1

MODIBBO ADAMA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY,

YOLA

20TH
INAUGURAL LECTURE
COTTON REVITALISATION
IN NIGERIA:
THE WAY FORWARD
BY
JUSTICE INYANDA ONU
Professor of Agricultural Economics

WEDNESDAY
5th August,
2015
chairmanship
of

Professor Kyari Mohammed

Vice-Chancellor

Published by:

Lectures and Award of Prizes Committee (LAPC)

Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola
Chairman LAPC
Professor Abel A. Adebayo

ISBN 978-978-948-158-3
Printed by
Paraclete Publishers,
Yola, Nigeria

Wednesday 5th August, 2015

JUSTICE INYANDA ONU

B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D.

Professor of Agricultural Economics

COTTON REVITALISATION IN NIGERIA:

THE WAY FORWARD
The Vice Chancellor and Chairman of this Occasion, Professor
Kyari Mohammed
Deputy Vice Chancellors (Academic and Administration),
Other Principal Officers of the University,
Chairman, Lectures and Award of Prizes Committee,
Deans of Schools and Directors,
Professors and Other Members of Senate,
My Academic and Professional Colleagues,
Great MAUTECH Students,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
INTRODUCTION
Mr. Vice Chancellor, sir, it is a great honour and indeed a rare
privilege to stand before you and this distinguished audience this
afternoon to deliver the 20th Inaugural Lecture of this noble
University. It is with a deep sense of humility and gratitude to the
Almighty God that I appear before you this day as the first
presenter from the Department of Agricultural Economics and
Extension and the fifth from the School of Agriculture and
Agricultural Technology.
The first thing to state categorically as we begin this lecture is that
agriculture is life and it has always remained a critical profession
since it was started by God Himself Who planted the first garden in
the beginning. Thereafter, God assigned the man He had formed to
dress and keep the garden. (Genesis 2:15; 3:23). God did not
appoint man to any other occupation as we have them today rather
He appointed man to become an agriculturist for the following
reasons: i. being an agriculturist essentially made the man an
embodiment of all the other sundry professions and thus would be

self-fulfilled; ii. agriculture promotes the dignity of man; and more

importantly, iii. the Lord God knew that in the working of the land
man would prosper and enjoy a blessed life (Proverbs 12.11). It
goes without argument that the reservoir of true, uncontaminated,
unfettered and indeed undefiled wealth is the land and to access it
man must have to do work in it and take care of it. Benjamin
Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States, captured
the importance of agriculture to any nation when he stated as
follows:
There seems to be three ways for a nation to acquire wealth. The
first is by war; as Romans did, in plundering their conquered
neighbours. This is robbery. The second is by commerce, which is
generally cheating. The third by agriculture, the only honest way,
wherein man receives a real increase of the seed thrown into the
ground, in a kind of continual miracle, wrought by the hand of God
in his favour, as a reward for his innocent life and his virtuous
industry. (Culled from Sunday Mirror, Vol. 4(17), 2014).
Secondly, it is appropriate to also state here that the cotton-textile
industry in Nigeria has been described by Adeloye (2012) as
comatose and is in dire need of revitalisation. To give breath to the
industry Nigeria has embarked on a march to revitalise the industry
with intervention funds introduced in year 2010. Looking back
Aganga (2012) recalls that Nigerias Cotton, Textile and Garment
Industry was a leading sector in the economy from the 1960s
through to the 1970s, and in the early 1980s, when the industry had
about 175 textile mills and employed over 600, 000 workers
making it the second largest employer of labour, after the
government. Unfortunately, however, by 2008, the Textile
factories still in operation had reduced to 24 textile mills and 10
ginneries employing less than 25, 000 people, and with exports less
than $50m. It is worthy of note that the fate that befell the textiles
has a direct link to the fate the cotton sub sector also suffered. The

question, however, is how quickly can the comatose cotton-textile

sub sector begin to regain its breath and vibrancy?
Even though man was not clad in any attire when he was created,
yet, he was not ashamed in his naked appearance (Genesis 2:25).
He and his wife actually had no realisation that they would need
clothing to cover their naked bodies. However, down the line as
things got out of form and shape between the man and his creator
the man and his dear wife discovered, rather to their greatest
dismay, that they were naked and had need for clothing. Mans
immediate challenge thereafter was how to cover his naked body
and that of his wife from the clear and unhindered view of his
Creator. It is noteworthy that mans first attempt at clothing
himself when he discovered he was naked was as disastrous as his
now debased life had become (Genesis 3.7). The disaster was in
the fact that the wrong material was chosen for his first apparel as
they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves apron
(Genesis 3.7). However, this ugly situation was saved when God
made for Adam and for his wife coats of skins, and clothed them
(Genesis 3.21). This event happened prior to the discovery of the
cotton plant and cotton lint which according to Onwualu, (2008)
has remained the most miraculous fibre under the sun, even after
8000 years of existence.
Economic Importance of Cotton
Mr. Vice Chancellor, sir, it is widely acknowledged that cotton is
one of the worlds most important agricultural industrial crops. At
the national level, cotton has economic, strategic and political
significance. The national strategic importance of cotton is evident
in its consideration as a key variable in matters relating to the
provision of employment and means of livelihood to about 2
million families. In Nigeria, the gross naira value of cotton and its
extensive system of production, harvesting and ginning provides
countless jobs for mechanics, technicians, artisans, distributors of
farm machineries, equipment and implements, agro chemicals

distributors, consultants, and crop processors. Also, people in other

support services such as banking, transportation, warehousing and
merchandising and food vendors find relevance in this massive
industry. Cotton contributes 5.89 per cent to agriculture Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) in Nigeria (NBS, 2011).
As a national political weapon, cotton is crucial in maintaining
political, social and economic stability and for ensuring peace and
contentment among the populace (Onu et al, 2001). The lint is
universally used as a textile raw material for the production of
clothing which is a basic necessity of life. The lint from cotton
remains the fibre with the most desirable characteristics. It has
multiple uses and is noted for its natural comfort. The cotton seed
serves as raw material for the oil milling industry. The seed is
crushed for vegetable oil extraction while the cotton seed cake that
is the by-product of the oil extraction process is made into pellets
and sold to livestock farmers who use it as animal feed. The cotton
stalk serves as a raw material to particle board manufacturers.
At the international level, cotton is one of the largest items of
international trade. It also has tremendous economic and political
significance in international relations. Across the globe cotton is an
important agricultural commodity, providing a significant
contribution to farm income and export earnings of many
countries. For example, in India, it has long been recognised that
no crop can compete with cottons potential for value added in
processing (Hitchings, 1984). In major cotton-producing countries
such as India, China and the USA, cotton-based textile industries
have paved the way for further industrialization and investment,
with priority given to exporting cotton textiles rather than raw
cotton. The expansion in the textile industries has contributed
numerous employment opportunities in the industrial sector, and
successful cotton production would add seasonal work and cash
flow in the rural sector. In other developing economies such as
Nigeria cotton can become an important wage good. Its prices

(levels and rates of growth) can have effects on stimulating

production, on net savings, on inter-sectoral transfer of resources,
capital formation in agriculture, tax revenue base of government
and foreign exchange/savings capability of the nation. It is
therefore important that the cotton-textile sub-sector of the
economy be carefully developed and nurtured to enable it provide a
sustainable textile base for the nation.
Mr. Vice-Chancellor, Sir, while it is needful for us to consider the
various approaches that can possibly be employed in order to make
the cotton sub sector regain vibrancy it is pertinent to examine the
cotton marketing system and see how it has evolved into what we
presently see. In the quest to provide an easy to understand picture
of the cotton marketing system in Nigeria I have been very careful
to cast my net as wide as possible in search of the requisite
information that would be of help in producing this picture. Thus,
published data from national and international organisations,
published and sometimes unpublished work of researchers and
fellow academics, results of field work conducted in various parts
of the cotton growing belt of the country as well as informed
opinions of seasoned agriculturist and policy analysts have proved
very useful.
Mr. Vice Chancellor, Sir, the title of my presentation, Cotton
Revitalisation in Nigeria: The Way Forward is expected to give a
historical perspectives of the development of the cotton market
since the pre-independence time to present day, provide a
descriptive account of the cotton marketing sector, identify some of
the challenges that have bedevilled the cotton sub-sector in Nigeria
and to attempt to project the way forward.
AGRICULTURAL MARKETING AS A SPECIALITY
Mr. Vice Chancellor, sir, it is needful to give the audience a little
insight into the field of Agricultural Marketing as a specialised area

of Agricultural Economics. We would note that that there are

physical and biological relationships of agricultural production.
Agricultural economics, therefore, seeks to show how such
relationships can be interpreted in an economic framework to
provide an integrated approach to agricultural decision-making and
to the understanding of patterns of agricultural production and
resource use. Too often agriculturists appear to view economics as
something peripheral to the technological aspects of agricultural
production. In reality, however, economic considerations permeate
the whole process of agricultural production, influencing or
interacting with technical relationships throughout the entire
structure in a most pervasive and universal manner. Hardaker et al
(1971) has reported that the study of agricultural economics by
agriculturist and agriculture students serves a number of important
objectives, two of which are: (i). It facilitates appreciation of the
fact that what is technically possible is not always economic, that
technical perfectionism in farming may be less than optimal from
an economic point of view, that business decisions in farming, as
in other fields of endeavour, inevitably involve choice; (ii). It
should also assist understanding of the interdependence of many
factors in agriculture, for example, at the farm level a change in
one enterprise or resource may have implications extending
throughout the whole farm business.
The term marketing is generally understood to embrace a variety of
services performed in the distribution of products. It includes not
only those functions immediately involved in the actual change of
ownership of goods that is buying, and selling operations, but also
transport, storage, processing, packaging and presentation for sale,
promotion for sale and advertising. These functions are an essential
part of the productive process as they add to the utility of goods in
various ways: by distributing those to places where they are most
needed, by storing them until they can more profitably be sold and
by changing their form during processing and packaging. It is clear
that it makes no economic sense to produce commodities when

10

there is no plan on marketing them. It is safe to state that the joy of

agricultural production is the prospect of revenue arising from a
well-articulated marketing plan.
Importance of Agricultural Marketing to Economic
Development
The agricultural sector has long been recognised as a key to
economic development. Within this sector, however, the role of
agricultural marketing has often times been neglected to the benefit
of production. Part of this neglect may be traced to scholars and
economists long-held belief that only production or physical
transformation matters and that agricultural marketing passively
adapts to economic development stages. As far back as in the early
1950s, economic scholars and planners have reassessed these
traditional beliefs and recognised the dynamic role of agricultural
marketing in economic development. Holton (1953) held that if
marketing channels were less complicated more goods would flow
through them and reach more consumers. Collins and Holton
(1964) emphasized that distribution can play a vital role in
economic development by changing demand and cost functions in
ways favourable to development. A key to the understanding of the
dynamic role of marketing in development is the view that
agricultural marketing should not be limited only to the activities
that occur after the products pass through the farm gate. Rather,
agricultural marketing includes the exchange activities associated
with the transfer of property right to commodities, the physical
handling of products and the institutional arrangements for
facilitating the activities (Onu and Mshelia, 2005; Harrison, et al,
1974).
To underscore the importance of agricultural marketing to
economic development researchers have shown the necessity of
marketing of agricultural products for an economy to rise above
subsistence level. Failure to achieve this could doom the economy

