Tradition and Modernity: Leadership struggle for political space in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24269/ars.v13i1.9972Abstract
This paper investigates the issue of incorporating traditional rulers into Nigeria's modern local government system with the goal of resolving issues that arise from the interface of tradition and modernity in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State. This theoretical paper draws its arguments primarily from secondary sources of data, such as existing legal frameworks and other associated policies, journal publications, and textbooks. This paper shows how traditional leadership institutions strategically used decentralized governance policy reforms to reestablish themselves as the mainstay in grassroots politics. This review is placed within the framework of the debate over the worth of traditional leadership institutions, in the twin processes of democratic transformation and decentralized governance. While the opposing side of the debate dismisses them as mere impediments, the other contends that they are assets that can be used to effectively domesticate reforms, because traditional leaders exhibit ethical principles such as political transparency, accountability, and probity. While research finding showed that traditional leaders possess the capacity to play an advisory role in efforts to institutionalize and customize reforms to the necessities of the community but their poor material circumstances make them unanimously readily available targets for politicians intent on fulfilling their own intended political objectives. The paper thus recommended, among other things, that local government actors and traditional authorities in Warri South Local Government Area should see one another as partners in progress and foster mutual respect and understanding. They must be aware that they cannot function in a watertight compartment and should therefore be cooperative and tolerant.
References
Dawda, T. A., & Dapilah, F. (2013). Challenges of the collaboration between formal local government actors and the chieftaincy institution in Ghana: Lessons from the Sissala East district of the Upper West region of Ghana. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 3(12), 238 – 246.
Dore, A.O. (2011). The impact of traditional institution in modern administration. Lagos: LNG Publishers.
Edesie, T.O. (2015). The place of traditional rulers in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. Ozoro: Efe Publishers.
Ehrhardt, D. (2017). Indigeneship, bureaucratic discretion, and institutional change in Northern Nigeria. African Affairs, 116(464), 462 - 483. https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adx016
Ehrhardt, D. (2023). The paradox of co-producing governance with traditional institutions: Diaspora chiefs and minority empowerment in Nigeria. Journal of International Development, 35(3), 426 - 444. https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3629
Gould, J. (2001). Pluralism and localization: Chiefs as political actors in Zambia’s third republic. Zimbabwe: Harare Publishers.
Igwubor, J. I. (2020). Traditional institution and nation building: The role of traditional rulers in the maintenance of national security for sustainable development. UJAH, 21(4), 201 - 214. https://doi.org/10.4314/ujah.v21i4.12
Jago, M. (2018). Tradition and modernity in Chinua Achebe's African. Research in African Literatures, 49(4), 14 – 26. https://doi.org/10.2979/reseafrilite.49.4.03
Kwarkye, T. G. (2021). Between tradition and modernity: Customary structures as agents in local governance in Ghana. Africa Spectrum, 56(1), 100 – 118. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002039721990207
Mamdani, M. (1996). Citizen and subject: Contemporary Africa and the legacy of late colonialism. Kampala: Fountain Publishers.
Molotlegi, L. (2002). Hereditary rule in the age of democracy. Brown: MacMillan.
Obario, Juan, (2002). Legal pluralism and peace process: The ambiguous reemergence of customary law in Mozambique. Switzerland: Peace and Global Security Publications.
Okereka, O. P. (2015). Inter-departmental relations and effective service delivery in the local government system: A perspective from Nigeria. Public Policy and Administration Research, 5(1), 1 – 5.
Osakede, K. O., & Ijimakinwa, S. O. (2015). Traditional institution and the modern day administration of Nigeria: Issues and prospects. Journal of Research and Development, 2(9), 32 - 40. https://doi.org/10.12816/0017364
Ribot, J. (2002). African decentralization: Local actors, powers and accountability. Stockholm: UNRISD Publications.
Senyoryo, J. (2004). Traditional institutions and land. Kampala: Fountain Publishers.
Sokoh, G. C. (2018). An historical analysis of the changing role of traditional rulers in governance in Nigeria. IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science, 23(1), 51- 62.
Stacey, P. (2016). Rethinking the making and breaking of traditional and statutory institutions in post-Nkrumah Ghana. African Studies Review 59(2), 209–230. https://doi.org/10.1017/asr.2016.29
Tonwe, D. A., & Osemwota, O. (2013). Traditional rulers and local government in Nigeria: A pathway to resolving the challenge. Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance Issue, 13, 128 - 140. https://doi.org/10.5130/cjlg.v0i13/14.3728
Ulu, K. O., Okemini, O. O., Achimugu, G. L., Ayeni, E. O., & Okogbuo, J. C. (2022). Leadership struggle and conflict in the Niger Delta, Nigeria: Focus on warri south local government area of delta state, 2011-2018. South Florida Journal of Development,.3(3), 3662 - 3680. https://doi.org/10.46932/sfjdv3n3-050
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors Who Publish whit this journal agree to the following term :
Copyright on any article is retained by the Journal
- Author grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this;
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal;
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work;
- Every accepted manuscript should be accompanied by Copyright Transfer Agreement (CTA), prior to the article publication. CTA can be downloaded here;
=====================================================================================================
Penulis yang mempublikasikan naskahnya pada Jurnal ini menyetujui ketentuan berikut:
Hak cipta pada setiap artikel adalah milik jurnal.
- Penulis mengakui bahwa Jurnal ARISTO berhak sebagai mempublikasikan pertama kali dengan bekerja secara bersamaan dibawah Creative Commons Attribution License yang memungkinkan orang lain untuk membagi pekerjaan dengan pengakuan dari pengarang dan publikasi pertama dalam jurnal ARISTO;
- Penulis dapat memasukan tulisan secara terpisah, mengatur distribusi non-ekskulif  dari naskah yang telah terbit di jurnal ini kedalam versi yang lain (misal: dikirim ke respository institusi penulis, publikasi kedalam buku, dll), dengan mengakui bahwa naskah telah terbit pertamakali pada Jurnal ARISTO;
- Penulis diperbolehkan dan didorong untuk mengirimkan pekerjaan mereka secara daring (misal melalui respositories atau website instansi penulis) sebelum atau selama proses pengiriman pada Jurnal ARISTO berlangsung, ini dapat menjadikan pertukaran informasi yang sangat produktif, dan serta menjadikan kutipan yang banyak dari publikasi;
- Setiap naskah yang diterima wajib menyertakan Perjanjian Pemindahan Hakcipta (Copyright Transfer Agreement/CTA), sebelum artikel diterbitkan. CTA dapat diunduh di sini
