Pre-colonial Political
Administrations in Nigeria
The Hausas and their Political
System
THE
KANEM-BORNU EMPIRE
The
first well documented state in the northern region was the kingdom of Kanem
Bornu, which emerged east of Lake Chad in what is now southwestern Chad by the
9th century ad. Kanem
profited from trade ties with North Africa and the Nile Valley, from which it
also received Islam. The Saifawas, Kanem’s ruling dynasty, periodically
enlarged their holdings by conquest and marriage into the ruling families of
vassal states. The empire, however, failed to sustain a lasting peace. During
one conflict-ridden period sometime between the 12th and 14th centuries, the
Saifawas were forced to move across Lake Chad into Bornu, in what is now far
northeastern Nigeria. There, the Kanem intermarried with the native peoples,
and the new group became known as the Kanuri. The Kanuri state centered first
in Kanem and then in Bornu, known as the
Kanem-Bornu Empire, hereafter referred to as Bornu.
The Kanuri eventually
returned to Chad and conquered the empire lost by the Saifawas. Its dominance
thus assured, Bornu became a flourishing center of Islamic culture that rivaled
Mali to the far west. The kingdom also grew rich in trade, which focused on
salt from the Sahara and locally produced textiles. In the late 16th century,
the Bornu king Idris Alooma expanded the kingdom again, and although the full
extent of the expansion is not clear, Bornu exerted considerable political
influence over Hausa land to the west.
Furthermore, after the great Jihad
war (1804-1810) led by Usman Dan
Fodio, the former fourteen Hausa states were merged and then divided
into two caliphates. The eastern caliphate which included states like Yola,
Gombe, Kano, Zaria and Katsina had Sokoto as its capital territory while the western
caliphate, including Ilorin, Argungun and Kontagora had Gwandu as its capital
city. Usman Dan Fodio became the head (Sarkin Muslim) of the whole Hausa land
while the control of Sokoto (eastern) and Gwandu (western) caliphates went to
Bello, Usman Dan Fodio’s son and Abdullah, Usman Dan Fodio’s brother
respectively.
Moreover, the Sokoto and Gwandu
caliphates were sub divided into emirates for easy administration. Each emirate
was headed by an Emir who was appointed from two or three ruling families with
the approval of the Emir of Sokoto or Gwandu, depending on the emirate who were
in charge of the selection. These lesser Emirs were responsible to the Emirs of
Sokoto and Gwandu respectively.
However, in each emirate, the Emir
was assisted by some officials who were assigned to certain duties. These officials
included, the Waziri who was the administrative officer or prime minister;
the Galadima
who was in charge of the capitals; the Madawaki who was the commander of
the army; the Dogari who was the head of the police; Yari is
regarded as the head of prison (chief superintendent of Prison); the Maaji
the treasurer; the Sarkin Ruwa the river fishing official; the Sarkin
Fada who was responsible for the administration of the palace; and the Sarkin
Pawa the head of all butchers. All these officials, who were appointed
by the Emir, were consulted in running the day to day affairs of the emirate.
This can be said to be a similarity to the Yoruba
political administration, but
unlike a Yoruba kingdom, power was centralized in the hands of the Emir who had
absolute control over these officials and could depose or dethrone any of them
at his will.
Each emirate was further divided
into districts which were headed by an official known as Hakimi. The Hakimi is appointed by the Emir to
oversee the affairs of each district which included maintaining peace and order
and collection of taxes like Jangali - (cattle tax), Jizyah - (land tax) and Zakat
- which is the tax on moveable object meant for helping the poor, other
commonest taxes were: Lizya - the tax collected from the
slaves, strangers and alien., Kharaj is a general tax levied on
farm yield or production. The Hakimi
was however assisted in carrying out these functions by the village heads whom
he appoints by himself. The Hakimi and
the village heads were not paid salary but were entitled to retain some fixed
proportions of the taxes and tributes while they forward the rest or remaining
to the Emir.
The judicial administration of Hausa
land was based on Sharia law which covered a wide range of issues like marriage,
divorce, theft, murder, debt and so on. These laws were interpreted by the Alkali judges in the Alkali courts. Each
emirate could have more than one Alkali court depending on its size. However,
issues not covered by the Sharia law
were transferred to the Emir court where the Emir could preside over such
issues. The Emir must be careful in making his laws or judgments as they must
not go against the will of Islam religion which was the main practice of the
people in Hausa land, for example, the Emir could not legalize the drinking of
alcohol in the emirate. Therefore, the legislative powers of the land can be said
to be solely wielded by the Emir in accordance to the religion of Islam. The
Hausa pre-colonial political system was a highly centralized while, the Emir
posses almost all the powers. This was one of the main reasons why the Indirect
Rule System was
very successful in the Northern part of Nigeria (Hausa/Fulani Empire).
The
features/characteristics of the Hausa-Fulani Pre-colonial Political system
1.
Hierarchical:
their political authority was properly arranged having the Emir as the highest
in authority. The Emir is the most powerful traditional rulers in Nigeria.
2.
Autocratic: the
Emir controls all the decisions and takes very little inputs from other group
members, make choices or decisions based on his own beliefs and do not involve
others for their suggestion or advice provided it is in line with the Sharia
law.
3.
Centralization: powers were centralized while the Emir remains the
overall person in charge of the helm of affairs of the community.
4.
Theocracy:
the Emir runs a form of government in which a
religious institution is the source from which all authority derives. Also
religion is fused with politics and the law based on principles of the sharia.
