URBAN EXODUS

MIGRATION IN GOBIR (NIGER)* URBAN-RURAL AND RURAL-RURAL

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GHRD S P ~ R

Department of Sociohu, University of Freakg

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Today we are accustomed to reports on rural-urban migration in Africa. The sons of peasants no longer see a future in agriculture. They leave the land and seek their fortunes in the towns. This phenomenon can also be observed in Niger. J. Rouch (1916) has conducted a study on Niger migrants in Ghana. B. Hama (n.d.) published a study entitled “L’exode rural, un probkme de fond” (Rural Exodus, a basic problem).

However, in Niger t h i s is a recent development. During the colo- nial period it was not the towns, but the countryside which was the scene of dramatic events. The old towns and viUages were aban- doned, new land was made arable and new villages were founded. This colonization movement created the basis for the agricultural development of Niger.

Table I shows that during the colonial period the largest towns in Niger were unable to keep up with the development of the total population. If one takes the year 1912 as a basis (index: IOO), the population had doubled by 1936 (index: 197) and almost tripled by 1916 (index: 286). Most towns did not participate in this increase. The capital, Niamey, as well as Maradi, an economic centre, were excep- tions.

Research was carried out between 1967 and 1971 within the framework of a project financed by Friedrich-Ebert-Stifg (I year) and Deutsche Forschunggemeinschaft (6 months). Most results will be published in my ,,Habilitatiomschrift’*: ,,Hcmch& iiber Bauan. Eke Untersuchung zur politischcn Herrschaftsstmktur und zur Ausbreitung eher idunisch-urbanen Kulmr in Gobir (Niger)”. This article was translated by Rosma- rin Heidenreich.

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Urban Exodus 1 Urban- Rtlral and Rural- Rural 225

Statistics for only four towns are available for 1966. They indicate that since the end of the colonial period the towns have been growing more rapidly than the total population. Only now is a quantitatively significant rural-urban migration taking place. The question we shall now examine is why there was an urban-rural migration for a long period of time, and why this process has been reversed since the fifties. This study was undertaken in the province of Gobir in the dkpartement of Maradi. We shall begin with the settlement structure of Gobir at the beginning of the colonial period. The first map was made by a scientific expedi- tion headed by Tilho which explored the area in 1907-08. Information of relevance to the settlement structure is presented in Map I.

The area to the north and northwest of the capital of Tibiri is densely populated. The south, east and west is unpopulated bush except for a few villages immediately south of Tibiri and along the routes to Tessaoua (in the east) and Madaoua (in the west). All the villages in the valley of Gulbin Maradi in the direction of Sabon Birni are marked as being deserted on the map.

The villages in the valley of Gulbin Maradi have been deserted since the military expedition of Voulet-Chanoine. Cazemajou, who travelled from Sabon Birni to Tibiri in March of 1898, found them inhabited (Cazemajou, 1900). Colonel Klobb, who followed Voulet- Chanoine in July of 1899, found the villages burnt down by the ex- pedition and deserted by the inhabitants (Klobb, 1931, p. 183 cont.). Older residents of Gobir confirm that the map indicates approximately the settlement structure immediately before the Colonial conquest (1899). The beginning of the colonization movement in the south is visible on the map. In pre-colonial times, there was only one village here, whereas on the map several are marked.

The settlement structure at the end of the nineteenth century must be explained by the political situation of the time. The Gobirawa were constantly looting the Fulani empire of Sokoto. On the other hand the Fulani raided Gobir, capturing cattle and people alike. The capital of Tibiri, protected by a moat and a high wall, represents a kind of fortress for the villages in the north. Most of these villages are also protected by thorny hedges. The thorny forests in the river valley form natural protection against mounted raiders. For this reason a number of villages are located there, in spite of the great distance from Tibiri and enemy proximity. South of the valley there is only one village which, however, was raided and destroyed at least once by Fulani.

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Urban Exodus I Urban-&a1 and Rwa1-ha1 227

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228 Gerd Spittler

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In fifty years the settlement structure of Gobir has changed entirely, as Map z shows.

