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The mid-nineteenth century marked a pivotal “structural transformation” in the economic history of Southeastern Nigeria. For nearly two centuries, the Aro Confederacy had maintained a formidable hegemony over the hinterland by acting as the primary agents of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. However, as Great Britain enforced the abolition of the slave trade and the…
The Itsekiri people of the Western Niger Delta played an instrumental role in shaping West Africa’s early modern economy. From the 16th to the 19th century, they emerged as powerful commercial middlemen in the region historically known as the Oil Rivers, a network of deltaic waterways linking inland producers to foreign merchants along the Atlantic…
The Efik of Old Calabar developed one of West Africa’s most sophisticated socio-economic institutions: the “House system,” known in Efik as Ufok. Far more than a domestic family unit, the Efik House evolved into a political, commercial, and judicial structure that shaped the region’s economy for centuries. During the height of Atlantic trade, particularly from…
The comey system was a key feature of commerce in Old Calabar, the main trading center of the Efik people along the Cross River in southeastern Nigeria. From the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries, European ships trading in slaves and later palm oil paid a customs duty known locally as “comey” to Efik chiefs as…
The Efik people of southeastern Nigeria are historically associated with a cluster of settlements along the Calabar River that became collectively known to Europeans as Old Calabar. Among these settlements, Creek Town, Duke Town, and Old Town (Obutung) stand out as distinct political and commercial centers. Each developed its own leadership, social dynamics, and economic…
Ozikoro