Economic activities

Palm Produce

Many years ago, the main stay of Nnewi economy was palm produce, palm oil and palm kernel. The town was one of the major collection point for palm produce in the former Eastern Nigeria. Palm produce dealers at Nnewi bought palm oil and palm kernel produced by the subsistent farmers from the interior. The produce dealers use steel drums to sore the palm oil; and 100 pound weight hessian sacks to collect the palm kernels. The palm oil drums and palm kernel sacks were transported to Onitsha where the major importer of palm produce in Nigeria, United African Company [UAC] John Walkeden and other European companies had a big collection warehouses. From Onitsha, the produce is shipped by steamers along River Niger to Port Harcourt; from where the produce is shipped with cargo vessels to England and other destinations around the world.

Trading Apprenticeship

Trading apprenticeship added a very strong stimulus to the economic development of Nnewi. The pioneer traders needed apprentices to assist them in the trading or merchandising businesses. The apprentices were usually young able men in their late teens or early twenties; usually related to the master. They live as members of the household of the master. Their function was to assist in trading business. Some of the duties they performed included; packing up the articles into boxes at the end of the trading day and ferrying the boxes to secured places, usually not far away from the market; and bringing the same boxes from the secured places to the stalls the following trading day and displaying the articles on the stalls. They bargain with customers who visited their masters’ stalls in search of articles; they also were sent to errands by their masters to investigate market dynamics and report back or collect articles which the master had brought from other traders. The apprentice was not paid salary during the apprenticeship, but the master took care of his welfare in all respects and the period of apprenticeship was usually between three and four years. On successful completion of the apprenticeship, the master provided the apprentice with enough capital to start his own trading business. The apprentice was not restricted in the any area of trading but usually traded almost in the same articles his master traded on. What made the trading apprenticeship unique was that the master was not fazed the his ‘boy’ was competing with him; rather most masters felt proud that their apprentice had done better than they did in the business. That method of apprenticeship stimulated the economic development of Nnewi because it created jobs, led to the expansion of Nkwo Nnewi market in size and scope which resulted in the surrounding towns to rely on Nkwo Nnewi market to source their needs.

Transport

In early thirties, only two Nnewi sons were involved in motor transport business in Nigeria; they were Louis Philip Ojukwu later knighted as Sir Odumegwu Ojukwu; who owned Ojukwu Transport Limited and DD Onyemelukwe; who owned DD Onyemelukwe and Sons. Ojukwu Transport Limited operated from Lagos on West to East axis of southern Nigeria while DD Onyemelukwe operated from Aba on Port Harcourt Onitsha axis of the then Eastern Nigeria. However, after the end of second world war, Ojukwu Transport not only survived from the restrictions imposed during the war rather grew and expanded while DD Onyemelukwe went into extinction. By 1952 Ojukwu transport could boast of 200 lorries directly serviced by over 600 full time staff, three of which were expatriates. The success of Ojukwu Transport Limited opened the eyes of other Nnewi entrepreneurs scattered in different parts of Nigeria; gave birth to the second generation of motor transporters of Nnewi origin.

In Eastern Nigeria were; Mr Benson, alias “Okoli Agwu-Agwu” who owned Okoli Transport Limited plying mainly in Eastern Nigeria between Port Harcourt and Onitsha and Enugu to Oji River Power station carrying coal from Enugu coal mines to Oji River power station. Egwuatu Transport Limited plying between Onitsha and Ibeagwa Nsukka carrying palm produce from interior of Nsukka to Onitsha from where they were shipped to England; Onyeka Transport Limited in competition with the later on the same route carrying palm produce to Onitsha from Nsukka. In Onitsha mainland you have Rapulu Chukwu Transport Limited, owned by Mr Jonathan Nwosu engaged purely in supply of building materials to different parts of Onitsha township and environs.

In Northern Nigeria, you find Felix Okonkwo Transport limited, owned by Felix Okonkwo; Nnewi Transport limited jointly owned by Mr Mbadugha and Mr Agu Ofodile plying between Kano and Lagos delivering agricultural products mainly groundnut for shipment to Europe.

The Expansion of Nkwo Market

During the civil war of 1966 to 1970 most people of Igbo ethnic origin residing in other parts of Nigeriia returned to their homeland mostly located in the South-Eastern Nigeria including Nnewi who were scattered in different parts of Nigeria trading o working for other people.

The Nigeria civil war of 1966 to 1970 disrupted and decimated the second-generation transport entrepreneur from Nnewi in Nigeria.

After the war, the younger generation took over and most of the were based in Eastern states of Nigeria but plying all parts of Nigeria especially the Eastern and Western states. Notable ones were Ekenedili Chukwu Transport, Izu Chukwu Transport Limited, Ije Oma Transport Limited, Ekesson Transport Limited, Chi Di Ebere.