11

to a cycle of poverty. Bhole (1983) examined the role of

agricultural marketing in generating inequalities in income
distribution across groups of farmers and concluded that the
marketing of agricultural products can be considered a tool of
development policy and as an instrument for regulating and
executing development process. The need for an efficient
marketing system for sustaining and accelerating agricultural
production and thereby promoting economic growth in developing
countries is now widely accepted.
Approaches Adopted in the Study of Agricultural Marketing
Issues.
Researchers working on problems of agricultural marketing
generally belong to one or another of the following schools: i. the
traditional approach of describing the links between producers and
consumers, and of evaluating marketing cost, and pricing
efficiencies. Breimyer (1973) calls it What happens school; ii.
the neo-classical approach of stressing the dual role of marketers in
allocating resources by coordinating economic activity (Adams and
Behrman 1976); iii. the equity oriented approach by those who feel
that neither one of the above approaches is sufficiently concerned
with equity, income distribution and risk bearing among market
participants (Barah et al 1977); and iv. the system approach, a
derivation of the above three schools (Bapna, 1977). Riley and
Weber (1979) classified the approaches to the study of marketing
issues in developing countries into three broad categories namely:
feasibility studies, descriptive studies, and diagnostic assessment.
These categories encompassed the four schools earlier reviewed
above.
The studies by Gilbert (1969), Jones (1972), Hays (1977), Ejiga
(1977), Onu (1997, 2000) and Onu and Okunmadewa (2000)
followed the same pattern in the use of a structuralist interpretation
of the structure - conduct - performance (S-C-P) approach applied

12

to price analysis to determine market competition and assess

market efficiency. Riley and Weber (1979) stressed that the
fundamental weakness of most S-C-P studies is their over
emphasis on structural variable and hence, the exclusion of conduct
variables as determinants of market performance.
The various approaches adopted for the study of agricultural
marketing in development all yielded valuable insights in one
aspect of marketing or another. However, the descriptive studies by
geographers, sociologist, and anthropologists do not provide policy
recommendations for improvement; feasibility studies do not
include social relationships; and finally, many economic diagnostic
assessments patterned to the structuralist interpretation of the S-CP approach are too narrow to provide workable recommendations
to policy decision makers.
To remedy these weaknesses Slater et al (1969) and Harrison
(1987) have suggested a broad approach to study and formulate
recommendations about agricultural marketing in development.
This approach is based on a modified S-C-P framework and
emphasizes market processes as economic coordination activities
in agricultural distribution system. This is similar to the total
system approach of Bapna (1977), Onu (1999), Onu et al (2000)
and Onu and Okunmadewa (2000). The approach uses a
descriptive diagnostic-prescriptive approach and the focus on
marketing system avoids the sterile dichotomy between production
and marketing. This approach affords us the opportunity to do a
complete examination of the cotton marketing system within the SC-P paradigm.
Researches in agricultural marketing have become highly
quantitative at the turn of the last century with the introduction of
econometric and operations research models into market analysis.
Such analyses include studies to test the concept of spatial
arbitrage and the efficiency of private marketing systems after
liberalization in developing countries (Jones, 1972; Silvapulle and

13

Jayasuriya, 1994; Palaskas and Harriss-White, 1993; Jones, 1996;

Alexander and Wyeth, 1994; Barrett, 1995, and Onu and
Okunmadewa 2001a, 2001b).
Two categories of econometric techniques for testing market
integration have been identified namely the correlation analysis
and the co-integration analysis (Chirwa, 1999). Correlation
analysis has been commonly used to test market integration. Jones
(1972) has used it in southern Nigeria, and Seppala (1998) has used
it in Tanzania. The correlation coefficients have been criticized as
a measure of market integration. Jones (1996) and Palakas and
Harriss-White (1993) noted that high correlation coefficients may
be spurious. The Law of One Price (LOP) is one of the tests of
market integration within a single data period (Richardson, 1978).
The test of the LOP involves a linear regression analysis of the
current market price change in one market on the price change on
another market (Chirwa, 1999).
COTTON MARKETING IN NIGERIA
The story of cotton marketing system in Nigeria can be told in
phases because the system has gone through a number of eras in its
development. We shall begin to tell the story in its abridged form
from the pre-independence days and run through to present day
when the agriculture sector is witnessing a transformation that will
move agriculture from being a mere development agenda into a
business.
Cotton Marketing in the Pre-Independence Era
Early efforts to formalise produce marketing in Nigeria can be
traced to the 1930 when European companies were involved in
direct purchase and export of Nigeria essential raw materials for
overseas industries. This was the Second World War period when
the West African Produce Control Board was established to
stabilise commodity prices. This later transformed into four

14

country-wide commodity marketing boards, with responsibility for

handling Nigerias main agricultural export produce (Alegieuno
and Balogun, 2000). These were the first generation marketing
boards and they were set up to (1) stabilize producer prices and
producer incomes from year to year in the face of fluctuations in
world market prices and (2) generate trading surplus to be used in
the development of these export crops (Obayan, 1974; Eicher and
Baker, 1982; Idachaba, 1994). This was the situation until Nigeria
gained political independence from Britain in October 1960.
Cotton Marketing in the Post-Independence Era
In 1977 the regional marketing boards were reconstituted on single
commodity lines (FGN, 1977). The establishment of the Nigerian
Cotton Board along with other commodity boards in 1977
coincided with the period of decline in agricultural production
generally. While the boards lasted they came under much criticism
following the mode of operation. The commodity boards main
function of price stabilisation was criticised (Helleiner, 1968;
Obayan, 1974). Also the much controversy about the activities of
buying agents engaged by the boards was reported in Essang
(1968), Njoku (1981) and Komolafe (1989). They observed that
the private buying agents employed various strategies in order to
capture a larger share of the market. The boards were also faulted
in the policies employed in the area of taxing and commodity
pricing (Helleiner, 1968; Hopkins, 1973). Idachaba (1973) and
Olatunbosun and Olayide (1974) found that pricing policy of the
boards dampened producer incentives, restricted output and
employment in agriculture and was accountable for the decline in
Nigerias share of world commodity trade. Olayide et al (1974)
used simulation to test effects of marketing boards pricing policies
on the Nigerian economy. Furthermore, Marsden and Belot (1987)
noted that the marketing boards proved to be key constraints on
agricultural growth in many countries where the system was in
place. Therefore, there were calls for the eradication of the

15

commodity boards and consequently, the elimination of the

Licensed Buying Agents and centralized fixing of price were
recommended (World Bank, 1981; UNCTAD, 1995)
Cotton Marketing in the Structural Adjustment Programme Era
In 1986 the Federal Government of Nigeria abolished all the
commodity boards and a free market system was introduced as a
result of the introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme
(SAP). This measure helped to eliminate the excessive implicit
taxation of farm incomes inherent in the Commodity Board System
as the prices of cash crops not only converged with world market
prices but were further boosted by the sharp depreciation in the
exchange value of the naira. Thus, it provided incentives to farmers
through increased producer prices. Individuals were allowed to
directly market their produce and keep the proceeds of their
exports in domiciliary account. This was aimed at removing the
administrative bottlenecks associated with marketing boards and to
encourage farmers to produce for exports. It also afforded
producers the opportunity to take advantage of price and other
developments in international market.
The broad objective of agricultural policy under the SAP was to
invigorate the nations agricultural economy through a completely
new philosophy of development and to economically empower all
categories of participants in the market. To achieve this objective,
agriculture has been regarded essentially as private sector business
while government seeks to play roles that are purely supportive.
Disbanding the board meant the withdrawal of all forms of
government participation from product marketing and liberalisation
of the market. Market liberalisation represented a plethora of
reforms intended to reduce government participation in commodity
markets. It also ensured that sellers and buyers of cotton received
incomes that were both fair and competitive arising from efficiency
in the system. Slater (1993) along this line noted that an increased

16

level of income and redistribution of income were bound to be

fostered by the presence of an efficient marketing system.
A key element of market deregulation was price liberalisation
(Faruque and Hussein, 1994). A market-determined exchange rate
was expected to lead to large domestic price increases for cash
crops such as cotton. Thus, the market deregulation (liberalisation)
policy was designed to introduce competition into the commodity
marketing system by disbanding the Nigerian Cotton Board thus
allowing the private sector to fully participate in the marketing
activities. The deregulation of the cotton market has affected the
conduct of the marketing system. There has been a total shift from
what was obtainable during the era of the Nigerian Cotton Board.
Ogunlela and Echekwu (1989) reported that the deregulation of the
cotton market has made it absolutely impossible to effectively
monitor the movement of seed cotton, lint or seed. Also, Farooq
and Rutan (1993) noted that market reform imposed two types of
risks on the producers. First, the removal of marketing parastatals
that performed price stabilisation functions meant that producers
were exposed to more unstable prices. Second, producers faced a
higher degree of marketing insecurity. These might have been true
of the cotton marketing system in Nigeria where prices were highly
flexible and varied from one place to another and unstable.
The Post-SAP Cotton Marketing System in Nigeria
Mr. Vice Chancellor, sir, permit me at this point to take you into a
brief description of the structure, conduct and performance of the
post-SAP cotton marketing system in Nigeria prior to the
revitalisation intervention by government.
The Structure of the Post-SAP Cotton Market in Nigeria
Market structure refers to how a market is organised, with
particular emphasis on the characteristics that determine the
relationship among the various sellers in the market, among

17

various buyers, and among the buyers and sellers in a market.

Basically, market structure deals with the organisation of a market
as it influences the nature of competition and pricing within the
market. For practical purposes, market structure can be explained
to mean those characteristics of the organization of the market,
which seem to influence the nature of competition and pricing
within the market. The characteristics most emphasized are:
degree of sellers concentration (described by the size-distribution
of seller in the market); degree of buyers concentration (described
by the size-distribution of buyers in the market); and condition of
entry into the market. Improvement in the structure of the
agricultural market is critical as it holds the key to promoting farm
production (Olayemi, 1972). The structure comprises all the
participants in the market. Under the commodity boards the
structure of the cotton market was not as complicated as it now is
in a deregulated market when private participation is emphasised
(Goletti and Babu, 1994).
A number of studies have dwelt on the structure of the cotton
market during the commodity marketing board era (Titiloye and
Ismail, 1974; Kriesel, 1968) and the socio-economic as well as
situation report after the abolition of the commodity boards
(Ahmed and Sanni, 1996; Isitor, 1989). Furthermore, the structure
of the cotton market has been investigated using the Markov Chain
analysis (Onu, 1999). The findings of these studies differ widely
and are not conclusive on the nature of competition. More
systematic studies on the structure of the cotton market in Nigeria
has been done to help in policy making (Onu et al, 2000; Onu and
Okunmadewa, 2000; Onu and Okunmadewa 2001a, 2001c; Onu
and Okunmadewa, 2003).
Onu and Okunmadewa (2001a) employed the degree of buyers and
sellers concentration as characteristics for determining the cotton
market structure. Measures of such concentration were defined in
terms of market shares of buyers and sellers. Changes in shares

