The Traditional Political System of the Yoruba

Author(s): P. C. Lloyd
Source: Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, Vol. 10, No. 4 (Winter, 1954), pp. 366-384
Published by: University of New Mexico
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3628833
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THE TRADITIONAL POLITICAL SYSTEM OF THE YORUBA
P. C. LLOYD

MANY TRIBAL SOCIETIES havea formof government in whichthe

unilinear descent groups playan important part;buttheposition ofthelineages
inthemorehighly developed kingdoms hasrarely beenadequately Atten-
stressed.
tionhasbeendrawnto theintricacies ofthegovernmental structureandto the
complexity oftheceremonies andritual surrounding chieftaincy andkingship. In
farlessdetailis it described howthemembers of thegovernment arechosen to
occupy their positions or what is theconstitutional relationship betweenthem. It
isintheWestAfrican coastal in
kingdomsparticular that the lineagesystemplays
a vitalroleintherelationship between thegovernment andthemassofthepeople.
In their introduction toAfrican PoliticalSystems, Evans-Pritchard andFortes
divided thesocieties described intotwogroups.'One grouphadgovernment-
centralized authority, administrative machinery, andjudicial which
institutions-in
power corresponded with wealth and status.The framework of these was
societies
theadministrative system; the societies described were amalgams of different
peoples; their rulers controlled anorganized force toupholdtheir Such
authority.
werethekingdoms oftheSouthern Bantu.Theother set,typifiedby theNuer and
Tallensi, lackedgovernment intheabovesense;there werenosharpdivisions in
rank,statusorwealth; thelineage structure wastheframework of thepolitical
system. Thisclassification clearly separates thesocieties in thisbook,butbeing
largely descriptive rather than analytical it lacks the precision necessaryto deal
withsocieties fallingbetween these broad and
groups, particularly thoseofcoastal
WestAfrica, suchas theYorubaintheir numerous kingdoms each witha slightly
differentpoliticalstructure. It isoften difficulttodefine whengovernment begins,
forthepossession ofcentralized authority, administrative machinery, andjudicial
institutionscanbeascribed toquitesimple structures suchas thoseoftheKabba
Yoruba.The differences between thesocieties described inAfrican Political
Sys-
temswereoverstressed sincethosewriters dealing with the centralized
kingdoms
largelyignored theplaceofthelineage system inthese societies,whilethosedealing
withthesimpler societies discussed little
else.
Realizing theimportance ofthelineage system inWestAfrican Dr
societies,
Paula Brownclassified themaccording to thepresence or absenceof lineages,
1 M. Fortesand E. E. Evans-Pritchard, PoliticalSystems(London,1940),
eds.,African
pp.5-15.
366

VOL. 10, 1954

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 POLITICAL SYSTEM OF THE YORUBA 367

associations andthestatein thepolitical

(suchas agegradesandtitlesocieties)
Fourcategories
structure.2 suchas theTallensiwhose
thesocieties
emerged:
structure
political is basedon lineagealone;thosesuchas theIbo whichhave
lineagesand associations; thosewherelineages, associations, and thestateare
foundtogether as withtheYorubaandMende;andfinally thosewhere lineages
andassociations playa negligible partbutwhere thestateis supreme, Ashanti,
Dahomey, andNupebeingexamples.3
Herdefinition ofthelineage anditsinternal organization is conventional. In
discussingthe role of agegrades and sets and titlesocieties such as the Yoruba
OgboniandMendePoroshefilled a gapinearlier classificatory systems. Buther
of an association,
definition "an organised andcorporate group, membership in
which doesnotfollow automatically from birth or adoption into a kin or terri-
torialunit,"is applicable tothesupreme councilofchiefs inherstate,as wellas
many othergroups therein. The state is againnot defined butdescribed-it has
administrative district
hierarchies, organization, chiefs and with
kings agents and
courts
advisers, atdifferent levelsinthestructure, andmythical andritual support
forpolitical
supremacy. It isclearfrom the context that she isthinking ofthewell-
known characteristics ofWestAfrican kingdoms, butsuchfeatures, iftakento
theirsimplest level, are not confined to statesbut to unit
anypolitical sufficiently
largeforleadership nottobeconfined tooneman.Theimplication isthatthestate
hasthesefeatures ingreater quantity but what the quantitative aretobe is
limits
notmentioned. Thusthetwocategories used-association andstate-overlap, and
botharewideandvaguein theextreme: theyprovide a useful opportunity for
some
discussing features of different societiesbut are
they inadequate as a basisfor
classification.
The feature neglected inso manyofthesedescriptions oftribal politicalsys-
temsis theconstitutional relationship between the various institutions andassoci-
ationswhich comprise thesystem. Thus,inthecaseoftheYorubakingdoms, the
mostimportant component parts of the structure
political are the lineages, with
theirowninternal structure andorganization, thevarious forms ofagegradeand
set,withorwithout an associated gradeof chiefs incharge of thesets,thetitle
inwhich
societies onemayrisefrom thelowest tothehighest levelbypayment of
feesandtitle-taking, thecouncils ofchiefs whosetitlesareoftenvested inindi-
viduallineages, andkingship. In eachsuchinstitution onemustknowhowa man
joinsorhow a man is chosen toassume a and
title, on what conditions heholdsthe
Onemustknowthechainofauthority
office. inthepolitical system bywhich the
Patterns
2 PaulaBrown, ofAuthority vol.21,pp. 261-278,
in WestAfrica(Africa, 1951).
by theuse,unfortunately
workis oftenmarred
3 Dr Brown's of poorethno-
inevitable,
data.
graphic

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368 SOUTHWESTERN JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY

