Slaves, Government and Politics in Ibadan, 1835 – 1893

Abstract

One of the greatest experiments in State building in pre-colonial Yorubaland, particularly after the great Oyo Empire was bedevilled with constitutional crisis, was depicted by the military state of Ibadan. In the period under discourse, governance in Ibadan was highly decentralised but purposeful. Both the freeborn and slaves were drafted into state building and statecraft. This paper captures the importance of soldier-slaves in the development of Ibadan between 1835 and 1893. Of particular interest in this article are the important roles such soldier-slaves played in toll collection, security of lives and property, administration of justice and as permanent representatives of Ibadan in conquered regions. Keywords - Government, Ibadan, Nigeria, Politics, Slaves, I. Introduction Ibadan is a town in the south-western part of Nigeria. Its traditional inhabitants are the Yoruba people. The town is reputed to be the largest in West Africa and has very rich history. The pre-colonial state of Ibadan was one of the states that grew out of the crisis that bedevilled Yorubaland. The two others were Ijaiye and Abeokuta. Out of the three states, Ibadan's appetite for militarism was unequalled by other states in Yorubaland. The state systematically grew from a war camp to a strong military state with a brilliant record of successes in various wars. The many successes of the Ibadan warriors in their military campaigns to establish a balance of power in the Yoruba country, manifested in the acquisition of large expanse of territories, especially in the eastern part of Yorubaland. Ibadan also became the defender of Yoruba country from external invaders, particularly the Hausa-Fulani Jihadists, who tried to infiltrate the region from the north. Having established firm control over the conquered territories, the effective control of the satellite regions fell on the Ajele, the resident political representatives of Ibadan. Many of the Ajele were slaves. At home, slaves were also involved in toll collection, market administration and administration of justice. The soldier-slaves were mainly used as toll collectors and as escorts to traders. They were part of the law enforcement agents and many times, the responsibility fell on them to execute punishments on behalf of the state. Some of them were made political residents of the conquered towns. These slaves were in most cases treated particularly by the Ologun, more as political collaborators, than as slaves and were not always viewed with contempt. From time to time, the Ologun made it a point of duty to identify themselves with the soldier- slaves in all ramifications. The soldier-slaves were allowed to wear their caps in the presence of their chiefs, a practice forbidden to non-soldiers even if they were freemen (1). II. Slaves as gate-keepers and toll collectors In the nineteenth century Ibadan, and like any other Yoruba state of the period, the Ologun were always in charge of the town gates. The town gates were massive and the chiefs in most cases had their compounds very close to them. Each of such gates were placed under the watchful eyes of a chief not only for the collection of tolls, but for security purposes (2). However, the political and economic functions of the chiefs were not personally performed by the chiefs. Each chief had his representatives in form of his trusted soldier-slaves who collected the tolls. The soldier-slaves collected the tolls both in cash and kind. The traders paid tolls varying from 40-200 cowries depending on the volume of their merchandise. Those that engaged in farming activities outside the town wall also paid tolls in kind on their return in the evening. A head or two heads of corn, a handful of beans, a tuber or two tubers of yam and a few other farm products (3), were some of the articles used for payment of tolls. It should be noted that the Onibode (gate-keepers), were rarely, if at all, chosen from the freeborn soldiers. The practice was wide-spread in the Yoruba country that it became an adage 'a ki fi omoluwabi je Onibode' meaning that 'a freeborn is never made a gate-keeper (5). It must however, be emphasised that making gate management and toll collection the exclusive preserve of the soldier-slaves, evidently, did not stem from any contempt felt for them, but from a desire to provide some recompense for their services. The gate-keepers however, made good of their jobs. They effectively managed all the sixteen gates (6), possessed by Ibadan. The number of gates Ibadan had was unprecedented in the history of Yorubaland, hence, people used to say of Ibadan that 'all towns have four corners, Ibadan alone have sixteen' (igun merin ni gbogbo ilu nni, merindinlogun ni ti 'Badan) (7). Meanwhile,