Abstract

"Gold Production in Nigeria since 1913: A Study of Reinvention"

Ajibade-Samuel Idowu, Department of History, University of Ibadan (bigsamaji2008@yahoo.com)

This work examines the changes and continuities witnessed in the gold extractive industry in Nigeria since its inception in 1913. Gold was first discovered in the northern provinces of Nigeria notably in Zaria, Nupe, Kotangora, Niger, and Sokoto in 1913. Mining and production began in 1914 with an output of 350 ozs and reached a peak in the 1930s, with an annual average of 20,000 ozs. By 1940, gold was discovered in large quantities in the western region in Ilesa. As a result of the 2nd world war, gold production went to the doldrums with the colonial companies abandoning most of the gold mines and production never recovered for so many decades. In the 1960s, attempts were made to revive the industry but the Nigerian civil war prevented the efforts. The Nigerian Mining Corporation established to oversee mining activities tried to revive gold production in the 1980s, but its efforts also failed due to lack of adequate funding. Between the 1970s and early 2000s, the production of gold in Nigeria was extremely low until about 2008 during the economic recession and high inflation. Gold production increased reaching its highest production level of over 23000kg in 2016. It continued in 2017 when more than 30 exploration licenses for gold were issued to both individuals and companies interested in gold exploration. This paper specifically brings to the fore the continuous and changing activities of small scale and artisanal miners since 90% of the gold mining in the country is carried out by small artisanal miners, and elucidates how the gold industry served as harbinger of new settlements and population. The study underscores the significant importance of gold to national economic development as a means of provision of employment opportunity and revenue generation and its attendant effect on reduction in crime rate. This work also examines the impact of mining laws and regulations on the gold industry and the overall on effects registered and illegal miners. One vital case of reinvention in this study is the use of new technology in gold mining in Nigeria occasioned by the interest shown by foreign firms in the Nigerian gold industry since the year 2020.