opinionsof thepeoplearetransmitted to thegovernment and bywhichthedeci-

sionsof thelegislators are transformed intoadministrative actionand finally exe-
cuted.One mustknowhowfarthedecisionsof one bodyare bindingon others
and wherein liestheultimate powerof assentorveto.
I proposeto describeherefourtypesof Yorubapoliticalstructure, stressing
thesefeatures and ignoring mostothers.This is scarcely novel,beingthemethod
usedbyconstitutional lawyersforcenturies. The conclusions reached,beingfrom
a limitedrangeof societies, willnot lead immediately to a newclassification of
politicalsystems; widercomparison is essential.
The method, however, maybe of
value.
Writerson the Yoruba have oftencaused confusionby theirunawareness
thatthe varioussub-tribes have widelydiffering politicalconstitutions. In the
absenceof goodstudiesof anyonesub-tribe, theyhavetendedto producea com-
positesystem, comprising elements fromdifferent sub-tribes whichare not found
together in practice.This is an easyerror:thesamesymbols of officeare usedby
menwhoseoffices areconstitutionally A common
different. setof titlesis foundin
almostall sub-tribes, Oyo beingthe principalexception.4 The termiwarefais
appliedinKabbatothechiefsoftheseniortitlegrade,inEkititotheseniorlineage
chiefs,inIjebu to theseniorchiefsof theO fugbosociety. The sameculturaltraits
appearas theembellishments ofwidelydiffering constitutions.
This studyis of thetraditional politicalstructure,notof itsmodernforms."
Thisinvolves oneinreconstruction ofinstitutionsnowfardecayed.Decayhasgone
farthest in thevarioustitlesocieties. The age gradesystem whichprovidedwar-
riorsproveduselessto wagethenineteenth century tribalwars.The titlesocieties
wereusuallyignoredbyearlyBritishadministrators whodid not recognize their
politicalimportance. Deprivedof a place in theconstitution, theybecamemere
socialinstitutions whichmostChristians refusedto join becauseof theritualof
theadmission ceremonies, and Moslemsoutlawedbecauseof theKoranicinjunc-
tionagainstjoiningsecretsocieties.Conversely, has beenmaintained
virility in
thoseinstitutions stillexercisingcontrol of government and of land.
THE KABBA YORUBA OR OWE
The Yorubaof Kabba Provincearein theextremenortheastof Yorubacoun-
try.They werecomposedof severalsmalland independent between
sub-tribes,
whichtherewerefewerdifferencesin culturethanbetween thegroupas a whole
and neighboring Kabba townis nowtheDivisionalheadquarters
sub-tribes. and
is peopledby theOwe sub-tribe
whoseconstitution
is outlinedhere.The popula-
4 Examples ofthesecommon arearo,osa,Ejemu,3dafin,
titles etc.
5 I.e. ofthepolitical ofthemid-nineteenth
structure century.

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 POLITICAL SYSTEM OF THE YORUBA 369

tionoftheKabbaDistrict, which isthemodern administrativeunitembracing the

Owepeople, is15,000; thepopulation ofKabbatown istoday 7,300.
The legends oftheOwepeopletellthattheirfounder camefrom Ile-Ife,the
cradleoftheYoruba,though, unlike otherYoruba,they donotseemtoembellish
thisstatement withexplanations ofhowandwhyhemigrated. Thismanhadthree
sonswhofounded theadjacent towns ofKabba,Dolu,andKatu.Kabbais now
muchlarger thantheother twotowns, having beenusedbyboththeNupeinvad-
ersofthenineteenth centuryandtheBritish as theirheadquarters.The founder
ofKabbahadthree sons,thedescendants ofeachofwhom dividedintotwogroups,
sothatthere weresixunilateral kinshipgroups inthetown, eachofwhich livedin
territorially
adjacentcompounds andpossessed distinctive
lineagenames.These
threetowns remained themainsettlements oftheOwepeople, andalthough some
builthomesteads andsmallvillages attheirfarms thesehadnoadministrative sig-
nificanceandpeopleremained forpoliticalpurposes members of their owntown
andlineage.'
At theheadofeachlineage wastheoloriebioreldest man.Regular meetings
oflineage members aresaidtohavebeenheld,at which matters affecting lineage
members andtheir theorganization
disputes, ofthecompound andthecontrol of
farmlandwerediscussed. Eachextended family-agroupof persons descended
froma manrecently deceasedand probably livingaroundonecourtyard of a
compound-also haditsoloriebi.It wassuggested thatall theseolori
nbi met
together at regular intervals,
although it wasnotclearwhattheydiscussed and
whether their fieldofjurisdictiondifferedmarkedly from that of the titlegrades.
In anycasemostoloriebiappeartohavebeenmembers ofoneofthethree senior
grades.
The gradesthrough whicha manpassedto reachthesenior titlesbeganas
untitledagegrades with
associated a youth'seconomic status.The firstgradewas
known as olusele.Boysentered at theage whentheybeganto workon their
father'sfarm. At theannualadmission ceremony newentrants accompanied the
alreadyinitiated to the bush,where thenew entrantsshared bananas amonghis
Theboysflogged
seniors. eachother withlighted torchesofgrassandthendanced
through thetownto thesenior chief.The secondgradewasentered whena boy
reached puberty (orwhenhewasofmarriageable age,opinionsnowdiffer). Pre-
viouslyhehadworked onhisfather's
entirely farm. Nowhewasready tostart his
ownsmallfarmonwhich hewouldworkhalftheweekinorderto feedhimself.
Entry intothisgradeconsisted solelyoftheentrant beingaccompanied bythree or
fourkinsmen from thegrade,andasking hisfather fora full-sizedhoe.It would
6 I use the termlineageforconvenience;
it differs
fromthe lineagein otherYoruba towns.

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370 SOUTHWESTERN JOURNALOF ANTHROPOLOGY

appearthatall young
menpassedintothesetwogrades
onreaching
thenecessary
age.
The firsttitlegradewasknown as igemz.On reaching thisa manno longer
worked onhisfather's farm. Thewould-be entrant wentfirst tothethree members
ofthesenior titlegradetonotify them ofhiswishtoenter thegrade,andtopaya
fee.He alsonamed histitle,
therebeing nofixed titles.Later, afteranother fee,the
seniorchiefsconferred thetitleandtheexisting members ofthegradelaidtheir
zpastaffsontheground, madea sacrificeandprayed forthenewentrant. Through-
outtheweekthenewmember feastedtheoldermembers ofthegrade.Membership
ofthisgradeconferred theright tousethe:pa staff andalsoa redcap.Thenumber
ofigem3 wasunlimited
titles andalthough itis saidthatsomemennever became
members, itwasbelieved thatmost adultmendidinfacttaketitles.
Entry intothenextgrade-the orotagrade-wasbya similar process,thefees
beingapproximately doublethoseoftheigemograde.Membership gavethetitle-
holdertheright to usea specialstool(apopo),to weara beadedhatandbeads
round theneck,tohavea muchmoreceremonious funeral thanother men,andto
berelieved from farm work. Therewasa fixed number oforotatitles anda man
couldonlytakeoneafterthedeathofa previous holder. The traditionalranking
orderofthesetitleholders isnowuncertain, butitwasprobably determined bythe
lengthof time the titlehad been held.
The senior gradeis thatofololu(sometimes known as iwarefa). Among the
Owethere werethree titles
inthisgrade, zbaro,zbajemu, andzbad:fin. TheNupe
invadersmadetheObaroofthemid-nineteenth century headoverall
intoa district
theOweunder theirownsystem ofindirect rule.LatertheBritish continued the
process,tryingat one periodto make him Emir of all Kabba Division!From the
Owelegends and from examination of theneighboring whose
sub-tribes, senior
gradeswerelessaffected bythesechanges, thetraditional (inthiscasepre-Nupe)
custom appears to have been as follows.The three titleswere ofequalstatus;one
hadtobeheldineachofthethree Owetowns, not
though necessarily thesameone
eachtime;thetitleholders wereelected totheposition by themembers oftheorota
fees
grade,heavy beingpaidby thecandidates to the electors.The ololuchief
couldwearcoralbeadsonhiswrist andankles andsitona leopardskin. Hisinstalla-
tionconsistedofsmallceremonies andfeasting, though notgiving himthesame
ritual and
position authority as thoseof a Yoruba king.
Thegovernment oftheOwewasconducted bytheololu,who,itissaid,could
donothing exceptontheadviceoftheorota, whointurn wereadvised bythemass
of adultmen-theigemz.The igEmc heldseparate meetings fromthoseof the
ololuandorota.Eachgradeoftitleholder hadspecialritualdutiesinconnection
withthetown's major deity,Ebora. The functions ofgovernment appeartohave

