CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The Igbos have traditionally been a rural people, having a social structure that includes hundreds of small clans and villages. The family, title holders, village heads, and others are among those who carry out the society’s administrative tasks (Okoye, 1980:4). Many attempts have been made to trace the origins of the Igbos, but none have been very successful. In other words, the origins of the Igbos have not been established beyond a reasonable doubt. For a long time, many people have been troubled by the Igbos’ ancestry. This topic has sparked a lot of debate among historians, philosophers, sociologists, archaeologists, and anthropologists. Many perspectives have been proposed, but the origins of the Igbos have remained a phantom.  Idoma, in northern Nigeria, serves as the northern frontier. Traditional administration and politics in Igbo civilization can be defined as covering an area of about 15,800 square miles and a population of over thirty (30) million people (Anyanwu and Aguwa 1993:4). The Agwu-Uduka hills, which run south-north, rise to the north of the Igbo country. Throughout the Igbo setting, there are no impenetrable mountain barriers, enormous amounts of water, or desert. The Igbos live in Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo, Abia, and Ahoada in River state, but because of their migratory habits, they can be found all over the world, where they settle, live, and act as sons of the soil (Anyanwa and Aguwa 1999:5). . At this point, we will investigate whether traditional administration and politics existed in all of these parts of Igbo country, as the administrative system in Igbo society has been variously classified as accephallous, stateless, or republican. This means that the Igbo communities lack formal government institutions with a hierarchical organization based on bureaucratically and systematized administration, as well as a first person of the community entrusted with administrative tasks. In reality, the difficulty historians have had in describing the Igbo political culture in a straightforward way highlights the system’s intricacies as well as the fact that the Igbo culture region is not uniform.

The Igbo culture region had been classified into five units in terms of erogeneity or complexity, with internal differentiations within each unit. As a result, we have

i. Northern Igbo, often known as Onitsha Igbo, includes the communities of Nri, Awka, Enugu, and Onitsha.

ii. Isuma, Uratta, Ikwerre, Ohuhu, Ngwa, and Isu are among the Southern or Owerri Igbo.

iii. Igbo from the western part of the country, includes the north and south Ika, Kwala, and River line Igbo.

iv. Abam, Ohafia, and Ara are among the eastern or cross-river Igbo.

v. North-eastern Igbo or Ogu Uku, includes the Abakiliki and Afikpo Igbo (Founde and James 1962:10) With the aforementioned, attempting a political culture categorization of the entire Igbo language and cultural territory remains impracticable.

The Igbos, in particular, are home to the three types of stateless agrarian groups identified by Horton.

a. Seminary: In a few core Igbo communities, there is a linage system.

b. The geographically defined community that is dispersed.

c. The type of community that is huge and compact.

The prevalence of these non-contradicted kinds of political system among the Igbo has given rise to the incorrect notion that the Igbo can rightfully be described as accephallous.

As a result, the purpose of this research is to examine Okposi’s traditional government and political system in Ohaozara, Ebonyi State, in order to demonstrate that traditional government and politics in Igbo society are structural and can be examined.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Over the years, the question of whether traditional governance and politics exist in Igbo society has remained a puzzling one. As a result of many people’s misperceptions and beliefs about Igbo society today, the problem this study seeks to address is the applications and difficulties they encounter. There has long been a view that the Igbo people of Nigeria lack an united and organized political and social structure. As a result, the various disturbing phenomena of contemporary Igbo society’s sociopolitical organization are some indications of some types of expedition or search for an equilateral position where sociopolitical aspirations and programs can fit into such sociopolitical structures and cultures of the various Igbo systems. In otherworlds, all of the phenomena taken together suggest that the issue is a search for socio-political identity and an enduring traditionally flavor-filled confidence, both of which appear to be present in many Igbo civilizations. These developing discrepancies, together with the ever-present problem of social and political disenchantment in many Igbo societies, demonstrate the importance of a new strategy to socio-political progress.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Since then, current historians and Igbo researchers have been debating the issue of traditional administration and politics in Igbo society. Given the diversity of viewpoints on the subject, it has become reasonable for the research to conclude that there was a significant degree of sociopolitical organization in Igbo country. As a result, the study’s ultimate goal might be expressed as follows:-

1. The purpose of this study is to re-evaluate widely held national beliefs regarding traditional administration and politics in Igbo country in general, and Okposi Ohaozara in particular, in order to uncover the truth.

2. To look into the contributions of certain illustrious academics to the ongoing search

3. This study or research work also aims to facilitate a comprehensive understanding of the indigenous socio-political organization of some Igbo communities, such as Okposi in the Ohaozara local government area of Ebonyi state, which will aid scholars in better analyzing and appreciating the strains in the Igbo socio-political system, which appeared to result from the fusion of two vastly different political ideas of the European and Igbos. They will also strive to address this.

4. The study of Okposi socio-political organization would strengthen research in traditional administration and Igbo political organization in general.

5. A study of this sort conducted away from the stresses of socio-political crises, such as those that have characterized some of the Igbo’s most important studies, has provided an up-to-date image of Igbo socio-political life.

RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

The researcher devised the following research hypotheses in order to complete the study successfully:

H0:In general, Okposi socio-political organization does not add to the enrichment of Igbo traditional government and political organization.

H1: Okposi socio-political organizations contribute to the richness of Igbo traditional governance and politics in general.

H02:Some Igbo communities lack indigenous socio-political structures.

H2:Some Igbo communities have indigenous socio-political groups.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The outcomes of the study are expected to benefit the entire country once it is completed. The study will also be useful to scholars who want to conduct research on similar themes because it will act as a guide. Finally, academics, lecturers, teachers, students, and the general public will benefit greatly from the research.

SCOPE/LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The study’s focus includes traditional government and politics. The researcher runs upon a roadblock that limits the scope of the investigation;

a) RESEARCH MATERIAL AVAILABILITY: The researcher’s research material is insufficient, restricting the study’s scope.

 

b) TIME: The study’s time frame does not allow for broader coverage because the researcher must balance other academic pursuits and examinations.

 

c) Organizational privacy: Obtaining all of the relevant and required information about the operations is challenging due to limited access to the selected auditing firm.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

TRADITIONAL: Produced, done, or used in a traditional manner.

GOVERNMENT: A government is the system or collection of individuals in charge of governing an organized community, often known as a state. Government generally comprises of lawmakers, administrators, and arbitrators, according to its broad associative definition.

 

POLITICS: The process of making decisions that affect all members of a group is known as politics. It refers to gaining and exercising positions of governance organized control over a human community, particularly a state, in a more limited sense.

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