GSTS 102 NIGERIAN PEOPLE & CULTURE

GSTS 102: NIGERIAN PEOPLE AND CULTURE 2021/2022
DIRECTORATEOF GENERALSTUDIES PROGRAMME GOMBE STATE UNIVERSITY AVAILABLE @ SHOP NO. 04 GSTS 102 NIGERIAN PEOPLE ANDCULTURE
GSTS 102: NIGERIAN PEOPLE AND CULTURE 2021/2022
APRODUCTION OF THE DIRECTORATE OF GENERALSTUDIES GOMBE STATE UNIVERSITY COURSE CODE: GSTS 102 COURSE TITLE: NIGERIAN PEOPLE ANDCULTURE COURSE DEVELOPERS: IBRAHIM MISBAHUZAMFARAANDKAREMATU COURSE COORDINATOR: IBRAHIM MISBAHUZAMFARAANDKAREMATU MOHAMMEDABUBAKAR COURSE EDITOR: DR SANIAHMED

GSTS 102: NIGERIAN PEOPLE AND

CULTURE 2021/2022

Table of Contents

DIRECTORATEOF GENERALSTUDIES PROGRAMME 1 SOCIOLOGYPART 6 MODULE ONE 6 MAJORETHNIC GROUPS IN NIGERIA 6

0. INTRODUCTION 6
1. OBJECTIVES 7
2. THEHAUSAETHNIC GROUP 7
3. THEFULANIETHNIC GROUP 9
4. THEYORUBAETHNIC GROUP 10
5. THEIGBO ETHNIC GROUP 12 MODULE TWO 14 THE EVOLUTION OF NIGERIAAS ACOUNTRY 14
6. INTRODUCTION 14
7. OBJECTIVES 14
8. AMALGAMATION 14
   1. Reasons for the Amalgamation 15
9. COLONIALRULE 15
10. CONSTITUTIONALDEVELOPMENTS IN NIGERIA 17

MODULE THREE 19 THE CONCEPT OF PEOPLE 19

0. INTRODUCTION 19

1. OBJECTIVES 19

2. THECONCEPT OF PEOPLE 19

3. Culture 19

4. Types of Culture 20

   2. Components of Culture 20

GSTS 102: NIGERIAN PEOPLE AND

CULTURE 2021/2022

V3.3.3 Characteristics of culture 21

4. Other important concepts related to culture 21
5. The importance of studying peoples culture 22
6. SOCIALIZATION 22
7. Types of Socialization 23
8. Agents of Socialization 23
9. Importance of Socialization 25

REVISION QUETIONS 25 MODULE FOUR 26 NEGATIVE ATTITUDES ANDCONDUCTS 26

0. INTRODUCTION 26
1. OBJECTIVES 26
2. CULTISM 26
3. CHILDABUSE 26
4. DRUGABUSE 28
5. POLITICALTHUGGERY(KALARE SYNDROME) 28
6. RAPE/ SEXUALHARASSMENT 29
7. INDECENT DRESSING 29
8. EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE 29
9. SOCIALJUSTICEANDNATIONALDEVELOPMENT 30 REVISION QUESTIONS 34

MODULE FIVE 35 NATIONALUNITY 35

0. INTRODUCTION 35
1. OBJECTIVES 35
2. NATIONALUNITY 35
3. NationalYouth Service Corps (NYSC) 36
4. Federal Character Commission (FCC) 36
5. Unity Colleges 37

GSTS 102: NIGERIAN PEOPLE AND

CULTURE 2021/2022

3. THESYMBOL 37
   1. Nigerian Constitution 37
   2. NationalAnthem 38
   3. The Currencies 38
   4. The National Pledge 38
4. NIGERIAN ENVIRONMENTALPROBLEMS 39

5.4.1 Major Components of the Natural Environments 39

REVISION QUESTIONS 41 HISTORYPART 42 MODULE SIX 42 GEOGRAPHICALBACKGROUNDOF NIGERIA 42

0. INTRODUCTION 42
1. OBJECTIVES 42
2. GEOGRAPHICALBACKGROUNDOF NIGERIA 42
3. SOCIO-CULTURALANDECONOMIC ACTIVITIES OF NIGERIAN PEOPLE IN RELATION TO THEIRGEOGRAPHICALSETTINGS/ENVIRONMENTALGEOGRAPHY 43

Revision Questions. 45 MODULE SEVEN 46 PEOPLINGOF THE NIGERIAN AREA 46

0. INTRODUCTION 46
1. OBJECTIVES. 46
2. PEOPLINGOF THENIGERIAN AREA 46 Revision Questions 54

MODULE EIGHT 55 EARLIEST CENTERS OF CIVILIZATION IN THE NIGERIAN AREA 55

0. INTRODUCTION. 55
1. OBJECTIVES. 55
2. EARLIEST CENTERS OF CIVILIZATION IN THENIGERIAN AREA 55 Revision Questions 59

MODULE NINE 60

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CULTURE 2021/2022

ANCIENT KINGDOM IN NIGERIA 60

0. INTRODUCTION. 60
1. OBJECTIVES 60
2. ANCIENT KINGDOM IN NIGERIA 60 REVISION QUESTIONS 62 REFENCE FORFUTHERREADING 62

SOCIOLOGYPART MODULE ONE

MAJORETHNIC GROUPS IN NIGERIA

1.0 INTRODUCTION

It is important to start by introducing Nigeria as an entity. Nigeria is situated

between l+atitudes 400E and 1400N and longitude 300E and 1400E of the Greenwich meridian. It is bounded in the west by the Republic of Benin, on the

north by the Republic of Niger,on the north-east,by Lake Chad,on the east by the

Republic of Cameroun and in the south by the Atlantic Ocean. It has a total area

of 923, 768 square kilometers. Nigeria has a population of about 167 million

(National Population Commission August, 2012). There are still sizeable

worshippers of African traditional religion within the confines of Nigeria.

As one moves from the south to the north, the vegetation progressively changes from tropical rain forest to savannah grassland. Typically, there are two main seasons namely: rainy season and dry season interspersed by the harmattan season. The rains are heaviest in the south and thinnest in the north. Since the 1970s, desert encroachment and desertification have become a serious environmental problem to most northern states of Nigeria. From the environment,

