5. ANÁLISIS Y DISCUSIÓN DE LOSRESULTADOS
5.6. Jerarquía de valores que manifiestan actualmente los
Market centres in Ibadan could then be described as a meeting point for women from various indigenous and rrygrant communities to inter-relate and interact. This was the case in the 1930s when there were conflicts on the settlement of migrants in Ibadan, but recent developments as a result of the expansion of trade and market centres have led to the establishment of migrants (Hausa) in rural communities.
The search for convenience and better life makes women (migrants and indigenes) come in contact with a new set of people different from their former society which results in adaptation and integration.
The nature of the changes could be described as a re-assessment of the influence of urban development on the activities of women in a post-colonial and multi-ethnic society when compared to the pre
colonial times. Trading still remains the major occupation of women, but there seems to be new gender-trade relations. As it were, Yoruba women in the pre-colonial era are enterprising. The popularity and prestige from the commercial activities enhanced their political positions in their respective communities. Some of the women among whom were Efunsetan Aniwura of Ibadan, Madam Efunroye Tinubu of Abeokuta.2
The colonial phase in Nigerian History provided an interregnum to the peculiar nature of trade relations. Akinwumi’s “Notes on the Yoruba Alajapa and Alarobo contends that women’s commercial activities were affected during colonialism as they continued to dominate small-scale petty business. Yoruba women migrants in town, in spite of colonial developments chose to trade rather than work as labourers and their relative success is attached to long experience in trade. However Afonja described the long experience in trade as a nineteenth century development because the traditional mode of economic co-operation in subsistence production was altered and it affected the nature of gender division of work. Women were actively involved in farming, but the civil wars discouraged women’s participation as a result of insecurity. Hence, the cle?r rut division of work-men as farmers, women as traders was an immediate pre-colonial * VII,
262 The Dynamics o f Inter-group Relations in Nigeria Since 1960
2 O. Akinwumi, “Women Entrepreneurs in Nigeria” Nigerian Culture and Society, Vol VII, no 3, 2000, p. 3.
Market Women and Inter Group Relations in Ibadan Since I960 2< ’
development. Then, it could be upheld that the interregnum in the colonial phase as analysed by Akinwumi was just a change in the nature of enterprise as foreign or modernized products became objects of trade.
Though colonialism,’which ushered in the Lebanese and European trade stations swept off some group of women and theif exit on the other hand welcomed another group of women in Ibadan with new dynamics to inter-group relations. This shall be subsequently analysed in this discourse. Thus, new markets were formed based on commodity specialization.
M a r k e t W o m e n a n d In te r -g r o u p R e la t io n s in Ib ad an
Women form large chunk of the informal sector and emerge as micro entrepreneurs. They have succeeded in creating urban markets in the cities. Initially, women in the rural areas had been used to migrating on irregular basis to areas where there were promising sales. Then, adapting to such in the urban areas appeared less difficult. Furthermore, studies on African women observed that by the 1960s and 1970s, women trooped into the cities to form urban markets because the sole operation of the farm was difficult. Bodija market in the works of Olaoba is an operative model showing the nexus of rural-urban markets across ethnic groups, because the pre-colonial society (traditional) is a precursory to contemporary urban market. The market emerged in 1987 from the relocation of markets in Oje, Oja-‘ba and Orita-merin with specialization in foodstuffs.3 Since then, it has been the combination of the major ethnic groups in Nigeria with the sections harboring the Ibo and Hausa.
The nature of the market is such that it was created to foster inter
group relations among various communities with small markets.
Government’s decision to design and plan the market was meant to ensure proper urban planning. It also symbolizes a rural market scene in an urban setting. As Hodder described the phases of movement for supply of goods, the supply of fruits to Bodija market showed that
1 O. B. Olaoba, Bodija Market in Ibadan, 19871995 (Ibadan: John Archers Publishers, 2000) p. 17.
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264 The Dynamics o f Inter-group Relations in Nigeria Since I960
women travel to sub-urban towns such as Ajia, Badeku, Ipetumodu and so_ on. The emergence of Bodija market has precedence from the existence of markets in migrant communities.
Sango market was originally a cattle market, because Zango the real word is a Hausa word for cattle market.4 The market has existed long before 1960; the cattle were brought from Northern states. It is not apt to describe the dealers and retailers as Yoruba, because the Hausa established their residential quarters around the railway beside the market, more so, they were responsible for moving the cattle to Ibadan.
As trading in livestock developed in Sango market, the fact that it is not absolute for exclusiveness or specialization in a particular article of trade, brought in women from rural communities such as Apete, Akufo, Awotan, Agbaje and so on. These women traded in tomatoes, pepper and onions, with sources of supply from farm produce and from Hausa men who diversified to supply of foodstuffs. However, the establish
ment of Bodija market provided a multiplicity in the movement of traders - Hausa men, Yoruba men and women relocated together.
The relocation to Bodija market introduced and added to the residential communities of the Hausa in Ibadan, the transportation of cattle was diverted to a section in the market referred to as Kara. The emergence of Kara made another Hausa settlement along the railway in Bodija. These were part of the contributory factors that expanded the market, apart from the series of persuasion and coercion that brought in Yoruba women from Oje, Orita-merin, Oja-Oba, and so on.
