Concept:The earliest major European economic interest in Nigeria was the transatlantic slave trade.
Explanation:In the early period of European contact, the primary economic activity that drew Europeans to Nigeria was the transatlantic slave trade.
European merchants, especially the Portuguese, British, and Dutch, came to the West African coast to purchase enslaved Africans.
These enslaved people were forcibly transported across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas.
They were sold to work on large plantations, particularly in the Caribbean and South America.
This trade was extremely profitable and lasted for several centuries, from about the 15th to the 19th century.
The transatlantic slave trade dominated European economic dealings along the Nigerian coast during this early era.
Agricultural exports like palm oil became prominent only later, mainly in the 19th century after the slave trade declined.
Textile manufacturing was never a major attraction for early European presence in Nigeria.
Answer:A. The transatlantic slave trade