GSTS 102: NIGERIAN PEOPLE AND CULTURE 2021/2022
let’s now move to different people of Nigeria. The people of Nigeria varied as would be discuss in detail below. There are about 250 different ethnic groups within the boundaries of Nigeria. The major ethnic groups in Nigeria are Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. There are some states that have more than ten different ethnic groups. The ethnic, cultural and economic variations and long years of intermingling among the various groups have combined to produce very rich cultures and arts which form the heritage of modern Nigeria. 1.1 OBJECTIVES The general aim of the course, as stated in its objectives, is to make students to be familiar with different ethnic groups in Nigeria and evolution of Nigeria as a country; amalgamation, colonial rule and constitutional developments. It intends to also make the students familiar with the concepts of culture, socialization, negative attitudes and conducts; such as bribery and corruption, cultism, child abuse, drug abuse, thuggery, rape/sexual harassment, indecent dressing, examination malpractices and ethno-religious crisis, social justice and national development,national unity and Nigerian environmental challenges with a view to proffering solutions and promoting unity. 1.2 THEHAUSAETHNIC GROUP The Hausa people are predominantly found in the north-western part of Nigeria. They were substantially Islamized even before the Sokoto Jihad of 1804. As clearly demonstrated by Smith (1965), by the time of the Jihad, a distinction could be made between the pagan Hausa (Maguzawa) and the Muslim Hausa.Immigration and conquest marks Hausa history. Homogeneity of the Hausa stems from a common language and religion (Islam). The Hausa claim to have descended from a certain hero named Bayajida (or Abu Yazid), a refugee prince from Baghdad. The legend states that after leaving the
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Middle East, he stayed for a while in Kanem, where he married a daughter of the Mai (or king) called Magira. Later on he fled westward in order to escape the wrath of his father-in law, the Mai, and abandoned his wife who had already born him a male child. Before reaching Daura, where he was credited to have killed an evilsnake that was preventing people of the town from drawing water from a well, he briefly stayed in Gaya. Perhaps because of his bravery and as a reward, he is believed to have later married the Queen of Daura (Magajiya), which enabled him to become the ruler of that community. His descendants are claimed to have founded what was known as the seven Hausa states of Biram, Bagauda (Kano), Gunguma (Zazzau), Duma (Gobir), Kumayo (Katsina), Zamma (Rano) and Gazora (Daura). These were collectively referred to as the Hausa Bakwai. Distinctively, the pagan Hausa lived in small villages of exogamous patrilineal kin and they worshiped natural spirits which were referred to as Iskoki. They were predominantly gatherers and farmers. The Muslim Hausa had a large centralized system. They had highly developed technologies and economy. The Hausa people were known for leatherwork, cloth making, dyeing, iron-making, trading, etc.The success of the Jihad campaigns of ShehuUsmanDanfodiyo in Hausaland at the beginning of the 19th century gave birth to the Sokoto Caliphate and this gave the Fulani an important position in the political affairs of the Hausa states. The Hausa people are reputable long-distance traders and great cultivators. They also tended to be literate in Arabic, resulting from the influence of Islam and the Sokoto Jihad. The Sokoto caliphate is bound to the North West by Gobir;and Borno to the North East. In the south, it extended to the Old Oyo and crosses the Benue. It is important to know that the head of a typical Hausa state was the Sarki, who was supported by a retinue of officials in an elaborate court. In political terms, the development of the office of the Sarki of a birni (city) like Kano was very
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significant. His full title was SarkinKasa, meaning: ‘ruler of the land’and not just the city. Thus, he was both a political and religious leader of the people. He was also the chief executive and judge of the state. He was aided by a council of state. However,with the introduction of Islam in the 14th and 15th centuries, new socio-political institutions – combination of social and political factors – were introduced into the Hausa political structure. For example, the offices of the Galadima (senior counselor),Madawaki(palace administrator),Magaji (overseer), Dogari(guard), and Zagi (orderly) have roots in the Islamization of Hausaland during the two centuries. The judicial and fiscal systems were similarly influenced by Islam. Such titles, concepts and institutions as the Alkali or the Qadi (judge), Zakat (tax on income), Jangali (tax on livestock) became commonplace in the administration of the state. The three most important Hausa rulers at the wake of the 15th century were those of Kano, Zaria and Katsina which adopted Islam in their political as well as social and economic systems. 1.3 THEFULANIETHNIC GROUP The Fulani ethnic group is similar to the Hausa. However, the Fulani ethnic group is largely nomadic. They are believed to have originated from the FutaJalon highland region of West Africa from where they migrated in stages to various places in the West African sub-region. Fulani is a notable ethnic group in Northern Nigeria. The Fulani call themselves “Fulbe”. They profess Islam while others maintain syncretic practice and their main occupational activity is cattle-rearing by the males and cow-milking by the females. The Fulani people are of two categories, namely: fulanindaji (nomadic) fulani and fulaningida (sedentary) fulani. The former, who have maintained their nomadic way of life, move from one place to another in search of pasture or grazing land for their live-stock. The latter have settled in towns and villagesengaging themselves into farming, trading etc.The Fulani are widely
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distributed in West Africa most especially in the Sahel, wandering from one spot to another with their herds of cattle. In fact, they are found in almost every country of the Sudan zone of West Africa extending from the Senegal area in the West to the Upper Nile in the east. The pastoral Fulani’s life is principally basic and simple. They strive to maintain their tradition and culture wherever they go. They generally adhere to a code of behavior referred to as pulaaku which suggests they must exhibit the following qualities: shyness, bravery, ownership of cows etc. In the pre-colonial period, the Fulani, under ShehuUsmanDanfodiyo’s leadership, were able to revive Islam in most parts of the Hausaland. Following the Jihad, (an aggressive campaign for an idea) they functioned basically as administrators and sometimes as cultivators. As devout Muslims, they were very instrumental in assisting ShehuUsmanDanfodiyo in the execution of the popular Sokoto Jihad which helped in the socio-political as well as the religious changes of Northern Nigeria in the course of the nineteenth century. 1.4 THEYORUBAETHNIC GROUP The ethnic group now commonly referred to as the ‘Yoruba’have been identified by different names spanning millenniums and centuries. Pacheco Pereira identified them in 1500 as theLucumiwhile early missionary accounts of the 19th Century referred to them as theAku . Yoruba, which originally referred to the Oyo, began to be used for the generality of the group by the Europeans and it has caught on. The earliest known account of their existence in the region according to archaeological evidence dates to around 9000 BCE as revealed by human remains atIwo Eleru . However, their inability to develop arts of writing early in their history gave rise to fables and conflicting accounts of their origin. R.C.C. Law traced the first written account of Yoruba origin to the second Sultan of the SokotoCaliphate, Sultan Mohammed Bello. In his writing,Infaq al Maisuri, Bello in
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his version in 1812 stated that the Yoruba derived from Nimrod, a descendant of the cursed Ham who fled Mecca while resisting Islam. This account was later appropriated by new Oyo palacehistorians who expanded it to identify Nimrod as Lamurudu whom they now referred to asthe father ofOduduwa , the acclaimed progenitor of the Yoruba. Samuel Johnson on his partadapted this account but replaced the Mecca origin with Egyptian Coptic Christians. Another myth of the Yoruba origin alleged thatOduduwa descended from heaven sent by God to create the earth. ThatOduduwa ’s first point of arrival on earth was Ile-Ife, hence the notion that Ile-Ife is the center of the earth.What is however certain is the fact that the Yoruba are indigenous to Southwest Nigeria. The Itsekiri are their kins. They constitute a sizeable population of Middle Belt states ofKwara and Kogi. There are indigenous Yoruba in Edo state. Until the colonial conquest of Africa, the Yoruba region extended from Benin Republic to parts of Togo. A sizeablenumber also settled in Sudan en route to or from Mecca. The Trans-Atlantic slave trade alsoled to their forced migration to the Americas where Yoruba cultural traditions haveendured to the present in Brazil (asLucumi), in Trinidad and Tobago and in Cuba, amongstmany other places.In Nigeria, the Yoruba constitute a homogenous socio-linguistic and cultural group. Their language belongs to the Niger-Congo family of languages and shares basic characteristics with the Igbo,Edo,Fulani,Bariba,Efik,Jukun,among other groups. Ile-Ife developed a centralized state system, complex artistic and craftsmanship abilities,socio-cultural and religious practices, as well as economic versatility. It became a cultural and politicalmodel for other Yoruba communities which began to replicate the Ife model intheir domains. Ile-Ife became the spiritual motherland of the Yoruba. However, Oyo soondeveloped a more complex political and military system. The Yoruba political system is very complex. The Oba (king) is an absolute ruler
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with divine authority, yet his powers are checked by various institutions such as the council of chiefs (theOyomesi– hereditary advisers in Oyo in particular and Ilu in other Yorubalands). Any member of the council of chiefs could in turn be deposed by theking. Kingship rotates among several royal houses;hence,the son of a reigning king cannot succeed his father. Aparamount ruler (the king) seldom appeared in public and was notcommonly accessible to his subjects. His subordinate chiefs administered the quarters,villages, the towns and other domains on his behalf. Yet, each of the chiefs has specifictraditional duties limited to each of them alone. Yoruba settlement had the Oba’s palace inthe center. Village heads (Baale ) are subject to the king through his chiefs, while lineageheads (bale andmogajiin Ibadan) administer the quarters and the wards but are subjectedto the immediate higher head. Youths and quarter children have their roles and rights. Therights of women are assured as their leader is an officialmember of the council of chiefs. Marriage among the Yoruba was exogenous; hence, it was not a mere event between two individuals but an event involving two previously unrelated families. After betrothal, a man must not only give presents to his future wife, but also should help her father on his farm or when building a house. The would-be in-law also plays important role in funeralrites.The Yoruba operate patrilineal societies. Polygamy is a common feature among the Yoruba people.Apart from farming, the Yoruba were also traders and craftsmen. Cooperative efforts used in farming include a‘aro ’ and o‘we ’. The a‘aro ’ form of labor mobilization was reciprocal inthat farmer who was assisted to weed his farm or build his house today would be called upon tomorrow to render similar service. While the o‘we’ was not reciprocal. Drummingand feasting would normally follow after the execution of an o‘we’ or an a‘aro’ task.Generally speaking, even strangers did have access to land for farming purposes throughIsakole (i.e.,land rent) charge.
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1.5 THEIGBO ETHNIC GROUP Another major ethnic group in Nigeria is the Igbo. The Igbo have a unique culture. There are three versions on the origin of the Igbo. The first version says the Igbo migrated from the Middle East to their present location.The second version says they have been in their present location in eastern Nigeria fromthe beginning. The third version says they descended from the sky.The language of the Igbo belongs to the Niger-Congo family. The Igbo people thrived in the Igbo-Ukwu art culture while they cherished Arochukwu in the spiritual realm.Birth, marriage and burial are considered the three most important family events. Igbo traditional marriage, known as igbankwu is not just an affair between the future husband and wife, it involves parents, the extended family and the whole village. The would-be groom parent will bring palm-wine and kola-nuts to the bride’s familyand other items such as goats, chickens etc. as requested by the family. We wish to state thatthe wedding ceremony varies from village to village. Birth is also celebrated among theIgbo but the naming ceremony is usually performed on the 28th day. Many customs surround the burial-rites, such as paying last respect to the dead, singing traditional songs and traditional dances, acrobatic displays by masquerades,etc. The village of Igbo-Ukwu is the harbinger of the oldest known sculpture from Igboland. In that village (Igbo-Ukwu), there was an excavation of the grave of a man of some importance and wealth dating back to the 9th Century which produced some of the earliestbronze castings, glass beads, bowls and ornaments. The objects found at Igbo-Ukwu are also for ritual as well as secular purposes. The objects found at this site were a large collection of objects and regalia mostly made through the “lost wax” technique and othersmade through smiting and casting method.In terms of style, the artifacts found at Igbo-Ukwu are not similar to the Bini, Ife or any other Nigerian arts;they are originally local in shape and content. The findings at this site indicate a very well developed
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economy with surplus to engage in artistic production.The Igbo political system is a segmentary system of governance where you have hierarchy of power from the family to the age group and to special titles. This power is oftendistributed among the following title holders: Ozo , Ichie , Mazi, Ozioko , Nze , Diokpa , IsiO, kpara , Ezejiand a few others.Similarly, others that hold powers include priests, elders, diviners, medicine men, theOkparas , members of secret society and age grades. They all have recognized roles to playwithin the Igbo political set up.
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MODULE TWO THE EVOLUTION OF NIGERIAAS ACOUNTRY 2.0 INTRODUCTION Nigeria as a country was a colonial creation after independence from the British colonial masters in 1960.The territories that later became Nigeria comprised different states with sovereign status. Relations between these states were international relations before the colonial onslaught. Considering the constellation of state systems within the area — the Sokoto Caliphate to the north and the northwest, Borno to the northeast, the Oyo and Benin empires to the southwest, and the numerous non-centralized communities of the forest belt to the southeast, the possibility of the emergence of a state system like the present Nigeria without an external intervention is indeed very remote. However, some scholars such as Billy Dudley have argued that the inter-group relationships such as those of trade,conquests,politicalassociation, myths of common origin, etc. could still have provided the basis for a state like Nigeria. The credit for the amalgamation and emergence of Nigeria in its present form goes to the British. 2.1 OBJECTIVES 2.2 AMALGAMATION What became Nigeria was an amalgamation of various colonial possessions which were acquired over different times and later amalgamated gradually even though the general reference to amalgamation is the one of 1914 which brought the two giant territories of the Northern and Southern protectorates together. In 1900 the Niger Coast protectorate was amalgamated with the Colony of Lagos to form the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria. This is different from the Colony of Lagos which had a different status. Then in 1906 there was the second series of amalgamation when the Colony of Lagos was merged with the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria to form a single entity known as the Colony and Protectorate of
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Southern Nigeria. Finally, there was the amalgamation of 1914,which brought the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria and the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria into one single entity known as the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria on1st January 1914. In 1861 the British annexed the Territory of Lagos as a colony but administered it by thegovernor for the West African settlements resident in Sierra Leone between 1866 and 1874 and the governor for Gold Coast Colony between 1874 and 1886. British interest in Northern Nigeria predated the nineteenth century, however, by the beginning of the nineteenth century as early as 1879 the British government allowed British trading companies access to these territories for commercial activities. By 1826 British merchant ships had traded on the Bonny River, and by 1886 up to 1900 the British allowed the United Africa Company (UAC),which later became the chartered Royal Niger Company power to administer the Northern Nigeria territories on its behalf. This meant that the company was the government of Northern Nigeria at this period. By 1900 the British government took over administration of the territory from the Royal Niger Company and appointed Frederick (later Lord Lugard) as High Commissioner. It was Lugard who proclaimed the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria. 2.2.1 Reasons for the Amalgamation The British amalgamated Nigeria for the same reasons that made them to colonize it in the first place. That is, to serve their imperial interests. The main reasons for the amalgamation were: 1. The British wanted a cheap and secure source of raw materials for their industries. 2. They wanted a market for their manufactured goods. 3. They needed a source for generating capital resources for investment in Britain thereby strengthening the Britishpound sterling against other
