An Appraisal on The Imposition of Colonial Rule in Western Idoma Land in The 19th century
This study examines the incursion of British colonial rule in western Idomaland and the nature of resistance to colonial rule with a view to interrogate the changes introduced in the study area at the time and to understand the legacies of colonialism in the context of postcolonial socio-political and economic development. The paper argues thatthe traditional socio-political structures of the study area were dislocated by the very nature, philosophy and structures of British colonialism as elsewhere in Africa. The use of both primary and secondary sources was employed in arriving at the conclusions in the study. Extant sources on colonialism were consulted, archival documents and oral interviews were also conducted in the six districts of western Idomaland as follows: Edumoga, Ichama, Okpoga, Otukpa, Orokam and Owukpa to achieve the objectives of the paper. The paper recommends that strengthening the existing traditional socio-political institutions is imperative for the socio-economic and political development of the study area.
Keywords: 19th, appraisal, century, colonial, idoma, imposition, land, rule, western