PRE-COLONIAL

ECONOMI C HI STORY
OF NIGE RIA

EDITED BY

O.N. NJOKU
C o n t e nt s
TRADE CURRENCIES IN PRE-COLONIAL NIGERIA
B y S . O . A g ha l i n o 85

ii
 CHAPTER SEVEN

TRADE CURRENCIES IN PRE-COLONIAL NIGERIA

S.O. Aghalino

Introduction
Eurocentric writers and commentators on West African economic history in general and
Nigeria in particular assumed that the people in this region failed to develop a monetary system
that could facilitate trade. In fact, it was claimed that trade was conducted essentially-by barter.
Even those that conceded that there were some modicum of currencies, saw them as articles of
trade because they were purported to lack the major features of modern money. 2 Consequently,
it was stated that a capital market did not evolve.3 It must be said that for the Nigerian case, the
above contentions are either over-simplication of a very complex issue, or at best a tacit display
of the arrogance of ignorance.
Because trade was a noticeable feature of pre-colonial economy, and money is essential for
any meaningful trading transaction, currencies were not lacking in pre-colonial Nigeria. Trade,
involved multilateral relations and most goods were not readily inter-changeable and money played
the function of a medium of exchange. It must be said however, that when the economy of Nigeria
was still at its embryonic stage, in the absence of money, exchange was essentially done by barter
system; with its attendant problem of double coincidence of wants. But as time wore on, prices
were assessed through standard currencies which gradually received general acceptance as medium
of exchange. Thus, before the Nigerian economy was dominated by the merchant houses from
Liverpool, Glasgow and London, the people had a well entrenched currency system. The
currencies included brass rods, manilla, copper wires, cowries, iron rods, cloth and salt. Where
guns were accepted as a medium of exchange, as was in the Niger Delta, they were usually valued
in terms of the manilla. Also, slaves were used as units of accounts but not a s a medium of
exchange.
When the British infiltrated into the Nigerian region, there was a deliberate attempt to
demonetise these currencies in order to facilitate their exploitation of the people. Thus, tendentious
attempts were made to control the monetary system through the massive importation of British
currencies on the assumption that local currencies did not exist in Nigeria. The irrationality of the
above perception by the British need not delay us here, as at the beginning of the contact between
Nigeria and Europe, the various pre-colonial currencies were recognised as legal tenders.4 What
needs stressing is that the various trade currencies in Nigeria in the pre-colonial period are best
remembered in their last and debased form, when in actual fact, they had behind them centuries
of useful existence before their demise. The purpose of this chapter is to attempt to critically
examine the major currencies in Nigeria against the background of their utility and their
weaknesses. Their spread within Nigeria would also be analysed. It is hoped that this analysis
would go some way in debunking the erroneous views held about the pre-colonial currency
situation in Nigeria.

Major Trade Currencies Anatomised

The use of currencies in the Nigerian region in the pre-colonial period was pre-dated by
the trade by barter. As we have stated earlier, this was not the main feature of trade, as many
anthropologist would want us to believe. This-is because their emphasis is on the so called dumb
trade, or the bartering of goods without verbal communication or consultation. It is possible that
in neolithic Nigeria, when needs were simple, and wants uncomplicated, barter was the main
means of exchange. But its major weakness of the double coincidence of wants 5 must have
generated the development of a general purpose currency from about the metal age.
Besides, a monetary system became essential for any meaningful trade transaction, as
commercial transactions became more multilateral, and goods were no longer as readily
interchangeable as before because the barter system could no longer cope efficiently with increase
in the volume of trade. Money, therefore became a necessity to facilitate trade. 6 There were
different types of trade currencies in Nigeria in the pre-colonial period. Evidence seems to indicate
that three varieties of currencies were wide-spread. The first were salt and cloth monies. The
second was metal currencies. Copper and iron rods were in use in different parts of Nigeria.
Manilla, made of brass and copper, was widely used in the Niger Delta region. The third variety
was the cowry shell. The dynamism and vitality of the pre-colonial economy necessitated the
introduction of other currencies. These included the Spanish dollar, the Ackies, Gold and the
Maria Theresa dollar.

