African traditional system of government and its efficacy in governance: A comparative analysis of Idomaland Ojira and Igboland Aladinma/Oha

Abstract

Emerging trends in governance particularly in post-Colonial Africa have continued to show a display of a high level of inefficiency in the adopted and practiced Western system of government. While much has been suggested as lead factors for these inefficiencies, little or nothing has been done concerning the strangeness of these adopted European systems of Government in Africa. This paper examines the two traditional systems of governance: Ojira and Aladinma/Oha to explore their differences, practices, and efficiency in the administration of pre-colonial Idomaland/Igboland of present-day Nigeria. Adopting the use of historical qualitative methodology, this paper holds that: although these pre-colonial African systems of governance had their challenges, their efficacy in administering the populace before European incursion cannot be overemphasized. To this end, the paper suggests that rather than continue in these European-styled systems of governance that have led Africans nowhere, attempts should be made to incorporate the indigenous African system of governance into modern government to increase and accelerate good governance and development.