18

over the years were thus assumed to provide the basis for studying
the market structure changes. Also, changes in the number of
buyers and sellers in the market over the years were assumed to
reflect the condition of entry into the market. The term sellers
refers to cotton farmers that operated in the market while buyers
were those who offered to buy cotton either on their own behalf or
on behalf of others. In computing the market concentration the
quantities of cotton that was purchased and sold by cotton buyers
and sellers were categorized. The distribution of sellers by volume
in the pre-intervention time 1996-1998 marketing years (MYs)
tended towards a more equitable income distribution. In terms of
buyers concentration there was a slight change during the period as
93 percent of the buyers had 80 percent market share. The
coefficient of inequality portrayed high buyer concentration in the
market about a decade after the cotton market was deregulated.
The Conduct of the Post-SAP Cotton Market in Nigeria
Researchers have focused on the conduct of the commodity market
in past studies on various commodities including cotton (Jones,
1968; Thodey, 1968; Gilbert, 1969; Adekanye, 1973; Kolawole,
1974; Olayemi and Oni, 1974; Hays, 1975; Anthonio, 1984 and
Dittoh, 1994; Onu, 1997; and Onu, 2000; Onu, 2010). The food
crop studies have all touched on market conduct either in the area
of competitive behaviour by market participants or price fixing and
price stabilization in the market. On cotton, Ogunlela and Echekwu
(1989) reported that the deregulation of the cotton market has made
it absolutely impossible to effectively monitor the movement of
seed cotton, lint or seed. These post-market deregulation studies
did not examine the question of the nature of competition in the
cotton market.
The deregulation of the cotton market permitted private sector
participation in the market and it was expected that it would afford
both the sellers as well as the buyer of cotton a fair return on

19

investment as compared to the days of the commodity boards when

there was unilateral fixing of prices by the boards. A major
consequence of the market liberalization policy was that a new
pattern of market behaviour and competition have emerged.
In the economic sense, competition simply refers to the degree of
importance of the individual consuming or producing unit in
relation to the total industry or market within which that unit
operates. Competition could either be perfect (pure) or imperfect
generally speaking. The model of perfect competition provides a
model of the most efficient type of economic organization. The
perfect competition of the literature is not a realistic goal for a
modern society. Therefore, the concept of effective (workable)
competition came up as an attempt to specify a realistic market
ideal, which is both desirable (acceptably competitive) and
attainable (operationally practical). Sosnick (1968) notes that a
concept of effective competition is an image of a socially desirable
state of affairs in an industry or market. Its basic assumptions are
more realistic than those of pure competition. As a result, they
provide more useful, although less precise, guidelines for empirical
study.
The following factors of workable competition as enunciated by
Sosnick (1968) were observed to characterize the cotton market in
Northern Nigeria. They included large numbers of buyers and
sellers, which depicted freedom of entry into the market by
prospective participants or new entrants, absence of collusion
among participants, and absence of persistent price discrimination.
Prices were highly flexible and varied from one buying point to the
other. Producer price was highest when cotton was purchased at
the open market and this was followed by purchases done at the
cotton farmers home and at the cotton out growers farm in that
order. The largest quantity of cotton was procured from the out
grower farm while the least quantity was from the open market.
The most important source of cotton procurement (quantity wise)

20

was the outgrower farmers while the next was the farmers homes.
The decentralization of the cotton market implied the absence of
centralized fixing of producer price and prices of marketing
services. This provided marketers the opportunity to continue to
make huge profit. The marketing margin and marketing spread
increased between purchases made from the outgrowers farm and
that made in the open market. In other words buyers took great
advantage of the cotton outgrowers and enjoyed a huge margin on
purchases. This was, of course, to the detriment of the cotton
farmers. The very high increases in market margin that was
prevalent for all the channels of cotton procurement after the
deregulation of the cotton market showed the degree of
profitability of the cotton trade. There was variability in the
relative remunerativeness of the different marketing channels
during the period. The marketing margin as percent of producer
price varied from 9.2 in for purchases made at home, to 150 for
purchases from the cotton outgrowers. The large marketing
margins and market spread were indicative of imperfections in the
cotton market and a departure from the perfect market model (Onu
and Okunmadewa, 2000, 2001c).
The Performance of the Post-SAP Cotton Market in Nigeria
Market performance refers to the end results that are essentially
brought about by the nature of the market structure and the way
firms conduct themselves. Market performance includes the
relative efficiency of production, the price relative to the average
cost of production, and the size of sales promotion cost relative to
the cost of production. Bain (1972) notes that economists have had
great difficulty defining an aggregate norm for evaluating the
performance of a marketing system. No single criterion of
performance seems to exist. Generally, one of four approaches has
been used. These include (a) the use of a theoretical construct, (b)
the use of empirical welfare concept (Currie et al, 1971; Brandow,
1971; and Mann, 1977), (c) the industrial organization approach

21

(Bain, 1959), and (d) the historical, institutional, and descriptive

approach (Goldberg, 1968; and Caves, 1977). Each approach
contains elements that provide insight to particular issues relating
to the performance of a marketing system. A combination of
elements from these approaches will provide a clearer picture of
the performance of the cotton market.
Integration in the Post-SAP Cotton Market in Nigeria
The idea behind the measurement of market integration is to
understand the interaction among prices in spatially separated
markets (Goletti and Babu, 1994). Monke and Petzel (1984)
defined integration as markets in which prices of differentiated
products do not behave independently. In the case of spatial
markets identical products are assumed to be differentiated by
location and statistical tests of different locations are employed to
indicate the degree of market integration (Faminow and Benson,
1990).
Test of market integration have focused traditionally on correlation
coefficient of spatial prices (Farruk, 1970; Jones, 1972; Lele,
1979). This methodology has been severely criticized in the
literature (Blyn, 1973; Harris, 1979; and Timmer, 1987; Goletti
and Babu, 1994). Much of the criticism of correlation analysis is
aimed not so much at the technique itself as its misuse.
Contributions by Harris (1979), Boyd and Brorsen (1986), Delgado
(1986), and Ravallion (1986) have introduced time series method
in the study of market integration. Ravallion (1986) introduced the
use of regression analysis to market integration study. The
Ravallion equation has been extended by Timmer (1987) and used
by Onu (2000) and Onu and Okunmadewa (2001b) to construct an
Index of Market Connection (IMC). This approach provides an
easily understood measure of short-run integration levels between
two markets. It also allows for the testing of a wider range of
hypothesis with less chance of error (Heytens, 1986).

22

The operational efficiency of the cotton marketing system has been

analysed by preparing and comparing partial budgets for the
produce sold through different marketing channels. Pricing
efficiency of the marketing system has been examined by
analyzing the marketing margin, market spread (price spread), and
market integration (Onu and Okunmadewa 2001a).
The deregulation and liberalisation of the cotton market was
expected to improve the pricing efficiency of the cotton market.
The criteria that denote efficiency remain undefined (Arshad,
1990). While a few works have been reported on cotton prior to the
deregulation of the cotton market in 1986 (Maiden, 1956, Choyce,
1968, Helleiner, 1968, Oni, 1970) pricing efficiency has not been
empirically examined. One of the major questions which were yet
to be empirically analysed was the extent of price integration in the
cotton market. This refers to the degree to which price formation in
one cotton market is related to price formation in other regional
markets. An integrated market is synonymous with pricing
efficiency, that is, the prices discovered, which according to Fama
(1983), should always reflect all information. It is noteworthy
that no cotton market is working in isolation and able to exert
influences. Rather, markets are interdependent with each other, and
there exists smooth price dissemination among traders. Arshad
(1990) noted that competitive conditions will force the price to
adjust instantaneously to any new piece of information so that all
available information is reflected in prices.
Newbery and Stiglitz (1994) noted that although market integration
study is by no means sufficient to indicate the degree of spatial
allocation, its measurement can be viewed as basic data for an
understanding of how specific markets work. In the case of the
cotton market, a study on the mechanism of its market integration
provided some indication as to the extent of price variations among
regions and factors that contributed to it. Market integration

23

ensures that a regional balance occurs among cotton producing and

cotton processing areas and areas producing non-cotton crops.
Several studies tested the concept of spatial arbitrage and the
efficiency of private marketing systems after liberalization in
developing countries (Jones, 1972; Palaskas and Harris-White,
1993; Silvapulle and Jayasuriya 1994; Alexander and Wyeth,
1994; Jones, 1996; and Barrett, 1997). Palaskas and Harriss-White
(1993) reported that when making inference about market
efficiency from data on prices, the concept of integration has been
central. In the past, price integration was tested using the simple
bivariate model (F, 1967; Illori, 1968; Gilbert, 1969; and Lele,
1979).This approach was strongly criticised in the literature by
Blyn (1973), Harriss (1979), Timmer (1984), Heytens (1986), and
Ravallion (1986). Jones (1996) argued that the main econometric
problem was that high measured correlation coefficients may be
spurious, the result of the fact that observed price series were often
non - stationary so that the regression picked up the trend
components of each series, even if no relationship exists between
them. Palaskas and Harriss-White (1993) noted that the correlation
analysis methodology ignores the properties of the error term.
Goletti and Babu (1994) have proposed correlation of price
differences in which market integration implies interdependence of
price changes in different markets as an alternative.
Thus, drawing from Onu and Okunmadewa (2001b, 2002) the
analysis of pricing efficiency from the point of view of market
integration shows that the existing cotton marketing system on the
whole is not price efficient. It was concluded that: i. the cotton
market in Northern Nigeria was highly concentrated in the shortrun period. This implied that there was a weak instantaneous
relationship among the market locations which further suggested
that each region did not absorb new information as it became
available; ii. the low degree of market integration in the cotton
market was as in other agricultural markets and iii. the cotton

24

market in Northern Nigeria was price inefficient and manifested a

high degree of market segmentation.
THE STATE OF COTTON PRODUCTION IN NIGERIA
Commercial cotton production started in Nigeria about 1910 under
the auspices of the British Cotton Growers Association (BCGA) in
an effort to find new sources of cotton for textile industries in
Britain (Ogunlela and Echekwu, 1989). Cotton is produced mainly
in 24 states in the Federation wholly as a rainfed crop. The states
where cotton is grown in Nigeria include Katsina, Zamfara,
Gombe, Bauchi, Adamawa, Borno,Taraba, Nassarawa, Kogi, Oyo,
Ondo, Osun, Ogun, Kwara, Plateau, Yobe, Jigawa, Niger, Sokoto,
Benue, Ekiti, Kano, Kaduna and Kebbi. The cotton growing area
is characterised by pronounced fluctuations in local and seasonal
climatic conditions, notably rainfall which affect cotton
production. Seed cotton is produced mainly by small rural farmers
as an annual cash crop on small farms that are not contiguous
(Onu, 2006; Okunmadewa and Onu 2006; Onu and Okunmadewa,
forthcoming). Production is labour - intensive with most field
operations manual and usually carried out by family labour. Access
to high technology input in production is limited by inadequate
capital. Yields in smallholder operations are often depressed
because of competition among crops for land and labour, leading to
delay in field operations (Amaza, Onu and Okunmadewa, 2001).
Historical data on Nigerias cotton production, consumption,
export and import within the first five decades of nationhood (i.e.
between 1960 and 2014) reveals a number of very interesting
scenarios. The period recorded a great degree of fluctuations in the
level of cotton lint produced, domestic consumption, exports and
imports of cotton lint into Nigeria. The production of lint peaked at
420,000, 459,000 and 475,000 bales in 1969, 1995 and 2010
marketing years respectively. Thus, the highest cotton lint output

