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THE ROLE OF COMMERCIAL BANKS TO THE INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT SECTOR IN NIGERIA A CASE STUDY UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA (UBA) (1980-2007)

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Agriculture is concerned with the husbandry of crops and animals for food and other purposes.  It is the foundation upon which the development of stable human communities, such as rural and urban communities has depended on in many parts of the world.  The study of economic history provides us with ample evidence that an agricultural revolution is a fundamental pre-condition for economic development.  The agricultural sector has the potentials to be the industrial and economic springboard from which a country’s development can take off.  Indeed, more often than not, agricultural activities are usually concentrated in the less developed rural areas where there is a critical need for rural transformation, redistribution, poverty alleviation and socio-economic development.

The agricultural sector has the potentials to shape the landscape, provide environmental benefits such as conservation, guarantee sustainable management of renewable natural resources, preserve biodiversity and contribute to the viability of rural areas.  Through its spheres of activities at both the macro and micro levels, the agricultural sector is strategically positioned to have a high multiplier and linkage effect on any nation’s quest for socio economic and industrial development.

The growth of the agricultural sector in Nigeria was not smooth. 

Anyanwu (1967) held that during the colonial period between 1861 – 1960, attention was given to agricultural research and extension services.  Among the activities that was done, the first was the establishment of a research station in Lagos by Sir Claude McDonald in 1893.  Landmarks of 10.4 km was acquired by the British Cotton Growing Association (BCGA) in 1899 for experimental purposes strictly for cotton and was named Moor Plantation in Ibadan.

In 1912, the Department of Agriculture was established in each of the then Southern and Northern Nigeria, but the activities of the department were virtually suspended between 1912 and 1921 as a result of the First World War and its aftermath.  The period 1929 and 1945 was a difficult one for the agricultural sector of Nigeria.  This was the period of great depression when the world prices on commodities fluctuated.  This affected the agricultural sector negatively because the volume of agricultural produce increased but the value did not increase proportionately.

The period 1945 – 1954 marked the period of export boom, because countries were just recovering from the Second World War and countries that needed to develop their destroyed industrial sector were many.  They depended on primary product for the beginning stage of industrialization. They needed to revitalize their

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