CHAPTER ONE

1.1       Introduction

It should be noted that this paper is a conscious attempt to uncover and make understandable the many ways in which the Sheikh Mahmud Gumi Market (Central Market) had encouraged, triggered or stimulated the development of the Kaduna metropolis. As such, in order to shade light towards such conscious effort, it is imperative for one to have a clearer and deeper understanding of what a market is and it is also important to understand what development actually is and what it means.

A market is a group of people who wish to exchange goods and services with each other. This group of people is made up of all those who wish to make and sell a particular good or service, and all those willing to buy it. Any market therefore is made up of producers and consumers. A market need not be in just one particular place. For the economist, anyone who wishes to buy or sell a good of service, wherever they are in the world, is part of market. Markets can be spread over a small area or a very large area. If an economist talks of a perfect market, then is one where no one producer or consumer alone can influence the price charged for goods and services. On the other hand, an imperfect market is one where perhaps a powerful producer or powerful consumer can affect the price charged for goods and services to their own advantage.1

  By looking at market structures we can analyze how much competition there is among firms making a particular product in an industry, and try to judge whether there is enough competition to ensure that consumers are not over charged for the product and that they get what they want with the best possible use being made of resources.

Perfect competition suggests that the perfect use of resources is being made by firms in markets where they face many competing firms. The firms providing the best quality goods and services at the lowest price will be the most successful.

Competition among firm encourage them to make a good use of scarce resources, because in order to make profits these firms must produce products that give the best value for money for consumers. The greatest competition between firms in a market is found in a situation of perfect competition.

A perfect competitive market is characterized by the followings:

Homogenous Product: All firms produce the same product.

Price takers: There are a very large number of buyers and sellers of the product, none of whom can buy or sell enough to be able to influence the price of the product as such; they are known as price takers.

Perfect information: All buyers will know all about the prices and products on sale, and all sellers have all the information on the latest production techniques.

Freedom of entry and exit: Firms can freely enter or leave the industry if they wish. That is, there are no barriers to entry or exit.

However, it is more likely for a number of large firms to have some control over the price they charge for their product. The extreme opposite to perfect competition is situation of monopoly. A firm is a pure monopoly if it is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly market is characterized with the followings:

No competition: being the only supplier of a good or service a monopoly faces no competition from other firms.

Abnormal profits: because there is no competition, the monopolist is able to permanently earn high profits, often known as abnormal profits.

Price makers: a monopolist is not a price taker. Because the monopolist produces all of a particular good or service for a market it can raise the price of its product by supplying less of it.

Barriers of entry: in perfect competition if firms earned profits greater than normal profits other firms would want to earn these profits as well. They would enter the market and start up production. Prices and profits would fall back to normal as supply increased. Monopolists, however, can keep their large profits by preventing new firms from entering their market and taking some of their abnormal profits. Monopolists do this by creating barriers to entry.

Imperfect information: under monopoly there is not perfect information. For example, a firm may hide the price it charges to one group of consumers from another group which is charged a different price.

Non-homogenous products: monopolist firms often do not produce a homogenous product. Usually they will produce different varieties of their product in order to make it difficult for other firms to copy them.2

  On the other hand, development in human society is a many-sided process. At the level of the individual, it implies increased skill and capacity, greater freedom, creativity, self-discipline, responsibility and material well-being. However, what is indisputable is that the achievement of any of those aspects of personal development is very much tied in with the state of the society as a whole. At the level of social groups, therefore, development implies an increasing capacity to regulate both internal and external relationships. Development in the past has always meant the increase in the ability to guard the independence of the social group and often came about irrespective of the will of the persons within the societies involved. The tools with which man work and the manner in which they organize their labour are both important indices of social development.

More often than not, the term ‘development’ is used in an exclusive economic sense – the justification being that the type of economy is itself an index of other social features. What then is economic development? A society develops economically as its members increase jointly their capacity for dealing with the environment. Taking a long-term view, it can be said that there has been constant economic development within human society since the origins of man, because man has multiplied enormously his capacity to win a living from nature. Africa, being the original home of man, was obviously a major participant in the processes in which human groups displayed an ever increasing capacity to extract a living from the natural environment. Indeed, in the early period, Africa was the focus of the physical development of man as such, as distinct from other living beings.