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currencies. 4. They needed a manpower reserve formilitary and other purposes. 5. They wanted the ports, water ways, roads, railways, andair spaces for transportation and imperialcommunication systems. All the above would be easier and more efficient only if Nigeria was amalgamated. 2.3 COLONIALRULE In the previous discussion, the interest of colonial rule was stated bearing in mind the invasion and occupation of Nigeria. The major task before the British was to find the mostcost effective way to rule their newly acquired territory, a territory composed of different cultural and religious groups with different systems of governance and administration. The British, based on Lord Lugard’s recommendations, decided to interfere as little as possible in the day to day administration of the peoples they ruled. It was decided that interference should be limited to what was necessary to the basic needs of colonial administration and economic exploitation of the country or to eliminate what they perceived as repugnant to British conception of justice and morality. To this end, a system of British rule through local traditional rulers known as Indirect Rule was instituted. These rulers were responsible for carrying out colonial policies and tax collection under the supervision of British colonial officers. This system created the illusion of Africans ruling themselves and significantly reduced the cost of administration. It also created a wedge between the traditional rulers who became beneficiaries of the colonial system and patriots resisting colonial domination. The northern part of Nigeria, with its large states and developed emirates system was the most fertile ground for the indirect rule system of administration. The system was a success in the northern region. However, in the western and eastern regions it was not so successful. In Benin and Yoruba land the British ree acted the former empires in 1916 an dan
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unpopular attempt to bring back the Oyo Empire was also attempted. The Oba now appointed and backed by the British were expected to serve them. Many of them became autocratic because the mechanism for removing despotic ones was no longer effective. This did not eliminate resistance as four officials of the Oyo Native Authority were killed atIseyin in 1916. Similarly, in 1918 a rebellion broke out after the Abeokuta Native Authority introduced direct taxation. In lgbo land,for example,there were no chiefs;the British had to create a class of chiefs referred to as warrant chiefs,to collect taxes and enforce colonial policies. The policy of indirect rule was premised on local peoples being ruled by their local traditional rulers without disruption to their lives. However the warrant chiefs had no prior legitimacy in the places they ruled and were invariably corrupt and unscrupulous; therefore they were deeply resented. In most of the southern provinces indirect rule was a problem because of the absence of traditional rulers and centralized governments. This did not stop the British from introducing them anyway. Throughout Nigeria when traditional rulers or British appointed rulers served as intermediaries between the government and the people, the result was always misrule and corruption by local officials and eventually anti- colonial resistance. The 1929 Aba Riotsarose because of tax abuse and other forms of bad governance. Native courts set up by the colonial administration to try cases based on local traditions and customs equally failed. The most vociferous opposition to the native authorities came from the class of western educated Nigerians for example nationalists like Dr.Nnamdi Azikiwe, Herbert Macauley,Chief ObafemiAwolowo and MalamAminu Kano.In spite of the claim of mutual benefits to both the British and local traditional rulers as well as the claim of minimum disruption of people’s lives and livelihood, British interference was widespread and very negative. Some of the visibly negative impacts included the following: 1. Most emirs and chiefs who resisted British rule in any form were
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deposed and new pliant ones installed. Therefore, only those who collaborated with the colonialregime were maintained. 2. The British reduced the status of both the Caliph at Sokoto and the Shehu of Bornoto that of emirs. The Caliph was renamed Sultan. 3. The judicial system was changed to reduce the potency of the Islamic legal system(shari’ah). Shari’ah courts became subordinate to customary and common lawcourts. 2.4 CONSTITUTIONALDEVELOPMENTS IN NIGERIA You may know that the colonial government set out how they can rule Nigeria through defined rules and regulations. Aconstitution is a document which clearly defines how astate should be governed. It contains statements that depict the relationship between therulers and the ruled and the basic rights and duties of citizens in a country. A constitution,therefore, is a body of rules and regulations that set out how a state should be governed. Itdefines the structure, powers, functions of the government and the rights andresponsibilities of citizens. Constitutionalism is a basic principle that states that the government should rule the people according to the constitution of the land. The essence is to make sure that theactivities and operations of the government are within the confines of the law.Constitutionalism promotes respect for the operations of the rule of law.The historical development of constitutions and constitutionalism in Nigeria can be traced to the establishment of colonial rule in the 1860s. However, constitutional government inthe formal sense began with the institution of the Nigerian Council by Lord Lugard afterthe amalgamation of the Southern and Northern Protectorates in 1914. The evolution of theNigerian Council marked the beginning of constitutional development in Nigeria. Thecouncil was however dissolved in 1922 following the adoption of the Clifford Constitution.Between 1922 and 1954, four different notable constitutions were operated in Nigeria. These are the Clifford Constitution (1922), the Richard Constitution (1946), the
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MacphersonConstitution (1951) and the Lyttletton Constitution (1954).The Richard Constitution gave birth to the idea of regionalism, which enabled the different regions: East, West and North to develop at their own pace. The 1951 constitution introduced a quasi-federal model into the administration of the regions. This allowed forpower to be shared between the central and the regional governments but the centralgovernment was empowered to have control over the regional governments in somematters.The Lyttleton constitution of 1954 rearranged the whole system and introduced a federal system of government. The constitution marked the beginning of the operation of federalsystem in Nigeria. In 1957 and 1958 constitutional conferences were held for the purpose ofresolving some issues such as the minority problem and charting the way forward for thegranting of self- government in 1960. Between 1960 and 1979, three constitutions were putin place in the country. These are the 1960 Independence, the 1963 Republican and the 1979Presidential constitutions. The amended 1999 constitutions is an improvement of the 1979 constitution. MODULE THREE THE CONCEPT OF PEOPLE 3.0 INTRODUCTION 3.1 OBJECTIVES 3.2 THECONCEPT OF PEOPLE According to Webster’s Dictionary,People refer to; Ø Human beings making up a group or assembly or linked by a common
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interest e.g cultist,APC,P.D.P. CNN,etc. - The members of a family or kinship. - A body of persons that are united by a common culture, traditions, or sense of kinship that typically have common language institutions, and beliefs and that often constitute a politically organized group e.g Berom, Fulani,Terawa,Waja,e.t.c. - The body of the enfranchised citizen of a state e.g. Nigeria. In other words, people refer to a group or a collectivity of individuals who share relatively similar culture,geographicalterritory,and or socialorganization. 3.3 Culture To a layman, culture may mean eating habits, drumbeats, farming techniques, hair plaiting, tribal mark pattern, folk tales and songs expressed by people in a given environment. Culture transformed man from animal in to a human being. It is a learned behaviours acquired by experience, as opposed to in born and genetically determined behaviour. Culture includes those ways of thinking,feeling and acting that the members of one society simply takes for granted, but which might seem very strange to an outsider. According to Edward B. Tylor (1871), culture is that “complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, laws, customs and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”. Linton (1940), viewed culture as “the sum total of knowledge, attitudes and habitual behaviour patterns,shared and transmitted by the members of a particular society”. Culture is the dynamic aspect of social life. It is created by the society as the generational guide through which man as a member of homosapiens sees himself regulating his activities, integrating himself with large network of social regulations, and satisfying his needs. It is a shared social behaviour learned by
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members of the society through the process of socialization from birth to the grave. 3.3.1 Types of Culture 1. Material Culture: Material culture consists of manufactured objects such as tools, furniture, automobile, building, irrigation ditches, roads, bridges and in fact any physical substance which has been changed as used by people. Such manufactured objects are called artefacts. In the game of football for instance, the boots, socks, jersey and the ball itself are the few elements of materialculture. 2. Non-Material Culture: This consists of the words people use, the ideas, customs, and beliefs they hold, and the habits they follow. For example, in the game of football,the non-material aspects of culture includes the rules of the game, player’s skills, concepts of strategy, and the traditional behaviour of players and spectators. 3.3.2. Components of Culture 1. Symbols: One among the important things that people of a particular culture share is a common set of symbols. A “symbol” is a representation of something else that can communicate information in shorthand form. Symbols allow people to make sense of their lives and make human existence meaningful. For example, the cross symbolizes Christianity while that of star and moon symbolizes Islam . 2. Language: Language is a symbol system with words representing objects, actions,feeling and other aspects of our experiences. Language can also mean a set of sounds with a particular meaning attached to each sound. For instance, a yoruba man can be identified by the way he speaks or greet a person. As a symbol,language can take the form of spoken or written words.
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3. Values: Values are agreements about what is good or acceptable in a given society. Values are beliefs which under pin a society and provide general principles of behaviour. For instance, embracing peace is based on the agreement that it is bad to kill each other. 4. Norms: Norms are agreements about what is generally expected of members of a particular culture. Norms are specific rules which guide human behaviour r in a given situation. In India for example, the norm is that people will not kill or eat cattle, while in Nigeria, beef is eaten freely when available. Norms are of two types; - Folkways: Norms performed widely, but not necessary e.g eating with knives and forks. - Mores: Strong feeling of what is right or wrong whose violations attract sanctions in the society e.g pick-pocketing,arson,rape,etc. 3.3.3 Characteristics of culture 1. Culture is learned through socialization 2. Culture is shared among members of the society. 3. Culture is passed from generation to generation. 4. Culture varies from one society to another. 5. Culture is universal. 3.3.4 Other important concepts related to culture a. Ethnocentrism: This can be define as that view of things in which one’s own group is the centre of anything and all others are scaled and rated with reference to it.
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In other words, it refers to the practice of judging other culture by comparison with one’s own. b. Cultural Relativism: This refers to the recognition that different group have different sets of agreements without the feeling that one set is superior to another. c. Cultural Shock: This is a situation whereby an individual sees something different which contradicts what his/her initially firmly believed. d. Subcultures: Subcultures emerge whenever people occupying certain statuses in a society have shared experiences quite different from those of others in the society. A good example is the “Yan Kalare ” thugs in Gombe. 3.3.5 The importance of studying peoples culture Some among the importance of studying people’s culture includes; a. Understanding different cultures will make us understand why people behave the way they do, and be able to tolerate each other and by extension foster unity and peace in the society. b. Understanding culture helps in making us understand ourselves and the world around us. c. Culture is a complex strategy for meeting human needs. In this regard, its understanding entails understanding how different people satisfy their needs. d. Understanding culture enables human species identify means,mechanism and process of general and particular progress of human societies. 3.4 SOCIALIZATION Every society is faced with the task of making the young children members of
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that society. The process of doing this is called socialization. Socialization is the process by which persons acquire the knowledge, skills and disposition that makes them more or less integrated members of their society. It is through the process of socialization that members learn certain habits,traditions,knowledge, skills,norms,and values which the society considers important. To Giddens (2005), socialization “is the process whereby the helpless infant gradually becomes a self-aware, knowledgeable person, skilled in ways of the culture into which she or he is born”.Socialization continues through a person’s life. It entails both the transmissions of the cultural heritage and the development of personality. Zanden (1977), pointed out that in the absence of socialization, society could not perpetuate itself beyond a single generation. 3.4.1 Types of Socialization 1. Primary Socialization Primary socialization occurs in infancy and childhood and is the most intense period of cultural learning. It is the time when children learn language and basic behavioural patterns which form the foundation for later learning. The family is the main agent of socialization during this phase. 2. Secondary Socialization This takes place later in childhood and into maturity. In this phase, other agents of socialization take over some of the responsibility from the family. School, peer groups, organizations, the media and eventually the workplace become socializing forces for individuals. Social interactions in these contents help people learn the values, norms and belief which make up the patterns of their culture. 3.4.2 Agents of Socialization The process of socializing the young involves many segments of the society.
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Each role has distinct roles to play even though the ultimate goal is to make the young full members of the society. The socialization agents are; a. Peer Group The peer group is an important agent of socialization. The age grade or the peer group comprises of persons roughly the same age though the peer group is not an established institution like the school or the family, it has its own customs and organization. The peer group can be defined as a group composed of members of roughly equal age sharing equal status as well as pursuing some interests in common for example, if you are a university student,your course mates are your peers. b. The School Schools are charged with formal task of passing on many of a culture’s symbols, beliefs, values and norms. It is the school that the child extends the range of his human contacts and prepares himself to deal with a world infinitely more complex than his own family. Schools sometimes reinforce or extend the socialization received in the family, children begin learning language in the family, for example and the schools carry language instruction even further. c. The Church and the Mosque The church and the mosque are socio-religions institutions in the society that help individuals satisfy the spiritual dimension of their needs. They are interested in the moral aspects of personality development of not only the children but the adults too. These religious institutions affect and influence the economic, political orientations, beliefs, values, intellectual and social growth of their members through their practices, preaching and teachings.
