Political Representation in the Traditional Yoruba Kingdoms

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Periodical article

Title:	Political Representation in the Traditional Yoruba Kingdoms
Author:	Munoz, Louis J.
Year:	1981
Periodical:	Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria
Volume:	10
Issue:	4
Period:	June
Pages:	21-29
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Nigeria
Subjects:	Yoruba polities Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
Abstract:	The aim of this paper is to analyse the principles of political representation in the Yoruba kingdoms, which requires the study of the complex set of interactions between the chiefs and the monarch. The Yoruba system tends to avoid the risk of concentration of power by favouring indetermination through the rotation of royal segments, the participation of the council of chiefs and divine intervention through the consultation of the Ifa oracle. The oba (king) cannot act without the council of chiefs and they not only represent their lineages but the kingdom as a whole. As far as his political representation is concerned, the oba is accepted as an impartial arbitrator within the complex equilibrium of interests. But, on the other hand, as far as his symbolic representation is concerned, the oba is above an ordinary mortal and as such, he enjoys a divine assistance, which makes his supra-natural sanctions particularly fearsome. Notes.