The Cowry Currency

Of all ihe types of currencies in use in pre-colonial Nigeria, it would appear that the cowry
had the greatest acceptability and widest spread. The cowry Cypraea Moneta and Cypraea Annulus
were given different names used by the various ethnic groups in Nigeria for it. Marion Johnson, in
an exhaustive article, has shown how ancient and widespread cowries were as currency of
trade." Other scholars such as G.I. Jones.8 A.G. Hopkins9 and A.H.M. Kirke Greene10, have also
focused attention on it. The introduction of the cowry into the Nigerian region was a manifestation of
the intensity of economic bi-lateral relations between Nigeria and the Outside World. According to
Marion Johnson, both the Cypraea Moneta and the C. Annulus were Indian Ocean species, the former
from the Maldive Islands and the latter from the East African Coasts and Islands, especially
Zanzibar. Cowry shells reached West Africa by over-land routes across the Sahara. With the
development of European trade with both India and West Africa in the Seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries, cowries were shipped from India to Europe, and from there to the slave coast."
The commercial relevance of the cowry continued to be felt in most parts of Nigeria up to
the nineteenth century. Cowries were used extensively in internal trade, and with the decline of
the Atlantic slave trade, they became more prominent in the overseas exchange, as export
merchant began to offer them as part payment for palm oil. 1 2 Cowries were used for trade
transaction on the Niger bend possibly before the fourteenth century when Ibn Battuta saw them
at Gao on the Niger. It is possible that the cowry reached Benin via old Oyo. Egharevba has
shown that as early as the sixteenth century, cowry was in circulation in Benin.13 However, it has
been shown in other quarters that some Olive shells were found in large numbers in some West
African beaches and it is therefore possible that the shell currency which the Portuguese found in
Benin consisted of these shells.
Furthermore, in the Yoruba region, cowries were already in use as early as the seventeenth
century.14 In the same vein, the cowry was the principal medium of exchange in Lagos at the
beginning of the nineteenth century.15 There is evidence to suggest that cowries were in use in
Igboland before the advent of the Portuguese.16 Cowries reached Hausaland in the first half of the
eighteenth century and got there from the south. When Clapperton got to Katagun in 1822, the

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cowry currency was already in vogue.17 But it was not until 1850 and 1890 that the cowry reached
Bornu and Adamawa,18 respectively.
The utility and longevity of the cowry as a trade currency and a legal tender could be
sought largely in its usefulness and advantages. The cowry served as an effective measure of value
and a unit of account which made it convenient for%aders to know the value of particular goods in
relation to another and to fix prices on all types of products." Its size and shape made it handy to
carry, convenient to count and, its uniqueness made it impossible to counterfeit, while its
durability made it possible for it to be stored for several years. These peculiar attributes and
advantages made it widely acceptable as a legal tender, and as unit of account for translating small
sums into larger entities. A.G. Hopkins citing Payne shows that in Lagos in the nineteenth
century, the multiplication table for the cowry currency read thus:-

40 cowries =. 1 String
50 strings = 1 head (2,000 cowries)20
10 heads = 1 bag (20,000 cowries)

In the Igbo region, the cowry was calculated partly as follows:-

6 Nkuplu (single shell) = 1 Ekpete or isi-ego

12 Nkuplu = Ego nabo

18 Nkuplu = Ego n'ato21

From the above simple survey of how the cowry was calculated, traders had no difficulty in
accounting for their trading transactions, and other forms of business. They graduated their
accounts into the three major columns of the string, the head and the bag, just the same way as
they accounted for their trading transactions in the colonial period in the pound, shilling and
pence. However, in the second half of the 19th century, the string of cowries was worth less than one
penny. This greatly suited the needs of most pre-colonial Nigerians, whose capacity for monetary
accumulation was low." One advantage which the cowry had was that it was uni-denominational and
this made it easy for people who did not understand one another's languages to engage in trade as
long as they were numerate. Also, no change was required, whether the trader counted his cowries
in tens or even in twenties. Akinjogbin has shown that English traders in Yoruba land saw the
usefulness of the cowry and integrated it into their accounting system. 23

The cowry, as a trade currency in pre-colonial Nigeria, has been subjected to a lot of
criticisms. It was said to be inadequate for market transactions. The cowry was seen as a
caricature of what a currency should be; it is claimed that it lacked the three major features of
money; namely:- intrinsic value, scarcity and portability.24 It is also alleged that as there was no
government control of its supply, its value fluctuated sometimes violently and in most cases,
intermittently. But this problem is not peculiar to the cowry as a currency. Like all forms of
currencies, its value sometimes appreciated or depreciated. But, perhaps, it major weakness as a
trading currency was that its was very cumbersome to earn' in large quantities. 25 But despite this

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 problems, the cowry performed the function of money. The cowry lacked a convenient unit of
high denomination. This, undoubtedly, was a major constraint when a large sum of money was
needed in a trading transaction. For example, one bag of cowry weighed about a hundred pounds,
and this posed considerable transportation problems.