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d. The Mass Media The media of mass communication include books, magazines, newspapers, posters in public places, advertising billboards, films, television, radio, internet etc. unlike the school, the mass media is not a formal socializing institution but could be used in most cases by educators as a powerful instrument of socialization. Mass media often transmit messages of all sorts, direct information, entertainment, propaganda, persuasion etc.These messages affect people’s orientations, values and experiences in no small measure this is not only socializing the child but also persist in the socialization of the adults.
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3.4.3 Importance of Socialization Some importance of socialization are: i. Providing the foundation for the individual’s effective participation in the society ii. It inculcates basic discipline in the individual such as respect for elders, eating habit,etc. iii. It instills aspiration in societal members iv. It provides individuals with identities largely through the aspiration it encourages or discourages v. It provides for the stability, persistence and continuity of society by communicating the contents of the culture from one generation to the other REVISION QUESTIONS
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MODULE FOUR NEGATIVE ATTITUDES ANDCONDUCTS 4.0 INTRODUCTION We can conceptualize these concepts as any form of human behavior that is against the established norms and values of the society. It could be the evil, wicked and criminal actions or behaviours of the individual members of the society, which would constitute a social problem. A Social problem is a social situation that a large number of the people may feel inappropriate or disapprove of. Thus, negative attitudes and conducts are very harmful to the communities and individual members of the society. According to Gombe State University Hand Book (2011-2015),pp 30-33 and 60),the following are some of the negative attitudes and conducts in the school; Bribery and Corruption, Cultism, Examination Malpractice, Drug abuse, Indecent Dressing, Cultism, Sexual Harassment etc.An attempt is made in this paper to provide an insight into the meaning s, courses and effects of these social vices in our society with a view to coming up with some pragmatic solutions in addressing them. 4.1 OBJECTIVES 4.2 CULTISM This is one among the negative attitudes and conducts prevailing in Nigeria. Some Nigerians are members of secret cults. General Yakubu Gowon, one time Nigeria’s Military Head of State, on one occasion remarked that cultism in our tertiary institutions is a threat to peace and national security. There are many cases of cultism in Nigerian higher institutions. We should be aware that cultism,
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is an evil association engaged in negative activities that can destroy one’s career and can also ruin one’s life. It can be astumbling block to Nigeria’s quest for peace and prosperity. Besides, the idea of a secretcult is falsehood and hampersstudents’good grades in their studies. 4.3 CHILDABUSE There is no generally accepted definition of Child Abuse. There has been a diverse theoretical conceptualization of the term child abuse among the academicians, clinicians and of course the social workers. Akhilomen (2012) argued that the medical and psychological theories have conceptualizes child abuse as an illness, to be diagnose, treated and prevented while the socio- economic theories on child abuse link it to social deprivation, lack of social support, poverty e.t.c. this paper is more concern with the definition of child abuse in its most general sense. Child abuse according to the Oxford Dictionary of Sociology (2009:77) refers to the maltreatment or injury of a child by an adult or adults. Such abuse (s) can be physically, emotional, sexual or a combination of all the three. It should be noted that the abuse (s) might be perpetrated by one person or by several persons, within a family or outside it, and in public or in private. The term can also be seen as a maltreatment of a child less than 18 years of age, by a person responsible for the child’s health or welfare (Ezeoke,et-al,2009). The phenomenon of the child abuse is a global one that has attracted the attention of both the government and the non-governmental organizations over the years. It remains a serious problem that has gone deep into our society and requires attention. In Nigeria, children face the menace of abuse ranging from physical injuries, abandonment, sexual abuse and child labour e.t.c. The problem of abuse of children is becoming alarming in the country and the government efforts towards combating this social ill have yielded little or no result at all. The problem can be attributed to a number of factors, but commonest ones as it
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has been indicated by a number of studies include poverty, culture, urbanization and migration which may often result in family separation and child exploitation, environmental degradation and weak/poverty enforced legislations on children’s right. Undoubtedly, the forms and causes of child abuse may differ from one country to another. Among the effects of child abuse in Nigeria includes: difficulty in developing a healthy personality and may remain unhappy whenever he or she recalls the incident. Thus,such a child may develop fear,anxiety,depression,anger,hostility, inappropriate sexual behaviors, and others may further turn to crime and domestic violence. Hence, the future of Nigerian child is truncated and put in serious jeopardy, low academic achievement for the children, teen pregnancy, drug and alcoholic abuses, and lastly high rate of school dropout are inimical factors for the socio-economic development of any meaningful human society like Nigeria. 4.4 DRUG ABUSE Drug is any substance defined as drug in any given society. This implies that there are substances which are not medicine, but are drugs from the social perspective. For example alcohol,cigarette,kolanut,coffee,and tee are classified as socially acceptable drugs. According to National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (2005),a drug is any chemical substance which when taken into the body by any means what soever changes the functions or behavior of the body. Drug abuse is therefore an occasional or persistent excessive use of substance for personal gratification. Looking at it aptly, a drug is said to be abused when its taking has been socially and medically disapproved; drug abuse is therefore the use of drugs for reasons other than the medical ones. The problem of drug abuse has taken a very disturbing and ugly trend in Nigeria. This is because it is now massively abuse by almost all the socio-economic classes, sexes and ages of the Nigerian society. The most common drugs that are abused includes:
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cough syrups (Benylin with codeine, Tutolin, Exiplon, e.t.c.), alcohol, cannabis (marijuana/Indian hemp),diezapan,tramoletc. Available data has shown that parts of the major causes of this menace are: peer group influence, frustration of life, poverty, broken homes and environmental factors. Among the effects of drug abuse are mental illnesses, criminal acts, failure in life,nutritional deficiencies,etc. 4.5 POLITICALTHUGGERY(KALARE SYNDROME) Political thuggery means a behavior intended to hurt injure or kill people in the process of socio-economic and political activities. As such most of the killings, assassinations, destruction of properties, protests in Nigeria are politically motivated. All over the country, the luxury associated with Nigerian grown or nascent democracy increase competition for access to power and control of institutions, this resulted in to the manipulation of the electoral processes through violence sponsored by the political classes. Youths (Y‘ ankalare’) were engaged in kidnappings, killings and destruction of properties to intimidate and subdue opponents in the process, several rival politicians were murdered either directly by stage agents or through hired assassinations. This is preventing free and fair elections and is also a very dangerous condition for the growth of opposition in politics. And it is also detrimental to the individual personalities of the political thugs as in most cases they ended up in prisons, in addition to the shame they will bring to their families. 4.6 RAPE/ SEXUALHARASSMENT In this paper, we can see Rape/sexual harassment as the crime which involves threat, or use of force to compel one individual to engage in sexual act. Available data has shown that part of the factors responsible for these social vices is the degeneration of moral values in our society. It may also be as a result of poor home training and peer influence. The level of poverty in Nigerian society is so severe that some parents rely on their girl child for survival. The effect of these
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illicit vices is that they may lead to unwanted pregnancies. In the process of getting rid of unwanted pregnancies, the victim (s) will die or results in hospitalization. This is a minus for the education of female students. 4.7 INDECENT DRESSING This is the display of some sensitive and private parts of the body by an individual. This is mostly a typical behavior of ladies that are going out to display their bodies any how wearing what may be call cleavages on display. Dressing seductively has profound negative effects on both students and the lecturers in schools because both groups hardly concentrate on academic work. As stated in the GSU students’ hand book, students, male and female alike, that dresses indecently faces sanctions and sometime expulsion.Available data has shown that part of the causes of this problem are;change of environment for both male and the female students and abandonment of our cultural values to copy from the ‘western life style’. 4.8 EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE Examination malpractice can be seen as any illegal behavior carried out by the students and teachers in an examination hall. The causes of this social problem ranges from admitting unqualified candidates in schools, emphasis on paper qualification or certification and also the level of the moral decadence in our society is yet another cause of the examination malpractice in Nigeria. Examination malpractice is a cankerworm that portrays grave dangers for the nations. It leads to the loss of creativity and resourcefulness. Also, it wreaks a great havoc on the socio-economic and political lives of the Nigerians. 4.9 SOCIALJUSTICEANDNATIONALDEVELOPMENT There are different perspectives/definitions of the concept of social justice. This has to do with different perceptions scholars have about the concept. Thus, Social justice may be defined as the application of the concept of justice on a social scale. Social justice is also a concept that is used to describe the
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movement towards a socially just world. In this context,social justice is based on the concepts of human rights and equally involves a greater degree of economic egalitarianism through progressive taxation, income redistribution, or even property redistribution. These policies aim to achieve what developmental experts refer to as more equality of opportunity than may currently exist in many societies, and to manufacture equality of outcome in cases where incidental inequalities appear in a procedurally just System ( John,R. 2000). National Development on the other hand refers to a deliberate attempt by the government to coordinate economic decision-making and to influence the level of growth and development of the country. National Development involves the establishment of policies and programmes by the government towards enhancing the living standard of its citizens which in essence promotes growth and development of the country. The developed countries today sets developmental policies and programmes which help them to achieve respectable rate of growth and development of the countries; via eradication of socially oriented problems they were confronted with like hunger and starvation, poverty, unemployment,inequality and insecurely challenges among others. Nigeria since its independence in 1960 took various strategies to ensure its sustainable rates of its growth and development. Examples of Development Plans in Nigeria are the first four National Development Plans, Rolling Plans, Structural Adjustment Programmes, National Poverty Eradication Programme Vision 2010,Vision 20:2020,among other programmes. These concepts; Social Justice and National Development are interrelated and interconnected: A country can only be on the right track of achieving social and economic progress when justice and fair play is been applied in all governmental affairs/activities, and also the existence of fundamental human right and equality of opportunities of access to resources of the land by the individuals/citizens. The absence of these impedes the development of the country. With reference to
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Nigeria, there are various challenges militating against the achievement of the National Development plans and programmes of the government. The following are some of these problems: 1. Bribery and Corruption: According to Haruna (2013:5), corruption takes the form of giving or taking bribe, receiving undue financial or material rewards and embezzlement of public funds. Thus, he maintains that corruption is a social syndrome that affects social relationship in Nigeria, as it has eroded efficiency and professionalism of patriotic services of the citizenry to the Nigerian society. Bribery and corruption impede development. We must, therefore, fight corruption and bribery from all fronts. We must refuse to give or demand bribe. The Federal Government is currently fighting corruption through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent and Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and other similar agencies of government. We must join hands with EFCC to fight bribery and corruption in Nigeria. It is important to realize that the main causes of bribery and corruption include: a) Government officialbureaucracy b) Undue influence c) Unnecessary delay d) False style of living e) Artificial scarcity. Nigerians must, therefore, try to avoid bribery and corruption. Students, lecturers, police, soldiers, friends, families etc. should cooperate with relevant government agencies to tackle these ugly practices in the Nigerian society. 2. Bad Governance: Bad system of governance in the country is responsible for the poor state of infrastructure in all sectors. Bad governance has been the bane of Nigeria’s development efforts as a nation since the era of oil boom. Corruption in this respect has led to the diversion of resources meant for the provision of critical infrastructure in every sector of the country. This retards the realization of
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the goals of many developmental plans in Nigeria. Therefore, for the country to be effectively managed for economic prosperity and social progress, leaders must imbibe ethical and moraltenets enshrined in good governance. 3. Poverty: Poverty eradication is among the aims of the development plans in Nigeria since its independence in the 1960. With this, Poverty Alleviation Programmes were introduced in many States. In addition, Ministries of Poverty Alleviations were being created in many States, in addition to the proper placement of the Federal Poverty Alleviation Programme. But today, even with these programmes, Poverty problem is on the increase. For instance, the recent statistics by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that more than 70% of the Nigerian populace is living below the average poverty line of 2 dollars per day. This is going contrary to the programmes aims and objectives of reducing poverty among the Nigerian citizens. In addition, poverty in Nigeria is also associated with the inability of the individuals to save and invest which is a prerequisite for economic growth and development of the country. This is because, majority of Nigerians are only struggling to have what they will eat which at times seems to be difficult. 4. Lack of Patriotism: These deals with the negative attitudes Nigerians have toward development. People here have the belief that things cannot work in Nigeria or Nigerian factors is always use to discourage people/citizens from having patriotic motives for National Development. Therefore, our perceptions that government is solely responsible for any developmental projects and programmes resulted to the poor outcomes of the effort of citizens towards contributing their quota to the sustainable development of Nigeria. Therefore, there is the need for attitudinal change. The idea or belief that things cannot work in Nigeria should be discouraged. Real development is achieved through internal activities and collaborations rather than from external influence. Development is seen as a process generated within a society by forces
