SUMMARY
The historical background of the economic development in Igbanke land, the changes and continuity from the pre-colonial era to 1960. This study has shown the nature and manifestation of the socio-cultural influence on the economic development of the people. It encourages the intermingling of various cultures and determines the way of life of the people. The type of food they eat, how they dress, the crops they grow, their occupations, their festivals and dances, the dieties worshipped, the marriage customs and political institutions are greatly influenced by their proximity to the river or the intercultural relations engaged in, resulting from trade and other forms of relations with other communities at the river bank. Chapter one is the introduction of the study, it gives an overview of the study and provides an understanding of the Igbanke region and the Oligie town. It outlined the aim and objectives of the study, scope of the study which are the areas the study covered, methodology used which is the historical method and the literature review of the materials from which information was sourced from. This was an overview of the study. Chapter two focused on the geography of the river Niger and the Igbanke people. It discussed the traditions of origin of the Igbanke people, their geographical location, the geographical location of the western Igbo people and the geographical location of the river Niger. This was necessitated by the need to understand the geography and climatic condition of the region to better understand the river's impact on the culture of the people 67 as it influenced the food they eat, their dressing, occupation, the deity they worship, customs and relations with other neighbouring communities. The traditions of origin of the people were also studied. It was necessary to understand the traditions of origin of the people before delving to know their culture and how it was impacted by the River Niger. It also helps and attempt to bring to our understanding the status and place of pre-colonial Igbankepeople in the Socio-Political Organization. Chapter three captured the pre-colonial economic activities and how it affected their trade, commerce, agriculture and other economic industry. It examines the main feature of the economy which is agriculture and women’s role in the cultivation of agricultural produce it analyses women involvement in local and long distance trade, articles of trade within and outside Igbanke, the structure of their markets and how trade is conducted and their roles in other indigenous industry Chapter four focused on the changes and continuity of economic activities in Igbanke. This Chapter begins with the nature of British Colonial rule, it examines colonial economic policies and how the people reacted to these changes. It also examines the changes to cash crop production, industries and pattern of trade. It also sees the impact of colonialism on the economic activities of the people, colonial education and Christianity. The increased role of food production continued in colonial and postcolonial Igbanke. During the war period young and adult males directed their energy to improve agricultural activities, leaving the women and children to take care of food production. The varieties of crops planted by women increased, farm land was also more 68 available.3 To meet the challenge of feeding their families, Igbanke people increased their work hours people day from 10-12 to 14-16. They cleared the bush, made mounds, planted seed and seedlings, staked, weeded and harvested. They tried to cope with enormous task by using their children as labour. In conclusion, this study has revealed the changing developmental capacity of Igbanke economic activity in colonial and post-colonial time, in agriculture and industry. On the aspect of education, it is clear from the foregoing that at all levels of education in Igbanke community, the story is the same: inspite of the head start of males education in the land during the colonial era, the female population at all levels of education has fared much better than their male counterpart. This is a sum up of all that is required in this study. Starting from the theme of the historical background of Igbanke people, its origin, its political features and structure, economic features, its social activities. Starting from the theme of the historical background of Igbanke people, its origin, its political features and structure, economic features, its social activities. Hence this study has contributed to the available materials on the topic and would encourage future researchers to research and do more work in this field.