Although the centre north of Tibiri is s t i l l the most densely pop- ulated area, the formerly uninhabited bush in the south, west and east has since become populated as well. The time of the founding of the villages in three of five cantons gives some indications as to the colonization.

TABLE 2 : FoMlding of villages in 3 cantons of tbrprminca of Gobir (up fo 195 J )

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before 1899 1911 1938 1949 dateof total 1899 -1910 -1937 -1948 -1933 founding no. of

unknown villages

canton of Tibiri 9 8 22 3 0 8 50

Roumji I I J I4 6 I 3 40 canton of Chadakori I 8 9 I2 '3 8 9 69

canton of Gidan

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Total no. 28 32 48 22 3 20 1.59

Source: Our own investigations in the canton of Tibirii Rapports de TournCes for the other cantons

131 of 119 villages (82%) were founded only during the colonial period. Most of the r8 villages founded before the arrival of the French are located in the middle of the canton of Chadakari (north of Tibiri), which the Tilho map also describes as being a densely settled area. Nine of the remaining ten villages are protected by the river valley, only one being situated to the south of it.

During the colonial period part of the population of Tibiri was steadily moving into the villages in the bush. This becomes obvious from the population statistics :

TABLE 3 : Popnlation Dmlopment in Gobir and in tbs Capital of Tibiri

1912 1936 I954 n index n index n index

Gobir 15.000 I00 37.800 250 57.200 382 Tibiri 4.000 loo 3.580 89 4.150 1x2

Source: Rapporto de Tournte; Rivet, 1912. p. 3 5

Urban Exodw I Urban-Rural and Rwal-Rural 229

The developments in Gobir were similar to what was taking place in the rest of Niger (cf. Table I). We have no statistics for Tibiri for the period before 1912, but we can assume that as in other towns in Niger the population was larger, since the founding of most of the villages emerging from Tibiri took place before this time. After I 9 I 2 Tibiri stagnated in spite of the natural population growth, i.e. part of the population was moving away.

The greatest problem in the founding of a village was neither the lack of land - of which there was plenty everywhere - nor the clearing of the bush - this was quite easily accomplished by burning - nor the building of huts which could be put up within a few days, - but the lack of water. The main task therefore was to dig a well, and the family who performed this task could claim the position of village chief.

After World War II the wells were surveyed for the first time by the colonial administration :

TABLE 4 : Wd& in Gobir

Canton No. of No. of Depth local wells (in meters)

Chadakari Sai! Tibui Gidan Roumji

84 25-75 69 5-94

34 ZO-JO up to 60

The tediousness of well-building is expressed in Table 4 in the well depth. In every canton there are regions where the wells are fifty meters deep and more; one well in the canton of Sae is even 94 meters deep. Thus the eagerness with which individuals left their old villages in order to dig wells and to cultivate land elsewhere is alI the more remarkable. The reports written by colonial administrators repeatedly express surprise at this activity. In a report on the canton of Chada- kari written in 1948 the following observation is made: “The in- habitants are constantly digging new wells and clearing new land”. As an extreme example the village of Gidan Magagi is cited, whose 3 17 inhabitants lived in seven settlements, each of which had its own well.

The village settlements represent only one aspect of the migration movement during the colonial period. There was also a constant and

230 Gard Spitth

widespread movement between the established villages. Between the census of 1936/38 and that of 1945 the total population of Gobir in- creased from 37.800 to 43.500 (an increase of 17,j %).In the individual villages, however, no steady increase could be observed. While the population increased in 141 villages, it decreased in 87.

111

In uamining the reasons which led to these widespread migrations in Gobir, we can identify two interacting processes. The migrations represent. economic as well as political actions of the peasants. The dense settlement in fortified towns, typical of the 19th century, was determined by wars and raids. This had restrictive consequences for agriculture. Only the land in the vicinity of the towns could be cultivated, since otherwise there was the risk of being captured in a slave raid. The fields were surrounded by (planted) thorn hedges to prevent mounted raiders from entering. Old people can describe to this day one had to be on one’s guard constantly while working, to watch for approaching slave hunters. They also report cases of acquaintances who were dragged off into slavery in spite of all safety precautions while working in the fields. As soon as the country was pacified by the colonial powers, the peasants took advantage of the opportunity to settle in the hitherto uncultivated bush.