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propagated and invigorated by the actual members of the society. It is reasonable that Nigerians should inculcate a high sense of patriotism. This to a greater extent will promote economic and social development in Nigeria. 5. Ethnicity and Religious Bigotries: Ethnic and Religious discrimination in this respect resulted to ethno-religious and even political crises in Nigeria. This in essence impacted negatively on the country’s efforts to utilize its full potentials of human and material resources for National Developments. Today, government shifted much of its attention to addressing and sometimes fuelling these common problems than engages in developmentalprogrammes. This is because, government is officially addressing the problem, but some official members are putting the blame on the government as the initiator of the problems. The insurgency in the Niger-Delta andBoko Haram in the North Eastern Nigeria were born largely out of these problems. And the negative concomitant of these problems in Nigeria is that, it discourages foreign direct investment. No foreign country willbe willing to invest in Nigeria because of lack of security. 6. Marginalization of Women: The low socio-economic status of women in the Nigerian society presents a major challenge towards her progress and national development. In Nigeria, women are characterized as subordinates. Women are poor, subservient and oppressed. They are side tracked in the process of development, excluded from policy formulation and planning, even when they are beneficiaries. Women suffer from inequality in rights, access to social and economic resources as well as leisure. The sum total of women status in Nigerian society include: low status, low income, work overload, victims of domestic violence, Poverty, restricted mobility, lack of care, Patriarchy, Sexual harassment, inequality in right and justice in all spheres, low level of capacity development, etc. Clearly, no country can aspire to achieve its full development potentials unless all of its people i.e both men and woman are full participants in the process.
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If given the opportunity, women are powerful force to reckon with as excellent money managers and credit risks. Their enterprise and business acumen present a tremendous potential for achieving country’s development. The afore- mentioned challenges to women and National development precipitate the issue of woman empowerment. Women Empowerment is a process of giving women the opportunity to improve their situations economically, socially, politically and physically. Its underlying idea is giving a choice to the disenfranchised, in assisting the weak and the marginalized to have access to the tools and the materials they need to forge their own welfare and contribute their quota towards national development. At different times in Nigeria, programmes were initiated with the sole aim of uplifting the status of women. But at the implementation stage, the programmes came to be appropriate by the elite women and such programmes never reached their target population. The programme enforced inequality among women where the strong was made stronger, the weak weaker, the rich richer and the poor poorer. Such programmes include better life, family support, women for change e.t.c. there is no doubt that women education and empowerment enhances transformation of societies especially in areas such as populations control, family health, personal hygiene, nutrition’s receptivity to innovations (Social Change) and educational motivation of children. REVISION QUESTIONS
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MODULE FIVE NATIONALUNITY 5.0 INTRODUCTION Nigeria is a multi-religious, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic society. Or simply, Nigeria is a heterogeneous society. This means peace and unity might not be achieved, if care is not taken. Compatible or incompatible, the Colonial Masters brought forcefully these diverse cultures, tribes, interests, religious, territories etc into one country or state called Nigeria in 1914 (i.e Amalgamation). Since independence, the biggest challenge facing Nigeria is the issue of National Unity. Thus, many attempts were made and some are still on in order to achieve unity among Nigerians,whether or not this has been achieved is there for all to see. 5.1 OBJECTIVES 5.2 NATIONALUNITY These attempts can be categorized into two: Programmes and Symbols. The Programmes include: - The National Youth Service Corps Scheme (NYSC) - The Federal Character Commission (FCC) - Unity Colleges - State Creation - National Orientation Agency (NOA) - National Security Agencies (Nigerian Armed Forces, NPF, SSS, NIA, CID, Customs etc) among others. The National Symbols (Representing/Showing Unity) include:
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- Nigerian coat of Arm - The Constitution - The Currencies - National Anthem - National Flag etc. 5.2.1 National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) NYSC was created in the early 70’s by the Yakubu Gowon Administration due to an overriding passion to heal the wounds of the just ended Nigerian Civil War, hence the declaration of the 3Rs policy of Governance: Reconciliation, Restoration and Rehabilitation. The essence was to unify the nation which had been devastated by a very divisive civil war. NYSC scheme was created in a bid to meet the 3Rs demand. Thus, these unfortunate antecedents (problems of war) in our national history give impetus to the establishment of the National Youth Service Corps by decree No. 24 of 22nd May, 1973 which stated that the NYSC is being established “with a view to the proper encouragement and development of common ties among the youths of Nigeria and the promotion of national unity”. The programme requires that, all Nigerian graduates (Degree and HNDcertificate holders) below the age of (30) must attend this compulsory one year programme. 5.2.2 Federal Character Commission (FCC) Federal Character Commission (FCC) is a peculiar principle of a particular country where vacancies are filled not just based on merit, but also based on the tribe or catchment area one belongs to.FCC is a federal executive body established by Act No 34 of 1999 to implement and enforce the Federal Character Principle of fairness and equity in the distribution of public Posts and Socio-economic infrastructures among the various federating units of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. it also aims at sensitizing the populace on the
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principle of FC in NationalPlanning. Key Strategies of the Commission a. Secure for all Nigerians equity and balanced development b. Promoting efficient use of available resources to ensure sustainable socio -economic development c. Raising public awareness on National Unity and Cohesion through the principle of FC. Functions of FCC The Commission should ensure: a. That all fresh recruitments into the public service nationwide comply with commissions guidelines and formulae on equitable distribution of posts. b. That the best and most competent candidates from each federating unit nationwide are employed to fill vacant positions meant for indigenes of such unit etc. 5.2.3 Unity Colleges In line with the need to rehabilitate, reconstruct and restore Nigeria in order to move forward, the government of Gowon sets up the unity colleges as part of the restoration strategy for nation building in the 1970s. This strategy focused on the human resource – to bring Nigerian children together so that they can develop a sense of unity once again as they appreciate each other’s culture. In practice therefore, the government felt that, there was the need to built Boarding Schools and bring in young unpolluted minds from across the nooks and crannies of Nigeria, ignore the differences of tribes and tongue which were bound to differ in
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a 250 strong multi-ethnic entity. At this time, the King’s and Queen’s colleges in Lagos were the only schools that had some semblance of being National Schools. 5.3 THESYMBOL 5.3.1 Nigerian Constitution The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is a symbol that signifies unity in diversity. As has been mentioned earlier, Nigeria is a heterogeneous society with multi-religious, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural composition. The existence of Constitution has made it possible for these divergent people to live and mingle together as one entity. The constitution is a resolution of all citizens of Nigeria to live in unity and harmony as one indivisible and indissoluble sovereign nation,and to promote the welfare of all persons in the country. The Constitution of the FederalRepublic of Nigeria states that: ‘We the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, having firmly and solemnly resolve, to live in unity and harmony as one indivisible and indissoluble sovereign nation under God, dedicated to the promotion of inter-African solidarity, world peace, international co-operation and understanding, and to provide for a constitution for the purpose of promoting the good government and welfare of all persons in our country, on the principles of freedom, equality and justice, and for the purpose of consolidating the unity of our people;’ (1999,Constitution). 5.3.2 National Anthem “Arise, O Compatriots” is the national anthem of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It was adopted in 1978, and replacedNigeria We Hail Thee (1960 – 1978). The lyrics are a combination of words and phrases taken from five of the best entries in national contest. The words were put to music by the Nigerian Police Band under the Directorship of Benedict Elise Odiase.
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5.3.3 The Currencies Nigeria adopted a decimalized official currency in the form of Naira in 1973, 12 years after the country gained independence. The sub-unit of the naira has been served by “kobo”. The paper currency form launched in 1973 dominates the Nigerian currency system as the banknotes are issued in eight (8) denominations as compared to the coinage was issued just with 3 face value. The naira banknotes are printed in eight (8) denominations which are: 5,10,20,50,100,200, 500, and 1000 naira. These banknotes are used as legal tender all over the country as medium of exchange. This depicts unity in diversity. 5.3.4 The National Pledge The National Pledge of Nigeria is recited immediately after the National Anthem. IPledge to Nigeria my country, To be faithful,loyal and honest, To serve Nigeria with all my strength, To defend her unity, And uphold her honour and glory, So help me God. 5.4 NIGERIAN ENVIRONMENTALPROBLEMS The environment is an important element in the preservation of life on earth. Human activities are centered on exploiting it for survival. The expanding manner in which man is exploiting its environment has brought about environmental problems. These problemsmanifest in various ways and equally impact adversely on the development of man and hisenvironment. Hence, the need to examine what constitutes environmental problems andhow they can be managed for sustainability.
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5.4.1 Major Components of the Natural Environments Environment is human beings’immediate surrounding including fauna and flora. The environment is made up of two major components, namely, the natural and social environment. The major components of the natural environment are: the atmosphere, the hydrosphere,the lithosphere and the biosphere. The atmosphere is the medium above the surface of theearth extending for about 170 kilometers consisting mainly of a mixture of gases. Thehydrosphere is the water medium of the surface of the earth,oceans,seas,lakes and rivers;the lithosphere is the hard, rigid upper crust of the earth extending for about 80 kilometers. It is the inner core of the earth, the atmosphere, being less rigid in form and the biosphere is the zone of the earth’s planet that contains living organisms. The social environment orman-made environment is the system which man has instituted in order to organizehimself to satisfy his needs.The social environment consists of the physical and social structures, systems or institutions created by man to meet his needs, which includes food, education, clothing,shelter, health, companies, etc. The idea is that the social environment influences thenatural environment. The exploitative venture of man in the social environment over timeis what has resulted in environmental problems. Environmental problems are due to man’sexploitation of the environment. Due partly to increase in population and the level ofadvancement in technology, the environment has been heavily abused giving rise tovarious types of problems in the environment, which now constitutes a problem to man. There are various forms of environmental problems that human activities have caused. Some of these include: Pollution: Pollution is the end result of the unfavorable exploitation of the environment by man. The types of pollution that can result due to man’s undue manipulation of the environment are: air pollution,noise pollution,water pollution,
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and land pollution. Poor Drainage System: The improper planning of towns and cities, has led to the emergence of poor drainage system. These drainages often cause serious environmentalproblem. Deforestation: This is the act of cutting down or burning trees in the environment. This may be due to overgrazing, unsustainable farming methods or cutting firewood for localusage. Improper Waste Disposal: Improper disposal of waste has become a seriousenvironmental problem. This is the result of rising level of population in the country. Ecological Problems: Ecological problems arising from excessive rainfall which culminate in flooding and erosion thereby causing havoc in the environment. Causes of Environmental Problems The following are some of the factors responsible for environmentalproblems. Population Explosion: The geometric increase in population around the world is a major cause of environmental problems. This increase has given rise to undue pressure on theenvironment. Advancement in Technology: This is equally one of the factors that have contributed toenvironmental problems in great measure. The growth and the consequent wastes emitted in the course of technological exploration are danger to the environment and humanbeings. Poverty Breeds Environmental Problems: It prevents the provision of quality and adequate social amenities which are required for the improvement of life. Povertypromotes underdevelopment and this easily attracts environmental problems. Unplanned Urbanization: This has to do with improper planning of the environment.Unplanned urbanization leads to environmental abuses, which in a large scale deface the environment causing environmental problems. Government Negligence: When government fails to live up to expectation in the
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discharge of its responsibilities, it reflects in the environment. For example, when environmentalagencies refuse to execute their responsibilities, the consequences are environmentalproblems. Solutions to Environmental Problems These environmentalproblems can be solved in the following ways: Promotion of environmental education and awareness: The Nigerian Government ismaking concerted efforts to create awareness on environmental abuse,challenges andmanagement. When awareness is created on how to utilize the environment, theorientation of people will change concerning conservation and proper utilization of theenvironment. Use of Waste bins/dumps: Waste dump are usually in the form of incineration orsimple dump sites. The provision of these facilities at the right places will help to check theabuse of the environment. However, dump sites or bins should be regularly cleared to make the site functional,effective and clean. Provision and Implementation of Legal Policy Framework: Government shouldpromulgate laws or policies that will help to curb abuses of the environment and makesure those violators of such policies are severely punished to encourage proper use of the environment. The recycling of materials, improving mining methods, devising more efficient engines thatconsume less fuel, and recovering minor minerals during processing or mining will go a long way in protecting the environment. REVISION QUESTIONS
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HISTORYPART MODULE SIX GEOGRAPHICALBACKGROUNDOF NIGERIA 6.0 INTRODUCTION This part gives general introduction of Nigeria as a country which includes its geographical description of Nigeria as a country, both physical (which includes location, climate, vegetation as well as topography) and political definitions of Nigeria,how Nigeria come to be one political unit etc. It also examines the socio- economic and cultural activities of the various groups living within the diverse geographicalzones in Nigeria. 6.1 OBJECTIVES At the end of the topic,students are expected to be able to: a. identify the exact location of Nigeria on map; b. list and explain the different geographical regions of Nigeria and its impact on the socio-political and economic life of the people living in these regions. 6.2 GEOGRAPHICALBACKGROUNDOF NIGERIA No serious historical study on a particular region would neglect the relevance of its geography. It is because of the role the environment play in shaping human history that the concept of Life-Zones is coined, which presupposes that the geographical location of a particular people greatly influence the pattern of their lifestyle. Named after one of the two flowing rivers, the Niger that traversed it, Nigeria is located between latitudes 4oN and 14oS. It shares border lines with the Republics of Benin, Niger and Cameroun in the west, north and east respectively. In the south,it is bounded by the Gulf of Guinea,an arm of the Atlantic.
