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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The politics of local government creation in Oyo State: a case study of Modakeke community 1979-1989 |
Author: | Afolabi, Anthony Bamidele |
Year: | 1998 |
Periodical: | Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere: Schriftenreihe des Kölner Instituts für Afrikanistik |
Issue: | 54 |
Pages: | 15-27 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Nigeria |
Subjects: | Yoruba local government reform |
Abstract: | Ife and Modakeke are both Yoruba communities. Despite their common link, relations between them are tense. The hostility between the two communities demonstrates the political explosiveness of ancestral home identification in Yorubaland, Nigeria. The Modakeke are Oyo refugee guests of the Ife. They often claim Oyo as their historical and cultural home, and the value they ascribe to this home remains the primary mirror for political action. The Oyos are assumed to be politically superior to the Ifes, and the desire of the Modakeke for independence and autonomy from Ife is strong. Since the 1950s, the people of Modakeke have pressed for a separate local government. In the 1980s, ill feelings between the two towns were fanned into major political conflicts by the politicians of the Second Republic, especially those of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) and the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). A case study of the politics of local government creation in the area in the 1979-1989 period indicates that the history of community relations and cultural affinity cannot be ignored if the process of local government creation is to be meaningful. Notes, ref. |