The colonial administration’s attitude towards the migrations was ambivalent. On the one hand they were advocated for economic reasons, on the other hand administrative complications were feared.

The migrations represented not only economic but also political actions of the peasants. Settlement in the remote bush promised not only better harvests but also greater freedom from the demands of the colonial power (taxes, forced labour, requisitions, military recruit- ment). For various reasons migrations seemed a convenient political reaction for the peasants. There was plenty of land available every- where,while peasants were scarcc.Immigrants were thereforewelcomed everywhere. The most important tools of the peasant (hoe and axe) were cheaply available everywhere. In migration a peasant didn’t leave valuable means of production behind. His hut could be quickly put up anywhere. His cattle possessions were usually small, so that here, too, nothing interfered with his mobility.

The first large flight movement took place in 1899 after the arrival of the Voulet-Chanoine expedition which advanced from Sabon Bird through the river valley to Tibiri, burning, plundering, and murdering.

Urban Exodis I Urban-RwaZ and RwaZ-RwaZ 231

The inhabitants of the villages in the river valley fled (“numerous as locusts”, as an old man observed) into the Sokoto empire, which at that time had not yet been conquered by the British.

In 1904, after the French had established themselves in neighbour- ing Tessaoua but Gobir was not yet part of the French colony, a report observed numerous political migrations between the two areas. Gobir’s King Umaru’s peasants fled into French territory to escape his demands; his rival Almu, who had been dethroned by him, settled in French Kornaka with 100 families. On the other hand peasants from Tessaoua left for Gobir to escape pressure from the French.

After the French had integrated Gobir into their territory in 1907 they were forced to realize how difficult it was to control the popula- tion. In a report dating back to before World War I, it is remarked that the peasants leave their ’ villages at the slightest discontent. Those who stayed behind, forced to fulfill the obligations of those who had I&, also departed for the remote bush. The situation was particularly grave in the villages where officials stayed. “The road and the camps serve as centres of repulsion for the population.” The district officers were undecided as to which strategy they should follow. “The more one leaves them alone the more their taste for independence develops and the more difficult (it becomes) later on to take them in hand.” These reports complained about many scattered villages in Gobir and attributed them to the “population’s spirit of independence”.

The recruitment campaigns during World War I caused many young men to flee to Nigeria. Although normally immigrants from Niger had always been welcome there, this time war solidarity be- tween the British and the French took the upper hand. Deserting recruits were sent back to Niger and the British began a recruitment campaign of their own to support the French (&nett, G-azeteer of Sokoto Province, 1920, p. j4, 56).

In 1918 a report observed: “The Gobirawa have a particular nature to displace their villages”. A few lines later it becomes evident that this is due less to the ‘‘particular nature” of the Gobirawa than to practises of the colonial administration: ‘‘Indeed there is no doubt that the policeman sent to look for men always tries to get them in large villages, which saves him searching in the bush. Also, to avoid a scattering of villages which would have many administrative dis- advantages one must try to keep them in the (already) established villages and not allow departures except in well-justified cases.”

232 Gerd Spittler

At the beginning of the twentieth century compulsory delivery of millet led to renewed mass migrations to Nigeria. The district officer Ptrit later wrote the following comments on the subject in a mono- graph: “In each village requisition announcements were the signal for an exodus to Nigeria, and the hunt for people was organized.”

In the 1930’s colonial policy entered a new phase. The “hunt for people” was replaced by systematic census-taking of the population and cattle at regular intervals; these figures were to form the basis for tax registers and forced labour registers. The peasants’ strategy was either to avoid the census entirely or at least to manage parrial con- cealment. Part of t h i s strategy, in addition to hiding people and cattle, was name-changing, which made comparisons with previous census figures diflicult, and particularly the founding of new villages and migrations to other villages.