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According to 2006 National Population Census (NPC), Nigeria’s population stood at 140 million. But the projected figure at present is 160 million. By this figure Nigeria is the most populous black nation on Earth. As well, it is the largest country in Africa with 25% of the continent’s population. But Nigeria’s landmass of 357,000 square miles amounts to less than 3%of the total land area of Africa. Nigeria’s arable land consists of 71 million hectares. About 77.68%of the land is in the North while 20.65%is in the South. 6.3 SOCIO-CULTURALANDECONOMIC ACTIVITIES OF NIGERIAN PEOPLEIN RELATION TO THEIRGEOGRAPHICALSETTINGS/ENVIRONMENTAL GEOGRAPHY In the words of Jared Diamond, “history followed different courses for different people because of differences among people’s environments, not because of biological differences among the people themselves”. It is important to note that different geographic locations or environmental geography (vegetation, soil, climate, and topography) influenced different societal development in socio- cultural and economic spheres. Nigeria has two main seasons: the raining and the dry seasons. Rainfall is seasonal, falling from March to October and from May to September in the South and North respectively. Climatic factors influence the types of crops grown in a particular zone: cereal and legumes crops –guinea corn, rice, millet, beniseed, maize, groundnut, bambaranut, and even cotton grow wild in the North where the vegetation is largely Savanna covered by scattered short trees of woodland, and abundant pasture for grazing of animals; the area has relatively high humidity and receive 26 inches (65cm) of rainfall especially in the Sahelian zone. The forests are mostly found in the South where there is ever- green vegetation. Rubber, cocoa, palm oil, and other tuber and starchy crops (cassava,yam, plantain,etc) and variety of herbs and vegetables are grown in the South where rainfall is high, with an average 150 inches (380cm) falling in the coastal zone.
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Nigeria’s relief comprises of lowland of less than 200m in the Lake Chad, the valley bottoms of the Rivers Niger and Benue and towards the coast; and a highland of over 1,200m in the Jos and Mambila Plateaus. People migrate and settle in different locations for a purpose. Some people dwell on a hilly environment for strategic and security reasons while others inhabit flat, fertile and tender grassland which make extensive agriculture and building of large state system possible. Some inselbergs/hills such as Dala (in Kano), Durbi ta kusheyi (in Katsina) and Kufena (in Zaria), for instance, have been identified to have mineral deposit (e.g. iron ore) which was exploited and used for manufacturing of agriculturaland war implements. In the Chad, Gongola and Benue Basins and to a lesser extent in the Niger-Delta creeks, variety of mineral salt had been mined, produced and used for domestic and inter-regional trading purposes. The search for job opportunity pushed people to move and live sedentarily in centers of economic production and bulking market settlements. Often population concentrates in agrarian and richly endowed mineral areas thereby facilitating the development of urban settlement. The people in the savannah area were exposed to influences from the Western Sudan,North Africa and the Middle East through the Trans-Saharan trade as early as the 10th century. This enabled goods and ideas to be exchanged between the Hausa kingdoms and Kanem-Borno Empire on the one hand and the Sudanic and Arab States on the other. This has resulted in the mutual socio-economic and cultural developments of all the parties concerned. The culture and lifestyle of the people living in riverine areas is unique. The people that lived along river valleys such as the Niger, the Benue, the Ogun, the Kaduna, the Rima, the Komadugu, the Gongola, and other inland lakes and streams as well as the coastal creeks and lagoons developed a fishing industry. They also used the surface water for domestic purposes, irrigation farming, animal raising, canoeing and communication. Because of their closeness to the
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sea, people in the coastal zone of Nigeria were the first to come in contact with the Europeans from the 15th century. From the 15th century, the Niger-Delta people actively participated as facilitators of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade set in motion by the European slavers and the “legitimate trade”in palm oil which later replaced the slave trade. As a result, the hitherto scattered fishing villages of the Niger-Delta underwent socio-economic, cultural and political transformations as manifested in the development of city- states of Bonny, Nembe (Brass), Owome (New Calabar), Okirika, and Andoni in the Niger-Delta. The thick forest vegetation of the South did not favour the proliferation of large State apparati (only two kingdoms of Oyo Alafinate and Benin emerged in the forest belt) unlike in the Savannah grassland of the North where, as we have seen, powerful state systems of varying size and importance emerged. Revision Questions. a. Give a detailed geographical description of Nigeria. c. Examine the impact of geography on the socio-political and economic activities of the various groups found in the Nigeria.
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MODULE SEVEN PEOPLINGOF THE NIGERIAN AREA 7.0 INTRODUCTION This topic will discuss the various traditions of origin of the ethnic nationalities that formed the country today known as Nigeria. Here, various traditions of origin based on what the people believe to be their origin ranging from myth, legend, and migration will be discuss so as to address the issue of indigene and non- indigene. 7.1 OBJECTIVES. By the end of this topic, students will be able to trace the origin of their people, from where their ancestors came from and more importantly the national questions willbe addressing here (indigene/settler phenomenon). 7.2 PEOPLINGOF THENIGERIAN AREA The process of the emergence of different ethnic or cultural groups in what is now modern Nigeria is what we mean by peopling of the Nigerian area. It is believed that there are over 204 different ethnic groups in Nigeria hence they are
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regarded as indigenous groups scattered across the length and breadth of the Nigerian area. They constituted the bulk of Nigerian people today. The inhabitants of the Nigerian area have attempted to keep the account of their past mainly in oral form. Historians refer to these accounts as oral traditions because they are corpus body of knowledge about past events, which are kept and transmitted orally from one generation to another. The different accounts or versions of stories given by the people to explain how they come to be what they are today can be perceived in terms of migrations and supernatural origin which are largely based on myths,legends and fabrications. One of the popular traditions of origin is based on supernatural sources and myths. Myth deals with the activities of super-natural beings and often mythical facts are not historical facts. In ‘traditional’societies, myth is the only science to offer explanations to natural phenomenon like the origin of life and the universe without empirical evidence. But this, at the cultural level, is the only avenue for the intellectual exploration of the cosmos by ‘traditional’ societies. Mythical characters are usually gods, deities, spirits, and super-human heroes who ‘traditional’ minds logically assign extraordinary masterpieces with a view to providing explanation for some naturalphenomenon. All traditions of origin are linked with mythical characters. For example, the great ancestor of the Tiv is said to be created by Aondo, the Supreme Being. According to a Yoruba myth, the world and the first human society emerged at Ile-Ife as a result of direct commission by the sky god through a man (Oduduwa) who descended from the sky by a chain. The Mumuye believe that they emerged from the earth because that is what their central cult is associated with. While the Eggon say they came from the sky where their god (Arugbam) lives, the Montol, Namu and Mirriam claim to emerge from Yuem/Kofyer Rocks because these rocks are their most central and respected deities. Even though mythical facts are not historical facts, historians should not disregard them as useless because
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they are part of the history of mental attitudes and beliefs hence they are an aspect of the raw materials the historian has the duty to deal with. These mythical stories cannot help us to explain how Nigerian area was peopled. Other traditions of origin which attempts to account for the emergence of different cultural groups in the Nigerian area are based on migrations. It should be noted that ethnic groups can manufacture or fabricate different traditions of origin at different times by exploring and speculating about different possible ways and lines of development which could possibly have brought them to the conclusion of how they perceive themselves to be. Thus, the traditional account of the peopling of Nigerian area based on migrations can be categorized into two: migrations from within the Nigerian area and migrations from outside of the Nigerian area. In respect to the migrations from places around the Nigerian area, the Margi, Higi, Ngas (Garam), Babur (Pabur, Tula), etc. claimed to have come from Borno. While the Gude and Bata claimed that their ancestral homeland was Mandara, the Bwatiye and Pyem believed to have emerged from Gobir/Sokoto. The vast majority of the Efik/Ibibio-speaking people pointed to Ibom; Apa or Wukari for Idoma and Ebira people. These claims cannot help us to properly account for the peopling of the Nigerian region. Traditions of origin based on migrations from centers outside of the Nigerian area or even outside the African continent are stories that represent some culture heroes,legends and great ancestors coming from the East/Arabia:Mecca, Yemen, Persia,Baghdad, or from North Africa, Egypt,Meroe, among other places. The claim of Yemenite origin is popular among the Bolewa, Tera, and Kanakuru (Dera), while the Ankwe claimed to have come from Mecca. The Jukun are said to have come from Kisara (Egypt) and Yemen. The pre-19th century ruling families of the Hausa States claimed that a prince from Baghdad by name Abuyazid popularly called in Hausa as Bayajida was their great grand ancestor.
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Candidly, however, almost all categories of the traditions - putative sources of origin are not scientific and cannot give a clear historic picture of the emergence of different people and their cultures in the Nigerian area. Taking the category of the Middle-Eastern origin, there is no record whatsoever to show that the Arab, Greek, Persian, etc. heroes such as Sayf bn Dyazan, Jafar bn Abi Talib, Uqba bn Nafi, Chosroes-Kisra, Dhul Qarnain – Alexander the Great as claimed by some West African people to be their ancestors or even the descendents of the heroes, had ever come to West Africa. Moreover, none of the ethnic groups could accurately establish their genealogy tracing their linkage to those heroes. The Kanuri who attempted doing so got it wrong, right from the start when they said their ancestor Sayf bn Dyazan was a Quraysh (Qurayah) while in fact he was a Himyarite who descended from the Tubbas of Yemen. It must be noted that it has been scholarly established that the original homeland of the earliest folk of the black race cannot be traced to any place above the “belt lying along the latitude of Assaler (tothe north of Timbuktu) and Khartoum”. It is important to interpret albeit briefly the ideological or otherwise propaganda behind some of the above mentioned popular traditions of origin. The claims to Middle-Eastern origin in this circumstance could be seen as ideological bases for groups to be associated with high level of civilization. We all know that the Middle-East has historically being the home of the world’s oldest civilizations (Mesopotamian and Egyptian Civilizations, including Islamic Civilization. It is also the birth place of Judaism and Christianity) hence by claiming to come from the “East” makes one feel to have come from a civilized society. Colonial officials and writers tended to regard traditions of migrations from distant places (e.g. Yemen, Egypt, Mecca and Israel) as factual and reliable historical accounts and condemned migrations from some West African neighbouring communities which possibly had greaterapriori chance of representing true historical events. Like the traditions (tracing origin to prestigious centers in West Africa or
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supernatural sources) rejected by the colonial writers (and the traditions of long distant migrations from the East which they upheld) all are not supported by any independent evidence from history,linguistic or archaeology. It should be said that the traditions of exotic origins – Middle-Eastern ancestry like the Fulani variant tracing their origin to an Arab, Ugba bn Nafi is presented as a justification for the 19th century Islamic reform movement, which seem to portray the Fulani as “originally good Muslims” (being the descendents of monotheists or good Muslim). Hence the claim that the Fulani were fitted to purify Islam. Justification of roles through this sort of symbolism is also common among the Igbo, who, because of their enterprising role in trade among African communities, they sometimes claim to have Jewish ancestry hence they are referred to as the “Jews of Africa”. In assessing the tradition of origin of the Hausa in the light of the economic and social activities of the Hausa Malams and traders, they claimed to have come in contact with Arab heroes (e.g. Abuyazid) and itinerant traders and Islamists who taught them to foster the spirit of brotherhood by de-emphasizing ethnic and possibly religious differences between host and stranger communities by way of portraying a common origin between the two communities. Such ideological propositions no doubt create favourable atmosphere for beneficial social and economic interaction between the Hausa and strangers coming to Hausaland. But all these are mere speculations that cannot be supported with any scientific evidence. It seems that the traditions of Middle-Eastern ancestry were preferred by the colonial officials whose pioneering attempt at collecting, recording, assessing and reproduction of the traditions of origin gave them the opportunity to embellish the stories, thereby fitting into the mainstream of the now rejected notion of civilizing invasion by non-Negroid people that possessed superior culture to that of the Negroid. This Hamitic myth used to be one of the main approaches in writing African history particularly by colonial agents who found it
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useful (using this category of tradition) to justify and legitimize European annexation of this part of African continent in the 19th and first haft of the 20th century. The uncritical acceptance by Africans of the account of people based on hierarchy of superiority is nothing but a reinforcing the Hamitic Hypothesis argument. It should be noted that the traditions of origin of the Nigerian people e.g. the traditions of Middle-Eastern origin or migrations from ‘prestigious neighbours’or powerful neighbouring groups by way of analectic hypothesis to mean fusions of different ethnic groups have been rendered factually invalid by historical, genealogical, archaeological and linguistic evidences. Neither this nor traditions relating to mythical groups can be considered factual historical account. The failure of these traditions to yield any meaningful result at the level of historical accuracy and factuality necessitate for reassessing them at a second and deeper level; it is not advisable for historian after finding the traditions to be mythical or historically false to discard them, but assess, cross-check and corroborate the information contained in them with other sources of history with a view to establishing meaning and historical validity. This will require using all variants of traditions of origin and placing them within the framework of the available historical data/information in the society in order to obtain the hidden messages cleverly cloaked in the pseudo-historical materials to enable us obtain their functional dimensions. For instance, not all account on migrations into and around the Nigerian area and the mingling among two or more ethnic groups in the pre-colonial period can be regarded as pseudo- historical account. There were migrations such as that of the Bantu, Jaga, Fulbe, etc. that greatly influenced the processes for the present configuration of many African cultural groups. While there is no evidence to believe that every ethnic group is a product of the mixture or fusion of two or more ethnic groups, historically, however, there had been intermarriages among other cultural
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relations between different ethnic groups e.g. the Hausa and the Maguzawa, Fulani and their host communities which could reasonably show the level of intermixture and intermeshing among the various groups that inhabited the Nigerian area. Hence we need to seek information about migrations and cultural interrelation between different ethnic groups that are preserved in the memories of the people and evaluate and cross-check information in other categories of oral traditions as well as other available sources in order to recapture historical events based on established body of knowledge/information. It should be pointed out that for a comprehensive and systematic explanation of the peopling of the Nigerian area, we have to seek for information and empirical data in other fields of study such as history, linguistic, archaeology, climatology, to mention but a few alternative sources. It is a common knowledge that when we talk of Nigerian people today, we are referring to cultural and linguistic groups living within the Nigerian landscape, whose language is one of the basic factors of identification. Even though the single most important basis of identifying an ethnic group is language, language has never been fixed, immutable but changes with changing of environment by its speakers, thereby constituting a historical process. There is consensus among historical linguists that some of the historical information that can be obtained from linguistic data include: (1) information about common origin of people who today leave separately. (2) Information of the time that lapsed since the separation of the one united people. (3) Inferences can be made about the location of the ancestral homelands from where people with common origin dispersed and move in different direction. (4) Information about continuities and changes in environment, culture, and technology of the people. Data obtain from linguists often complements information from other sources of history. Linguists have studied the historicity of most of the languages spoken in the Nigerian area and have briefly sorted out the languages into the following three
