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In this insightful book, development historian Bekeh Utietiang Ukelina addresses the crisis of development in Africa by locating it in its colonial historical past. Using Nigeria as a case study, he argues that the nature and practice of British colonialism in this colony created social and economic deficiencies that have left a legacy of underdevelopment.
Ukelina outlines the processes that led to the 1945 Nigerian Development Plan and the evolution of colonial agricultural policy and practices in Nigeria. He argues that a few key factors led to the failure of development in the late colonial period: the imperial and neocolonial imperative to exploit African resources and people, poor planning as a result of this imperative, and the racial ideologies of the colonial state that resulted in a total rejection of local African experience and knowledge in favor of Western 'experts.'
The Second Colonial Occupation uncovers and analyzes the short and long term impact of colonialism. It reveals that though colonial rule was promoted as a benevolent mission, at heart, it was a system that guaranteed that Africans continuously paid for their own exploitation. Ukelina argues that 'postcolonial' Africa will continue to face development challenges unless it breaks free from the intellectual relics of colonial rule and the economic shackles of neocolonialism.
List of contents
Chapter 1: Joseph Chamberlain, Constructive Imperialism, and Colonial Development
Chapter 2: Negotiating Development: Nigeria's 1945 Development Plan
Chapter 3: The Agrarian Bias: Mackiean Policy of Agricultural Development in Nigeria
Chapter 4: Late Colonial Agricultural Development: The Mokwa Scheme
Chapter 5: The Legacies of British Rule in Nigeria
About the author
Bekeh Utietiang Ukelina is an Assistant Professor of History and Africana Studies, and the Associate Director of the Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies, State University of New York, Cortland.
Summary
This book addresses the crisis of development in Africa by locating it in its colonial historical past. Using Nigeria as a case study, it argues that the nature and practice of British colonialism in this populous African colony created social and economic deficiencies that have left a legacy of underdevelopment.