INTRODUCTION
Pre-colonial
African societies had a rich tradition of political, economic and social
institutions that dealt with the allocation of resources, law-making and social
control. Traditional institutions, which are still in operation in rural Africa
are complex and vary from place to place. Well before the advent of colonialism
some parts of Africa had developed centralized systems of governance with
chiefs and kings often times the power of these rulers were restricted by
various arrangements, including the institution of councils. In other cases,
such as Abyssinia and Rwanda, the rulers enjoyed more absolute power. In most
of Africa, however, political tasks such as social control, were not carried
out solely by the state. Some of them were assigned to other organisations, based
on other organizational principles, particularly to families, village
communities, agesets and religious congregations. One of the characteristic
that is commonly found among many of the decentralized African traditional
institutions of governance is the consensual nature of decision making in the
areas of resource allocation and law-making.
Using
the Igbo traditional political system in Nigeria as a case, the thrust of this
study is to discuss the inter-play between politics and law. How the law
prevalent at that period was the outcome of the political activities and how
the political activities are defined by the law.
CONCEPTUAL
CLARIFICATION
The
concepts Politics and Law will be defined in this work
Politics
Harold
Lasswell defined Politics “as governmental determination of who gets what, when
and how”.
David
Easton’s definition of politics “the authoritative allocation of values for
society”.
Hans
Morgenthau defined it as “the struggle for power”
The
essence of such a society is that a group of people called the government are
clothed with authority to make laws and enforce them; they claim obedience from
the members of the society whom they govern. (Appadorai, 1968)
Law
According
to Pound “the body of principles recognized or enforced by public and regular
tribunals in the administration of justice”.
According
to Green “the system of rights and obligations which the state enforces”.
According
to Salmond “the body of principles recognized and applied by the state in the
administration of justice”.(Appadorai, 1968)
A BACKGROUND OF THE
IGBO ETHNIC GROUP
Although
the origin of Igbo people is traceable to different places including Israel and
Egypt, there seems to be a consensus that they first came in contact with the
Bini and Igala kingdoms. The Igbo live in what is now called the South East geo-political
zone and parts of Rivers and Delta states of Nigeria. In general, the Igbo had
no central political institution nor traditional political authority in
pre-colonial times. There were, however, a few traditional institutions in the
fringe Igbo areas such as Ontisha and Asaba. In spite of the absence of a
central government among the Igbo in pre-colonial Nigeria, yet political
stability in the area was maintained through a network of kinship groups, age
sets and secret societies, which performed the functions of the central
government in one way or the other. The Igbo society was a segmentary with
various social units based on kinship with the nuclear family being the
smallest unit and followed by the extended family, the lineage and the village
made up of a number of lineages which claimed common ancestry for the
constituent lineages. The clan which was the highest social or political unit
was composed of a number of villages which also claimed common ancestry. In
fact, the political organisation was based on these social units.(Ngu, 2003)
Therefore,
the village made up of Kindreds is the basic unit of political organization.
There are two main groups or institutions that made up of the village
government. These are the Council of Elders (Ama-ala) made up of heads of
families who held staff of authority called Ofo and the Village Assembly made
up of all grown-up male members of the village (Ohanaeze). The President or
Chairman of the Council of Elders was the holder of the big Ofo who usually
came from the family known to be the senior family in the village or the eldest
man among the kindreds that form the village. This so called president had no
authority with which to enforce decisions reached at the council and meetings
except by persuasion. Decisions that are reached merely on the basis of
consensus were taken back to the respective families for ratification or rejection.
The council handled matters regarding tradition, custom and ritual while
matters which affected the life of the villagers were referred to the Village
Assembly. (Johnson, 1991)
The
Village Assembly that looked like the direct democracy practiced in ancient
Greece did not meet regularly. The assembly which was made up of every grown-up
male, every member available at a meeting had a right to air his views on any
matter under discussion and decisions are reached through consensus not by
voting. Another group that wielded some degree of moral and political power was
the Ozo title- holders. This title that was given to rich people because of
heavy spendings and the expensive ceremonies involved, attracted respect and
conferred political and moral powers on its holders on account of their wealth.