The Manilla, Copper Rods, Brass, Iron Money and Wires

Cowries were understandably the dominant, but not the sole currency of trade in pre-colonial
Nigeria. The expansion of overseas trade in the nineteenth century inevitably brought to the fore
the inadequacy of the cowry as a legal tender, and this led to the introduction of alternative
currencies that could facilitate trade transactions. The Manilla, copper rods and brass rods were
the dominant currencies in some parts of Nigeria. In the Niger Delta and Old Calabar, brass rods
were widely used as trade currencies, while the copper rods and the Manilla were also noticeable
in the Oil Rivers.26 In the Southern and Eastern areas of Igboland, Ibibioland and the Annang
country, the manilla was the major currency. Walter Ofonagoro has shown that the manilla
comprised five varieties. These were the Atorni or Wa-A-Hono Manilla, used more particularly
at Bonny, Opopo and Akwete; Arna-Ogono-lgbiki which was predominant at New Calabar and
Okirika. There was also the Ferekule or Ono-Odo Manilla which appeared to have been used at
such places like Akwete, Ohambele. Asa, and Oboneo, as well as the Awo-Navo Manilla used
mostly at New Calabar.27
Copper rods and copper wires were also widely used in pre-colonial Nigeria as trade
currencies. They circulated widely in some parts of the Niger Delta, and before the eighteenth
century, in Borno. The Borno government even minted copper coins in the eighteenth century. It
is pertinent however, to add that the origin of copper rods and copper wires is a moot point. Paul
Bohannan and G.I. Jones think that they were imported from Europe. But Jones adds that it was
originally a trade currency between Europe and Africa and that it was later adopted as a domestic
currency.28 The copper rod would appear to be indigenous to the Nigerian region. Latham, has
shown that the Europeans may have copied the existing domestic currency in Calabar.29 A similar
copper currency was reported to have been in existence in the Niger region not far from Calabar,
by Ibn Battuta in the Niger region in the fourteenth century long before the European contact with
the Cross River. In the case of the copper wire, it seems more plausible to suggest that it was
indigenous to Nigeria. This suggestion is based on the large number of copper wires unearthed
at Igbo-Ukwu Professor Thurstan Shaw, and radio-carbon-dated to the tenth Century.3* The finds
challenged the prevalent Hamitic explanation by which their foreign origin had been justified.
In the area to the north and east of Awka, another currency was used predominantly for trade
transactions. This was the Umumu (iron money). Scholars have shown that the Umumu was
probably widely circulated in Nigeria, as it was thought to have spread to Idoma and Tivland
judging from the reports of W.B. Baikie. 31 The Umumu may as well have been in use in the
Southern and Cross River area before the predominance of brass rods and mannilla squeezed it
out of circulation.32 The Umumu, according to Basden, "consists of tiny pieces of iron resembling
small squashed tin-tracks, half an inch in length with narrow shaped heads and stems, about the
thickness of a large pin". 33 The Umumu was minted at Awka largely for the purchase of slaves.
In these areas it was used as a legal tender, and it took the place of cowries as a subsidiary
currency. A similarly shaped currency was found in the Benue valley. The Egede ethnic group
in Benue had the iron money which they referred to as Okobo and Vbeje. In the Bauchi area, the
iron money was known and used. The iron money was called Kanta in Bauchi A recent
excavation in the Niger Delta led to the discovery of iron currency also.
Brass rods, copper wires and Manilla were bedevilled by a number of problems. For example,
the transportation of a large quantity of the manilla required special arrangement. Besides, it has
been argued that the need for transporting large quantities of the manilla and the brass, rods
encouraged slavery and the slave trade. It has been alleged that it created the need for porters to

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carry these currencies to the market. Just like the cowry, the brass rod, the copper wire and the
manilla, being of low unit value, were also difficult to count.
The manilla, brass rods and the cooper wires were definitely cumbersome and could not have
been carried about conveniently by one person. However, thirty shillings worth of manilla or brass
rod was a lot of money, and so very few people could have had the need to carry such money on a
regular basis.34 But, three hundred and sixty British copper pennies, or a hundred and twenty three
penny pieces may have been less cumbersome to carry than their equivalence in manilla or brass
rods; yet they were not in any way more convenient to count and carry about. It follows, therefore,
that these British coins would also have presented the same counting and transportation problems
posed by the brass rods and the manilla. In fact, when the British currency became widespread in
Nigeria, market women normally carried their coins in a special cloth purse designed for the
purpose.