In the case of Mokola and Sabo markets, they had also been in existence long before 1960. It was a formation of Hausa kola nut and cattle traders with the latter as a major market centre and residential area. The overcrowding of the community (Sabo) made Mokola an alternative for Nupe, Ebira and Ibo migrants.5 It is trite to contend that migrant communities are prone to transforming to markets; this is in line with how Sudarkasa has described the processes of female migration
4 A. Cohen “The Social Organization of Credit in a West African Cattle market"
Africa, Vol 35. no.l, 1965, p. 8.
5 C. Okonjo, “The Western Ibo” in Awe B. (et al), The City o f Ibadan (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1967) p. 9 9.
Market Women and Inter Group Relations in Ibadan Since 1960 265
and innovation of market places as the making of Yoruba women. If not absolutely, this assertion to a large extent is true because the existence of migrant Yoruba women from Ijebu, Ilesa, Ibo among others contributed to the expansion of some Ibadan markets such as Mokola, Old Gbagi, Agbeni, Dugbe and Amunigun. In other words, women traders from these communities facilitated trade in imported consumables from European trade stations which is proximal to these areas and it is unlike the nature of Bodija market. But since it is a characteristic of market to lack exclusiveness in articles of trade, the presence of Hausa men and their roles in the supply of fruits (carrot), dried fish and onions still created a nexus with Bodija market. This is because the relocation of cattle market from Sango which is proximal to Mokola provided complex features to inter-group relations as women traders especially Ibo and Yoruba women (non-indigenes) depended on Bodija market as a source for foodstuff supply.
In addition, the increased congestion in the market, in the late 1990s informed the decision of government to re-create another market site for Hausa cattle dealers at Akinyele on the outskirts of the town.
The purpose was to reduce environmental threat such as incessant smell and traffic hold up. In spite of this it has been a natural phenomenon for markets and residential quarters to spring up in migrant communities coupled with the fact that Onidundu rural market is absolutely proximal to the new Hausa base at Akinyele.
The centrality of market trade and its necessity in urban life has enhanced Bodija market as a nexus for inter-group relations, apart from the fact that there are gender-trade relations; it is a centre for diffusion of languages because there is the need for language mix in transaction and bargaining. Although, the common bargaining language is Yoruba, but the presence of other groups of people has enhanced the use of other languages and in most cases women are the main actors because they are generally better than males in bargaining.6 7
6 N. Sudarkasa, “Women and Migration in Contemporary West Africa” Signs, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, Vol.3,no.l, 1977, p. 188.
7 B. Ojediran, “Odo-Oba: The Village that Feeds the Multitude”, Sunday Sketch, May 27, 1988, p. 8.
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Table 1: Trading Languages in Bodija Market, 1995
No. Commodity Yoruba Hausa Igbo Edo Urhobo Pidgin
traders traders traders traders traders traders
% % % % % %
1 Rice 70 - 15 15
2 Beans 50 30 15 15
3 Cassava 1 0 0 _ .
flour
4 Gari 90 - 5 5
5 Maize 1 0 0 - _
6 Soya beans 30 - 50 1 0 1 0
7 Yam 1 0 0 - _ .
8 Cocoyam 50 - 50 .
9 Plantain 2 0 - 50 30
1 0 Meat 60 30 5 _ 5
1 1 Fish 50 1 0 25 1 0 5
1 2 Vegetables 80 - 2 0 _
13 Pepper 80 - 5 . 5
14 Tomato 70 - 5 5 2 0
15 Onion 60 40 _
16 Okro 70 - 25 . 5
17 Palm-oil 70 - 30
18 Melon 30 - 50 . 2 0
19 Groundnut 30 60 1 0
2 0 Guniea corn 50 50 - - -
-Source: O.B. Olaoba, Bodija Market in Ibadan, 1987-1995 (Ibadan: John Archers Publishers, 2000) p. 70.
The table above shows that each group concentrates most in the articles it produces.
However, the indices depicts a survey of retail traders, by the nature of supply of goods such as beans, onion, tomato, pepper and meat, it is difficult to differentiate the group that outweighs among Hausa men, Yoruba men and women. They are all involved as large scale entrepreneurs (dealers); it is only in retail that women dominate massively.
Market Women and Inter Group Relations in Ibadan Since 1960 267
Bodija market by virtue of the multi-ethnic nature over the years has the feature of multi-ethnic consumers. Given the fact that both Ibo and Yoruba women sustain business in the market, the inter-group relations transcend buying and selling. As observed by Olaoba, it is a centre for recitation of praise poems. The Ibo and Hausa women also opined that they admire the co-operative system (Ajo) by Yoruba women in which some of them are involved and has always been a source of upliftment. Furthermore, the food culture of each ethnic group has been imbibed and consumed by each other.
C o n c lu s io n
Having examined the status and position of women in migratory settlements, it can be said that women migrated and intensified efforts towards attaining a convenient life within the changing nature of the Nigerian society. Since most of the migratory settlements involved women from each ethnic group, the inter-group relations should extend beyond trade. There should be other forms of social interactions which will aim at providing and improving societal welfare, conflict resolution and so on. In order to achieve this there should be an improved medium for interactions and participation. Apart from trade, it seems there are limits to inter-group relations beyond trade because of residential seclusion. Probably, religion might be a binding factor, but most of the missions are based on ethnicity. Furthermore, the uniqueness about women migrants and their relations with the socio-economic variables in the whole community has contributed and facilitated growth and development. Lives of market women are suitable theme to expose inter-group relations, as they tend to understand each other irrespective of religious inclination and apart from the basic economic relations, social relations is vivid because it is a centre for re-enactment of African culture.