25

was in year 2010 while the lowest was 46,000 bales in 1985 just
before the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) which ushered
in the era of commodity market deregulation. Similarly, the
consumption of cotton lint recorded a fluctuating trend during this
period. At the time of independence in 1960 Nigeria never
imported cotton lint rather it exported 181, 000 bales of lint.
Between 1960 and 1973 the country was a net exporter of cotton
lint because there was surplus which was exported arising from the
difference between quantity produced and quantity of domestic
consumption. The era of surplus ended in 1973 as consumption
now outstripped production. There was a resort to importation
beginning in 1974 marketing year when the country imported
109,000 bales while consumption for that year stood at 243,000
bales. Therefore, 1974 marked a turning point for the cotton
industry in Nigeria because that was the year domestic
consumption of cotton began to shoot above production and the
fortunes of the cotton industry started to take a downward turn.
This period also coincided with the oil boom era when the
agriculture sector was largely abandoned in favour of crude oil
exploration. The oil boom took over the earning of foreign
exchange from the traditional export crops. There was migration of
able-bodied young men from the rural areas to the urban centres
that made it impossible for the depleted labour force to perform
wonders in the cotton farms.
One other thing that was noticed was the change in cotton lint
production, domestic consumption as well as import and export of
the commodity that started in 1986. It will be recalled that 1986
was the year the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) was
introduced while the deregulation of the commodity market by the
Federal Government of Nigeria was in keeping with SAP. In
marketing year 1986 production of cotton lint was 129,000 bales,
domestic consumption was 207, 000 and import of 78,000. These
variables all recorded positive changes in subsequent years rather
steadily until it peaked at production 459, 000 bales, consumption

26

482, 000 bales with no export while import was 78, 000 bales in
1995. The domestic consumption recorded steady rise from 1996
up to 2010 when it peaked at 225, 000 bales. This shows that as
production began to increase in 1986 domestic consumption also
began to rise as export was completely wiped out with some
importation to beef up local production between 1987 and 1996.
Beginning in 1998 cotton lint export out of Nigeria started to build
up even as domestic consumption started to decline again (USDA).
This has been the situation with the cotton sub sector in Nigeria.
Mr Vice Chancellor, Sir, the present situation with the comatose
Nigerian cotton and textile industry can thus be described as a
sector that has been deeply afflicted over the past years by
turbulent storms occasioned by a myriad of factors. It is on record
that most of the large mechanised cotton farms in the north east
cotton zone and elsewhere in Nigeria have long closed shop due to
a number of issues among which was the high cost of production
vis-a-vis poor producer price which has disenchanted most of the
small level cotton farmers that hitherto served as the backbone of
the now largely rested cotton outgrower schemes. The cotton
processors such as the textiles manufacturers were also worried
about the dearth in the supply of cotton lint (derived from seed
cotton) which is the principal raw material for that industry, low
capacity utilisation of the machines due to uncertainty in power
supply from the national grid as well as the exorbitant cost of doing
business in the country. The oil millers too were not left out as they
could not source adequate cotton seed for crushing and oil
extraction. To further compound the already difficult situation was
the fact that many industrial concerns in the country spent huge
amount of money on power generation to run their machines.
Thus, the industries recorded ever rising level of overhead costs.
All these have resulted to dwindling domestic demand and closure
of many textile and vegetable oil mills. The closure of many
cotton-based industries has thrown many people back to the
already congested labour market due to massive job cuts. In

27

recognising the comatose state of the cotton industry and its rather
terminal state of ill-health presented with symptoms such as
debilitating shrunken capacity utilisation and a greatly marasmic
level of output the government has initiated the cotton industry
revitalisation programme. It has actually been like a stormy
situation in the industry. Statistics showed that the number of
textile and garment factories after the storm fell from 175 in the
mid 1990's to less than 25 in 2010 while employment dropped
from 137,000 in the 1990's to 60,000 in 2002 and further to 24,000
in 2010 (Leadership, 2013 ).
Cotton Textile and Garment Revival Fund
In order to ameliorate the numerous constraints that have
bedevilled the cotton/textile sector which, needless to say, brought
the sector to its knees, the Federal Government introduced the 100
billion Naira CTG revival fund currently managed by the Bank of
Industry (BoI) in 2010. It attracted interest rate of 6 per cent and a
repayment period of five years. The revival fund sought to
revitalise the CTG industry along the value chain. This fund has
recorded some noticeable improvement in the CTG as some textile
mills refurbished their machines and have reopened. Recently the
government has approved a new funding mechanism that will
ensure that cotton, textile and garment companies access long term,
low interest loans to finance their operations. This is part of the
new national cotton, textile and garment policy. The policy is
aimed at revitalising and boosting the growth and development of
the cotton, textile and garment industry.
However, it has been observed that this intervention fund has not
helped the firms that took the loan much due to the activities of
smugglers of textiles from Asian countries. The influx of textiles
from these countries made Nigerian textiles less competitive and
costlier than the imported/smuggled ones. This rather leak situation
has discouraged more firms from accessing the loan. The has

28

discouraged many textile companies as they became afraid that

they may not be able to repay the loan considering the prevailing
unfriendly operating environment particularly with regards to lack
of infrastructure.
The textile firms are of the opinion that government ought to have
first reduced smuggling and addressed the more fundamental
challenge of lack of infrastructure particularly power supply before
coming out with the bailout fund. Because of Nigerias huge
infrastructure deficit particularly, inadequate and unreliable
electricity supply, manufacturers, including textile companies, are
forced to rely on generators at huge cost, resulting in rising cost of
production.
Constraints to Cotton Production and Marketing in Nigeria.
Mr Vice Chancellor, sir., at this point it is important to summarise
the constraints that have bedevilled the cotton production and
marketing activities in Nigeria in the recent past. Needless to
mention that these are the constraints the march to revitalisation is
trying to assuage. They include the following:
1. Inadequate incentive to farmers
2. Inadequate linkages among producers, processors, marketers
and researchers
3. Adulteration of agrochemicals
4. The problem of cotton seed mix-up
5. Stakeholders in the cotton value chain
6. High cost of production of cotton in Nigeria
7. Limited access to formal credit by cotton farmers.
8. Cross-cutting factors including massive influx of textiles and
apparels from Asia, particularly after the Multi Fibre
Agreement (MFA) expired in 2005,
9. Inadequate energy supply and heavy reliance on self-generation
of power, leading to high and uncompetitive production costs.
10. Global economic challenges,

29

11. Massive smuggling of cheaper textiles with lower quality,

12. Changing consumer tastes and habits
13. Huge debt burden on producers in the value chain amongst
others.
14. Rural infrastructure deprivation
15. Policy reversals and inconsistencies of government
16. High cost of procuring new equipment to replace the inefficient
tools
17. High on-farm cost of agrochemicals for small scale farmers
18. Farmers inability to apply fertilisers and pesticides at
recommended rate
19. Fertiliser subsidies fail to reach the small scale farmers
20. Limited access to finance by farmers and producers
21. Pest and disease infestation
22. Poor price received by farmers
23. Illegal Importation of cotton seed
A New Funding Mechanism for the Cotton, Textile and Garment
Industry
Last year (2014) the Federal Government approved a new funding
mechanism that would give cotton, textile and garment companies
in Nigeria access to long-term, low interest loans to finance their
operations. This was part of the new National Cotton, Textile and
Garment Policy aimed at revitalising and boosting the growth and
development of the industry. The policy addresses all bottlenecks
inhibiting the growth and development of the cotton, textile and
garment sector. It will also improve the quality, quantity,
production capacity, marketing and competitiveness of players
across the entire value chain; control the influx of fake and substandard textile and garments into Nigeria; and improve the
competitiveness of CTG across the nation, among others.
In regimental parlance there has been a forward march to revitalise
the cotton industry in Nigeria by these interventions coming from

30

the Federal Government of Nigeria. However, the question that

comes to mind naturally in view of the variety of constraints that
have dampened the fortunes of the cotton industry is this: what is
the way forward for the revitalisation of the sector? Is the goal
achievable or is it a mission impossible? These questions demand
that whatever needs to be done to bring back the glory of the cotton
industry in Nigeria should be done quickly and on time with
precision.
THE WAY FORWARD
Mr Vice Chancellor, sir, I think it is time to try to answer the
question whether the cotton industry revitalisation in Nigeria can
be a reality or just a myth? My answer is an emphatic Yes. The
revitalisation of the cotton industry in Nigeria can be a reality. This
optimism is hinged on the following: i. my awareness of the rich
natural endowments and the proven entrepreneurial ability
available in Nigeria coupled with the political will demonstrated by
the Federal Government in recent years to revitalize the cotton
industry in Nigeria; ii. the Agriculture and Food Policy of the
Federal Government is working at revamping commodity
marketing through the formation of produce marketing
corporations and value addition for selected crops one of which is
cotton; iii. the growth potentials Nigeria holds due to its natural
cotton endowments and large market size as a result of her large
population;. and iv. the belief that the Nigerian government and
actors in the cotton industry, are willing to work together to
produce an environment in which this is possible. All that is
required is for us as a nation to get our priorities right, set our
goals, and a leadership with the necessary vision and mission to get
us out of the doldrums where the cotton industry has been for a
number of years now. For clarity I would like to specifically
mention the following factors that will enhance the cotton
revitalisation drive in Nigeria:

31

Political Stability
First and foremost, it is important to have a politically stable
country where righteousness shall reign (Proverbs 14.34) and every
citizen of the country shall be free to pursue his/her legitimate
activities without any form of hindrance under the Almighty God
(Isaiah 9.6). It is when there is factor (particularly labour) mobility
in a politically stable nation that resources can be put to their best
possible uses. A stable polity is a prerequisite for this factor
mobility.
A Stable Macro-Economic Environment
The success of the cotton revitalisation will depend on a stable
macro-economic environment. Complimentary policies in trade,
monetary and investment are critical for the success of the cotton
revitalisation effort in Nigeria. Over the years trade, fiscal,
monetary and investment policies have impacted significantly on
the cotton subsector. The degree of success of the revitalisation
effort of government is directly correlated to Nigerias sustenance
of the current macroeconomic and structural reforms which are
geared towards macroeconomic stability, particularly with regards
to prices and exchange rates. Anchor all agricultural activities on
macro-economic framework that gives priority to national
development goals with advocacy for pro-poor growth and
enhanced livelihood for small holder farmers.
Trade and Investment Policy Consistency
Nigeria is signatory to various multilateral, bilateral, regional and
Preferential Trade Agreements such as the World Trade
Organisation (WTO), ECOWAS, EPA, D-8 etc. Thus Nigerias
national agriculture trade policy and its implementation must be
consistent and compliant with relevant international treaties and
agreements. These trade agreements and arrangements provide
Nigeria with expanded market access and opportunity to diversify
and transform the nations economy. However, Nigerias