In 1933 the local district officer rejected the governor’s thesis that scattered settlements were an advantage for economic and sanitary reasons. He argued that there was sufficient uncultivated land in the vicinity of the established villages and that therefore there was no reason for the migrations. He observed furthermore that often two- way migrations took place between villages, these being justified by the peasants moving either way as being necessary due to poor harvests. The district officer regarded these reasons as mere excuses and considered the real reason to be “the spirit of extreme indepen- dence of the inhabitants of the region” and “the rebellious nature of the Gobirawa”. He then described the peasants’ strategy of moving to a new place, continuing to pay taxes to the old village chief but able to avoid forced labour because of the great distances. The peasant particularly liked to move into border regions of a subdivision, where they were able to elude the police by fleeing into the neighbouring area.

In a report of 1934 there were complaints that the population of the settlements had been incompletely registered in the census. The census took place in the main villages where thousands of people from the surrounding areas were assembled. From now on the colonial ad- ministrators were to conduct the census in each settlement. In the same report it was observed that many people temporarily moved to Nigeria, returning under another name to another village, there escaping registration for several years by bribing the village chief.

Urban Exodur I Urban-Rural and Rwal-Rwal 23 3

Colonization and migration decreased in the fifties and particularly in the sixties. We investigated this phenomenon in the canton of Tibiri. The only genuinely new village founded since 1945 was established in 1965 : Peasants from the arrondissement of Dakoro in the north of Gobir moved south and founded a village near the Nigerian border which due to its rich harvests quickly attracted more peasants from various areas. Migrations between villages also decreased considerably. In 21

villages we investigated in the canton of Tibiti there had been no movements to the village since 1950 in 2/3 of the cases, in 1/3 there were no movements away from the village. In only two cases had a new settlement been founded by migrant peasants. All the rest had moved to established villages @articularIy in Nigeria).

This immobility is also reflected in the building of wells. The time when one could say of the Gobirawa “the inhabitants are constantly digging new wells” has passed. For ten years no well has been dug by peasants in the canton of Tibiri, even though six of 3 5 villages don’t have their own wells. The migration of which we spoke previously originates mainly in these villages. But the number of migrants is small . In no case did they attempt to dig new wells; instead they settled in already established villages. How can this immobility be explained? The efFective establishment

of authority over the peasants which no longer allows them any flexibility has caused them to become resigned. When they moved into the bush at the beginning of the colonial period, they could hope to escape administrative pressure. Towards the end of the colonial period and after independence the situation changed radically. The peasants had to realize that the authority system to which they were subjected had been perfected and that the burdens were constantly being increased, without much benefit for the peasants. The census system became so perfected that it hardly permitted manipu- lations by the peasants. The relationship between the peasants and the administration no longer represented a situation in which two - albeit unequally matched - parties tried to take advantage of each other, but the administration strengthened its authority over the peasants. The Gobirawa’s “spirit of independence” so often quoted in reports no longer has room to operate and has given way to resig- nation. The tax burden was doubled for the peasants in the short period between independence (1960) and 1967, without the peasants’ having any opportunity to avoid paying.

IV

234 Gsrd Spitthr REPE REN CES

Awxrr (1920). Gazctccr of Sokoto Province. CAZEMAJOU, M. G. (1900), Du Niger VM le Tchad, in: Bulletin du Comtt dc 1’Afrique

GOUVBR”T GiWiuuL DE L’AOF (1912), Statistiqua GMnda, Gorte. Gowmnmmm GhiuuL DE L’AOF (1937)~ Annuairc rtpdstique dc IDAOF 1934-36,

HAMA, B. (n.d.), L’aode rural, un p r o b l h de fond, n.p. KLOan, MUE (1931). A la recherche de Voula, Paris. R ~ ~ U S L I Q U ~ DU NIGER (1963)~ Anuuaire rtatistique 1962, Niamey. R~PUSLIQUE DU NIGER (n.d), Annupke stadstiquc 1967, Niamey. RNZT (1912)~ Notice sur le terntoire militairc du Nigar, Paris. Rouc~ , J. (1956). Miwti~~ au Ghana, Joumnl de la SodttC d a Afncaniates, 24. TXLHO ( I ~ I I ) , Documents sdendfiqucs de la Midon Tilho, 2 vol. Paria

fran+, 10, 1900.

