IN SUPPORT OF MY CULTURE

In the precolonial times, different regions in Nigeria were governed by different systems depending on the specific location, its people and the time considered. The Hausa kingdoms date back to the seventh century according to some sources. The yoruba kingdoms have also been around for a long time before the colonial times. For the purpose of this essay, the political systems in place just before the colonial times will be considered.

Legend have it that Oduduwa founded the yoruba kingdom and his seven sons were the rulers of the first seven kingdoms of yorubaland under the Alafin of Oyo. After the fall of the Oyo empire and the yoruba inter tribal wars, the seven former kingdoms then broke into fourteen kingdoms. At the height of the power of the yoruba, the Oyo Kingdom was the most developed and served as the model. In this essay, the Oyo kingdom will be used as a representative of the yoruba political system.

The precolonial hausa-fulani political system can be said to begin at the beginning of the 19^th century (around 1804) when Usman Danfodio established the Sokoto caliphate. Even though the hausa kingdoms date back to the 7^th century, the Sokoto caliphate was an upgrade to the system in place before the Dan Fodio’s jihad.

Both the Yoruba and Hausa-Fulani precolonial political systems were centralised systems with a single head. In the yoruba system at a time, the alafin of Oyo was the head of all the yoruba systems the same way the Sultan of Sokoto was the overall head of the Sokoto caliphate. In addition, both systems had an organised structure, a strong military with a military commander (Kakanfo in Oyo, Madaki in the hausa-fulani empires), a judiciary that tried cases, units of administration (provinces, towns, villages and wards) with various heads. Both systems were organised and efficient.

The differences between the two systems arose from the fact that the hausa-fulani system was a bit more organised and had structures that were not present in the yoruba system and also in the different way the systems were organised.

Firstly, though both systems had a centralised leadership, the hausa-fulani political system was more centralised with the king having an authoritarian power without much check and balances. This is in contrast to the situation in the yoruba system where for instance the activity of the Alafin of Oyo were checked by the Oyo Mesi (the 7 kingmakers headed by the Bashorun). The Oyo Mesi were even stronger than the Alafin and could overrule some of his decisions.

Another area of difference between the two systems, though small, is the adopted state religion. The yorubas practised traditional religion and the Oba or Alafin was expected to make sacrifices when required. In contrast, the hausa-fulani system adopted islam as the state religion and Islamic rules were enforced in the kingdoms.

One thing the hausa-fulani system had that was absent in the yoruba system is the police. The hausa-fulani political system had a sort of state police headed by the ‘Sarkin Yan doka’.

The hausa-fulani also had a more organised judiciary with judges who try cases according to Islamic law. Though some high profile cases were tried in the palace by the King. In the yoruba system however, the cases are usually tried by the alafin, obas and bales depending on the severity of the cases.

Another area where the Hausa-fulani system beats the yoruba system is in the presence of an elaborative system of taxation to support the administration of the empires. There was cattle tax and land tax.

Overall, though both systems were organised and made administering the kingdoms easier and effective, the hausa-fulani political system was a bit more advanced than the yoruba political systems as evidenced by some of the differences highlighted.