32

participation in global agricultural commodity trade has remained

very low. The country has failed to benefit from the market access
created by trade agreement due to domestic production and supply
constraints and trade enhancing infrastructural challenges. Nigeria
can still improve on domestic trade-in agricultural commodities.
Our aspiration for the cotton and textile industry should be to
increase its domestic market share from its present position of 12
per cent.
The investment policy should enhance public resource efficiency
and increase private sector participation in agricultural investment
and market infrastructure. This will facilitate the efficient
distribution system of agricultural produce, minimise supply
variations and ensure reliable supply throughout the country at
affordable price. To achieve this, the strategic thrust requires
reviving the entire cotton value chain. This includes improving the
quality, quantity, production capacity, marketing and
competitiveness of the players across the entire value chain. In
other words there should be an industrial revolution plan for the
cotton textile industry in Nigeria.
Value Chain and Value Addition
The primary objective of the value chain process is to close the
supply-demand gap in production and encourage value-added
processing into agro-industrial products. The focus here is on postharvest value-addition, economy diversification and employment
creation in the rural and urban areas through the establishment of
agricultural commodity processing industries. Government
therefore, will facilitate the establishment of private sector-driven
agricultural processing industries. To achieve this Government will
specifically undertake to diversify employment opportunities in
rural areas through the establishment of rural-based small-scale
agricultural commodity processing industries. Specifically,
government should promote investment in cotton-processing,

33

especially in rural areas, through credit facilities, infrastructural

facilities and other incentives to investors. Government can also
ensure that special intervention fund to promote investment in
cotton-processing, especially textile manufacturing through credit
facilities, infrastructural facilities and other incentives to investors
is protected by a culture of policy consistency.
Longevity of Agricultural Sector Policies
Agricultural policies must endure and outlive the government that
formulated them in order to ensure sustained and increased inflow
of investment in agriculture. The practice of changing
macroeconomic policies with successive Federal Governments is
inimical to long term investment in agriculture. Therefore the
various tiers of government should act in concert with the
economic reform agenda to promote a greater role for the private
sector in agricultural production, the provision of farm inputs and
the processing and marketing of farm commodities.
Sectoral Policies for Promoting Agricultural Products Trade and
Investment
The objective of these policies is to enhance public resources
efficiency and increase private sector participation in agricultural
investment and market infrastructure. This is to facilitate the
efficient distribution system of agricultural produce, minimize
supply variations and ensure reliable supply throughout the country
at affordable price. To achieve this, Government will facilitate the
development of agriculture as a viable private sector business
through a free, fair and competitive marketing regime. Specifically,
the government will support the development of a private-sectordriven and public-sector- enabled marketing corporation to revamp
and implement the functions of the abolished cotton marketing
board. In addition, the government should establish Commodity
Trade and Marketing Corporations to coordinate the production,

34

investment, grading/standardization, and market price stabilization

for all agricultural value chains in Nigeria. Nigeria has unveiled
National Cotton, Textile and Garment (CTG) Policy and plans to
increase the countrys raw cotton production from 200,000 tonnes
in 2003 to 500,000 tonnes by the end of 2015. The CTG policy will
improve the quality, quantity, production capacity, marketing and
competitiveness of the players across the entire value chain and
would also control the influx of sub-standard textiles and apparel
into Nigeria.
Encourage Private Sector Participation
Encourage increased private sector investment in the cotton and
textile sector and competitive market development to promote
commercial farming and agribusiness initiative in the economy
Apply Stringent Measures against Dumping
The influx of foreign textiles into the country made locally
produced textiles less competitive, as they are often costlier than
imported or smuggled ones. It is estimated that Nigeria imports
N300 billion worth of textiles and garments annually, most of
which are illegally imported without paying any duties and taxes.
The total amount of revenue loss on account of Customs duty and
Value Added Tax (VAT) on this volume is estimated at N75
billion (Akereocha, 2014). Working with the Standards
Organisation of Nigeria government should put in place measures
to reduce smuggling and dumping of textile materials in the
country resulting in huge loss in revenue. This will stimulate local
production, increase market share and create additional direct jobs
in the industry. To achieve this, the strategic thrust requires
reviving the entire value chain.
Supportive Infrastructure
Government must address the more fundamental challenge of lack
of infrastructure. Due to Nigerias huge infrastructure deficit

35

particularly, inadequate and unreliable electricity supply,

manufacturers, including textile companies, are forced to rely on
generators at huge cost, resulting in rising cost of production. High
energy cost occasioned by running the mills on generators is partly
accountable for the high cost of manufacturing textiles in Nigeria.
Specifically,
government
should
facilitate
supportive
infrastructure, especially complimentary investment by the
government in roads, logistics, storage facilities, power, irrigation,
flood control, rail, etc.
Intensification of Cotton production at reduced cost
As long as the cost of production of cotton remains high in Nigeria,
the commodity will remain uncompetitive both locally and
internationally. Therefore the starting point at making Nigerian
cotton competitive is the evolution of extra-long staple cotton
varieties with very high yield per hectare, resistance to drought and
pest and other factors. In addition, the intensification of cotton
production through such productivity enhancing (increasing)
measures as improved seeds, fertilizers, plant protection chemicals
and provision of adequate irrigation infrastructure in the cotton
producing states, employed in an environmentally friendly manner
to permit sustainability, should be followed (Onu and Adebayo,
2000). This includes strengthening the base by boosting cotton
production for use in the domestic sector and potential exports,
supporting existing players to expand their current operations and
attracting strong brands to set up local manufacturing operation in
the country. Furthermore, increasing land under cotton cultivation
should be given priority attention.
Revive and strengthen the out grower scheme
The cotton out grower (contract) farming scheme is an institutional
innovation by the cotton marketing and processing firms. The
cotton buying firms have adopted this strategy in order to boost
their market shares. This system involves a contractual relationship

36

between farmers and a processor or merchants who purchases

cotton from local cotton farmers on terms arranged in advance. The
exact nature of the contract varies from one case to another. In the
past the contracted farmers reported instances where they felt
dissatisfied with the performance of the firms in keeping their own
side of the contract. Many farmers reportedly quit the scheme.
Funding of Research and Development
There is need to provide adequate fund to the existing research and
development institutions such as the National Agricultural
Research Institutes and related organisations such as the
Universities of Agriculture and the Faculties of Agriculture in the
other universities to enable them constantly generate streams of
improved technology whose technical feasibility and economic
profitability under actual farm level situations would be tested and
appraised.
Specifically, the Institute of Agricultural Research with the
mandate for research into cotton should be consistently and
adequately funded by then Federal Government of Nigeria through
its supervising ministry, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and
Rural Development. It is known that inconsistency in funding
creates difficulty in continuous development of improved cotton
varieties and maintenance of existing ones.
Marketing and Distribution
Marketing and distribution services are critical for the effective
functioning of any economy, but these are very deficient in the
rural areas. Cotton marketing in the rural areas is a mass activity
directly involving the cotton producers selling their own produce
and the cotton merchants with their buying agents operating in
rural markets. The small scale cotton farmers and the out grower
cotton growing schemes will continue to play a leading role in
domestic marketing and distribution of cotton in Nigeria.

37

The role of government will be to promote and support the

improvement of their operation along the entire cotton and textile
value chains by doing the following: i. promote and provide market
information services at national, states and local government
levels; ii. Facilitate the improvement and modernisation of the
structure of commodity market through the specification of
standards and the introduction of quality control, grading and
standardization; iii. promote export marketing; iv. Reduce the
vulnerability of the cotton farmer to seasonal and random producer
price fluctuations by establishing guaranteed minimum prices for
seed cotton; and v. support the development and management of
facilities in rural cotton markets.
Extension Services
The Unified Extension System should be given the necessary
financial, institutional and logistic support. It represents a very
convenient way to reach the Nigerian Cotton farmer. It is important
to carry this step forward to the Research-Extension-FarmerInputs-Linkage System (REFILS). The REFILS system can only
develop if the private sector is provided with a conducive
environment to participate. It is noteworthy that the ATA
Legislation for quality assurance and grading
The Nigerian cotton in recent past had been adjudged the worst in
terms of quality in the world. To curb the menace of farmers
compromising the quality of cotton by adding sand, water and
other trash materials to increase weight, a legislation should be put
in place by the producing states and ensure its enforcement. The
Nigerian cotton should be graded at the designated ginneries using
the High Volume Instrument (HVI). The government should
provide the HVI and also revive the Federal and States Produce
Inspection Services.

38

Increased public sector funding and prioritization of public

sector investment programmes in agriculture
Apart from the need to increase the capital and recurrent budget to
agriculture and ensure its timely release, prioritization of public
sector investment programmes in agriculture is required. The
objective will be to i. make adequate investment funds available to
the agricultural sector at the right time and at such rates as will
make returns from agriculture more attractive and ii. develop an
appropriate incentive mechanism that will move financial
institutions, especially commercial banks to a strategic
commitment to agricultural lending.
CONCLUSION
Mr Vice Chancellor, sir, in the last one hour I have been discussing
the Nigerian cotton sector. I hereby make the following concluding
remarks.
i. That the Nigerian cotton and textile industry is presently in the
woods and the need to speedily revitalise the sector as a matter of
emergency is pertinent.
ii. That contrary to the conventional wisdom that the cotton industry
problem is essentially as a result of domestic consumer
preference for foreign clothing, the cotton industry crisis is the
outcome of a combination of the following factors: i. Sluggish
growth in domestic cotton production capacity, ii .increase in
dumping of foreign textiles in the country as a result of
inconsistent or poor trade policy measures and activities of
smugglers, iii. large population with high growth rate and an ever
increasing demand for textile and iv. poor state of supportive
infrastructure, among others. The net effects are i. decreased
cotton production, ii. reduced textile industry output due to below
capacity performance of the mill and iii. massive job cuts in the
industry.

