Indigenous Political System in the Pre-colonial Akokoland:: A Re-appraisal during Colonial Rule

Headnote

Abstract

The indigenous administrative system encouraged integration among communities in Akoko-land of the present Ondo-State, Nigeria. In Akoko's past, the selection of kings was primarily based on the traditional method. Thus, such selection showcased the ethos and ideas of the Akoko people as it entailed their socio-cultural value. In view of the paramountcy of kings, the role played by them in the process of inter-group relations in the Akoko community cannot be over-emphasised. However, with the establishment of colonial (British) rule in Akokoland, the kings no longer commanded honour. Their paraphernalia of authority was overtaken by British judicial system of administration. Thus, the paper addressed the threat posed to the place of the traditional political institutions in the Akoko society during and even beyond colonial rule.

Keywords

Indigenous, Political System, Age-groups, Pre-colonial, Akokoland, Colonial Rule.

Introduction

Prior to the imposition of colonial (Brit- ish) rule in Akokoland, the towns and villag- es were under the control of the traditional rulers, but the high status accorded the kings became low under British rule. In 1900, the British administrators were received as the liberators of the people of Akokoland from the imperial rule of the Etsu Nupe (Akomo- lafe 1976, 37 & 56). The conquest of Nupe with the assistance of British constabulary was seen as a period that would offer in peace and tranquility; instead the British introduced indirect rule to replace Nupe hegemony in Akokoland. However, indirect rule was a system of administration based on using the existing legitimate chiefs in the region. But colonial administration altered the traditional structure of the political sys- tem and it affected the society.

On this note the paper notes that the in- clusion of the traditional rulers was laid in the Royal Niger Company's (RNC) poverty both in men (personnel) and money (Histor- ical Flashback, 2012). The British adminis- trators unilaterally acted and disrupted the structure of indigenous political system of administration in Akokoland. At the head of administration was the king, his chiefs and elders administered from the village level up to the family level.

The paper adopts narrative historical approach. Data for the paper was obtained from primary and secondary sources. Pri- mary sources (oral evidence and archival materials) are used. It is in...