5.
The tax system: the
way they collect tax was systematically organized in such manner that the
collection of revenue for the administration of the Emirate is not cumbersome.
6.
Monarchical: the Emir stands as king and the chief commander of
his territory meaning that his decision is final as he holds the supreme power
of authority.
7.
Feudalistic:
they run a system in which the feudal lords
own land and people receive land and protection from a lord when they worked
and fought for him.
Functions of the Emir
1. The Emir
who is the head of the Emirates manages disputes or presides over it among his
subjects.
2. Gives
advice to local government chairman the importance of community development.
3. Educates
and encourages his subjects the importance of tax payment
4. Enlightens
his people on the importance of carrying out their civil responsibilities
5. It is the
duty of the Emir to supervise the chieftaincy matters.
6. He
ensures that his people adhere to their cultural heritage.
7. The Emir
ensures that law and order are maintained in his territory.
8. He
presides over Council of Elders meeting in his community.
9. He
appoints official in his emirate.
10. The Emir
performs legislative role and makes law where the sharia law does not cover.
Pre-Colonial
Political System in Igbo land
The Igbo pre-colonial political
system was described as an ‘a
cephalous political system’ which can be translated as ‘a leaderless or
chief less political system’. This term is suitable for describing the Igbo
pre-colonial political system why because it was decentralized and based on
village and direct democracy where everyone in the village has the authority to
contribute in decision making. Each Igbo village was seen as a political unit
inhabited by related families who were bounded by common beliefs and origin.
Each family head in the village held the ‘Ofo‘title
and altogether formed the Council
of Elders. The council of elders presided over important issues on the
village’s welfare, safety, development and so on. Among the Council of Elders,
one was recognized as the most senior to others. He was the ‘Okpara‘. He could call for and
adjourn a meeting, and could also give judgments as well.
The Council of Elders was
believed to be earthly representatives of the Igbo ancestors. They maintained
the age long customs, traditions and laws of the land. These included laws
against misbehavior or immoral acts in which suitable punishment would be meted
out to its perpetrators. There was an important institution in the Igbo
political system called the age-grade. The age-grade consisted
of youngsters that belong to the same age-group. The senior age-group maintained
peace and order in the village and also provided security to ward off external
attacks, while the junior age-group concentrated on the sanitation of the
community and other necessary duties, like going to fine some defaulters that
refused to comply pertaining their rules and regulations.
The age-grade were also involved in
the administration of the village, and as well acted as a check to the council
of elders and other administrative bodies. Another level in the Igbo political
administration were the ‘Ozo‘title
holders. This expensive title was only conferred on wealthy and
influential men in the community who after getting the title become recognized
and could then preside over meetings with the village elders. Also, the chief priests
were not left out in the administration of the village, great importance were
attached to them for they were believed to be the mouthpiece of the gods
e.g. Aro’s long juju. Even the
council of elders consulted the chief priests on matters that were beyond their
powers i.e. matters that needed spiritual intervention. Therefore, different
institutions were doggedly involved in administering the Igbo community, and
powers were equally shared among them.
The political organization of the
Igbos was segmented because there was no central government headed by the king.
They are chief less society that was segmentary
and egalitarian in nature.
Therefore their administrative system was highly
decentralized with diffused power.
The Igbos has no monarch or Kingship except in Onitsha where they have Obi of
Onitsha equivalent to Oba or Emir and Red Cap Chiefs this was as result of the
contact between Onitsha and Benin (Edo state). History has it that under Oba
Esigie, migrants from Benin founded Onitsha town across the river Niger,
thereby brought their traditional life to the people of Onitsha thus explained
why they have central organized political system like the Benin (Crowder, 1978) We can conclude that the Igbo pre-colonial
political system can be safely said to be
similar to the modern Republican system
of government in which the people are governed by their consent. The political
system is also gerontocratic in the
sense that the Council of Elders takes the final decision for any difficult
case. It is also known as the government for the elders of which still reign in
Igbo land even till date. There unit of political and judiciary administration
the village consisting the kindred, whereas the family or kindred was the basic
unit of administration.
Pre-colonial
Political /Administrative System of the Igbos
I.
The Executive:
administrative structures of the Igbo political system were performed by the
village assembly, the council of Elders/Ndichie, the Age Grade and the
Masquerade Cult stands as the Executive functions
II.
The Legislature: the
Igbo traditional political system lacks formal or specialized bodies for enacting legislation. Laws are made by
the village assembly and the rest of other law makers. Various law makers has a
specific role to play; for instance the Age Grade legislates on matter
concerning their mates, the priests of deities enact laws concerning spiritual
matters that concerns land, and where they did not reach agreement the Council
of Elders t
III.
The Judiciary: The
village assembly, the Council of Elders, the Age Grade, and the priest of
deities in their various capacities takes the judicial decisions
Characteristics of Igbo Pre-colonial Political System as mentioned above were that their political system are
noted for being acephalous, gerontocracy,
republican, democratic, highly decentralized, absent of tax system and egalitarian etc.
Functions of the Age-Grade
The age grade in Igbo land has
various functions to perform. They serve as security by maintaining internal and external attack from others;
they also sweep the community by
keeping the place neat. They also help in development
by constructing roads and mending roads that is bad. The age grade also
fines their members who fail to meet up their demand. They discipline any offender who is heady or have failed to abide by
their rules and regulations. The age grade engages themselves in social-cultural activities like dancing
for entertaining the community for a festive period. They maintain law and order
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