Secret Societies and Colonial Change: A Nigerian Example

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Periodical article

Title:	Secret Societies and Colonial Change: A Nigerian Example
Author:	Nwaka, Geoffrey I.
Year:	1978
Periodical:	Cahiers d'études africaines
Volume:	18
Issue:	69-70
Pages:	187-200
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Nigeria United Kingdom
Subjects:	secret societies colonialism Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) History and Exploration Religion and Witchcraft
External link:	https://doi.org/10.3406/cea.1978.2402
Abstract:	This paper examines the role of secret societies in the changing circumstances of colonial rule. It discusses first the traditional role of secret societies, and then their reaction to the establishment of colonial rule as well as their response to the expansion of missionary activities. The paper focuses on the Old Calabar province of Nigeria, where these societies ran the whole gamut of variations from the most sacred to the most profane, and assesses how the colonial government tried to reconcile its emphasis on tradition with the pressures for change and modernization which colonial presence helped to accelerate. Notes.