Colonization, which created the modern Nigerian state, began with early European contact sometime in the 15th century and affected all institutions, including religion, economics, governance, and food.
While Nigeria officially became independent from British rule in 1960 the influence of imperialism persists in ways that continue to undermine the country. This is Neo colonialism, which is the continued influence of colonial and imperialists agents in the affairs of formerly colonized nations.
International trade is rife with neocolonial exploitation. Trade between African countries and the West is primarily an extractive relationship: raw materials in the form of natural resources such as petroleum, precious metals and cash crops like palm fruit, cocoa, are exported from African countries, at low prices set outside the continent. These raw materials are processed into finished goods which are sold back to Africans at exorbitant prices. This unfair competition with the West has decimated local economies and disappeared many artisanal practices, like food manufacturing. There are also considerable outflows of financial resources leaving the continent, through interest payments and repatriation of corporate profits.