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 POLITICAL SYSTEM OF THE YORUBA 371

beenbutcrudely between
divided thedifferent
groups theololuand
oftitleholders;
orotamadethedecisions,
theigemoexecutedthem.
Althoughwealthappearsas theprerequisite
ofmembership ofthehighertitle
itmust
grades, beremembered thatKabbawas,andstillis,economically
backward;
wasrareandthepeopleweremoreraidedthanraiders.
slave-owning Opportunities
fortheaccumulationofwealth to hardworkandthepossession
werelimited of
sons.Theredoesnotappeartohavebeenanyrestriction toa small
oftitle-holding
semi-hereditary
group.
THE EKITI
Thesixteen Ekitikingdoms arelocated intheeastofYorubacountry. Adois
thelargest,witha population of62,000persons. AdoEkiti,themetropolitan town
ofthiskingdom andnowtheDivisional hasa
headquarters, population of 24,000
persons,butthetown consistsofthree adjacentsettlements eachwithitsownchief
butacknowledging a common ruler, theEwi. The of
largest these settlements, Oke
Ewi, theseat ofthe Ewi witha of
population 14,000 people, is described here as an
example of theEkiti of
type political structure.
TheEwitraces hisdescentfrom a royalprince atIle-Ife,who,itisclaimed, left
thistownandtravelled toBeninwith theOba ofBenin, only to leavehim later and
retracehissteps.At Adoheandhisfollowers metsomepeople, buttheseeither
submitted peacefullyor wereconquered and theirdescendants form onelineage in
Odo Ado,thelargesettlement adjacent to Oke Ewi. Today there are fifteen line-
agesinOkeEwibesides thatoftheEwihimself; theelders ofsomeoftheseclaim
thattheirfounders withtheEwi,thoseofothers
travelled citethetowns, usually
inAkokocountry, from which theirfounders came.OkeEwiis divided intofive
quarters,oneofwhich, Irona,isofmorerecent creationthantheremainder. Each
quarter has thecompounds of one or two largelineagestogether with those of two
orthree smaller ones.Compounds ofsegments of theroyallineage arefoundin
eachquarter.
Asinother Yorubatowns, themalemembers ofthelineage livedina single, or
adjacent, The
compounds. lineage head (oloriebi) was the oldest male lineage
member; hesucceeded tohisposition without ceremony onthedeathoftheprevious
holder.He presided overthelineage meetings heldinhisownpartofthecompound,
atwhich matters thelineage
affecting werediscussed. Thelineage wasa gerontoc-
raticinstitution: toan elderwaspunishable
disrespect bya fineofpalmwineor
kolanutsto be consumed at themeeting. The lineageheadhad,however, little
more thanmoral authorityover his members.
In Ekitievery manbelonged toan ageset(egbe);thesehadprimarily social
functions. They were constituted informally every two and a halfto three years

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372 SOUTHWESTERN JOURNALOF ANTHROPOLOGY

whentheboysconcerned reachedtheageofnineortenyears. Thusbrothers (un-

lesstwins)couldnotbeinthesameegbe.Eachsetreceived a namefrom theEwi,
usuallydenoting somehistoric event.It hadan acknowledged leaderwhoachieved
thisposition his
by personality and not by formal appointment. Atweekly meetings
themembers discussedthetown's affairs andtheir personal problems. Moralpres-
surewasputonthosewhooffended against socialcodes.Members ofan ageset
helped each other at farm work and in performing obligations to a future father-
in-law.
Theotuarea series ofgrades through which a manpassesfrom childhood to
elderhood. In OkeEwitheywerenamedejiwere foryoung children, followed by
orifu,ipaiye ororigbo, egiriorefe,andigbam3 agbakin orijogun.Attheageof
forty-fiveyears a manbecame anelder, agbailu.Thegrades eachhadanagespan
ofnineyears. It wouldappearthatthere werenoadmission ceremonies forthefirst
twogrades. To subsequent onestheentrant provided a feast for existingmembers;
more complex ceremoniesarenotremembered. Passagefrom onegradetoanother
wasan individual affair,butitwasnotsuggested thatmeneverfailedtoriseac-
cording to their age.The grade marked theeconomic statusof a manfrom the
timehestarted toworkonhisfather's farmtothetimewhenhewasfullyinde-
pendent of hisfather. It alsodetermined thepublicworkexpected fromhim.
Youths in the secondgrade were strong enough only weeding; thethird
for in
gradethey coulddo road-making; in the fourth andfifth grades a manwasavail-
An
ableforwar. elderwas relieved public of work. Age grademembers also
clearedshrines andcollectedfoodtobeusedat festivals. In some towns itwas ex-
stated
plicitly thata manmight nottakea chieftaincy titleuntil he had become an
OkeEwihasa series
elder. oftitled chiefs known as elegbewhose duties must have
beenrelated totheegbe,though exactly howisnotclear, sincetheagegradesystem
isnowalmost lostandmanyelegbetitles vacant. It is saidthateachlineage and
oftensegments withina lineage haditsownelegbe.The nine senior elegbe were
selectedfrom anylineage bytheEwiandchiefs, although twoofthetitleswere
reservedformembers oftheroyal lineage. Theduties oftheelegbewere toorganize
publicwork inthetown, toorganize thewarriors atwarandindefence ofthetown,
tocarry outother commands ofthesenior chiefs,andtovoicetheopinions ofthe
young menofthetown. TherewasinAdoa further company ofyoung menknown
as efawhosedutieswerethepolicing of thetown;menwereenrolled from any
lineage.
The senior titlesofOke Ewiweredivided
chieftaincy intothree groups, the
chiefsofthetwosenior groups beingknown as ihareandofthejuniorgroupas
ijoye.The first groupofiharecomprised theOloriMarun,thefivesenior chiefs.
Thesecond groupcomprised fiveelesiand,ranked below the
them, Ijegbe chiefs.

