BENIN PROVINCE

he study aimed to examine British economic activities with particular emphasis on forest resources exploitation and utilisation in the Benin Province of colonial Nigeria. The objectives of the study were, to examine the background to the British colonial forest exploitation in Benin, to examine the Pre-colonial Benin forest and utilisation, to examine colonial rule forest policy and exploitation in Benin Province. Furthermore, to elucidate the processes of forest exploitation and utilisation in colonial Benin, and to analyse the impacts of forest exploitation on the local people and their environment. Both primary and secondary data were used in this study. The primary data included oral tradition, archival materials, and unpublished dissertation and thesis. The secondary data include published books, journals, newspapers, and magazines. The Internet was also sourced for materials and Internet sources. The primary data including oral interviews were obtained through unstructured interviews, visits to the national archive, Ibadan and the National Institute for Benin study. The secondary data were collected from different libraries such as the John Harris Library University of Benin, Department of Agricultural Science Library University of Benin, Kenneth Dike Library University of Ibadan, and online libraries such as the Jstor Library and Research Gate Library. The various data collected were subjected to critical analysis and interpretations to arrive at an objective conclusion. Qualitative analysis is the process of gathering, evaluating and interpreting non-numerical data such as interviews, raw documents like archival materials as well as textbooks and journal articles to create new
research ideas or get a deeper understanding of concepts, views, experiences, or events. The research found out from the bacKground of the study that British interest in Benin territory was motivated by economic reasons. In addition, the study found out that before the British rule, the people of Benin had an effective management of their forest to the extent that it was beneficial to the overall interest of everyone. The work also found that consequent upon British rule, forest policy became an integral aspect of the British authorities in the province. Furthermore, the study established that complex techniques and strategies were adopted in the exploitation and utilisation of timber forest products. More so, the study found out that forest exploitation had economic, socio-political and environmental impacts on the local people