The smooth move from illegitimate to legitimate trade by states such as Opobo, Itsikiriland and Calar, better known as
Niger Delta City states owes multiple factors. The factors behind include but are not limited to; presence of technocratic leadership, accessibility, availability of favourable climatic conditions and rich soils. This paper seeks to give the reasons behind the success of the Niger Delta states in making a smooth transition to legitimate trade.
Presence of technocratic leadership was essential in allowing Niger Delta City states’ smooth transition to legitimate trade. This is because most Niger Delta City states were under competent, able, capable and insightful leadership which rallied behind the adoption of legitimate trade and the abandonment of illegitimate trade. For example, in Opobo, there was Jaja while in Itsikiriland was under Nana all who were technocratic and diplomats who collaborated with Britain in its attempts to abolish
slave trade. Furthermore, these leaders also used their vast experience-acquired knowledge to impart the skill of plantation agriculture which would enable growth of legitimate crops in their respective states. Therefore, the presence of technocratic leadership was key in Niger Delta City states’ smooth transition to legitimate trade.
Accessibility was another important factor behind the smooth transition made by Niger Delta City states to legitimate trade. This is because the Niger Delta City states by virtue of being in the proximity of the Niger Rivers enabled their contact with European countries and American states. This therefore, meant that these states would easily trade their legitimate crops at ease with foreign trade partners. Hence, accessibility of the Niger Delta City states was a factor behind the states’ smooth transition.
The availability of favourable climatic conditions was also a crucial factor behind the success of Niger Delta City states’ smooth transition to legitimate trade. This is because the Niger Delta region was endowed with favourable climatic conditions such as good temperatures and humidity. For example Opobo has such conditions. These are essential in growing legitimate products like rubber, groundnuts and palm oil. Therefore, the availability of favourable climatic conditions was pivotal in necessitating the successful smooth transition made by Niger Delta City states to legitimate trade.
The availability of rich and fertile soils in the Niger Delta City states also was of significance in triggering the smooth transition of the states in question to legitimate trade. This is because the soils in the Niger Delta region were rich in mineral
composition as well as fertile. For example, the soils of Itsikiriland supported the growth of legitimate crops such as palm oil. Thus, the availability of rich and fertile soils significantly enabled the transition of Niger Delta City states to legitimate trade.
A diversified economy was also crucial in enabling the successful smooth transition to legitimate trade by Niger Delta City states. This is because the Niger Delta City states had multifaceted economies with agriculture, mining and
hunting as segments of their economies. This, therefore made it easy for these states to easily adjust to legitimate trade as they already were into growing legitimate products before the abolition of
slave trade. Hence, the pre-existing diversified economies of Niger Delta City states was vital in the states’ smooth transition to legitimate trade.
To conclude, one can note that there were multiple reasons that can explain the success of Niger Delta City states’ smooth transition to legitimate trade. These include but are not restricted to; presence of technocratic leadership, accessibility, availability of favourable climatic conditions, availability of rich soils and pre-existing diversified economies.
