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Chieftaincy and the State in Abacha's Nigeria: Kingship, Political Rivalry and Competing Histories in Abeokuta During the 1990s

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2011

Insa Nolte
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Abstract

This article investigates the relationship between chieftaincy and the state in modern Nigeria. It focuses on politics and the mythical history of kings in the city of Abeokuta and argues that, particularly during the 1990s, the royal politics of the town drew heavily on different versions of mythical history. The reasons are twofold. They concern, first, the traditional political discourse of Yoruba kingship, in which a king's legitimacy can be discussed in terms of the attributes of the royal persona he embodies. In this context, legitimacy and status are often discussed as the first king's mythical origin. However, the continued political relevance and even volatility of this discourse in the 1990s related to the nature of the Nigerian state, in which traditional status is closely associated with political power.

Résumé

Cet article examine la relation entre la chefferie et l'Etat dans le Nigeria moderne. Il s'intéresse particulièrement à la politique et à l'histoire mystique des rois de la ville d'Abeokuta, en affirmant que la politique royale de la ville, surtout dans les années 1990, s'inspirait de diverses versions de l'histoire mystique. Les raisons à cela sont de deux ordres. Elles concement d'abord le discours politique traditionnel du royaume yoruba, dans lequel la légitimité du roi peut être abordée en termes d'attributs de la personne royale qu'il incarne. Dans ce contexte, la légitimité et le statut sont souvent décrits comme la première origine mystique du roi. Cependant, la validité politique continue, voire la volatilité de ce discours dans les années 1990, se rapportait à la nature de l'Etat nigerian, dans lequel le statut traditionnel est étroitement associé au pouvoir politique.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 72 , Issue 3 , August 2002 , pp. 368 - 390
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2002

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