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 POLITICAL SYSTEM OF THE YORUBA 373

Allthese wereranked
titles inorder ofseniority.Fourofthemembers oftheOlori
Marunwerethequarter chiefs ofthefourolderquarters ofthetown;thefifth re-
sided,byhistorical accident rather thanbydesign, inoneofthesequarters. These
titleswerehereditary inthelargest lineagesin thetown.Manyof theelesiand
Ijegbetitles werehereditary incertain lineages,theremainder beingbestowed by
theEwiandchiefs onanyperson whowasprominent inthetownandalsopopular
within hisownlineage, although attempts werecontinually beingmadebyholders
toconvert them intohereditary titles.
Theijoyechiefs wereheaded bya chief whose
titlewashereditary inonelineage;theremaining chiefs wereelected bytheEwi
andchiefs, orsometimes directly bythequarter chiefs. Anexamination ofthedis-
tributionoftitlesinEkititowns shows thatwhere thetownhada smallnumber of
lineageseachhadoneofthesenior iharetitles;
where there weremorelineages, the
largestobtainthese iharetitles buttheremaining titleswereshared equitably among
thelineages.
Whenthetitleofa chiefwashereditary within a lineage, it wasusually the
right ofthelineage members toelecttheholder. Whenthefuneral ceremonies were
completed, theEwisenttothelineage headinviting himto present a candidate.
Sucha manwaselected ata lineage meeting,the predictions of the Ifa oraclebeing
usedtoswayopinions andgivethechoice supernatural sanction. The principle that
eachsegment ofthelineage should holdthetitleinturn wasoften overlooked when
onecandidate received thesupport of themajority. The Ewiandchiefs hadno
right tointerferein the election except toensure that the proper methods were car-
riedout-a largeenough for
loophole intrigue. If the lineage members failed to
agreeupon a candidate, the Ewi and chiefs might appoint one themselves. The Ewi
hadtheright toappoint three ofthehereditary chiefs,onefrom eachgroup, who
by tradition
had free access to hisown inthe
apartments palace. No ihare or ijoye
chiefmight laydownonetitletotakeanother moresenior one,butelegbechiefs
might droptheir titles toassume ihareorijoyetitles. Whenthecandidate forthe
titlewaspresented totheEwiandchiefs fortheir formal approval, he would com-
mence making a series of payments to theEwi and chiefs. The installationcere-
monies ofalliharechiefs wereperformed the
by Ewi;they included much feasting
oftheexisting chiefs.
TheYorubaking(zba) wasmorethana chief;hewasa divine kingandthe
of
personification the whole town. A crowned king traced hisdescent directly from
Oduduwa, the creator of the Yoruba. The titleof Ewi was intwo
hereditary seg-
ments oftheruling lineage founded bythefirst Ewi,thefounder ofAdo.These
twosegments werefounded by the sixteenth
Ewi, who issaid to have reigned inthe
lateeighteenth century. Members of segments tracing descent from earlierEwis
werenoteligible.On thedeathoftheEwithemostsenior ihareactedas regent but

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374 SOUTHWESTERN JOURNALOF ANTHROPOLOGY

didnotsitinthepalace;a woman of theroyallineagesatwithin thepalaceto

control palaceaffairsalone. This regent invited theheadoftheroyallineage to
present hiscandidates.Thetitlerotated strictlyfrom onesegment totheother; in
Adothecandidate had,inaddition, tohavebeenbornwhilehisfather wasonthe
throne, butthisrulewasnotfollowed inall towns. Theiharechiefs discussed the
merits ofeachman,sounded theopinions oftheyoung menthrough theelegbe
andconsulted theIfa oracle.The ultimate responsibility forelecting a newking
rested withtheihare;members oftheroyallineage couldnotoverrule their choice.
Theinstallation oftheEwi,a mostcomplex setofceremonies, wasperformed by
thechiefs. Whereas a chiefpromised athisinstallation toobeyhiskingandaccept
theadviceofhislineage members, thenewkingpromised to rulewell,actingon
theadviceofhischiefs. Ewiandchiefs heldoffice forlife;they couldbe removed
onlybybeingaskedbythose whoelected them totakepoison anddie.Thiswasof
very rareoccurrenceinEkiti.
Members of therulinglineage(known as 3mocba) hadno rights to any
ihareor ijoyetitles;theywereeligible forcertain elegbe titles however. Some
princes hadbeensentoutofAdotoruleoverfarm settlements; thesetooka title
from thesettlementwhich became vested inthelineage which theyfounded inthe
settlement.Thesetitles gavenostatus inOkeEwiitself.
In theEkititown, meetings of chiefs andpeopletookplaceat almost every
levelofthepolitical structure. Opinions expressed inlineagemeetings werecon-
veyed bythelineage headtothechief within thelineage.(In thelineage meeting a
titledchiefranked tohis his
according age; position as a chief conveyed authority
intownaffairs onlyandnotinpurely lineage matters.) Theyoung menexpressed
their viewsintheagesetandagegradecompany meetings andtheseweretaken
tothechiefs bytheElegbe. Eachquarter chiefheldregular meetings at which all
thechiefs ofhisownquarter attended. Eachgroupofchiefs metseparately as well
as ata largemeetingatwhich theiharespoke. TheEwiremained inseclusion within
thepalace,receiving theconclusions of hissenior ihare arrived at on the outer
verandah ofhispalace,andannouncing them as hisown decisions. Thesedecisions,
withroyalauthority, werethenreported to theelegbeand thelineageheads,
together withinstructionsfortheaction tobetaken. Thesenior ihareremained in
thepalacemost oftheday,their dutiesbeing wholly conciliar.
Theauthority oftheEwiandhiscouncils ofchiefs extended toall affairs and
included theadministration of thetown,theappointment of chiefs, warand
tribute,thearranging ofthemajortownfestivals, andthejudgment inthefirst
instance ofmajorcrimes andtheappealofminor cases.Thereappear tohavebeen
nospecial meetingsreserved fordiscussion ofanyoneofthese matters.

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 POLITICAL SYSTEM OF THE YORUBA 375

THE OYO
Ibadan Provinceis locatedacrossthegeographical centerof Yoruba country
and contains many large towns; here overfifty percentof thepopulation livesin
townswhosepopulation exceeds50,000inhabitants. This greatsizeis due largely
tothewarsoftheearlynineteenth century,whentheOyo Empirebeganto crumble
through internalstrife and the Fulani invaders,basedon Ilorinand Bida,attacked
southward. The Yorubaweresafeonlyin theforested country wheretheFulani
cavalrycould not operate, and the inhabitantsof the destroyed towns of thesavana
country fledto these towns within theforest.The armies of thesetowns werethem-
selvescontinually onslave-raiding expeditions,livingoff the countryside whichalso
becamedepopulated, thepeopleof thesmallertownsfleeing to thelargertowns
forprotection. The sizeand rateof thisimmigration posednewproblems forthe
government of these towns.
Iwo,oneofthesetowns,has,today,a population of 100,000inhabitants. These
aredomiciled within an areaoftwosquaremiles;an urbandensity ofeighty persons
peracre.Thereare over500 compounds in thetown,belonging to approximately
200 lineages. The townis dividedintofourquarters. In oneofthese,Isale Oba, are
foundmostof thecompounds of theroyallineage;in Gidigboand Oke Adan are
thecompounds ofmostoftheolderlineagesinthetown.Moleteis a quarter largely
peopledby those whoseancestors cametothetowninthenineteenth century.
Iwo wasfounded bya manwhowas,itis claimed, a sonofa womanOni of Ife;
he wasdrivenfromIle-Ifeafterhismother's deathin retaliation forherharshness
as a ruler.He settledin severalplacesbeforereaching thepresent siteand legends
say that he had collected a considerable entourage before reachingIwo. Later
immigrants came from towns in the Owu kingdom, from towns now destroyed
and almostforgotten but whichmayhave been eitherOwu or Egba, and, in
increasing proportion inthelateeighteenth andnineteenth centuries,fromOyo.
The Yorubalineagewas headedbythebale (fatherof thehouse),itsoldest
malemember. Formallineagemeetings (ipade) seemtohavebeenheldat irregular
so
intervals, manylineage members livingformuchof theyearon theirfarms.
Ceremonies and religiousfestivals providedoccasionsforthemeetings, however.
As a resultof thelargesizeof manycompounds, theIwo bale and severalother
old menwereusuallyableto remainat home,beingfedand maintained bycontri-
butionsfromjuniormembers. Thesemen,sitting together on theverandahof the
bale'scompound, composed, as itwere,a permanent committee of thelineage.The
powers and duties of theIwo bale are similar to those of lineageheadselsewhere
in Yorubacountry.
Thereare no formalage gradestodayin Iwo, and littlerecordof theirpast