Paria

SUMMARY

During the colonial period not the well known phenomenon of rural exodus but migration from town to country was typical for the province of Gobir and for Niger as a whole. We can as well observe considerable migration between villages. It is the aim of t h i s article to analyze the political reasons for t h i s phenomenon. In consequence of the permanent state of war in Gobix during the 19th century, people prefered settling in fortified places. The South of Gobir was, due to to the raids of Fulani, uninhabited. Since the French occupation at the beginning of this century we observe an urban exodus and migration from village to village which result in the clearing of bushland and the foundation of many new villages. Besides eco- nomical reasons like the renewal of shifting cultivation the migration is caused by political factors. The peasants try to avoid the pressures of the administration by putting as much distance as possible be- tween them and the centers of administration and by constant mobilily. These migrations finish during the fifties and sixties. The administra- tive bodies are now able to control the whole territory especially by improving the census system. Politically motivated migration has now become senseless and has given way to resignation.

RSSUMB

Pendant I’epoque coloniale le Niger et la province Gobir ont vu au lieu du bien connu ccexode rural>> un exode urbain et des migrations entre des villages. Dans cet article j’analyse les raisons politiques pour ce phtnomtne. Au Igtme sikcle la rtpartition de la population ttait

Urban Exoabs I Urban-Rural and RUral-Rwai ‘3 r conditiomde par les guerres permanentes. La population vivait dans des villages fortifids. Le Sud du Gobir, ouvert aux attaques Peulh, n’dtait pas peupld. Dts le ddbut de l’occupation franpise on assiste A un exode urbain et A de nombreuses migrations entre villages. I1 en rdsulte une colonisation de la brousse et la crdation de nombreux villages. Le facteur politique joue un r61e important dans ces migra- tions. Les paysans prennent distance vis A vis des centres admini- stratifs. Leur mobilitd a souvent pour but de se soustraire aux exigen- ces administratives. Dans les anndes 5 0 et 60 ces migrations deviean- nent de plus en plus rares. Le contrble administratif devient plus str ic t grace surtout A un recensement correct. Les migrations ne constituent plus une rQction &cace contre l’administration. Elles font plut6t place i la rdsignation.

Z U S A M M E N F A S S U N G

Nicht das gewohnte Phiinomen der Landflucht sondern Stadtflucht war w’lihrend der Kolonialzeit fiir die Provinz Gobir und Niger insgesamt typisch. Ebenso waren starke Wanderungsbewegungen zwischen Dorfem zu beobachten. In diesem Aufsatz analysiere ich die politischen Griinde fur dieses Phhomen. Im Gobir des 19. Jh. war die Siedlung in befestigten Orten durch den permanenten Kriegs- zustand bedingt. Gobir war im Suden, dem Einfallgebiet der Fulbe, nicht besiedelt. Seit Beginn der Koloniabeit sind ein stadtischer Exodus und Dorf-Dorf-Wanderungen zu beobachten, die eine land- wirtschaftliche Erschlieflung des Busches und zahkeiche Dorf- griindungen zur Folge haben. Neben okonomischen Griinden (Wiedcraufnahme des Wanderfeldbaus) sind fur diese Wanderungen politische Faktoren mangebend. Die Bauern versuchen sich den An- forderungen der Verwaltung zu entziehen, indem sie eine moglichst grok Distanz zwischen sich und die Verwaltungszentren legen und stiindig den Wohnort wechseln. Diese Migrationen gehen in den 5 oer und Goer Jahren zu Ende. Die Verwaltung setzt ihre Kontrolle uber das game Territorium durch (vor allem durch Verbesserung des Zensus-Systems). Politisch motivierte Migrationen werden jetzt sinnlos und machen Resignation Platz.