39

iii. That this ugly trend, which is akin to an emergency, is bound to

continue if not abated by a well concerted revitalisation effort.
This concerted effort must involve all stakeholders in the cotton
industry and should be put on the double quick time to be able to
ameliorate an already very deplorable situation that is the present
lot of the cotton industry in Nigeria.
iv. That in order to make the cotton revitalisation effort a reality a
number of policy measures have been suggested. Among these
are i. the harmonisation of macro and sectoral policies to promote
a high and sustainable growth in domestic cotton production; ii.
Adequate funding of the cotton and textile industry sectors; iii.
provision of supportive infrastructure such as power and
electricity and iv. Revamping and financing of the entire cotton
industry value chain
v. That action on cotton industry revitalisation in Nigeria is not a
waste as the goal of reviving the sector and restoring its lost
glory is achievable.
vi. That the revitalisation of the cotton industry in Nigeria can be a
reality.
Mr. Vice Chancellor, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I believe
there is the potential to grow the cotton industry and make it really
vibrant with some government determination to play more of a
facilitating role and a push by actors in the textile industry. I also
want to say that the current effort at cotton industry revitalisation
in Nigeria is on course and with each stakeholder in the cotton
industry playing his role expeditiously there is a bright prospect for
the industry to speedily regain its vibrancy and glory.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I believe it is most appropriate for me to start by acknowledging
the fact that I was a highly indebted man. When I could not pay my
Creditor frankly forgave me (Luke 7.41, 42). This Creditor I am

40

referring to is the Lord Jesus Christ. He forgave all my sins and

every act of transgressions I did against Him and brought me into
His service. For this, I ascribe all the glory, honour and majesty to
Him, the Almighty God, for granting me this opportunity. The
Lord Jesus did not only grant me grace to give an inaugural lecture
today, He has also used various people (too numerous to mention
all their names) to bring to pass His will in my life. I believe there
is no better time and opportunity to express my appreciation and
gratitude to these wonderful people than this auspicious one.
Very importantly, I want to thank the Vice Chancellor, Professor
Kyari Mohammed, for ensuring the success of this lecture. The
Vice Chancellor has maintained the tradition and guaranteed that
the Inaugural Lectures Series continued unabated in this
University.
I wish to appreciate the love and support of my parents Late Mr.
James Ame Onu and Mrs Margaret Onu. Your prayers and godly
counsels have been the driving force throughout my career. Thank
you for enrolling me in school and for showing me the way of the
Lord very early. As a college teacher himself my father inculcated
in me the spirit of hard work and forthrightness in keeping with the
name he christened me with at my birth. For these and many more
I want to thank you my dear parents. To my brothers Professor Isa
Onu and CP Theophilus E. Onu and my sisters Mrs. Joy Ogala and
Mrs. Grace Anyebe together with their respective families, I
appreciate your love and respect. You have always been there for
me.
I want to thank all my teachers at the All Saints Anglican School,
Makurdi, and Saint Bartholomews School, Wusasa Zaria where I
had my primary education. I will not fail to also thank my teachers
at the Government College, Makurdi for their devotion to work..
Prominent among them were Mrs McKeithan the English Teacher,
and Dr. Francis Udechukwu Dibiaezue the mathematics teacher. I
must acknowledge that it was the approach the then Mr. Dibiezue

41

adopted in the teaching of mathematics that enabled some of us to

overcome the phobia for mathematics and regain my fast
dwindling interest in the subject. I remember with gratitude to God
the role Rev. Igbe and Rev. Gbashima played not only as teachers
but also as spiritual fathers in the college chapel. I will always be
proud of these teachers and I say thank you sirs. I also
acknowledge many of my colleagues at the college who are now
members of Makurdi Old Boys Association (MOBA).
At the university undergraduate level, I wish to recognise the
contribution of all my teachers and Professors. Notable among
them were Professor I.J. Singh, who was the first professor of
Agricultural Economics I met in my life and Professor Tore
Arnborg, the world renowned Swedish Silviculturist and
Autecologist who gladly took us on autecology field trips. I also
thank Dr. Ado Khalid who was my project supervisor. I will not
fail to acknowledge the friendship of my class mates in the first
degree class whose companion I enjoyed so much.
At the postgraduate level, at the University of Ibadan, it was my
fortune to have had, as my supervisor for the Masters degree
project, Professor S.G. Nwoko. He taught me the essence of
precision in research. My fortune got much brighter when I
enrolled for the Ph.D programme and I was assigned to Professor
F. Okunmadewa as chairman of my supervisory committee. I will
always admire Professor Okunmadewas quiet disposition, his deep
sense of compassion and strong commitment to impacting the lives
of his students. May the Lord reward you abundantly.
I shall not fail to acknowledge the members of the Ph.D
supervisory committee which included the erudite scholars
Professor J.K. Olayemi and Professor O. Adegeye. My UI days
provided me the opportunity to be taught by distinguished
Professors such as Late Professor R.O. Adegboye, Professor A.
Ikpi, Professor Adekanye, Professor B. Falusi, and Dr. J.O.
Akintola, Among the all time friends I made at UI are Professor

42

S.Y. Adesina, Dr. O.A. Oni, Dr. B.T. Omonona, and Professor U.J.
Edet. I thank you for the friendship and your fruitful contributions
to my professional endeavours.
To all my colleagues particularly in the Department of Agricultural
Economics and Extension of this University I wish to thank you for
your support and friendship over the years. Particularly I want to
mention my past Heads of Department Dr. S.I. Mshelia and
Professor A.A.U. Jongur for their kind support when I was
undergoing my programmes at the University of Ibadan. I must
also thank my Head of Department Professor (Mrs) E.F. Adebayo
for her unwavering support over the years. Life has been most
rewarding as I worked with you all in the department. Thank you.
To my students, I do not have adequate words to convey my
appreciation for the huge level of cooperation I have enjoyed with
you. You have helped to sharpen my understanding of agricultural
economics as I tried to impart same to you. Some of them have
picked the challenge and are now professional colleagues. They
include Drs. D.C. Maurice, Y. Giroh, J. Moses and A. Edon. Thank
you for being there each time I came to teach.
At this juncture, I wish to appreciate my Pastor Reverend and Mrs.
Cosmas Ikwe and family for their pastoral care. I also want to
express my profound gratitude to Bro. Gbile Akanni and Bro.
Amos Olayinka along with all the brethren in the Living Seed
Team who God has used to instruct and guide me in discipleship
over the years. May the Lord reward you all for your labour of
love.
I have benefited from the kind support of many of my senior
colleagues since I came into this University. Forasmuch as they are
too numerous to mention all their names I want to thank them
collectively and place on record my deep appreciation to them.
However, I have to mention Professor A.T. Suleiman who
employed me into the service of this noble University. He was

43

magnanimous to have offered me a place to serve here against all

odds. I want to say thank you to Professor B. Alo, the former
Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic. He was a great encouragement
when I was undertaking my Ph.D programme at the University of
Ibadan. I will never forget your words of motivation each time I
called at your office. Professor A. Adebayo and Professor (Mrs) E.
F. Adebayo and family also have provided much support in my
career. Also, elders such as Professor A. Idama, Professor F.A.
Ilesanmi, and Professor M. Egwurube and the leadership and entire
members of the Trinity Chapel, MAUTECH are highly
appreciated. Professor D.T. Gungula, Professor and Dr (Mrs) M.
Malgwi and Dr. K.G. Farauta have been my family friends who
have stood by me all my life in this University. May the Lord
reward you all in full measure.
It is also appropriate to thank the families of Mr and Mrs David
Garnvwa for helping me to secure employment in this University. I
also thank the family of Dr and Dr (Mrs) David Malgwi for their
love and support throughout my time of sojourn in this part of the
country. The Lord shall continue to bless you all.
I wish to extend profound gratitude to the Lectures and Award of
Prizes Committee (LAPC) for their input into this lecture and also
for ensuring the success of this event.
At this point I wish to appreciate the invaluable companionship and
support of my beautiful wife, Grace Ojochenemi Onu, without
whom life would have been incomplete. I acknowledge that you
are a jewel of inestimable value. The level of support God has used
you to provide towards the work of the ministry cannot be
quantified. Also, you have been a wonderful wife and the mother
of our four lovely sons: David, Joshua, Justice (Jnr) and Daniel. I
appreciate the love and sunshine the family have brought to my
life. I must acknowledge that you and the children are the wind
under my wings.

44

Finally, I thank every one of you here today who have honoured
the invitation to attend this lecture. I appreciate your sacrifice of
time immensely. I wish those of you that have travelled from far
places to be here today safe trip back to your destinations. I thank
you all for listening.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen
(Revelations 22.21).

45

REFERENCES
Adams, P.G. and Behrman, J.R. (1976) Econometric models of
World agricultural commodity marketing: cocoa, coffee, tea,
wood, cotton, sugar wheat rice. Ballinger Press Co.
Cambridge Mass.
Adeloye, L. (2012): Comatose textiles, cotton subsector regain
breath in Punch Newspaper, December 21, 2012.
Aganga, O. (2012): Speech delivered at validation workshop
organised by the Bank of Industry in collaboration with the
United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, in
Abuja, by the Minister of Trade and Investment.
Ahmed, B. and A. Sanni (1996): Cotton Marketing in Northern
Nigeria: A Situation Report A.B.U., I.A.R. Cropping Scheme
1996.
Akereocha, C. (2014): N100b textile fund: How solution became
problem . http://the nationonlineng.net/news/ September 25,
2014.
Alegieuno, J. and Balogun, A.O.(2000), Commodity Taxes/Levies
and their Effect on Commodity Trade and Movement in
Nigeria, Bullion, publication of the Central Bank of Nigeria,
volume 24 No 3, July/September, 2000,22-26.
Alexander, C. and J. Wyeth (1994): Cointegration and Market
Integration: An Application to the Indonesian Rice Market.
The Journal of Dev. Studies vol. 30 (2). January 1994: 303
328. Frank Cass London.
Amaza, P.S., J.I. Onu, and F.Y. Okunmadewa (2001),
Identification of Factors That Influence the Technical
Efficiency of Cotton Farmers in Nigeria. Nigerian
Agricultural Development Studies vol. 2 No. 1, Society for
Agricultural and Rural Development (SARD) pp.133-145.
Anthonio, Q. B. O. (1984): Marketing Development in Nigeria: A
Review of Relevant Govt. Policies. Proceedings of a
workshop on crop marketing and input distribution in Nigeria
Agricultural. Development 1984.

46

Arshad, F. M. (1990): The Integration of Palm Oil Market in

Peninsula Malaysia. Indian Journal. of Agricultural
Economics., Vol 45 (1) Jan Mar. 1990: 21-30.
Arshad, F.M.(1990), The Integration of Palm Oil Market in
Peninsula Malaysia, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics,
vol. 45 (1) Jan.-Mar, 1990, 21-30.
Bain, J. S. (1959): Industrial Organisation. New York. John Wiley
and Sons Inc. 1959.
Bain, J. S. (1972): Essays of Price Theory and Industrial
Organisation. Boston: Little Brown and Co.
Bapna, S. L. (1977): Estimation of Supply Function for SemiArid
Tropical Crops: Methodology and Some Results. Paper
Presented to the 17th Indian Econometric Conference
Triandmin 1997.
Barah, B. C., B. K. Chakraborty, and J. W. Estes (1977):
Computation Methods for Combining Times series and Cross
section for Regression Analysis.
Economics Programs.
ICRISAT, Hyderabad India, Mimeograph.
Barrett, C.B. (1995) Liberalisation and Food Price Distributions:
ARCH-M Evidence from Madagascar. Food Policy, vol.
22(2), pp 155-175.
Bhole, H.G. (1983), Impact of Agricultural Market on Income
Distribution, Agricultural Market in the Semi Arid Tropics,
proceedings of an International Workshop held in ICRISAT
Centre, India, 24-28.
Blyn, G. (1973): Price series correlation as a measure of market
Integration. Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics. Vol.
28:56-59.
Boyd, M. and B. W. Brorsen (1986): Dynamic Price Relationships
for U.S. and E. C. corn gluten feed and related markets..
Agricultural Economics, Vol. 13: 199-215:
Brandow, G. E. (1971): Appraising the Economic Performance of
the Food Industry. Lectures in Agricultural Economics.