Salt and Cloth Money

Other forms of commodity currencies were also available in pre-colonial Nigeria. For
example, salt and cloth money were widely used as legal tenders. Cloth money was found in many
parts of Nigeria, but was dominant pnly in areas where cowries had failed to penetrate deeply. It
was widely used as currency in Kanem-Borno and was referred to as dandi.^ The Bura-speaking
peoples of Biu, whose most important export commodity was cotton, also used it as currency. 36 The
same thing was applicable to the Tiv who used undyed cloth made of strips sewn together, called
Tugudu or Ikudu as currency.37
In Nigeria, salt was used predominantly as currency in the Niger Delta area and in most parts of
Igboland.38 Salt, moulded into small cones, was a currency at Uburu. The people of Bonny
exchanged for yams from the people of the hinterland. It is possible that the people in the Benue
area may have once used salt as currency because they had important brine springs in places like
Keana and Ankei.39 The great disadvantage of the salt currency was that, if beaten by rain, it
dissolved into a valueless solution.

Other Forms of Currencies and Developments in Existing Ones

The dynamic nature of pre-colonial economy invariably led to the modification of existing
currencies and/or introduction of other forms. In Lagos, for example, there were units of
exchange known as Ackies and Ounces. According to Adams, the unit of exchange in Lagos
shortly before 1800 was as follows:- 16,000 cowries = 16 Ackies = 1 ounce = 2. 40 By about the
middle of the nineteenth century, this system of accounting had declined. In the nineteenth century
also, the Maria Theresa dollar, dated 1870, was very popular in northern Nigeria. Its value in the
1890s stood between 3/- and 4/6. But the major problem with the Maria Theresa dollar was that
it was often counterfeited in lead in Kano. 41 In Lagos also, the Spanish and American dollar was
in circulation, and was the first metal currency in that area. The usefulness of the Spanish dollar
lay in the fact that it easily facilitated large transactions for which other forms of pre-colonial
currencies were not suitable. Besides, the Europeans and Brazilians who supplied it were also
willing to accept it in return for the goods they sold.42 Certain currencies, such as the iron bar, the
copper rod and perhaps the manilla, formed an upper tier currency, while cowries, and other items of
low value constituted lower tier currencies. In the Cross River sub-region, the copper rod was split
into wires of lesser value to facilitate trade. The two tier arrangement was not aimed at restricting
exchange in the rather controversial manner that Paul Bohannan sees a three tier arrangement among
the Tiv.43 Rather, in spite of the fact that these currencies overlapped, they never acted as a drag on
trade. 44 What could be said in summary is that the various currencies in pre-colonial Nigeria, to a
large extent, facilitated trade inspite of their apparent weaknesses.

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 Transactions with the Various Currencies
Transactions with the various currencies were made in places where they were accepted as
legal tender. Traditional rulers even employed these currencies for running their administrat'on. 45
The currencies also made it possible to establish a capital market where people could borrow
money. They thus facilitated the process of raising capital internally and this aided economic
growth and development. Thus, through the use of these currencies, institutions for capital
formation came into being in different societies in pre-colonial Nigeria. The most widespread was
the isusu, which was operated among the Yoruba, Igbo and Ibibio. 46 The isusu "provided credit on
generous terms to members who collected the total contribution of members in turns, according to
an agreed formula. They were therefore savings and credit associations that required neither
collateral nor interest to operate successfully. After every member had taken his share, the
association could then be disbanded, or it could commence again. Among the Ngwa Igbo, the
ilsusu was a major source for capital formation for discharging obligations like marriages and
payment of debts.47
These currencies also aided the extended family in its evolution into an institution for capital
formation, long before the advent of the British. Nafzizer has shown that in pre-colonial Nigeria,
initial take-off capital required by craftsmen was raised from family source. There were also credit
institutions that serviced the operations of long distance traders, for example, money lenders and
exchange brokers. 48 None of these services would have been possible without currencies.

