Traditional Government And Politics

Traditional Government And Politics

CHAPTER ONE

preface

Background of the study

The Igbos are traditionally vill people, with social system comprising hundreds of small clans and townlets. Among than, it’s the family, the title holders, the vill head etc that accomplish the executive functions of the society( Okoye, 19804). There have been numerous attempts to trace the origin of the Igbos, but none of that was veritably successful. In other words, where the Igbos migrated from has not been proved beyond reasonable double. The strain of the Igbos has bothered numerous people for a long time. numerous chroniclers, proponents, sociologists, archaeologists and anthropologist have raised a lot of dust on this issue. A lot of views have been proffered but yet the origin of the Igbos remained a mirage. The Igbo people enthrall the southern part medial western and Delta regions of Nigeria. Their areas is bounded on the east by the Ibibio people, on the south west by the Ijaw, extending to the confines of Benin with Igbos as the village. The northern boundary is Idoma in the Northem Nigeria. What could be especially defined as the traditional government and politics in Igbo society comes on areas of over 15,800 square long hauls with a population of further than thirty( 30) million( Anyanwu and Aguwa 19934). The Igbo land rises in the north to the Agwu- Uduka hills which run in a south- north direction. There are no impenetrable mountain walls or large charges of water or desert throughout the Igbo setting. The Igbos inhabit Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo Abia, Ahoada area of River state as well on the account of their migrant geste , Igbo people are set up each over the world where they settled, live and bear as son of the soil( Anyanwa and Aguwa 19995). At this stage, we shall explore in all these areas of Igbo land, if there had was traditional government and politics because the executive system in Igbo society have been similarly labeled as accephallous, stateless or democratic. This implies that the Igbo communities don’t have first person of the society entrusted with executive functions, and inversely lacks formal structures of government with a hierarchical association grounded on bureaucratically and ranged administration. Infact, the problem scholars have endured in furnishing a simple characterization for the political culture of the Igbo underscores the complications of the system as well as the fact that the Igbo culture area isn’t invariant. In terms of taradiddle erogeneity or complexity, the Igbo culture area had been subdivided into five units with features of internal differentiations within each unit. therefore we have

Northern or Onitsha Igbo including Nri, Awka, Enugu and Onitsha.

ii. Southern or Owerri Igbo including Isuma, Uratta, Ikwerre, Ohuhu, Ngwa and Isu.

iii. Western Igbo including north and southern Ika, Kwala and River line Igbo.

iv. Eastern or cross swash Igbo including Abam, Ohafia and Ara.

North- eastern Igbo or Ogu Uku including the Igbo of Abakiliki and Afikpo( Founde and James 196210) with the below, it remains unrealistic in terms of political culture to attempt a characterization of the entire Igbo verbal and culture area. The three types of stateless structures distinguished by Horton of agrarian communities are to be set up among the Igbos videlicet.

Seminary linage system among a many central Igbo communities.

b. The dispersed territorially defined community.

c. The large compact vill type.

The frequence of these forms ofnon-contrasted form of political system among the Igbo has given the false print that the Igbo can be legitimately characterized as accephallous.

So this exploration work is aimed at studying the traditional government and political system of Okposi in Ohaozara, Ebonyi state so as to put forward the fact that the traditional government and politics in Igbo society is structural and can be studied via structural logical approach which disproves the print that traditional government and politics in Igbo society is generally stateless, accephallous or democratic auberge nature.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The issue of whether there live any traditional government and politics in Igbo society has remained a perplexing problem over theyears.The problem this work is out to look into thus is the operations, difficulties faced as a result of the misperception and belief of numerous people moment of Igbo society. There has been this belief that the Igbo of Nigeria has no unified and centralized form of politics and socialorganization.Therefore, the colorful disturbing marvels of the sociopolitical association of contemporary Igbo society are some suggestion of some types of passage or hunt for an equilateral position at which socio- political bournes and programmes can fit into similar socio- political structures and culture of the colorful Igbo system. In eternity’s, all the marvels put together shows that the problem lies in a hunt for socio- political identity and an enduring traditionally flavor filled confidence which apropos feel to include numerous Igbosocieties.These growing inconsistencies coupled with the ever constant imperishable problem of social and political disillusionment in numerous Igbo societies shows how necessary a new approach to socio- political elaboration really is.

ideal OF THE STUDY

The issue of the traditional government and politics in Igbo society has ago been a subject of violent debate among contemporary literal and Igbo scholars. Following the multifariousness of opinion on this subject, it has come reasonable for the exploration to establish the fact that their was to a great extent an element of socio politic association in Igbo land. The overall ideal of the study can also be stated as follows-

1. This study aims atre-assessing the nation extensively held opinions about the traditional government and politics in Igbo land in general and Okposi Ohaozara in particular with a view to unreeling the verity about this.

2. To make an enquiry into the donation of some prestigious scholars to the ongoing hunt for Igbo identity and association.

3. This study or exploration work also seeks to grease a comprehensive understanding of the indigenous socio- political association of some Igbo communities, for case Okposi in Ohaozara original government area of Ebonyi state, which will help scholars to anatomized and appreciate better the strains in Igbo socio- political system which sounded the radiate from the combination of two extensively else political ideas of the European and Igbos. This also they will try to address.

4. The study of Okposi socio- political association will also contribute to the enrichment of studies in traditional government and political association of Igbo in general.

5. A study of this nature accepted down from stresses of socio- political heads, similar as marked some vital studies of the Igbo, heretofore picture of Igbo socio- political life and therefore presents it for appraisal by scholars who may have maintained toughened station to it.

exploration suppositions

For the successful completion of the study, the following exploration suppositions were formulated by the experimenter;

H0Okposi socio- political association doesn’t contribute to the enrichment of traditional government and political association of Igbo in general

H1 Okposi socio- political association contribute to the enrichment of traditional government and political association of Igbo in general

H02there are no indigenous socio- political associations of some Igbo communities

H2there are indigenous socio- political associations of some Igbo communities

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

It’s believed that at the completion of the study, the findings will be of benefit to the entire Nation. The study will also be of great benefit to the experimenters who intends to embark on exploration on analogous motifs as it’ll serve as a companion. Eventually, the study will be of great significance to academia’s, speakers, preceptors, scholars and the general public.

compass AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The compass of the study covers traditional government and politics. The experimenter encounters some constrain which limited the compass of the study;

a) Vacuity OF RESEARCH MATERIAL The exploration material available to the experimenter is inadequate, thereby limiting the study

b) TIME The time frame allocated to the study doesn’t enhance wider content as the experimenter has to combine other academic conditioning and examinations with the study.

c) Organizational sequestration Limited Access to the named auditing establishment makes it delicate to get all the necessary and required information concerning the conditioning.

Description Of Terms

TRADITIONAL Produced, done, or used in agreement with tradition.

GOVERNMENT A government is the system or group of people governing an systematized community, generally appertained to as a state. In the case of its broad associative description, government typically consists of lawmakers, directors, and judges.

POLITICS Politics is the process of making opinions applying to all members of each group. further hardly, it refers to achieving and exercising positions of governance organized control over a mortal community, particularly a state.