BRITISH COLONIAL LAND POLICIES AND THEIR SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT IN OKIGWE URBAN, 1908-1945

Abstract

This article interrogates the nature, implementation, and impact of British colonial land policies in Okigwe urban between 1908-1945. In this regard, it studies how colonial land acquisition practices reshaped indigenous systems of land tenure, authority, and production within the broader framework of colonial political economy and agrarian transformation. Drawing on archival records, colonial reports, and oral traditions, and relevant scholarly literature, the paper argues that British land policies during the period under review, resulted in significant socio-economic dislocations in Okigwe area, although such policies were often justified in terms of administrative efficiency and economic development. Among other things, colonial land policies resulted in erosion communal land holdings structure, the reconfiguration of local power relations, the commodification of land, and shift in patterns of agricultural production. Furthermore, this article demonstrates that colonial intervention in land facilitated the integration of Okigwe urban into global capitalist economy, primarily through cash crops production and infrastructural development. However, these transformations were neither uniform nor uncontested as local communities put up resistance against colonial policies, finally, the study concludes that the legacy of colonial land policies has continued to shape contemporary land disputes and development challenges in Okigwe urban.