Summary and Conclusion

Pre-colonial production in Nigeria was aimed at satisfying personal needs; yet the idea of
absolute subsistence is no longer acceptable, as evidence abounds in favour of peasant production,
that went beyond subsistence needs.49 The development of commercial exchange is confimed by
the existence of a network of markets, and the vast extent of interregional and intra-regional trade
which characterised precolonial Nigeria. In fact, developments in various aspects of precolonial
Nigerian economy, such as agriculture, currencies, transport, crafts and industries, and trade,
motivated the people to produce far in excess of their immediate needs, and facilitated their
capacity, through the highly organised trading system, for disposing of the surplus. 50
From the above, we can easily appreciate that various currencies facilitated the exchange of goods
in pre-colonial Nigeria. At the initial period, trade by barter prevailed along with limited special
purpose currencies. But the problem of double coincidence of wants which is a major weakness of
trade by barter naturally led to the evolution of other means of exchange, such as the general
purpose currencies that were acceptable for all trading transactions. Before the introduction of the
British currency, some of the major trade or general purpose currencies in Nigeria were cowries,
brass rods, manilla, copper rods and iron money (Umumu). Others that were less general than the
above were Ackies, Spanish or American dollars, Maria Theresa Dollar, salt and cloth money.
Thus, a variety of currencies were in circulation in many pans of precolonial Nigeria. This
chapter has hopefully shown that major trade currencies were not lacking in Nigeria before the
advent of the British. These currencies, were adequate as means of exchange, and they
facilitated economic growth and development in precolonial Nigeria. They also facilitated the
raising of capital, through various institutions such as the isusu and the extended family. From our
discussions in this chapter, it is reasonable to assume that if the use of these various currencies
in Nigeria had not been germinated by our colonial experience, the natural process of evolution
and selective elimination would have led to acceptable currency that would have served the whole
of the Nigerian region.

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NOTES AND REFERENCES

1. For a summary of these views, See Edward E. LeClair and Harold K. Schneider, (edsi.
Economic Anthropology: Readings in Theory and Analysis, (New York: Holt, Rinehart
and Winston, Inc; 1968). Chapters 1, 8 and 9.
2. A.G. Hopkins: An Economic History of West Africa, (London: Longman, 1973), p.67.
3. Officials at the Colonial Office, and Local British Administrators in Nigeria were aware
of the existence of trade currencies in Nigeria. Thus such currencies were listed along "all
English money as well as rods, Manilla and copper wires. But when the British decided
to demonitise these currencies, they were referred to as "trade goods. For details, see
Walter Ofonagoro, Trade and Imperialism in Southern Nigeria; 1881-1929, (Lagos:
NOK, 1979) p.249; G.I. Jones, "Native and Trade Currencies in Southern Nigeria During
the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries", Africa, Vol.28, No.l, 1958 p.43.
4. Ibid.
5. S.A. Olanrewaju, "The Infrastructures of Exploitation: Transport, Monetary Changes,
Banking etc", in Toyin Falola (ed.) Britain and Nigeria: Exploitation or Development'1.
(London: Zed Books Ltd., 1987), p.272.
6. Toyin Falola el. ai, History ofjVigeria I, (Lagos: Longman, 1989) p.-145.
7. Marion Johnson, "The Cowry Currencies of West Africa", JAH, Part I, 1, 1, 1970.
8. Jones, "Native and Trade Currencies".
9. A.G. Hopkins, "The Currency Revolution in South Western Nigeria in the Late
Nineteenth Century", JHSN. Vol.Ill, 3, 1966 pp.471-483.
10. A.H.M. Kirke-Greene, "The Major Currencies in Nigerian History" in JHSN, 2, 1, 1960.
pp. 132-156.
11. G.I. Jones "Native and Trade Currencies", p.48.
12. A.G. Hopkins, The Currency Revolution..., p.472.
13. See J. Egharevba, A Short History of Benin (Ibadan University Press, 1960), pp.30-31
14. I.A. Akinjogbin, "The Economic Foundation of Oyo Empire in the Eighteenth Century",
in LA. Akinjogbin and S.O. Osobo (eds.), Topics on Nigerian Economic and Social
History. p.38.
15. J. Adams. Remarks on the Country Extending from Cape Palmas to the River Congo
{London. 1823), p.240.
16. A.E. Afigbo, "The Economic Foundation of Pre-colonial Igbo Society" in LA.
Akinjogbin and S.O. Osoba (,eds) Topics ... p. 14; see also G.T. Basden Among the Ibos
of Nigeria (London 1921), p. 188.
17. Marion Johnson. "The Cowry Currencies ...", p.33.
18. Ibid.
19. Toyin Falola; History of Nigeria ... p.145.
20. J.A.O. Payne, Payne's History of Lagos and West African Almanack'and Diary, 1875,
1879 cited in A.G. Hopkins, The Currency Revolution ...", p.472.
21. See G.O. Ogunremi; Counting the Camels: The Economics of Transportation in Pre-
Industrial Nigeria. (London: NOK. 1982), p.43.
22. A.G. Hopkins "The Currency Revolution...", p.472.
23. LA. Akinjogbin: "The Economic Foundations of Old Oyo ...", p.39.
24. C.H. Robinson. Hausaland or 1500 Miles through Central Sudan, London; 1810) pp.
155-6.
25. G.O. Ogunremi; Counting the Camels ... p.43.
26. G.T. Basden, Among the Ibos .... p. 198.
27. Ibid. p.200; Walter Ofonagoro, Trade and Imperialism, p.253.
28. Jones: "Native and Trade Currencies".... p.48.

