Esans from the indigenous society have their distinct culture that is highly evidenced in their ways of life. Their systems as elements of their culture are depicted in their socio-economic, educational and indigenous industrial activities that made them self-independence in spite of their cordial relationships with their neighbours. The people had viable economic frameworks that made the society practically functional with arrays of societal peace and industrial harmony. On their arrival, the colonial government easily recognized the economic potential of Esan in areas of art and craft industry, which was why it did not hesitate, particularly for mostly exploitative reasons, to provide the infrastructure to achieve British economic interests. Colonialism came, and accompanied with its attendant Western education and values, engendered socio-industrial change and development, which had great advantage to the people and society. However, in spite of the affirmative contributions colonialism implanted in areas of art and craft industry, Esan people were still exploited and her local industries found itself under the firm control of the European officials whose presence was for their own economic and other benefits. Their activities in the period created industrial exploitation thereby leading to the distortion of the people’s once indigenous and economic institutions decades after independence. The research has made it clear that Esan was an economic force behind the development of Western Region in the colonial period. The paper attempts to give a historical narrative of the nature and state of the Esan economic activities people in the period and to address the fact that if Esan people were been allowed to relive their indigenous lifestyles, probably the present state of socio-cultural and economic destabilization and mental confusion would have been averted. The main sources for this study will be primary and secondary sources. The primary sources constitute documents, oral traditions, and field notes. The secondary source is a work of historical reconstruction based on the interpretation of primary sources. Examples of secondary sources include scholarly journal article, encyclopedia, dictionaries, interpretation of a diary, biographies, newspapers, published dissertations etc.