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main family groups, namely: the Chadic group belong to the Afro-Asiatic Language Family; the Teda-Daza group belong to the Nilo-Saharan Language Family and the Gwa, Benue-Congo and Adamawa group belong to the Niger- Congo Language Family. According to a historical linguist, Kay Williamson, the autochthons, groups to settle in Nigerian area were the people speaking the Gur and Adamawa Ubangi languages. The speakers of the Gur are mostly found in northern parts of Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo and Benin Republics; the only Gur language spoken in Nigeria today is the Baatonun commonly known as Bariba. The speakers of the Adamawa Ubangi Languages are the Mumuye, Chamba, Lunguda, and Waja, found today in Gombe, Adamawa, Taraba and Benue States of Nigeria. Others live in Cameroun and Central African Republics. The speakers of the Benue-Congo languages, in the words of Kay Williamson, migrated into the Nigerian area “from an earlier homeland upstream of the Niger” and the primary dispersal center of the proto-languages of the Niger-Congo in Nigeria was the Niger-Benue Confluence area. The following are among the major languages of the Benue-Congo family of languages as classified by linguists. (1) Yoruboid: Yoruba, Itsekiri and Igala. (2) Nupoid: Nupe, Gbagyi Gade and Igbira. (3) Bantiod: Bantu, Jarawa and Tiv. (4) Igboid: Igbo, Ika, Ndoni, Ikjwerre and Ekpeye. (5) Edoid: Isoko and Urhobo. (6) Idomoid: Idoma, Igedde, Yala and Alago. (7) Cross Rivers: Ibibio, Efik, Anang, Andoni, Gokana, Ogoni and Eleme. (8) Platoid: Kambari,Lelna (Dakarkari),Bassa Eggon,Birom,Atyap (Katab), Ninzam,Tarok and Jukun. The speakers of the Teda-Daza group of Afro-Asiatic Language in Nigeria include the Kanuri, Kanembu (the language of the medieval empire of Kanem), Shuwa, etc. The speakers of the Chadic sub-family of the Nilo-Saharan are the Hausawa, Terawa, Tangale, Bolewa, Shirawa, Ngizim, to list only these. It could be seen that the Nigerian area had been a center of linguistic and ethnic diversity, with deep historical roots. It has been argued that even though these languages are more
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or less mutually unintelligible, many of them have close relationships, what linguist experts callgenetic relationship orgenetic markers . That is to say many of their key items have the same historical roots. Thus, the parent language from which the present languages of Nigeria descended goes back to at least 5,000 BC (7,000 years ago). It is striking that of the five language families in Africa, three notably Afro-Asiatic, Niger-Congo and Nilo-Saharan all have representatives among the populations of Nigeria, except Khoisan of the Kalahari Desert and the Indo-Malay languages of Madagascar. Archaeological evidence has corroborated this linguistic study. From archaeological excavation of known settlements, we now know that all the major ecological belts of Nigerian region had been inhabited by people before the first millennium AD. Archaeological researches carried out in the Acacus region of south-western Libya; from Amekni and Meniet in the Hoggar Massif in the Central Sahara and from other sites in West Africa and the Nile Valley had revealed that the beginning of agricultural production and pastoral activities dates back to 6,500BC to 3,500 BC in Africa. In the Nigerian area, evidence of cultural changes from a pre-agricultural to agricultural lifestyle has been inferred to have taken place in several sites since 3o, 000 BC. The materials upon which these dates are based include the following: old settlements, rock paintings, bones of domesticated animals, and datable deposits in which pottery, grinding stone and skeletons of dead and buried historical personages. A question is asked, who were the ancestors of the Nigerian people? From archaeological discoveries in the Nigerian area, we know that early and middle Stone Age populations lived about 30, 000 to 40, 000 years ago in various locations around the Jos-Plateau, the Niger Valley and south eastern Nigeria. Physical remains of these early people have not survived, but some of the artifacts discovered were identical with those found and studied from East and North Africa. We have more impressive record of late Stone Age people active in
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the Nigerian area between 10, 000 BC and 1,000 BC. Cave and rock shelters at Ropp (Oyo/Kwara boundary), Dutsen Kongba (Plateau State), Afikpo (Imo State), Ifaakpa (Kogi State) and Iwo Eleru (Ondo State) have yielded material remains of people that inhabited the Nigerian area. In particular, the skeleton remains found at Ropp and especially the one found at Iwo Eleru had been studied to be of Negroid stock. They were the ancestors of modern Nigerian population. Studies of skeletal remains discovered in various sites in the Sahara further confirm not only the extensive spread of Negroid population in the early period, but also reestablish the antiquity of the Negroid racial type of the people. At this juncture it is important to make the point that environmental changes have greatly influenced the peopling of the Nigerian area. Climatologists have spoken about progressive desiccation of the Sahara in the last 12,000 years, which had been accompanied by sensational change in the natural vegetation and shrinking of water bodies which necessitated the movement of people from the dryer north to ecologically favourable sites in what is sub-Saharan Africa today. Hence the speakers of the Chadic languages of the Nigerian region are said to have moved from the desiccated areas of the north and ultimately settled around bodies of water such as the Chad Basin, Sokoto Rima, Kamadugu Yobe, and Gongola Rivers, among others. While they moved in response to increasingly changing environment,their movement is said to have began at least some 5,000 years ago. Archaeological work carried out in the Republics of Chad, Cameroun and Nigeria indicates that the clay plains of the shrinking Lake Chad (formerly described as Mega Chad) were inhabited by farmers and pastoralists from about 1500 BC. Rock paintings of cattle and of enigmatic figures discovered in the Sahara and in a number of locations in Kano, Jigawa and Bauchi States not only further strength the point being made,but remind us about one of the flourishing artistic traditions that held sway in our region’s past. The makers of all these are
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believed to be the ancestors of the Afro-Asiatic speaking populations. The most notable of them being the So (Soa) who were known for making clay figurines and big pots as part of the material culture they left behind. They, like other early inhabitants of the Nigerian area, developed the earliest known sophisticated culture or civilizations in the Nigerian area. Revision Questions a. Students willbe asked to account for the traditions of origin of their various tribes or any of the famous legend of origin of the major groups. b. Examine the role of migration in the formation of the various peopling of Nigeria. MODULE EIGHT EARLIEST CENTERS OF CIVILIZATION IN THENIGERIAN AREA 8.0 INTRODUCTION This is an introduction of the ancient centres of civilization found within the Nigerian area in the pre-colonial period. This evidence shows a unique civilization existed,that span at the same time with the Mesopotamia and Egyptian civilizations,within West African region and Nigeria in particular. Ancient centres such as Nok,Ife,Daima,Benin and Igbo Ukwu cultures with their differences and similarities will be discuss in details.
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8.1 OBJECTIVES. a. To debunk the euro-centric view of Africans as being uncivilized. b. To appreciate our indigenous culture and technology. c. To trace the history of these centres and identify their contribution towards the development of indigenous technology. 8.2 EARLIEST CENTERS OF CIVILIZATION IN THENIGERIAN AREA Civilization is defined here to mean a particular mode of life evolved by a group of people, inhabiting a seemingly defined area/territory. Civilization is a conscious attempt on a quite new scale to organize men and their environment, and evolve a unique mode of life based on the use of cumulative mental and technological resources which accelerate the process of change and development in their society. Civilization is the product of human ingenuity as well as human interaction and involves progress toward greater control of the material environment through the exploitation and utilization of resources and the creation and use of cultural materials by a particular people at a particular time, with a view to bettering their livelihood. The cultural materials they have produced help in explaining their lifestyles or cultures. The development of a unique culture is thus considered as a civilization. Some of the early centers of civilization in pre-colonialNigerian area are as follows: (i) Daima Some of the oldest human cultural and occupational remains in the Nigerian area are found at Daima, Shilma and Kusarkata (in Borno State). The archaeological materials excavated are revealing that the people, who inhabited the areas in pre- colonial times, were biologically, behaviourally and culturally modern humans.
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From archaeological studies, it is established that since the first millennium BC there were a settled agriculture-oriented population in the Daima area. The people that inhabited the area are described as So (Soa),believed to be very giant in physical character. They had a distinct culture of which the making of clay figurines and big-size pots are most famous. Artifact objects of symbolic significance were found in the mounts at Daima. The artifacts are clear testimonies to the high level of socio-cultural development of the early people in the Nigerian area. The garbage (mount heaps) at Daima yield not only stone tools, but also tools made of animalbones. (ii) Nok Nok Culture comprises of figurines, stone and iron tools, ornaments, pottery, etc. discovered in the course of tin-mining. The first discovery was made at a site near a village called Nok (in southern Kaduna) hence the cultural materials found were named Nok Culture . Tin miners stumbled into a pit full of stone and iron axes, ornaments, excellently made pottery from baked clay, and terracotta heads of men and animals of varying sizes. Similar findings of stone, iron, wood and baked clay objects in areas other than the village site had been made. Archaeologists have concluded that the Nok Culture had spread over 500 kilometers west and south of the Jos, Plateau. This suggests that the makers of the tools and artistic figurines either occupied a large area covering the whole of the Niger-Benue confluence area or had contact with the people of that area. The cultural materials are good evidence of high level of civilization that had flourished in the Nigerian area from 500 BC to 200 AD. This was when iron smelting was known in the Nigeria area. (iii) Ife There was an Iron Age settlement at Ife by 600 AD. It was a Bronze Age
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civilization. Once the technique of blending copper with tin to produce bronze was discovered, a metal was available which was both relatively easy to cast and retained a much better cutting edge, which helped in extension of living space and food-producing soil as the iron implements made cultivation easier. But of particular interest is that the people of Ife were particularly professional bronze casters, for Ife developed as an important center of iron making industry. Sculptures were made in a naturalistic form. The objects are said to have been used for ritualistic ceremonies, cult festivals and performance. In Ife clay water pots were produced with a specialized craftsmanship. (iv) Benin An iron-based society was also noticeable in Benin by 600 AD. It was a bronze metal-using culture. As noted earlier, the application of iron technology revolutionized the farming industry, the art of warfare and general artworks. The Edo people had possessed a working knowledge of iron techniques and Benin was very remarkable for its patronage of art and culture. In the early period, the people produced polished tools and different artistic bronze and brass objects, vessels,bracelets,sculpture,etc. (v) Igbo Ukwu The civilization that emerged at Igbo Ukwu was dated to the 9th century and it developed around a highly ritualized priest-king. It thrived upon a flourishing agriculture coupled with a game hunting and long distance commercial activities. Bronze and copper materials of different artistic workmanship were also discovered at Igbo Ukwu (Anambra State). Bronze wristlets, armlets, bells, beads, jingle, staff ornaments, copper brackets, pectoral plate, broken pottery, elephant tusks and other miscellaneous objects were found in burial chambers. The archaeological materials recovered at Igbo Ukwu indicate considerable social wealth and economy of the time.
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It is important to state that the cultural materials made and used by different people inhabiting different parts of the Nigerian area bears testimony to the high level of ingenuity of the people and the civilizations the created. The cultural materials and art works also represent many important aspects of the life of the people. (The art works produced by different Nigerian people in particular have raised the name and fame of Nigeria throughout the world. It is expected therefore that young generation should be proud and continue to show interest in the cultural materials). From the distribution of the art works of carving and casting, among others, in the length and breadth of the Nigerian area it is clear that there was serious intergroup relation and relatively easy access and utilization of information and ideas, a body of technical knowledge among the various Nigerian people. Combining evidence from linguistic and archaeological studies, scholars have come to the conclusion that most of the pre-colonial groups in the Nigerian area descended from a Stone Age population,a period during which they have enjoyed varying degree of interaction and intergroup relationship. In other words, there was high level of exchange and distribution of ideas among the various groups in spite of their geographical and language differences. It should be remarked therefore, that Nigeria has passed through many stages of history before developing into a nation-state. Long before 1500 AD much of modern Nigeria was divided states, communities (small and large) identified with particular ethnic group having unique customs, traditions and languages. An ethnic group is a community of people who speak the same language, have a common custom and social identity; live and work together for the good of the community. Nigeria has within it more than two hundred (200) different culture- groups which include among others Hausa,Fulani,Kanuri,Shuwa-Arab,Nupe,Tiv, Igala, Idoma, Igbira, Chamba, Mumuye, Bachama, Mwanhavul, Gwari, Gwandara, Yargam, Birom, Mada, Gade, Junkun, Tera, Lunguda, Bolewa, Karekare, Yoruba,
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Igbo, Ibibio, Edo, Anago, Kamberi, Isoko, Okirika, Ijaw, Efik, Ogoni, Urhobo, Itsekiri and Kalabari. In the past, these people in the Nigerian area were organized in chiefdoms, city- states, kingdoms and empires. Through economic, socio-cultural and political processes, different members of a particular group travelled to and lived in one another’s states/communities. Hence socio-economic and cultural interdependence is noticed in traditional titles, dress, food, music, art and craft. It is also observed that a culture-group, for example, the Hausa, Yoruba, or Igbo languages were not only spoken by the members of their respective groups, but by few others outside their societies. This has significantly helped in the binding together of the various culture-groups and the facilitated the making of the Nigeria as a nation-state; a process which was completed in 1914 with the amalgamation of the various parts of the Nigerian area into a single, unified political entity called Nigeria (a name suggested by Flora Shaw in 1898 and approved by the British Parliament in 1914). Today, the fact that we are different ethnic groups with a common historical past this should help in developing a feeling for a Nigerian identity among the various cultural groups in Nigeria. This will help to foster unity among the different Nigerian groups as wise saying goes,though “tribe” and tongue may differ in brotherhood we stand. Revision Questions a. Write short notes on the earliest centres of civilization found within Nigeria. b. Assess the impact of the centres of civisation in the development of Nigeria as a country.

