed, particularly among the Yoruba, Igbo, Edo, and Hausa peoples:

• Family Group Work: Male family members worked together on family land under the eldest man's supervision, with proceeds shared or used for family obligations.
• Aro (Yoruba): A labour exchange system among age-mates, where individuals helped each other on their farms in rotation. The host fed the helpers.
• Owe (Working Bee): Practiced among relatives and in-laws, this involved coming together to help a needy member without expectation of reciprocity. The beneficiary showed appreciation by feeding their benefactors.
• Nabo: Youths helped each other work on their fathers' farms seasonally, often concluding with feasting. Participants were younger than in Aro and still dependent on parents.

Wealthy farmers also employed labourers for continuous farm work.

Economic Activities and Labour Recruitment:

• Subsistence Farming: The primary economic basis, focused on food crops for consumption and surplus for local trade. Implements were traditional and simple (hoes, cutlasses, axes), leading to low productivity.
• Insurance Institutions: Communal systems like 'Apo Ijo' (Otu), Esusu, Aro, Ogbo, Isusu, and mitiri clubs provided social security, credit, and support for funerals, marriages, sickness, or losses.
• Slavery and Slave Trade: An important means of labour recruitment for both domestic and agricultural work. Slaves were forced to work without remuneration and were considered property. The trans-Saharan slave trade fueled this system, with regions like Borgu serving as sources.
• Other Occupations: Non-agricultural activities included mat making, craft workmanship, mining, and trading. Animal husbandry was also significant. Hunting was an exclusive male vocation, particularly in Idanre, and often occurred during the dry season. Gathering wild fruits and vegetables supplemented farmed produce.
• Crafts and Manufacturing: Production of calabashes, pots, jewelry, beads, glass, and leatherworks was common. The cloth industry (cotton, yarns, threads, dye) was widespread.
• Trade and Revenue: Trade routes and markets facilitated inter-community exchange. Kingdoms levied taxes, tolls, and received gifts from traders as a source of revenue for public needs and private desires. Toll collection was managed by chiefs with minimal coercion.

The Introduction of Wage Labour (Colonial Period):

• British colonial policies in the 20th century introduced remuneration for labour.
• Colonial administration needed a workforce for infrastructure (roads, railways), public works, plantations, and mining.
• The concept of salary emerged, paving the way for trade unionism in the 1930s.
• Colonial capitalism, driven by profit, led to exploitation and poor worker welfare, prompting resistance and the formation of labour unions.
• Wage labour transformed the communal production system, fostering a new economic culture of saving, budgeting, and accumulation, and contributing to the rise of a new Nigerian elite.

In-text Questions and Answers (from Section 11.2):

1. The pre-colonial labour system in many communities in Nigeria did not attract: b. Wages or remuneration.
2. In the pre-colonial period, people kept large families and maintained polygamous families in order to: d. Ensure adequate labour supply.
3. Slavery was also an important __________ both for domestic and agricultural activities. a. means of labour recruitment.
4. In the Hausa states, the peoples most often relegated to the tending and harvesting of agricultural crops were: b. Captives.

11.3 Pre-colonial Manpower Development and Productivity

Pre-colonial societies employed effective indigenous education systems to prepare individuals for productive labour, focusing on skill acquisition and community integration.

Skill Acquisition and Training:

• Family and Community-Based: Skills were acquired through professionals within the family and community. Boys often followed their fathers' occupations (farmer, fisherman, blacksmith) or were apprenticed to other men to learn trades and life etiquette (e.g., archery, tree climbing, wrestling).
• Intellectual Training: Boys learned critical thinking, arbitration, oratory, and proverbs by observing and listening to elders at meetings.
• Girls' Education: Girls typically stayed home, learning domestic skills (cooking, sweeping, weeding), as well as hair weaving, body decoration, and cloth dyeing from their mothers.

Characteristics of Traditional Education:

• Comprehensive: Provided training in physical, intellectual, social, vocational, and character development.
• Social Integration: Equipped individuals to fit usefully into their society and contribute to kinship development.
• Limitations: Lacked a writing system, relying heavily on memory, which meant knowledge could be lost if a skilled custodian died.
• No Unemployment: The system ensured that everyone had a role and skills to contribute.

Communalism and Work Ethic:

• Household Role: The household (man, wives, children, relatives) was crucial for goods and services production.
• Collective Development: Societies emphasized collective well-being over individual wealth accumulation. The rich were obligated to help the poor, and the property of wealthy members was considered communal.
• Inclusive System: Ensured that the less privileged (old, sick, unemployed) were cared for.
• Motivation: Economic activities were primarily aimed at strengthening social relationships and cohesion, not personal financial gain or remuneration.
• Organized Markets: Existed alongside "non-capitalized" methods for land sales, hiring labour, and raising money.

In-text Questions and Answers (from Section 11.3):

1. In the pre-colonial period, skills for occupational development were acquired through: c. Professionals within the family and community.
2. In spite of regional differences, traditional education among people especially the Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo equipped individuals to: a. fit usefully into their society workspace.

11.4 Summary of Study Session 11

This session highlighted that pre-colonial Nigerian society operated on a communal economic system, where economic activities aimed at broadening social relationships rather than accumulating wealth. Labour was typically unwaged, with family and community units serving as primary sources of manpower. Slavery and the slave trade also played a significant role in labour recruitment. The introduction of wages and remuneration coincided with British colonial policies in the 20th century, which sought indigenous labour for administrative and infrastructural projects, leading to the development of trade union activities. Skills were predominantly acquired through traditional, family- and community-based education, with boys learning trades from fathers or apprenticeships, and girls gaining domestic and craft skills from mothers.

Self-Assessment Questions (SAQs)

1. How were people trained for productive labour in the pre-colonial period?
2. Explain the features of pre-colonial labour culture in Nigeria.
3. Highlight the development of wage labour in Nigeria.

11.10 References/ Suggestions for Further Reading

The document provides a list of academic sources for further reading, covering various aspects of Nigerian economic history, including indigenous social structures, population movements, trade, and the Yoruba toll system. Authors include Ajiola F.O., Demedeiros F., Ekundare R.O., Falola T., Hopkins A.G., Odamo S.F., Ogunremi G.O., Olutayo O.A., Oyemakinde W., and Samuel J.