Authority in the Community

   In every community , there is authority. That is, all communities have a person or group of persons who hold power and such persons  or group have to be  obeyed by  members of the community or communities. For example, in the past , a a village or town was usually ruled by a chief who, in Yoruba land, is referred to as the 'Oba' there was usually a big town referred to as "King's town". In the Obas town, there were ward leaders or chiefs who helped the Obas or  head chief were small towns and villages which were under the leadership of village heads or lesser chiefs. The chiefs performed the functions of law makers and court jurists. As administrators, they saw it that each member of the community performed his /her duties and obligations.

  At present, there are still Kings in Nigeria but their functions are reduced to that of local traditional heads.

  

    The authority in Nigeria today is the government.

  There are three main arms of government, namely: The Judiciary, the Legislative and the executive. The judiciary sees to it that the courts maintain the laws of the land. The legislature is charged with the  responsibility of making laws. 

The executive sees to it that the people obey the laws.

Traditional political System

  The are many ethnic groups in Nigeria, the major groups are the Hausa, the Yoruba, the Igbo, the Fulani and the kanuri. 

  Before the Europeans came to Nigeria, the Yoruba were ruled by their Obas and chiefs. The Fulani's were ruled by their Emir's. The Igbo's were ruled by their obi's, chiefs and village Heads.

Traditional Government in Hausaland

   The Hausas  and Fulanis  live in the northern part of Nigeria. Before the holy war (jihads) , the Hausas ruled the Fulanis.

  After the Holy war, the Fulanis started to rule the Hausas.

  Their rulers in Hausa land are called Emirs. Some of the famous emirs are the Emirs of Gwandu, Emir of Sokoto, Emir of Ilorin and the Emir of Zaria. Most of the Hausas and Fulanis are Muslims.

   The Emir and their officials rule their areas, some of their officials are :-

I. Waziri (Head official)  ii. Maaji ( the Emir treasurer) iii. Galadima (the man in charge of the capital) iv. Madawaki (the man in charge of the soldiers)  v. The Hakimi (the man in charge of tax).

  Many districts form an emirate. The sharia law was used in all the enemies. An alkali was the judge in the court.

Traditional Government in Yoruba land

  The Yoruba live mostly in Ogun, Oyo, ondo, Lagos and kwara states 

Some important Obas in Yoruba land are : the Ooni of Ife, the aalafin of Oyo, the a lake of Egbaland, the Owa of ijeshaland, the Olubadan of Ibadan and Ora of Ila.

  The  Yorubas live in towns and villages, the chiefs take care of the Villages and small towns. The chiefs are called 'Bales'

The  Oba-in-council :  the Oba and his senior chiefs form the Oba-in-council which rule both the towns and villages.

The senior chiefs advise the Oba on how to rule the people.

Traditional government in Igbo land

  The Igbo's mostly live in anambra, IMO, Enugu, Ebonyi, Abia, Parts of Delta, Rivers and Cross river states. The Igbo's had no central government. The village assembly made the laws for  the people.

The village assembly is made up of village heads and men with titles. The age groups in Igbo land clear bushes, clean the villages and settle quarrels among themselves. They help to keep the law and order in igbo land.

Traditional Government of the Efiks

he Efiks  live mostly in the Cross river state. The Efiks have chiefs that rule them among the chiefs that rule the Efiks are Obong of Oyo etc.

   People who go against the laws are punished by chiefs in the native courts.