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376 SOUTHWESTERN JOURNALOF ANTHROPOLOGY

existence canbe found. The modem egbearesocialclubswithfunctions similar

tothose ofEkitiandIjebubutmembership isnotautomatic; onejoinsanegbeof
one'schoice, age (within broadlimits)and wealthbeingdetermining factors.
Publicworkinthetownwas,however, carried outbytheyoung men,butitwas
organized through thecompounds. Instructions wouldbe givento eachbaleto
provide a certain number of men
young to work. The chiefssupervised thework.
Theyoung menofeachcompound informally recognizedone oftheir number as a
olori
leader, omole, positiona held until the man became accepted regularly into
themeetings ofthelineage elders of
at abouttheage forty-five years. There were
noinitiations intogrades, noregular meetings ofmembers ofthesamegrade, and
nochiefs responsible for
solely suchagegrades.
The Ogbonisociety exists todayinIwo,butitsmembership is verysmalland
noold men couldremember thatiteverformed a constitutional
partofthegovern-
ment ofthetown, as inIjebu.Thesociety hasbeenattacked byMoslems andthe
OluwosofIwohavesuccessively beenstaunch Moslems sincethemid-nineteenth
century. Within Iwoitwassaidthatmenfrom lineagesfounded byOwumigrants
"knewmostaboutOgboni."(Thesenior civilchiefs,Osa andAro,aresuchmen
andtheirtitlesaresaidto be Ogbonititlesin othersub-tribes, though theyare
lineage titlesinEkiti.)
In Iwothechiefs weredivided(as in Ibadan,from which thestructure may
havebeencopied)intotwogroups, thecivilchiefs andthewarchiefs. Ineachgroup
thechiefs wereranked in orderofseniority oftheir title.Almost all thesetitles
werehereditary ina singlelineage, thelegends that
stating it was bestowed upon
theimmigrant lineage founder to"compensate himforhislostrights inhistown
oforigin." Whereas inall towns itwasheldthatsincethetitlewasbestowed bya
kinghemight alsotakeitaway, Iwoistheonlytown describedherewhere thisdoes
appeartohavehappened, andinformants citetwonineteenth century caseswhere
a titlewascancelled when theholder hadrebelled againstthe Oluwo.
Themethod ofappointment ofthechiefs, whosetitleswerehereditary within
thelineage, didnotdiffer from thatofEkitiandwillnotberepeated here.
ThetitleoftheOluwo,ofkingofIwo,washereditary within theroyallineage.
This lineageis notnowsegmented in theusualmanner. The twelfth Oluwo,
Lamuye, cametothethrone c. 1830andreigned until1906,during which timeIwo
became a powerful townandmanyofthetrophies ofwar,including newly con-
quered land,werebestowed upon the sons of Lamuye. After his death five of his
sonssucceeded tothethrone anditwasconsidered thatthetitlewouldhenceforth
be heldonlybythedescendants of Lamuye. In 1952,however, whenthetitle
became vacant, the descendants ofLamuye could notagreeamong themselves, and

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 POLITICAL SYSTEM OF THE YORUBA 377

thetitlewentto thedescendants of theOluworeigning before Lamuye.7 The

appointment ofan Oluwofollowed theusualprocedure forkingship; thesenior
townchiefwouldinvite theheadoftheroyallineage topresent candidates when
thechiefs incouncil wouldthendebate theseandmaketheir selection.
The position of theroyallineagein Iwo appearsto be unique.As in other
Yorubatowns themembers ofthislineage wereknown as 3mzzba;whilesomeof
them obtained thisgavethem
titles, noposition inthegovernment ofthetown, and
inEkitiandIjebuneither themembers ofthelineage noreventhecloserelatives
ofthekingseemtohaveexercised authority, eitherinformal orconstitutional, in
theirtowns. In Iwothere weretwosetsofroyaltitles bestowed bytheOluwo.In
thefirst groupall thetitlesbelonged tomembers oftheroyallineage. The most
senior titlesnowbelongto thesonsof Lamuye. Othertitleshavebeengivento
prominent menofsegments descended from theearly Oluwo.Thesetitles, heldfor
lifeandnothereditary, weredistributed bytheOluwoontheadviceofthesenior
titleholdersinthegroup.Royaltitles ofthesecond groupweregranted to immi-
grants whocameto thetownin thenineteenth century andwhoputthemselves
under theprotection oftheOluwo,their leaderreceiving a daughter oftheOluwo
as a wife.ThisgroupwasheadedbyOloyawhose lineage,itissaidinthelegends,
wasfounded bythesonofthedaughter of thefirst Oluwo.Mostofthesetitles
werevested inthelineage ofthefirst holder ofthetitle, andtheappointment of
newholders wasmadeina similar manner tothatofthehereditary townchiefs.
Onlya smallnumber ofthelineages inIwowereabletohavehereditary chief-
taincy titles
vested in them. In the remainder the balewas the only official.The bale
wasusually responsible to the chief in charge of hisquarter, that is to thesenior
civilorwarchief inGidigbo orOkeAdan,toOloyainMolete, andtotheOluwo
orthesenior royal titleholder in Isale Oba. The remaining chiefs hadno official
territorial
jurisdiction though they may have considered themselves in charge ofthe
compounds neighboring theirown. Ties ofpatronage had,however, devel-
often
oped between chiefs and individual lineages; these were usuallyformed in the
nineteenth century when refugees putthemselves under theprotection ofindividual
chiefs inthetown. Thepatron's lineage founder wasperhaps from thesametown
as therefugees; oftenthepatron gavelandto them. The Oluwowasthelargest
patron, giving out land conquered in the early nineteenth century to thesenew-
comers; other members of the royallineage who were given control of thislandalso
becamepowerful in thisway.Members of theseprotected lineages paidtribute
through their patron and went to war with him, in the same manner as members
ofhisownlineage. Titledchiefs wereelected solelybytheir lineage member; mem-
7 It is nolonger howthetitlewasinherited
remembered thereignofLamuye.
before