Also, as a result of the Igbo belief in super-natural powers, life after death
and in spirits, oracles, juju priests and diviners influenced people’s moral
and social behaviour by their sanctions judgements and predictions. Age grades
also played very useful political role in the Igbo pre-colonial administration.(Johnson,
1991)
POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
OF THE IGBO
The Family:
the family was the basic unit of social organisation and administration among
the Igbo during the pre-colonial period. Since age and sex influenced one’s
position and role in Igbo society, the Igbo family was (and still is)
patrilineal (a family relationship which is reckoned through the father or
through the male alone). At the extended family, level, there was some kind of
government with the head of the senior household called the “Okpara” at the
center of administration. Although the “Okpara or elders played prominent roles
in the administration of the society, they did not rule or administer the
society alone. All decisions were in consultation with the various heads of the
families. The Okpara who represented the unit with other extended family units
also offered sacrifice on behalf of his extended family and ensured that things
went well. He was also the keeper of the extended family’s Ofo which was the
Igbo’s symbol of authority, good conduct, justice and link between the dead and
the living. Matters which could not be settled by the Okpara at the extended
family level which affected the whole lineage went to the head of the senior
extended family or sub lineage or the assembly of the unit which was usually
composed of adult male members and some cases with some prominent women.(Akindabe,
2008)
The Lineage Assembly: The
lineage assembly was subordinate to the Village Assembly or Clan Assembly or
Village group which was the highest level of political organisation. The
assembly itself has an inner caucus or council which comprised of lineage heads
called the “Ama-Ala or “Ndi Isi Ofo or the “council of elders” which usually
met to resolve issues that could not be resolved by the Assembly and except in
cases of emergencies, only representatives of the constituent villages attended
the meetings in full consultations with their respective village members and
decisions taken at such meetings were binding on all villages.(Akindabe, 2008)
Village Assembly: Another
important political institution was the village assembly. The assembly which
was the highest level of political organisation, made up of all adult male
members of the village who participated fully in all village assembly debates
or proceedings. The body could discuss any matter affecting the village and
could summon the Council of Elders on any matter that was of interest to the
people. There was freedom of expression at village meetings and final decisions
must be unanimous. The assembly could bring the village to a halt if the Council
of Elders was recalcitrant.(Akindabe, 2008)
The
assembly more or less served as a check against the excesses of the Council of
Elders. This demonstrated the democratic nature of the Igbo traditional
political system. (Johnson, 1991)
Priest of the Village
God: Each village had its own god and the god
had a priest. The village priest was a traditional but significant institution.
He interpreted spiritual events, pronounced sanctions on those who offended the
gods and performed rituals. The village priest therefore wielded a great deal
of power in the administration of the village.(Akindabe, 2008)
Ozo Title Holders: There
were many secret societies and cults among the Igbos but there were stringent
conditions for their membership. In the case of the “ozo” title membership was
restricted to people of wealth and influence in the society.though they were
not traditional rulers, ozo titleholders played important roles in the
administration of the village. They offered advice to the elders, settled
family disputes and assisted in settling inter-village conflicts. The enormous
powers conferred on Ozo titleholders whose only claim to the pre-eminent
position was wealth indicated the importance attached to material success in
the Igbo society.
Age Groups: The
age groups or age grades played important roles in the Igbo traditional
political system. An age group comprised all the male children who did their
initiation around the same time. Being generally young, they provided free
labour for the construction of public projects such as roads and markets,
enforced decisions of the Council of Elders and served as the police and
military force of the community. Besides, the age groups settled disputes among
themselves, checked the behaviour of one another and summoned the family heads
for important meetings.(Akindabe, 2008)
The Inter-play between
Law and Politics in the Pre-Colonial Igbo Society
Is
law a creature of the political order? Does law also structure politics? What
are then the relations between politics and law in the pre-colonial Igbo
society?
The
existence of a legal system causally depends upon political acceptance of a
rule of recognition. It is logically inconceivable for a legal system to exist
without an ultimate rule of recognition which is defined as one accepted by
officials.
Effectiveness
is a necessary condition for law. Effectiveness depends on a political order,
which implies political agreement on the structure of the order. While the
political order must be effective for the legal order to exist, it is the basic
norm which provides a normative character to the political system.
The
inter-play between politics and Law in the pre-colonial Igbo society could be
seen in the various ways below;
Existence of a
Decentralized Government: The Igbo society was a
segmentary or stateless society. Like other stateless African societies such as
the Nuer of Sudan, the Fang of Gabon, the Kikuyu of Kenya and the Bemba of the
Central African Republic, the Igbo had no central political institution. Many
accounts of Igbo society have described it as prototypical ‘stateless,’
‘acephalous,’ or ‘segmentary,’ consisting of autonomous villages and village
groups (obodo, ‘town’) ruled by ‘diffused’ authority without formalised,
permanent, or hereditary leadership positions. (Akindabe, 2008)
Performance of
Governmental Functions: In the Igbo traditional
political system, the functions of government were performed by any one or a
combination of two or more of political institutions, roles were not assigned
to any specialized political institutions but an array of institutions
including the family heads, council of elders, the village assembly, the
diviner, the priest of the village god, the Ozo title holders and the age
grades carried out legislative, executive and judicial functions;
Legislative
Function; there was no legislature as such, but laws were made all the same.
The following institutions took part in the law making process directly or
indirectly, they include; the council of elders, the Village Assembly (it made
laws especially during the second burial ceremonies), the Diviner (he handed
down supernatural laws).
Executive
Function; the principle instrument for village administration was the Council
of Elders. Other institutions which assisted in managing the affairs of the
village include the following; Family Heads, Age Groups.
Judicial
Function: there was no formal courts in the mould of the alkali courts of the
Fulani emirates yet there were institutional mechanisms for the administration
of justice. The following institutions were involved in rule adjudication;
Family heads who settled disputes within the families; Council of Elders which
handled serious cases; Priest of the village gods who handled offences against
the supernatural especially in cases like murder, etc.; the Diviner; Age
groups.(Akindabe, 2008)
Type of Government: The
Igbo political system operated a democratic and republican system of government.
The administration was therefore based on the principle of village democracy,
the Village Assembly that looked like the direct democracy practiced in ancient
Greece did not meet regularly. The assembly which was made up of every grown-up
male, every member available at a meeting had a right to air his views on any
matter under discussion and decisions are reached through consensus not by
voting. (Johnson, 1991)
System of Law: In
the Igbo political system there was no recognized system of law. There was no formal
rules but the pronouncements of the ruler or relevant institution had the force
of the law. Such institutions includes; the Council of Elders, the Village
Assembly and the Diviner.(Akindabe, 2008)
Law Enforcement: Law
was enforced through some political institutions. The age groups helped in law
enforcement in the Igbo political system. They were also mobilized for wars
against neighbouring communities.(Akindabe, 2008)
CONCLUSION
The
Igbo pre-colonial society possessed all the key attributes of a modern
political system. Although there was no elaborate legislative, executive,
judicial and bureaucratic institutions, but institutions were still present to
main law and order and adjudicate in disputes. The mode of governance was not
embodied in a written document while the machinery of government do not intrude
into the private realms of individuals and groups. Instead the Igbo society
lived by unwritten constitution, based on customs and conventions.
The
major feature of traditional Igbo society was decentralization of governance
and authority. The African form of democracy- “communocracy” which is based on
consensus is close to what some post-independence African leaders now call
democratic centralism. The fundamental principles of pre-colonial Africa Include:
curbing concentration of power in an institution or persons; averting the
emergence of a rigid hierarchy (devolution of power); avoiding the settlement
of disputes through adversarial procedures.
REFERENCES
Akinbadade,
J.A. (2008) Government Explained (Plus
Questions and Answers),
Lagos; Macak Books Ventures.
Appadorai,
A. (1968) The Substance of Politics,
New Delhi; Oxford University
Press.
Johnson,
U.A (1991) Comprehensive Government for
Senior Secondary Schools,
Lagos; Johnson Publishers Ltd.
Ngu,
S.M. (2003) Political and Administrative
Development in some selected
Anglophone African States,
Zaria; Ahamadu Bello University Press.
Nice piece, but consistency is key
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