THE ROLES OF TRADITIONAL RULERS IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

THE ROLES OF TRADITIONAL RULERS IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

ABSTRACT

This research work is centred on ‘’The Role of Traditional Rulers in National Development with a case study of ‘’The Maigari of Lokoja. The major objective of the work is to access the impact of traditional rulers in nation building, primary and secondary sources of data were used while simple percentage method was used in analyzing the data. The findings revealed that traditional rulers contributes to national development, equally that they are an agent of change in the society. At the end of the research, the researcher recommended that: traditional ruler at present and in future be allowed a conducive environment to perform their operational roles towards the conventional nation building.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1  BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Nigeria traditional rulers often derive their title from the rulers of independent states or communities that existed before the formation of modern Nigeria.

Although they do not have formal political powers in many cases they continue to command respect from their people and have considerable influence within their domain and the people.

Modern Nigeria encompasses lands traditionally occupied by highly diverse ethnic groups with very different languages and traditions. In broad terms, the southeast including the Niger Delta was occupied mainly by Igbos and related people, the Southwest by Yoruba and related people and north by Hausa and Fulani people, with a complex intermingling of different ethnic groups in the middle belt between north and south.

Before the arrival of the British in the late 19th century, the history of the area was turbulent, with periods when empires such as those Oyo, Kanem-Bornu and Sokoto gamed control over large areas, and other periods when the state were more fragmented.

Although political structures different widely between different ethnic groups, it was common for each town or collection of towns to have a recognized ruler, who might in turn be subordinate to the ruler of a large polity.

Thus the Sokoto caliphate wad divided into emirate, with the emirs loosely subordinate to the Sultan of Sokoto, although at times, acting as independent rulers.

Europeans had long traded with the coastal, primarily exchanging cotton and other manufactured goods for slaves and palm oil products at centres such as Calabar, Benin and Lagos. The Niger Coast Protectorate was established in 1891 holding a small area along the coast.

During the period 1879-1900, the Royal Niger Company made a concerted effort to take control of the interior, using disciplined troops armed with the maximum and making treaties of ‘’protection’’ with the local rulers.

The company’s territory was sold to the British Government in 1900, with the Southern region merged with the Niger Coast Protectorate to become the Southern Nigeria Protectorate and the Northern Nigeria Protectorate remaining separate.

In 1914 the two were merged into the colony and protectorate of Nigeria, with roughly the same boundaries as the modern state of Nigeria.

The first British High Commissioner for Northern Nigeria, Fredrick Lugard, tried to rule through the traditional rulers, and this approach was later extended to the south. Lugard’s successor Hugh Clifford left this system in place in the north, where the emirate system had long traditions, but introduced a legislative council with some elected numbers in the south, relegating the traditional rulers to mainly symbolic roles.

Overtime, the relationship between the colonial administration and the traditional rulers evolved. For example the Tive people, the fourth largest ethnic group, had always been extremely decentralized with no single ruler. The British created the office of Tor Tive in 1947, appointing Makere Dzakpe as the first builder of the title in order to have a ‘’TRADITIONAL RULER’’ to speak for Tiv people.

With independence in 1960, followed by alternating democratic and military governments, the status of the traditional rulers evolved even further. In the north, the emirs finally lost power to the government administration, through said administration was often staffed by traditional notables.

Where rulers had previously acquired office strictly through inheritance or through appointment by a council of elders, the government now increasingly became involved in the succession. Thus, in May 1994, the military ruler General Sani Abacha deposed subsequently reinstated in January 2000.

In some cases, the government has merged or split traditional domains. For example, there had been two rulers of the Efik people in the area around Calabar, but in December 1970, it was agreed to combine the office into a single one that was to be held by a ruler known as the Obong.

The government has maintained colonial classifications. Thus the appointment of monarch are attached with grades and level of monarch into FIRST GRADE, SECOND GRADE and THIRD GRADE Monarch.

Traditional ruler today are still highly respected in many communities, and have considerable political and economic influence. Although, they have no formal role in the democratic structure, there is intense competition for royal seats amongst the finite pool of eligible dynast.

The rulers plays useful roles in brokering between the people and the state, enhancing national identify resolving minor conflicts and providing an institutional safety-value for often inadequate state bureaucracies.

One reason for their influence may be that the people of many ethnic groups have limited ability to communicate in the official English Language; so the traditional ruler serves as an interpreter and spokesperson.

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THE ROLES OF TRADITIONAL RULERS IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT