Trade Winds on the Niger: The saga of the Royal Niger Company 1830-1971.(Review)

Trade Winds on the Niger: The saga of the Royal Niger Company 1830-1971, by Geoffrey L. Baker. The Radcliffe Press, 1996. xvii+333 pp. 24.50 [pounds sterling] hardback. ISBN 1-86064-014-1

G. L. Baker became interested in the history of trade on the lower Niger and the Benue while taking part in that trade, during work for the United Africa Co. in Opobo and elsewhere. He also held other business posts in Nigeria, for example, as a commercial manager with two road transport companies in Jos and Ibadan. With such a background he is well placed to study business history from the businessman's angle, as Sir Frederick Pedler, one of Baker's sources, did in The Lion and the …