91
29. A.J.H. Latham: "Currency, Credit and Capitalism in the Cross River in the Pre-colonial Era"
in JAM, 12, 4,. 1961 p.599.
30. See Thurstan Shaw; Igbo-Ukwu. (London: Faber and Faber, 1970). pp.106, 107, 204-262.
31. Afigbo; "Economic Foundation of Pre-colonial Igbo Society", p. 14.
32. Ibid.
33. G.T. Basden, Among the Ibos. p. 198.
34. Walter Ofonagoro, Trade and Imperialism, p.260.
35. Thomas Hodgkin; Nigerian Perspective, An Historical Anthology: (London. 1975), p.97.
36. For details see, R. Cohen; "The Evolution of Hierarchical Institutions: A Case Study from
Biu, Nigeria", Savanna, 1974, p. 102.
37. D.C. Dorward, "Pre-colonial Tiv Trades and Cloth Currency", International Journal of
African Historical Studies, 1976, pp.582-3.
38. Types of Nigerian Salt include Sea Salt, Mineral Salt and vegetable salt.
39. For elaborate discussion of salt in this region See A.C. Unomah; "The Lowlands Salt
Industry", in E. Isichei (ed) Studies in the History of Plateau State, Nigeria, (London, 1982),
pp.151-178.
40. J. Adams; Remarks on the Country, p.240.
41. E. Isichei; A History of Nigeria, (London: Longman) p. 107.
42. A.G. Hopkins "The Currency Revolution ..." p.372.
43. Paul Bohannan, "Some Principles of Exchange and Investment Among the Tiv", American
Anthropologists, 57, 1, 1955. pp.60-70; For a Contrary opinion, See A.J.H. Latham;
"Currency, Credit and Capitalism"... p.600.
44. A.G. Hopkins, An Economic History ..., pp.68-70. See also David Northrup; Trade Without
Riders; Pre-Colonial Economic Development in South Eastern Nigeria. (Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1978), pp.157-164.
45. R.O. Ekundare, An Economic History of Nigeria, 1860-1960; (London: Methuen and Co.
1973), p.38.
46. Shirley Ardner, "The Comparative Study of Rotating of Credit Associations", Journal of the
Rural Anthropological Institute. 94,2, 1964. pp.201-229.
47. For details see: Anthony Nwabughogu, "The Isusu: An Institution of Capital Formation
Among the Ngwa Igbo; Its Origin and Development to 1950", Africa, 54, 4, 1984. pp.49-58.
48. For a succinct discussion of the activities of money lenders, See Toyin Falola; "My friend,
the Shylock; Money Lenders and their Clients in South-Western Nigeria", Journal of African
History, 34, 3, pp.403-423.
49. Gloria Thomas - Emeagwali, "Class Formation in Pre-colonial Nigeria", (nd) Mimeo p.4.
50. Toyin Falola; The Political Economy of a Pre-colonial African State Ibadan, 1830-1900, (He
Ife: University of Ife Press. 1984). p.87.

92