Precolonial Governance in Nigeria

Abstract

Evidence shows that before the arrival of the colonial masters in Nigeria, the people who inhabited the landmass referred to as Nigeria had an organized form of governance (Audu, 2014; Ibenekwe, 2014). The area had over 470 ethnic groups with three major ethnic groups: Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo. All the ethnic groups had their unique form of government. However, two dominant forms were identified: the centralized and the non-centralized government. One common form of government is the hierarchical nature and the bureaucracy involved. Even though the people did not practice democracy the way the western world would define democracy, the people developed the type of democracy that ensured the utilization and mobilization of all the human and material resources needed to achieve the ethnic group's common goal. The precolonial leaders emphasized that leadership actions and activities should be directed at achieving societal needs, growth, and development. Hence, they applied sanctions using all the instruments of governance or the divinely developed source when necessary to ensure that no leader acted contrary to the belief in the common good. Leaders could not have pursued the common interest if they had a leadership mindset emphasizing selfish motives over the common interest. Thus, it is not unreasonable to state that servant leadership principles were applied even when not mentioned in literature.

Citation

Amah, O.E. (2023), "Precolonial Governance in Nigeria", Amah, O.E. (Ed.) Resolving the African Leadership Challenge, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 77-87. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80262-677-320231018