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378 SOUTHWESTERN JOURNALOF ANTHROPOLOGY

bersofrelated lineages boundbytiesofpatronage

or lineages hadno rights
to
in
participate the election.
Thus thechiefsofIwo were elected a
by minorityofthe
townspeople.
Thegovernment ofIworestedwith thetown chiefs;they metdailyontheouter
verandah ofthepalace,carrying their decisionsto theOluwo.Insidethepalace
theOluwosatsurrounded bytheroyalchiefs ofbothgroups, the
alsodiscussing
town Thesehadnoofficial
affairs. place inthe constitution butbecauseoftheclose
ofsomewiththeOluwoandthelargenumbers
relationship ofpeoplerepresented
bythemall,theiropinions muchweight
carried so that Oluwocouldoften
the
overrulehistownchiefs'decisions.
Withthebacking ofhispersonal the
followers
Oluwowasabletosetthetown chiefs
againsteachother, sothat instead
of forming
a blockunitedagainsthimthey wouldcomeindividually tohimsecretlytobegfor
favors.Fromthetimeof Lamuye at least,andpossibly of Moslem
as a result
theOluwowasnotanunknown
influence, person hidden inthepalacebuta man
seenbyhischiefs
regularly andpeople.

THE IJEBU
As a fourth exampleofa Yorubapolitical constitution,thatoftheIjebumight
becited. In contrastwiththatofIwojustdescribed thegovernment ofIjebuOde,
themetropolitan is
town, perhaps the most complex in all Yoruba The
country.
reconstruction ofthetraditional is
systemparticularly difficultsince
not onlyhave
many ofthetraditionalinstitutions
beengiven noplaceinthemodem localgovern-
ment, withtheresult thatmosttitles arevacant, butas a consequence oftrading
activities
theIjebuhavebecome by far the wealthiestsub-tribe, withtheinevitable
weakening of traditional
socialties.
IjebuOdeisprobably oneoftheoldest ofYorubatowns. Todayithasa popu-
lationof26,000, considerablylarger thanthatofanyneighboring it
settlements;8
wasa capitaltownsurrounded bymany smaller satellitetowns. Legendssaythat
modem IjebuOdewasfounded byObanta, Awujaleorking.It isclaimed
thefirst
thathecamefrom Ile-Ifebutitseemspossible thathecamein factfrom Benin.
Almost all thelineageeldersinIjebuOde claimthattheir ancestors either
came
before Obantaorwithhim;thelandwasapparently distributed among theindige-
nouspeoplebefore he came,andthereappearto havebeenmanykingswhom
Obantadisplaced. SinceObantafifty Awujaleshavereigned; Obantaprobably
reigned between thethirteenthand fifteenth centuries.It is claimedthatsincehis
the
reign kingdom was never destroyed, and contact with neighboring kingdoms
8 Ago Iwoyeand IjebuIgbo,nowlargetowns,
werebothformedwhensmallsettlements
neartheIbadanborder forprotection.
wereobligedto cometogether

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 POLITICAL SYSTEM OF THE YORUBA 379

seemstohavebeenslight.It is saidthatinthenineteenth centuryno stranger could

eversleepin Ijebu Ode and leaveit alive.
Ijebu Ode is todaydividedintotwenty-five quarters. Legendsaretoldthatthe
people of a quarter are descended froma man who came beforeor withObanta.
Sometimes twoormoresuchgroupsof peoplelivewithin onequarter. The lineage
in Ijebu Ode seemsmuchlessclearlydefined thanin otherYorubasub-tribes and
thismaybe forone or moreof thefollowing reasons:(a) thegreatantiquity of
thekingdom;(b) landis heldonlybythedescendants of earliestsettlers-others
havereceivedit fromthem;(c) lineagetitlesare notimportant in thepolitical
system;(d) the exogamous unit is much smaller, being confinedto descendantsof
grandparents; (e) the custom of matrilineal inheritance of some titles:thetitles
of
threesubordinate rulers(theAjalorunof Ijebu Ife,theOlowuof Owu,and the
of
Dagburewe Idowa) arestillinherited bythesonof a daughter of a ruler,and it
is said thatthetitlesof thepre-Obanta rulersof Ijebu Ode wereinherited in this
way and that the Olisa titlewas so inheriteduntil recent times.Each quarter(itun)
washeadedbyan oloritun; he wasusuallytheoldestmanin thequarteralthough
menwhoweretoosenileweresometimes passedover.In somecasesthetitlepassed
fromtheoldestmaninonepartofthequartertotheoldestinanother. The oloritun
heldmeetings within theirowncompounds of all adultmenin theirquarter;their
authority and jurisdiction seemto havebeenverysimilarto thatof lineageheads
inotherYorubatowns.
EveryIjebu manbelongedto an age set;thesewereconstituted at threeyear
intervals when the
youthsreached age of fifteen to eighteenyears.The set was
givena namebytheAwujalewhichit retainedforever. The members of setsmet
regularly forsocialpurposes ina manner similar totheegbeinotherYorubatowns.
Therewereno formally constituted gradesas in Ekiti.The members of theseage
setswerecollectively knownas theipampa.As in othertownstheorganization of
theyoungmenis difficult to reconstruct.Ijebu Ode wasdividedintothreepartsin
eachof whichwasa titledchiefresponsible fortheorganization of theipampain
hisownarea.Thesechiefstodayclaimthattheirtitleshavealwaysbeenhereditary
withinone or twolineagesand thattheholderis electedby his lineagemembers
withtheacquiescence of theipampamembers.
The Ogbonisociety, knowninIjebu as Ofugbo,wasan important institution
of
government. It is saidthatin theold daysalmosteverymanjoined.Entrywasbya
seriesof feesfixedbytheexisting members in relationto thewealthof thecandi-
date.Thereseemsto havebeenno barrier to entry exceptthata manof bad char-
acterwouldhavebeenrefused admission. Entrycouldbe at an earlyage,forthere
weregradeswithinthesocietyforyoungmen;a mancouldjoin beforehis father
died but he could not riseabove his father.One grade appearsto have been

