Oil Exploitation, Neglect of Coal and the Ngwo Society, 1909 - 1987

Abstract

Coal was one of the catalysts of the Industrial Revolution which started in England and spread to other parts of Europe. It provided the main source of primary energy for industry and transportation. The spread of coal mining to Africa was as a result of European conquest and subsequent colonization. The conquest of Ngwo in 1908 led to the discovery and eventual mining of coal in Enugu-Ngwo from 1915. In the period exploitation lasted, coal from the town furnished the energy needed for transportation, industrialization and urban development in Nigeria. It also provided direct and indirect employment to people across Europe and Africa and as well facilitated international trade between Nigeria and her partners across the world. Since petroleum was discovered in Nigeria in 1956 and as was found a better alternative to coal in terms of energy and wealth generation, the coal industry suffered neglect and gradually collapsed. How the collapse of the coal industry as a result of the rise of petroleum affected Ngwo people is the central theme of this paper. It contends that, though petroleum is regarded as a source of wealth to Nigeria, it is, nonetheless a source of poverty to Ngwo people. The British colonialists dispossessed them of massive farmlands upon which they operated their local economy to set up the colliery and other facilities. Also, more than 8,000 of the people who contributed their youthful years mostly as miners lost their jobs without compensation. The development prospects especially under corporate–social responsibilities and employment generation which the people ought to benefit from with the continued existence of the coal exploitation were lost with the demise of the industry. Primary sources constitute greater percentage of the sources deployed for this historical reconstruction. They include oral tradition granted by reliable informants and source materials acquired from the National Archives Enugu. They are be augmented by secondary sources which include books, journal articles and other un-published materials. Available facts will be analyzed using qualitative research methodology.