Development was universal because the conditions leading to economic expansion were universal. Everywhere, man was faced with the task of survival by meeting fundamental material needs; and better tools were a consequence of the interplay between human beings and nature as part of the struggle for survival. Karl Marx, writing in the 19th Century, was the first writer to appreciate this, and he distinguished within European history several stages of development. The first major stage was communism were goods were shared equally, the second was slavery, the third was feudalism where agriculture remained the principal means of making a livelihood, then came capitalism under which the greatest wealth in the society was produced by machines. There, the labour of the working class became a commodity something to be bought and sold. It was predicted that there would be a further stage that of socialism in which the principle of economic equality would be restored, as in communism.

What is probably of more relevance for early African development is the principle that development over the world’s territories has always been uneven. While all societies have experienced development; it is equally true that the rate of development differed from continent to continent and within each continent different parts increased their command over nature at different rates.3 It is in these context of a market and of development that the Sheikh Mahmud Gumi market (Central Market) will be viewed as a stimulating factor to the development of the Kaduna metropolis from the year 1999 to 2014.

1.2       Statement of the Problem

Every historical research must have a problem for an explicit understanding and proper appreciation of the discourse. Therefore, statement of the problem tends to lay open the problematic(s) which the researcher seeks to explore either to himself or to the general public and by so doing initiating an attempt to solving those problems.

  Although this very research could not be said that there is no problematic attached to it, it problematic is a conscious attempt to dictate and clearly point out the ways in which the Sheikh Mahmud Gumi Market (Central Market) has contributed or stimulated development of the Kaduna metropolis.

It is worthy of note that the Sheikh Mahmud Gumi Market had came to be recognized as the first stage were commercial activities took place in earnest in Kaduna. The market had gone through series of developmental process and on the course of its evolution; it had evolved from its well-known name of the central market to the Sheikh Mahmud Gumi Market. Its evolution by name came about after the death of a well-known Islamic icon that did greatly well in the propagation of Islam in Kaduna State and in Nigeria as a whole.

As such, the market could be said to have stimulated remarkable developments as a number of roads were consequently built to provide access to the market from various part of the state. Also, the market had stimulated the establishment of institutions (mosques and churches) academic institutions, financial institutions such as the banking houses, filling stating, the establishment of settlements and above all, the establishment of the aforementioned institutions stimulated by the market had also brought about the identification of human resources who has come to manage such institutions at different time and space.

On the whole, the statement of the problem is seen as the impact of the aspect of this research. In essence, this research tends to point out the numerous ways through which the Sheikh Mahmud Gumi Market stimulates and enhances the development of the Kaduna metropolis.

Some of the questions asked in the course of the research are as follows:

·         When was Sheik Gumi market established?

·         How was it established?

·         How did the market became transformed to greatness?

·         What are the commodities that are being sold in the market?

·         What is the nature of the road network around the market?

·         How did the market contributed to the development of Kaduna metropolis?

·         What are the challenges of Sheik Gumi market?

1.3       Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of this research is to explore and historicize the basic role of the Sheikh Mahmud Gumi Market to the development of the Kaduna metropolis within the period between 1999 to 2014. However, the specific objectives of the study include the following:

·                     To describe the structure and size of the sheik Gumi market.

·                     To provide a precise description of road network that provides access to the market.

·                     To provide an insight in consonant to the concentration of commodities better seen as commercial specialization which will enhance an easy access to any needed commodity.

·                     To point out the location of other superstructures around the market such as the financial institutions (banking houses) religious institutions (churches and mosques), schools and filling stations.

·                     To point out the role of the market in the development of settlements within Kaduna metropolis.

·                     To point out the role of the market to the development of other markets.

·                     To point out the role of the market to the promotion of ethnic integration.