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380 SOUTHWESTERN JOURNALOF ANTHROPOLOGY

reservedformenwhose fathers weredead.Onerosethrough thegrades bypaying

feeswhich entitledonetobe initiated intothemoresecret rituals. The Ofugbo
wereheadedbytheOliwo,followed bythesixIwarefachiefs; Apenawasthe
messenger. OnlyOliwoandApenawereknown outside thesociety;theidentity of
theIwarefa wasknown onlytomembers. TheIwarefa wereelected bytheOfugbo
members andtheOliwowassucceeded bythesenior Iwarefa. TheAwujale, whose
authoritywasnecessary tofound anOfugbobranch, washimself a member ofthe
Ofugbo, holding thetitleOlurin, buthe rarelytookhisseat,a slavedeputising
forhim.
Thepalaceorganization oftheAwujalewashighly complex, reminiscent more
ofBeninthanofa Yorubatown. Slaveswereorganized intonearly twenty groups,
eachwith their
specificfunctions. Includedamong these wasa titlesocietyopento
freeborn Ijebu knownas theIforesociety. This society had severalgrades-
zl3gben,junior clbwa,senior zlbwa, andotu-andwasheaded byOlotuIfore.Any
manmight joinifhecouldafford thefees.He indicated hisdesires tooneofthe
palaceslaves,whoinformed theAwujale, whogavepermission forthetitletobe
taken.Subsequent ceremonies wereperformed inthepalace.
Eachlineage inIjebuOdeappears tohavehaditsownelected titledchiefbut
thesewere onlyforperforming lineage andcarried
rituals nopolitical In fact
office.
if sucha chiefobtained a politicaltitlehe had to relinquish hispriestly title.
Exceptions tothisweretheOlisatitlewhich wasthesenior titleinthetownbelow
theAwujale, itbeingsaidthatOlisaruledthetownwhiletheAwujaleruledthe
kingdom. Ranked belowOlisawasEgbo.The founder ofEgbolineage is saidto
havecomefrom a Benintown inthetime ofthetenth Awujale and to haveheldthe
titlefrom thattime. Boththesetitles werehereditarywithin thelineage.
Otherimportant titleswerethesenior slave,OgbeniOdi,andOgbeniOja, a
titlefilledalternatelyfromamongtheseniorslavesand theotugradeof the
Ifcresociety.
ThetitleofAwujale washereditary within
theruling lineage.Thislineage now
hasfoursegments, eachtracing itsdescenttoanAwujalewhois believed tohave
livedinthelateeighteenth century. The newAwujalemusthavebeenborntoa
previousAwujale while he was actually On thedeathofanAwujalethe
reigning.
slaves(odi) wereresponsible formostoftheritual;theyalsopresented thenew
candidates tothetown chiefs fortheir final
selection.
Therewerenospecialtitles reserved formembers oftheruling lineage andit
is uncertainhowfartheyparticipated inmembership ofthetitlesocieties. They
certainlybelonged totheagesets.Children ofanAwujalewereoften senttorule
subordinate towns,where they heldthetitleOtunba, itbeingthereafter vested in
thelineage founded by them.

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 POLITICAL SYSTEM OF THE YORUBA 381

Government
of thetownwasa combination
of all theseinstitutions.
The high-
estauthority,before theAwujale, wastheIlamuren society,comprising theOlisa,
Egbo,OgbeniOja, andthemembers oftheIf)resociety.All members of this
societyhadtobemembers oftheOfugbosociety, though forsenior
ineligible titled
postsinit.Similarlya newOlisa,Egbo,orOgbeniOja hadtoadvance through all
gradesoftheIfzresociety totherankofotu.
To sumup: theoloritun hadauthority withintheirownquarters; itissaidthat
they used to meettogether although thefunctionsof such meetings notclear.
are
Eachagesetmetseparately andthentogether undertheirownchiefto discuss
matters affectingindividual members andtheorganization ofpublicwork.The
Ofugbosociety metregularly everyseventeendays in theirownmeeting place:
heretheaffairs ofthetownwerediscussed andcasesinvolving themoreserious
crimes wereheard,suchcasesgoingon appealto theIlamuren society. The
Ilamuren societymet in the Their
palace. decisionswere carriedby a slave to the
Awujale, secluded within the who
palace, gave them his assent.
Thevillages around IjebuOde hada moresimple In many
constitution. cases
thepeopleofa village claimed descent froma singlefounder andthesegments of
thislineage formed thequarters ofthevillage.The titleofthesenior chiefinthe
village(oloriilu) together withthoseof hissecond, third,fourth and fifth in
command (ekejiilu,eketa ilu,Fkrrinilu,Ekarunilu) passed inturn to each seg-
ment, eachtitleholder moving upa postonthedeathoftheoloriilu.Thevillages
possessed theirownOfugbosocieties completewithall gradesand an ipampa
society,oftenwith chiefs electedbythe members. Thesesocieties weresubordinate
tothose inIjebuOde.Thevillages hadnotitlesocietysuchastheIforesociety and
no Ilamuren society.
Village headsreferredmatters to members of the Ilamuren
societyinIjebuOde.
SUMMARY
Thedescriptionoftheconstitutions
ofthefourYorubatowns hasbeenmade
witha limited
purposeinview-that ofoutliningthedifferent institutions
political
and theirconstitutional
powers,theirmembership and thepartplayedby the
lineage.Omittedhavebeentheritualsandceremonials surroundingkingshipand
thepartplayedbyreligion,
chieftaincy, detailsofthemethods ofadministration,
andthestrainswhich areproducedintheeveryday working oftheconstitutions.
Of thefourdiverse constitutions
outlined,thatof theOweis uniquein lacking
kingship; thesepeoplehavelittleknowledge of theirownhistory or of the
antiquityoftheir The
institutions. oldestofthe is
constitutions that
of IjebuOde
inthesensethatthetownwasfounded beforethearrival of thepresent dynasty
severalcenturies
ago,andthatno catastrophiceventsincethenwouldappearto

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382 SOUTHWESTERNJOURNAL
OF ANTHROPOLOGY
havehappenedto overthrow theoriginalconstitution. The youngest is theconsti-
tutionof Iwo,forthetownitselfwas foundedprobably in thesixteenth or seven-
teenthcenturies and thefloodof immigrants in thenineteenth century musthave
producedmanychangesin thegovernment of thetown.
In eachtownthelineagewas a gerontocratic institution witha largemember-
ship, the adult males having a common residence. All matters affecting lineage
members onlyweredecidedultimately bythelineagehead (thoughappealto the
towngovernment mightbe made). Sincethelineagemembers corporately heldthe
lineage farm land and townland,and sincemalelineagemembers oftenplieda
commoncraft,matters discussedat lineagemeetings coveredan extremely wide
range. The authority of the lineagehead was mainlymoral;he wasnearlyalways
believedto be verymucholderthantheremaining eldersand henceto be able to
approach more the
effectively lineageancestors and deities.
Each of thetownshad a government responsible fortheexternal relationsof
thetownsincluding thedeclaration of war,forthemaintenance of lawand order,
including policework,and theadministration of justice,forthecontrolof rituals
affecting thewholetown,and fora variety of socialand economic matters such
as fixingthetimesofharvest orbushburning. In noneof thetownsdidthegovern-
mentconsistof a committee of lineageheads,and lineageheadsdid not have
authority, byvirtueof theirposition, outsidethelineage:alwaysthegovernment
consisted of a separatesetof institutions standing apartfromthelineage.These
institutionshavebeengroupedas associations, lineagechieftaincies, and kingship.
Title gradesand societiesweremostprominent in Kabba, Ekiti,and Ijebu.
They mightbe dividedintoage set and gradesystems, by whichyoungmen
formally expressed theiropinions andwereorganized forpublicwork,and thetitle
In Iwo therewereno suchpoliticalinstitutions
societies. and publicworkseemsto
havebeenorganized through thelineage.Membership ofan age setwasautomatic
and henceuniversal. Thereseemsto havebeenno suggestion in eitherKabba or
Ijebu thatmembership of thetitlesocieties-thetitlegradesof theOwe or the
IfDresociety or theOfugbosociety of Ijebu Ode-became restricted to anysmall
hereditary sectionof thecommunity; insteadit is suggested thatmostmenjoined
the igemogradein Kabba or the Ofugbo societyin Ijebu. In boththesethe
appointments to the highestpostswereby electionby the members, although
wealthto perform thenecessary ceremonies was a prerequisite of thesuccessful
candidate.
In Ekitiand Iwo government was carriedout mainlyby chiefswhosetitles
werevestedwithin certainlineages.Suchhereditary titleswerefilledbyelection by
thelineagemembers, thekingandremaining chiefshavingno powertooverrule the
decisionof thelineagemembers excepton technical grounds.In Ekitiit is notice-

