Conference Conference Theme

In spite of the major role River Niger has played in the history of West Africa, the river has hardly been a research focus in its own respect, at least as far as it concerns the middle and lower Niger between Gao and the Gulf of Guinea. This conference is an attempt to highlight the river's role in the economic and cultural development of its adjacent societies from the earliest times till date. The river was an important waterway allowing long distance trade between the savannah, the forest and the costal region. It linked up trans-Saharan trade networks with the regions further south and facilitated cultural and linguistic exchange leading to shared or similar institutions and belief systems among many societies on its banks.

With the advent of colonial times the river was an open gate for early European travellers, missionary influence and the Royal Niger Company whose commercial activities preceded colonial occupation. The importance of the river to the colonizers is reflected in choosing the river's name for their colonies Niger and Nigeria. It is not surprising that Lord Lugard declared a British protectorate over Nigeria in the confluence town of Lokoja.

After independence, the eastern stretch of the river lost much of its role as a commercial axis. However, as source of hydro electrical power it still helped to integrate the regional economy. For Niger and Nigeria the river also became loaded with new symbolisms. Especially in Nigeria, the river became an icon of the national sovereignty and unity as it is portrayed in the national flag and crest. Nevertheless, in the context of separatist agitation the stream could also mean division as it is sometimes imagined as a boundary for those wanting to redraw national maps on a regional basis.

This conference attempts at highlighting the river's role as a unifying but also as a dividing factor in the history of West Africa. Contributions are invited from different academic and non-academic backgrounds.