·                     To uncover the reason for the evolution by name and the process thereof.

·                     To bring to note the factors militating against trade or commercial activities which may in turn intercept and interrupt the developmental process of the Kaduna metropolis and of the state in general.

1.4       Justification and Significance of the Study

It must be emphasized here that the existing literatures rested basically in the attempt to reconstruct the history of Sheikh Mahmud Gumi market. However this research could be said to have extends such tentacles as itseeks to delve into a wider aspect of the related research. This research seeks to uncover the numerous ways in which the Sheikh Mahmud Gumi Market had stimulated and encouraged the development of the Kaduna metropolis as such giving the research a wider coverage as the Kaduna metropolis may include areas such as Kawo in the North-East, Mandoin the North-West, Kabala West, UngwanMu’azuKudende, in the west, Gonin Gora, UngwanRomi, Sabon Tasha to the South, Kabala Costain to the South-East, Kabala Doki and UnguwanRimi to the east and the other places at the center.

It is also significant as will be exposed in this research paper the dilapidating state of some roads within the Kaduna metropolis which also provides linkage to the market such as the Lagos Street, Gumel Road, Zaria Road, Kigo Road, among others and the need for their reconstruction which will further encourage the transportation of goods and people to and from the market. This research wills also proffer the need for an efficient human and traffic control to beat down congestion in places like the Lagos Street by Taiwo Road, Ahmadu Bello Way, Leventis round about, broadcasting road by Chechenia market which when done will better enhance commercial activities.

It is also imperative that this research will indicate places with commercial specialization. Which will as well allow one to have a good knowledge of the market and where to locate whatever one is in need of within the market without wasting much time.

This paper will also seek to uncover and make understandable the factors militating commercial activities. It will engage in an intensive research in the fire incident of 1997 as such, proffering suitable measures on how to avoid such unfortunate incidents in the feature.

On another hand, this paper will open our consciousness to the fact that the market is a part and parcel of the human society as a whole as it has people (traders) who ensures its activeness and whose livelihood greatly depend on it. It will also portray the market as a larger human society with people who ensure the smooth running of the day to day activities within the market with laid down rules and regulations which generally regulate the activities of both the traders union, the role of the Sarkin Pawa among others.

1.5       Scope and Delimitations of the Study

The span of the period of this research 1992-2014, was informed by the fact that, the market evolved in its name from the well known central market which was also known as Doka market to the Sheikh Gumi market in the memory of Sheikh Abubakar Mahmud Gumi after his death in 1992. On the other hand, the period of the termination of this research, 2014, became significant as it marked the period of the elections into the office of the central union of market traders which brought to office Alhaji Adamu Usman Mai Shinkafa into the office of Chairmanship of the union 

As earlier stated, this work attempts to uncover and make understandable the many ways in which the Sheikh Mahmud Gumi Market had stimulated and encouraged the development of the Kaduna metropolis between the time frame 1999 through 2014.

  The selected time frame is informed by the fact that by 1999 there came about a transition from the military rule to a democratic rule in Kaduna State and in Nigeria as a whole. Following the death of military dictator and defacto ruler of Nigeria, General Sani Abacha in 1998, his successor General Abdulsalami Abubakar initiated the transition which heralded Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999. The events and policies adopted by the new government included the lifting of ban on political activities, the political prisoners were released from detention facilities, the constitution was styled after the ill-fated second republic which saw the Westminster system of government jettisoned for an American presidential system. Political Parties were formed; People’s Democratic Party (PDP), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), and Alliance for Democracy (AD), and elections were set for April 1999. In the widely monitored 1999 election, former military ruler Olusegun Obasanjo was elected on the PDP platform on 29th May 1999, Obasanjo was sworn in as president and commander in chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.4 On the other hand, his Excellency Ahmed Makarfi took over the leadership of Kaduna State as the Governor of the state officially on the 29th May 1999 from the military administrator Umar Farouk Ahmad who had been the administrator of the state since 1998.5             More so, numbers of crisis situation had occurred at di

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