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 POLITICAL SYSTEM OF THE YORUBA 383

ablethatevery wasrepresented
lineage byatleastonechief,
usually byhis
elected
lineagebutin someinstances appointed bythekingin council.In Iwo thesizeof
thetownalonewouldhavemadesucha system unworkable; herethelineageheads
wereresponsible to chiefs,
thetiebeingoneof patronage.
The institution
ofkingshipwasremarkably similarinthethreetownspossessing
it. In eachcase thetitlewas hereditarywithinthelineageof thefounderor con-
queror ofthetown;ineachitwasthetownchiefs-the lineage chiefs ortheheads
ofthetitlesocieties-who hadtheultimate control oftheelection oftheking.In
EkitiandIjebu,where thekingwasa figure hidden from viewand,intheory, exer-
little
cising power of hisown, theremaining members of the royallineage occupied
littleornoconstitutional position inthetown;theyweredebarred from holding
mosttitles. Iwowascompletely atypical in thisrespect, thehistory of theearly
andmid-nineteenth century probably beingresponsible. The kingbecamea war
leaderand,being a Moslem, hastened thedecayofmany ofthetraditional rituals;
therewards ofbattle, andespecially land, bestowed upon hisclosest kinsmen and
followers gavethem,through a
patronage, physical power which more than
balanced theconstitutionalpower ofthechiefs from thenon-royal lineages.This
process was accentuated the of
by longreign Lamuye and theconsequent accession
offiveofhisownsons:thechecks topower which inother towns wereachieved by
rotating the title
through a number of lineage segments did not operate.
If wewereto groupthesefourtypesaccording to theclassification adopted
Dr
by Brown, the Owe of Kabba would probably fall,withtheIbo,intothat
grouphavinglineages andassociations only,whileIwo,havingno associations,
couldbegrouped withAshanti andNupe.IjebuandEkiti, having associa-
lineages,
tions,and stateforms,would bein the third group, inwhich Dr Brown did infact
place the Yoruba. Yet thefeatures of the state in Ijebu Ode are farmore complex
thaninIwo.If thisclassification doesnotgradethepolitical systems according to
itdoes
complexity, grade them according totheir probable historical evolution,for
theKabbatypeis presumably theoldestandthatof Iwo has undergone great
changes within thelasttwocenturies.
The briefdescriptions of thefourYorubaconstitutions givenheresuggests
other criteriawhich may be useful in such
grouping kingdoms andwhich increase
ourknowledge of them.A similarity between all fourpolitical systems is the
election oftherulers-the ololuofKabbaandthecbaoftheYorubakingdoms-
bya subordinate group oftitledchiefs. TheololuandtheZbawerebothresponsible
fortheritualof thetownandbothwerethemouthpieces forofficial decisions,
the
although former, the of
lacking divinity latter,the probably tooka moreactive
partinthegovernment ofthetown. The election ofthekingis oneofthemajor
features oftheconstitutions oftheYorubakingdoms. Secondtoitistheinsignifi-

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384 SOUTHWESTERN JOURNALOF ANTHROPOLOGY

cance,constitutionally, of themembers of theroyallineage;in Ekitiand Ijebu

they play little
part in thegovernmentthetown.Iwois heretheexception,
of for
theroyal princes used their economic power togaina position inwhich they could
often overcome thetraditional constitutional rightsofthechiefs ofthenon-royal
lineages.While the traditionalkings of the Ekiti and Ijebu weredivinerulers,
of their and
personifications towns, governed onlyby the consent of theircouncils
ofchiefs, thekingofIwowasabletobecome anautocrat.
In comparing thecomposition ofthecouncils ofchiefs in thedifferent towns
another grouping arises.Kabba and Ijebu were alike in that thesecouncils were
composed of men who had risen a of
throughseries grades in title
societies
largely
through their ownwealth.9 In EkitiandIwothetitles ofthechiefs whosatonthe
councilswereusually vested inindividual lineages andinmostcasesthemembers
of theselineages hadtheright to electthechief.Thoseso chosen wereusually
elderlymen, andalthough they hadprobably displayed their ofleadership
qualities
at an earlyage,fewhadheldanyofficial position before electionto chieftaincy.
Thesetwomethods by which titledchiefs be are
might appointed striking in con-
trast.They affected the of
directly prominence lineage the in thetowns: in Ekiti
andIwoitwasa moredominant feature ofthesocialsystem thanin Ijebuand
Kabba, where age sets andgrades and title
societies,of which men ofall lineages
weremembers, tookoversomeofthefunctions ofthelineage intheformer towns.
IntheEkititowns and in small in
towns other areasthe titles wereequitably shared
so thateachlineage hadat leastonechief;insucha largetownas Iwoitself this
wasclearly impossible. Thus,whereas inEkitiand othersmall townsevery lineage
member, at sometimeorother, elected hisrepresentative tothecouncil ofchiefs,
inIwosuchrights ofrepresentation wererestrictedtoa minority.
Othercriteria, suchas theorganization of staff
the oftheroyalpalaces,the
organization of thearmy, of
andthecollection tribute, wouldalsobe usefulin
classifyingthesepoliticalsystems, has
butspace prohibited their Those
description.
of
givenabove-theappointmentthesupreme rulerand the constitutional
powers
ofother members ofhislineage andthecomposition ofthecouncils ofchiefs-
enableoneto see considerable differences between theconstitutions of various
Yorubakingdoms. Thesamecriteria wouldalso illuminate the differences
between
thekingdoms ofother WestAfrican societies.
weregainedbyothermeansalready
so inKabba;inIjebumanytitles
9 Thiswascompletely
described.

WEST AFRICAN INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL

AND ECONOMIC RESEARCH
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
IBADAN, NIGERIA

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