Government

Is the government structure of Ile-Ife different from the one we have today? Yes!!! The Ile-Ife had a monarchy government, very similar to the late kingdom of England. The government of Ile-Ife was made up of a king (Oni), many councils, and province and village chiefs.

The overall government of Ile-Ife was very complex for its time. It was very much like England, in that they had a king, but there were also councils (parliament in England’s case) who, at many times had as much power as the king. This would balance out the power in the nation, making it a democratic-monarch hybrid. Ile-Ife was also very much like are government insofar that Ile-Ife was made up of provinces and there were chiefs appointed to these provinces to rule them, just like our governors. Ile-Ife also had many towns and villages where lower chiefs called Bales would rule. Ile-Ife had a very advanced government and a few its only privations were the lack of a nationwide electoral vote for the head of state and a term in power.

The King (which was called the Oni) had the most power over the land. He had a very powerful role in the religious world. The Oni had a special connection between the other world and the real world. The Oni was considered God on Earth because they were descendent of Oduduwa. Oduduwa was the creator of Earth and he was the first Oni. Every Oni after Oduduwa was related to him. So therefore, Oduduwa was considered as the father of Ile-Ife.

Ile-Ife, as explained in the last paragraph, had a very strong connection between government and religion. Both of these two parts of their society were very complex and they worked well together for the Yoruba for a long time. This setup of government was one of the main reasons the civilization lasted so long, and ruled as the greatest nation of West Africa for more then a millennia.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ile-Ife

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoruba_people

http://www.edo-nation.net/origin.htm