The 1918-19 influenza pandemic remains the worst plague in modern history. The Spanish flu killed over 50 million people worldwide, including over 2 million deaths in sub-Saharan Africa. The Spanish flu provoked profound disruptions of social and economic activities globally. In Lagos, the commercial nerve center, and the settler’s capital of Nigeria, the influenza outbreak decimated 3.5 percent of its population over a month. The piece studies the social and economic effects of 1918-19 influenza in Lagos. The thesis maintains that the epidemic occasioned profound dip in cash crops and scarcity of staple foods. The study revealed that enormous influenza deaths provoked disruptions in agricultural and economic activities. Previous research on the subject had focused on the political and social implications of 1918-19 influenza measures on Lagos inhabitants. However, this study outlines the social and economic implications of an epidemic. Focusing on Lagos, the capital of colonial Nigeria, illuminates our understandings on how epidemics impact the socio-economic spaces in a regional context.
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