Pre Colonial Nigeria Essay

In pre-colonial enclave known today as Nigeria, the people lived in separate domains and had their traditional rulers. The Hausa/Fulanis, the Kanuris, the Yorubas, the Ibos (some part), the Edos and Ibibios had centralized forms of contemporary nation-state. There was always a supreme or grand ruler with absolute power and authority.

During this pre-colonial period, the “Nigerian” states had rulers such as the Emirs, Sultans, Obas, Obis, Ezes et cetera and their posts were monarchial. Just like we have it today, powers in the traditional domains were exercised through various political structures and institutions all abiding to the values of the monarchial political rules.

Some areas in pre-colonial times did not have formal or well-arranged

These experiments failed in many quarters and today, the country is paying the price for it.

Regional and ethnic bickering has characterized our young democracy since post-independence; this could be attributed to the skewed nature of the country itself in terms of population, human and natural resources.

The North has the highest population in Nigeria, amounting to about 33% of the entire population, with the human and minerial resource abundantly settled in the south with fewer population figures. This has been a major reason for incessant and unceasing ethnic skirmishes.

The first major skirmish that changed the historical trajectory of the young nation started brewing in 1965 and the following year, discontented young soldiers mostly from the East led by Maj. Kaduna Nzeogwu who at the time felt the civilian government was highly corrupt and inefficient staged a coup on 15 January 1966. It was a bloody strike and the country lost political giants from the North, namely Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (Prime Minister at the time) and Ahmadu Bello (Premier of the northern region) among other prominent politicians from the region. A few others were lost in the south as