47

USDA, ERS. Bicentennial Year Lecturer. June, 1977: 81

100.
Breimyer, H. F. (1973): This Econ of Agric Marketing: A Survey.
Review of Marketing and Agricultural Economics Vol. 41 No.
4 December 1993 pp 115 165.
Caves, R. E. (1977): Organisation, Scale and Performance in the
grain trading Industry, Harvard Institute of Economics.
Research Discussion Paper. P546. 1977.
Chirwa, E.W. (1999) Liberalisation of Food Marketing and Market
Integration in Malawi. A Research Proposal submitted to the
African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), Nairobi,
February, 1999.
Choyce, M. A. (1968). A Review of Cotton Development in
Nigeria. Institute of Agricultural Research. Samaru, Agric
Newsletter Vol. 10 pp 44 57.
Collins, N.R. and Holton, R.H. (1964), Programming Changes in
Marketing in Eicher, C.K. and Witt, L.W (eds) Planned
Economic Development in Agriculture, New York, McGraw
Hill.
Currie, J. M., J.A. Murphy and A. Schmitz (1991): The concept of
Economic surplus and its use in Economic Analysis.
Economic Journal. vol. 81: 741 999. 1971.
Delgado, C. L. (1986): A variance Components Approach to food
Grain Market Integration in Northern Nigeria. American
Journal of Agricultural Economics, American Agricultural
Economics Association. November 1986:970 979.
Dittoh, S. (1994). Market Integration: The Case of Dry Season
Vegetable in Nigeria. Issues in African Rural Development.
African Rural Science Research Networks.
Winrock
International pp. 89 101. 1994.
Eicher, C.K. and Baker, C.D. (1982), Research on Agricultural
Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Critical Survey, MSU
International Development Paper, no. 1, 1982.

48

Ejiga, N.O.O (1977): Economic Analysis of Storage, Distribution

and Consumption of cowpea in Northern Nigeria.
Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. Cornell University.
Essang, S.M. (1968), Marketing of Oil Palm in Rural Community,
unpublished M.Sc. Thesis, Dept. of Agric. Economics,
University of Ibadan.
Fama, F.E. (1983): Efficient Capital Markets: A Review of Theory
and Empirical Work. Journal of Finance, 21, 383-417.
Faminow, M. D. and B. L. Benson (1990): Integration of spatial
Markets. American Journal of Agricultural. Economics Vol.
72 (1). American Association of Agricultural Economics.
Farooq J, and Ruttan, L. (1993): The Challenge of Marketing of
Commodities from Developing Countries in B. Hartartyo and
H. P. Smith (eds). International Commodity Development
Strategies. Amsterdam Vol. University Press.
Farruk, M. O. (1970): The Structure and Performance of the Rice
Marketing System in East Pakistan, Department of
Agricultural Economics Occasional Paper No. 31, Cornell
University, Ithaca, N. Y.
Faruque, R. and Hussein, T. (1994), Sectional Reform, Design and
Implementation in T. Hussein and R. Faruque (eds)
Adjustment in Africa, World Bank Regional and Sectoral
Studies, pp.259.
FGN (1977), Federal Government of Nigeria, Commodity Board
Decree No. 29, Lagos.
Gilbert, E. H. (1969): Marketing of Staple Foods in Northern
Nigeria: A case Study of Staple Food Marketing Systems
Serving Kano City. Unpublished. Ph.D. dissertation. Stanford
University, California.
Goldberg, R. A. (1968): Agri-business Co-ordination: A system
Approach to Wheat, Soybeans and Florida Orange
Economics. Division of Research. Graduate School of
Business Administration. Harvard University. 1968.

49

Goletti, F. and S. Babu (1994), Market Liberalisation and

Integration of Maize Markets in Malawi, Agricultural
Economics Vol. 11, 311-324.
Goletti, F. and S. Babu (1994): Market Liberalization and
Integration of Maize Markets in Malawi. Agricultural
Economics vol. 11 1994. pp. 311 324. Elsevier.
Hardaker, J.B., Lewis, J.N. and McFarlane, G.C. (1979) Farm
Management and Agricultural Economics: An Introduction.
Angus and Robertson (Publishers) PTY Ltd, London.
Harris, B. (1979), There is Method in my madness or is it vice
versa: Measuring Agricultural Performance, Food Research
Institute Studies Vol. 17 (2), pp.97-118.
Harrison, K. (1987) Improving Food Marketing and Delivery
System in Elz,D. (ed) Agricultural Marketing Strategy and
Pricing Policy. The World Bank, Washington D.C.
Harrison, K.D., Henley, D., Riley, H., and Schaeffer, J. (1974),
Improving Food Marketing System in Developing Countries:
Experiences from Latin America, Latin American Studies
Centre Research No. 6, East Lansing, Michigan State
University.
Hays, H. M Jr (1977): The Marketing and Storage of Food Grains
in Northern Nigeria. Samaru Miscellaneous Paper. No. 50
Zaria, Nigeria I.A.R.
Helleiner, G. K. (1968): The Fiscal Role of the Marketing Boards
in Nigerias Economic Development. The Economic Journal
vol LXX (IV) Sept. 1964: 566 610.
Heytens, P. (1986): Testing Market Integration. Food Research
Institute Studies. vol. XX (1), 1986.
Hitchings, J. (1984): The Economics of Cotton Cultivation in
India: Supply and Demand for 1980-1990. The World Bank
Staff Working Paper 618. Washington D.C.
Holton, R.H. (1953), Marketing Structure and Economic
Development, Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 67.

50

Hopkins, A. G. (1973): An Economic History of West Africa. New

York Columbia University Press.
Idachaba, F.S. (1973), Marketing Boards Crop Taxation and Input
Subsidies: A Second Best Approach, Nigerian Journal of
Economics and Social Studies Vol. 15: 317-324.
Idachaba, F.S. (1994), The Second Coming of Marketing Boards in
Nigeria: A Curse or Blessing?, in M.O. Ijere and G.B. Ayoola,
(eds) Commodity Boards in a Liberalised Economy, pp. 14-28.
Isitor, S, U. (1989): Cotton Marketing System in Northern Nigeria:
1989 Situation Report IAR Zaria
Jones S. (1996) Food Marketing in Developing Countries: What
Do We Know? Food Studies Group Working Paper No. 8,
University of Oxford.
Jones, W. O. (1968) The Structure of Staple Food Marketing in
Nigeria as Revealed by Price Analysis. Food Research Inst.
Studies. Vol. 8, No.2, Pp. 95 123.
Jones, W. O. (1972): Marketing Staple Food Crops in Tropical
Africa, Cornell University Press Ithaca, N. Y.
Kolawole, M. I. (1974): Food Relating in Nigeria. Odu New series,
vol. 10. Dept of Agricultural Econ. University of Ile Ife Pp.
108 117.
Komolafe, T.A. (1989), Impact of the Abolition of Nigerian Cocoa
Board in Marketing of Cocoa in Ondo State, Unpublished
M.Sc. Thesis, Dept of Agric. Economics, University of
Ibadan.
Kriesel, H. C. (1968): Cotton Marketing in Nigeria. SNRD 24,
NISER, December. 1968 pp. 12.
Leadership (2013): Reviving Nigeria's ailing textile industry;
Leadership Newspaper, February 17, 2013. Abuja.
Lele, U. J. (1967): Market Integration: A study of Sorghum Prices
in Western India. Journal of Farm Economics Vol. 49, No. 1,
Part I

51

Lele, U. (1979): Consideration Relating to Optimum Pricing and

Marketing Strategies in Rural Development in Dums and
Hunt: 488-516.
Maiden, R. L. R. (1956): A Survey to Determine the Possible
Expansion of Cotton Production in the Northern Region of
Nigeria. Gaskiya Corp, Zaria.
Mann, J. S. (1977): Techniques to measure social Benefits and
Cost in Agriculture. A survey. Agric Econ. Res. Vol. 29: 115
126. 1977.
Marsden, K., and T. Belot (1987): Private Enterprise in Africa,
Creating a Better Environment World Bank Discussion Paper,
No. 17. Washington, D. C. July, 1987.
Monke, E. and T. Petzel (1984), Market Integration: An Application
to International Trade in Cotton, American Journal of
Agricultural Economics vol. 66, 481-487
NBS (2011) Revised 2011 and Estimates for Q1-Q3, 2012 Gross
Domestic Product for Nigeria. www.nigerianstat.gov.ng
Newberry, M. G. and J. E. Stiglitz (1994): Pareto Inferior Trade.
Review of Economic Studies. Vol. 51: 1-12.
Njoku, J. E. (1981): An Appraisal of Marketing Policy for
Groundnut in A.Okorie and M. Ijere (eds) Nigeria
Agricultural Outlook.
Obayan, E.O. (1974), The Future Role of Marketing Boards in
Onitiri, HMA and D. Olatunbosun (eds) International
Conference on Marketing Board System in Nigeria, NISER,
Ibadan
Ogunlela, V.B. and Echekwu, C.A. (1989), Long Staple Cotton as
a Raw Material for the Nigerian Textile Industry: Present
Status and Prospects.
Okunmadewa, F.Y. and Onu, J.I. (2006) The Application of
Markov Chain Analysis to Structural Change in the Northern
Nigeria Cotton Market. Journal of Rural Economics and
Development, volume 15, No.1. Department of Agricultural
Economics, University of Ibadan, Ibadan: pp 125-134.

52

Olatunbosun, D. and S. O. Olayide (1974): Effects of the

Marketing Boards on the Output and Income of primary
producers. In Onitiri, H. M. A. and D. Olatunbosun (eds). The
Marketing Board System .Proceedings of an International
Conference NISER, Ibadan. Pp. 1 46.
Olayemi, J. K. (1972): Improved Marketing as a strategy for
generating increased food production: the Nigerian
Experience, West African. Journal of Agricultural. Economics.
Vol. (1).
Olayemi, J. K. and S. A. Oni (1974): A comparative Economic
Study of Small Scale Rice Milling Industries in Kwara and
North Western States of Nigeria. Agricultural. Economics
Bulletin for Africa. Vol. 15. No. 1 pp 55 71.
Olayide, S. O., O. Ogunfowora, and S. M. Essang (1994): Effects
of Marketing Board. Pricing Policies on the Nigerian
Economy: A System Simulation Experiment. Journal of
Agricultural. Economics. vol. 25. 229-309
Oni, S.A. (1970) The Demand for Nigerian Cocoa: A Statistical
Analysis of Regional Markets and Projections. The Nigeria
Journal of Economics and Social Studies vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 6172.
Onu, J.I. (1997) Cotton Marketing in Northern Nigeria.
Unpublished M.Sc. Project submitted to the Dept of
Agricultural Economics, University of Ibadan, 1997.
Onu, J.I. (1999) The Structure of Cotton Market in Adamawa State
of Nigeria, in Kushwaha, S.; Adegbola, T.A.; Oseni, T.O.;
Auwalu, B.M.; Butswat, I.S (eds) Agricultural Development in
the 21st Century: Concepts and Strategies, Proceedings of
FAMAN 14th Annual Conference, ATBU Bauchi, 1998, pp
176-180.
Onu, J.I. (2000) An Analysis Of The Structure And Performance
Of Cotton Marketing In Northern Nigeria. Unpublished Ph.D
Thesis submitted to the Department of Agricultural
Economics, University of Ibadan, 2000.