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MODULE NINE ANCIENT KINGDOM IN NIGERIA

9.0 INTRODUCTION.

It will discuss the earliest pre-colonial political units/ organisation found within

the Nigerian area. This ancient kingdoms and Empires of pre-colonial Nigeria included kanem-Borno, Hausaland, Sokoto Caliphate, the Yorubaland as well as the Igbo and Delta provinces in eastern Nigerian region.

9.1OBJECTIVES.

1. Student willknow that these kingdoms and Empires laid the foundation of the country known today as Nigeria.
2. Student will learn about the ancient cultural areas of Nigeria and their characteristics.
3. They will also know that the colonialist where able to conquer and rule Nigeria through these existed politicalunits.
4. Student will also come to know how these political organizations interact with each other and develop intergroup relations through trade

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among themselves. 9.2 ANCIENT KINGDOM IN NIGERIA Kanem-Borno: it was one of the great states south of the Sahara desert. It was a vast state due to the settlements and towns that were under its influence. Its rulers ruled effectively. Its capital started at kanem and by the 15th century moved to Borno. Trading activities through the trans-Sahara trade route help in the development of the empire. They traded commodities such as slaves, ivory, cloth and ostrich feathers to North Africa and the Maghrib. In return they bought other materials like weapons and household materials. Kanem-Borno was regarded among the longest ruling empire in the world in terms of time span and somehow even equated with Roman, Persian and Chinese empires. The capital of kanem always used to rule in other to make people close to the government. The overall head of the empire was the “Mai” and his position was regarded as divine enthronement. Therefore, people regarded the Mai as both spiritual and politicalleader. Hausaland: this consisted of the kingdoms of the pre-19th century jihad of Shehu Usman Dan Fodio. They included the leading kingdoms of Katsina, Kano, Gobir, and Zazzau. In the pre-Islamic period, the people of these kingdoms were maguzawas, they do not have any specific religion or deity of worship and later with the contact with the Arabs through the trans-Saharan trade, most of them became Islamized. These kingdoms survived for hundreds of years before the colonial invasion. Political stability coupled with the spread of political power, and control enable trading activities to uninterruptedly flow. These led to the growth and development of the kingdoms. Sokoto Caliphate: with the jihad of Dan Fodio in the early part of the 19thh century and the over throw of the old Hausa Habe kingdoms that were mixing Islamic practices with magic, the establishment of Sokoto caliphate manifested. Sokoto became the centre of power where the caliph lives and all the other
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Hausaland turn to emirate with an Amir as the leader and representative of the caliph. From that time up to date, the leadership of the Hausaland had moved to the hands of the Fulani dynasties. Yorubaland: Ife is the original home of the Yoruba and still remains the spiritual centre of the Yorubaland. The abundance of cultural materials such as bronze, copper materials and other cultural artifacts made Ife to remain a centre of trade and tourism within the Yorubaland. Other most powerful states in the Yorubaland i.e Oyo,Benin and Edo were born out from Ife. Igboland and Delta Provinces: these are also refers to as the decentralized/segregated societies in Nigeria. Fishing and iron smelting culture help greatly in the evolution of Igbo societies. Trade also played an important role, especially through the dominance of Aro Chukwu trading organisation which serves a dual purpose i.e. trading and spiritual agent. Aro Chukwu served as trading oligarchy and also as oracle among the various Igbo societies. These made them to have enhanced trading activities. But the presence of trans- Atlantic slave trade, which played an important role in slave trading, led to the fragmentation of the Igbo societies and failed to have a centralized political system of government. REVISION QUESTIONS a. Discuss the nature of any of the ancient kingdom in Nigeria. b. Write short notes on any three of the pre-colonial kingdoms within Nigerian area. c. Discuss the role of trade in the development of the pre-colonial Nigerian societies. REFERENCEFORFURTHERREADING 1. “An Assessment of Traditions of Origin in the Benue-Basin”

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2. A. Afigbo, “The Benue Valley in Pre-colonial Nigerian History”; “Towards a Culture of Peace in Nigeria” in T. Falola (ed.) Nigeria: History, Politics and Affairs: Collected Essays of Adiele Afigbo, African World Press Inc., Asmara,Eritrea,2005.
3. A. Smith, “Some Considerations Relating to the Large-Scale Recording of Oral Traditions in the Northern States”; “The Legend of the Seifuwa: A Study in the Origins of a Tradition of Origin”; “Early States of the Central Sudan”,Selected Historical Writings of Professor AbdullahiSmith,Gaskiya, Zaria,1985.
4. E. Oyedele, “A Historical Survey of the Causes, Nature, Patterns, Context and Consequences of Violent Communal Conflicts in Nigeria in the 20th

Century” in J. P. Dadah and A. M. Adejo (eds.) Issues in History and International Studies: Essays in Honour of Professor David Sarah Momoh Koroma,Aboki Publishers,Makurdi,2007.

5. G.I.C Eluwa(etal). A Historry of Nigeria. Africana-First Publishers Ltd Onisha,1988.
6. K. Williamson, “Indigenous Languages of the Niger-Benue Confluence Region:Their Classification and its Implication for Prehistory”.
7. J. Diamond,“ANatural Experiment of History”;“How Africa Became Black” in Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, W. W. Norton and Company,New York,2005.
8. T. Falola, et al. History of Nigeria I: Nigeria Before 1800 AD, Longman, Zaria,1999.
9. “The Peopling of the Nigerian Area: ACritique of Current Views”.
10. T. Falola, “Transnationalization, Denationalization and Deterritorialization:

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Contemporary Cultures in the Context of Globalization”. Apaper presented at the First Kaduna State University Lecture Series, 2010. Printed by GK Press Limited,Kaduna.

11. T. Shaw, “Prehistory”; A. Obayemi, “States and Peoples of the Niger-Benue Confluence Area”; J. F. Ade-Ajayi and E. A. Alagoa, “Nigeria Before 1800: Aspects of Economic Development and Inter-group Relations” in O. Ikime, (ed.) Groundwork of Nigerian History, Heinemann Educational Books Limited,Ibadan,Nigeria,1980.
12. Y. B. Usman, “The Violent Communal Conflicts in the Central Nigerian Uplands and the Middle Benue Basin in A Historical Perspective” in Y. B. Usman, Beyond Fairy Tales: Selected Historical Writings of Dr. Yusuf Bala Usman (New Edition) M. O. Press and Publishers Limited,Kaduna,2014. DIRECTORATE OF GENERALSTUDIES: GOMBESTATE

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