THE INDIGENOUS TRADITIONAL POLITICAL SYSTEM OF THE OHAFIA PEOPLE: A REVIEW
Abstract
This research paper is concerned principally with the indigenous traditional political system of Ohafia people. The various structures and institutions in the Ohafia society perform political functions. It is aimed at exposing and underscoring patterns of traditional administration of the people with a view of unraveling and highlighting its indigenous republican nature in juxtaposition with Western democracy. Thus, the data source for this research emphasizes primary data, including information from eyewitness accounts and personal notes. It also used data from secondary sources such as books, monographs, memoirs, articles, and research findings such as dissertations, national daily newspapers, and journals. In its value, this paper contributes to a large extent to similar ones already accomplished or underway as concerns Ohafia people. It is observed that the indigenous Ohafia political system of administration involved a republican traditional system of government based on kinship lineage and age grade system. In contrast, her political institutions acted independently and supported each other in the general village interest. A key finding of the paper is that there exists a strong republican attractiveness of leadership style in the indigenous traditional political system of the Ohafia people, which enviably could be a model for the quest for leadership in contemporary times.