53

Onu, J.I. (2006) An Application of the Markov Chain Process to

Cotton Production Practices in Adamawa and Gombe States of
Nigeria. Journal of Rural Economics and Development,
volume 15, No.1. Department of Agricultural Economics,
University of Ibadan, Ibadan: pp 45-52.
Onu, J.I.(2010) What Does The Conduct Of The Cotton Market In
Nigeria Reveal? World Journal of Agricultural Science,
International Digital Organisation for Scientific Information
(IDOSI) www.idosi.org
Onu, J.I. and Adebayo, E.F. (2000) Economics of Sole Cotton
Production in Adamawa and Gombe States of Nigeria in
Usman, B.H., Okunsanya, B.O., Igwe, E.C. and Mshelia, S.I.
(eds) Revitalisation of Agriculture in the National Economy.
Proceedings of National Conference on the resuscitation of the
agricultural potentials of Nigeria by the School of Agriculture
and Agricultural Technology and which held at Federal
University of Technology, Yola. November, 13-16th, 2000:
pp157-161.
Onu, J.I.; Adebayo, E.F. and Mshelia, S.I. (2000), The Cotton
Market in Northern Nigeria, Annals of Borno vol. 17/18 (20002001), University of Maiduguri, pp. 203-210.
Onu, J.I. Amaza, P.S. and Okunmadewa, F.Y. (2001) Determinants
of Cotton Production and Economic Efficiency in Nigeria,
African Journal of Business and Economic Research, vol. 1,
no. 2, Development Africa Consortium pp. 34- 40.
Onu J.I. and F.Y. Okunmadewa. (2000) The Smallholder Cotton
Outgrower Scheme in The Northern States of Nigeria. Journal
of Rural Economics and Development, vol.14 no.1.
Department of Agricultural Economics and Development,
University of Ibadan, Ibadan pp. 139-150.
Onu, J.I. and F.Y. Okunmadewa (2001a), Concentration in
Northern Nigerias Cotton Market, Nigerian Journal of
Tropical Agriculture, 2002, vol. 3. School of Agriculture and

54

Agricultural Technology, Federal University of Technology,

Yola pp. 132-140.
Onu, J.I. and F.Y. Okunmadewa (2001b), Cotton Market
Integration in Northern Nigeria, Bagale Journal of Pure and
Applied Sciences, vol. 1, no. 1, School of Pure and Applied
Sciences, Federal University of Technology, Yola pp. 36-43.
Onu, J.I. and F.Y. Okunmadewa (2001c) Efficiency in Cotton
Marketing in Northern Nigeria, International Journal of
Economic and Development Issues, Development Universal
Consortium vol. 1 pp. 62-69.
Onu J.I. and F.Y Okunmadewa (2002) Market Performance Study:
The Case of Cotton Prices in Northern Nigeria. Bagale
Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences, vol. 2 no. 2, School of
Pure and Applied Sciences, Federal University of Technology,
Yola pp.42-46.
Onu J.I. and F.Y Okunmadewa. (2003) An analysis of the
organisation of the cotton market under market deregulation.
Nigeria Journal of Education and Technology, 4(1&2), 51-55,
2003.
Okunmadewa, F.Y. and Onu, J.I.(2006) The application of Markov
Chain analysis to structural change in the northern Nigeria
cotton market. Journal of rural economics and development,
vol. 15. No. 1. Department of Agricultural Economics,
University of Ibadan, Ibadan, pp. 125-134.
Onu, J.I. and S.I. Mshelia (2005) Marketing of Agricultural
Produce in Adamawa State in E.C. Igwe, S.I. Mshelia and
M.Y. Jada (eds) Agriculture in Adamawa State, Yola:
Paraclete Publishers, pp22-29.
Onwualu, P.A. (2008). An overview of the cotton industry in
Nigeria: Past, present and the future. In CBN (2008) The
proceedings of commodities seminar 2008-2009 sponsored by
Central Bank of Nigeria.
Palaskas, T.B. and B. Harriss-White (1993) Testing Market
Integration: New Approaches with Case Material from the

55

West Bengal Food Economy. Journal of Development Studies

vol. 30 (1) pp1-57.
Ravallion, M. (1986): Testing Market Integration. American
Journal of Agricultural Economics pp. 102 9 vol, 68, No. 1
2/1988
Richardson, D. (1978) Some Empirical Evidence on Commodity
Arbitrage and the Law of One Price. Journal of International
Economics, vol. 8(2), pp341-351.
Riley, P. and M.T. Weber (1979) Marketing in Developing
Countries. MSU Rural Development Series. Working Paper
no. 6. East Lansing. Department. of Agricultural Economics.
MSU.
Seppala, P. (1998) Tanzania-Decisive Liberalisation Path, in
Seppala (ed) Liberalised and Neglected Food Marketing
Policies in Eastern Africa, World Development Studies, 12,
Helsinki: UNU/WIDER.
Silvapulle, P. and Jayasuriya, S. (1994) Testing for Philippines
Rice Market Integration: A Multiple Cointegration Approach.
Journal of Agricultural Economics vol. 45 (3). Pp 369-380.
ater, C.J, Riley, H., Farace, V. and Harrison, K. (1969), Mar
Slater, C.J. (1993), Market Channel Co-coordinating and
Economic Development in Agriculture and Food Marketing in
Developing Countries: Selected Reading, John Abbott (editor),
C.A.B. International Wallingford, U.K.
Slater, C.J., Riley, H, Farace, V, and Harrison, K (1969), Market
Processes in the Pacific Area of NE Brazil, Latin American
Studies Centre Research No. 2, East Lansing, MSU.
Sosnick, S. H. (1968). Toward a Concrete Concept of Effective
Competition. American Journal of Agricultural Economics.
Vol. 50 (1968) pp 827 853.
Stigler, G.J. (1968) The Theory of Price. Collier Macmillan,
Canada Ltd.
Thodey, A. R. (1968): Analysis of Staple Food Price Behaviour in
Western Nigeria. Unpublished Ph.D Dissertation submitted to

56

University of Illinois, Urbana Illinois.

Timmer, C. P. (1987): Corn Marketing in C.P. Timmer (ed) The
Corn Economy of Indonesia. Ithaca, N.Y. Cornell. 201-234.
Titiloye, M. O. and A. A. Ismail (1974): A Survey of the trends
and problems in the Domestic Arrangements for the Marketing
of Groundnuts and Cotton. In Onitiri, H. M. A. and D.
Olatunbosun (eds) Marketing Board System in Nigeria
NISER, Ibadan , 1974.
UNCTAD (1995), Policy Reforms in the Agricultural Sector in the
LDC 1995 Mid Term Review, 41.
USDA (1994): Cotton World Market and Trade U.S. Department
of Agriculture, Foreign Agric series. Circular series FC 5 94.
World Bank (1981): Accelerated Development in Sub-Saharan
Africa. An Agenda for Action. Washington DC.

57

Bio data of Professor Justice Inyanda Onu

Professor Justice Inyanda Onu was born on August 15, 1964 to the
family of Mr. and Mrs. James Ame Onu at the Ikkah Missionary
Hospital in present day Kogi State. Justice Onu started his primary
school education at the All Saints Anglican School, Makurdi in
1970 and concluded at the Saint Bartholomews Primary Boarding
School, Wusasa Zaria, in 1975. He then proceeded to the
Government College, Makurdi for his secondary school education
where he sat for and passed the West African School Certificate
Examinations in 1980. He was enrolled at the University of
Sokoto, Sokoto in 1981 for the Preliminary Studies and proceeded
to graduate with Honours Degree in Agriculture in the Second
Class Upper Division in 1987. He got admitted to the prestigious
Postgraduate School of the Premiere University in Nigeria, the
University of Ibadan, for his postgraduate studies in 1995 from
where he obtained the M.Sc. and Ph.D Degrees in Agricultural
Economics in 1997 and year 2000 respectively.
Justice Onu started his working career as a teacher when he served
as a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member at the
Government Day Secondary School, Maiduguri in 1987. At the
completion of the NYSC he joined the Kewalram/Chanrai Group
as a Trainee Internal Auditor and was posted to the AFCOTT
Nigeria Limited Cotton Estate at Ngurore in Yola South Local
Government Area of present day Adamawa State. He also served
as supervisor in the Research and Development department of the
company between 1991 and 1993. It was while he served in the
Cotton Estate that Justice Onu grew to love and appreciate the
beauty and the wonders of the cotton crop. On his departure from
the cotton company Justice joined the service of the Federal
University of Technology, Yola as a Graduate Assistant in 1994.
He rose through the ranks and was promoted to the rank of
Professor in October 2008. He specialised in agricultural
commodity marketing.

58

Justice has served the University in a number of capacities.

Between 2002 and 2004 he was the acting Head of Department of
the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension. He was
later elected as Deputy Dean, School of Postgraduate Studies
(SPGS), where he served between 2004 and 2006. While serving at
the SPGS he had the rare opportunity to oversee the office of the
Dean for a period of about three months while the Dean was away
on a leave of absence. Justice Onu has also contributed to
University administration when he served in a number of ad hoc
committees and panels set up by the Vice Chancellor. He has been
a member of the University Senate since 2010.
In the area of professional practice Justice Onu has had both
domestic and international exposures. He has done some
commissioned studies and produced reports for some states and
bilateral agencies such as the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) and the German Technical Cooperation
(GTZ) on Poverty Alleviation, Social Protection, and Agricultural
Finance. He was part of the preparatory sessions in Nigeria for the
Voices of the Poor survey that spanned about sixty countries in
1999. The output of this report formed part of the Human
Development Report of year 2000. He has taken part in trainings
and conferences on the community-driven approach that is
currently been applied in the implementation of some World Bank
assisted projects across the country. He also took part in the global
field trial of the Integrated Questionnaire for Social Capital in
Nigeria and the follow-up workshop at the World Bank Head
Office at Washington D.C. on Applying Social Capital to
Operations in 2003. When the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT)
Project was about to be piloted in Nigeria by the World Bank and
the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) he was part
of the team that produced the Project Implementation Manual
(PIM) for the piloting states and conducted the Rapid Assessment
of the CCT project in Yobe State. He has also taken part in the
preparation of PIM for the Youth Employment and Social Support

59

Operations (YESSO) for the Federal Government of Nigeria.

When the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and
the World Bank collaborated to do the Agricultural Public
Expenditure Review (AGPER) for three states in Nigeria in 2013,
Justice was assigned to cover one of the three states that were
covered by the exercise. He has also done reviews of some World
Bank assisted projects in some states of the federation over the
years. He was appointed member of the Economic Policy Working
Group (EPWG) by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
development (FMARD) to produce the Food and Agricultural
Transformation Policy 2015 for Nigeria. Justice has had the rare
opportunity of attending training workshops organised by the
World Bank at the World Bank Institute Washington, D.C. and at
Abuja on the CCT implementation in Nigeria. As part of the CCT
implementation in Nigeria Justice was part of the World Bank
Mission that visited Niger State.
Professor Justice Onu has served as external examiner to the
Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, University
of Maiduguri at the undergraduate level. He has also served as
external assessor for some Associate and Professorial candidates
from some Nigerian Universities in agricultural economics. He has
supervised a number of postgraduate students at both the Master
and Doctoral levels. He is happy and proud to be identified with a
number of his former students who are also academics today in
many universities across the nation.
Professor Justice Inyanda Onu is happy to be married to Mrs.
Grace Onu and they are blessed with four great sons namely David,
Joshua, Justice (Jnr) and Daniel. Justice is not only a follower of
the Lord Jesus Christ, he is ready to be a voice for Him by
declaring His unfailing love and mercy to all men for the rest of his
life.