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The Egba at Abeokuta: Acculturation and Political Change, 1830–1870

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2009

Earl Phillips
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Extract

Following the establishment of the city-state of Abeokuta, the Egba and Owu returned to the forms of government known and respected before the retreat from the north, each township running its own affairs and reclaiming old prerogatives. This urban parochialism proved increasingly cumbersome after the death of Sodeke, when, without effective central leadership, the Ogboni and Ologun manœuvred for political predominance.

These difficulties were compounded after mid-century as the tempo of economic and cultural change quickened in southern Yorubaland. The Egba were intent on establishing themselves as commercial middlemen between the coast and interior. On the one hand, they were thus drawn into the ever-widening focus of European economic and political influence and demands radiating from Lagos. On the other, seeds of change were planted at Abeokuta itself: European merchants, missionaries, and Saros, who were soon promoting new economic forms and demanding political expression.

The formal appearance of the Saros as political contenders in 1860 coincided with the breakdown of the uneasy Yoruba peace. Their first bid for power was consequently unsuccessful, and, as the war progressed, the military became the controlling political force. In fact civil government came close to vanishing completely during the next five years, a point of near-anarchy being reached, and with deteriorating relations with Lagos.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of African History , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , January 1969 , pp. 117 - 131
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1969

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References

1 In addition to the works of the above authors and other readily accessible sources, the material for this article was gathered from the Church Missionary Society (C.M.S.) archives and the appropriate Foreign Office (F.O.) and Colonial Office (C.O.) records in London, and from the Nigerian National Archives (N.N.A.) at Ibadan.

2 Ajayi, J. F. Ade and Robert, Smith, Yoruba Warfare in the Nineteenth century (Cambridge University Press, 1964), 63, 64, 124, 125.Google Scholar

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4 Rev. Isaac Smith, Journal, 19 Aug. 1851, C.M.S. CA2/o82.

5 Golimer, Rev. C. A., giving evidence before a Parliamentary committee, Parl. Papers, v (1865), 241. In The Egba and their Neighbours, 88, Biobaku speaks of 202 townships in 1870.Google Scholar

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8 Long interpreted as wars nurtured by the demands of the slave-trade, Professor Ajayi, has pointed out in Yoruba Warfare and his Christian Missions in Nigeria, 1841–1891 (Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1965), that the nineteenth century Yoruba wars were essentially political in nature.Google Scholar

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13 In his Christian Missions in Nigeria, 38, Professor Ajayi offers a differing explanation for the long-delayed missionary removal to Abeokuta. On the same page (note 1) he disagrees with the interpretation that Akitoye left Abeokuta as a result of Kosoko's influence.Google Scholar

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17 Crowther, Journal, Abeokuta, 8 March 1851, C.M.S. CAZ/o31b; Townsend to Commodore Fanshawe, R.N., Abeokuta, 1 March 1852, F.O. 841865; Smith, Journal, Abeokuta, 18 March 7851, C.M.S. CAZ/082.

18 By the beginning of 1854, for instance, cotton was being grown extensively around Abeokuta, and between 300–400 puncheons of palm oil were being sent to Lagos monthly for export: Dr Edward Irving to Venn, Lagos, 30 Jan. 1854, C.M.S, CA 2/052.

19 Smith, Journal, Abeokuta, 29 July 7854, C.M.S. CAzo8z; Irving to Venn, Abeokuta, 4 Aug. 1854, C.M.S. CAz/o5a; Golimer to Venn, Lagos, 2 Feb. C.M.S. CAaIo43.

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22 ‘Saro’ was the generic name given to the immigrants from Sierra Leone. By this time they had carved out for themselves an important portion of the commercial middleman function. See Kopytoff, Jean H., A Preface to Modern Nigeria (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1965), 86–99.Google Scholar

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27 In time of war the practice was that trade should cease so that all available men would fulfil their military obligations.

28 Townsend to Lt.-Comm. Hand, R.N., Abeokuta, g July 1860, F.O. 84/1115.

29 Second Master Richards, (H.M.S. Brune) to Hand, , Lagos, 25 07 1860, F.O. 84/115.Google Scholar

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