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    TRANSFORMATION AND CHALLENGES OF PELUPELU INSTITUTION IN EKITILAND 1900-2000
    (2015-06) ONIPEDE, K .J
    The colonial authorities created the pelupelu (kingship council) in 1900 for administrative purpose of Ekitiland. Existing studies on kingship traditions have focused largely on social and political developments during the colonial and post-colonial period, while the pelupelu, which embodies the people’s tradition and culture, has not attracted scholarly attention. This study, therefore investigated the pelupelu institution, it examined its transformation and challenges from 1900-2000. Historical research design, based on primary and secondary sources of data was adopted for the study. The primary sources included 32 key-informant interviews conducted with 24 kings, four high chiefs and four chief priests. Archival documents such as minutes of meetings, and colonial correspondence, including photographs were sourced from the National Archives in Ibadan. Secondary sources comprised newspapers, journal articles and books on kingship. Data were analysed using descriptive method of historical interpretations. Two types of kingship institution existed in Ekiti society by 1900 namely, elu (priest king) and the olu (crown head). Though, co-equal, and independent of each other, they were constituted as pelupelu by colonial authority in 1900. The taboo of seclusion prior to 1900 refrained the kings from attending pelupelu meeting. In 1913 the Native Authority Ordinance reversed the centralised administration and made the kings independent as president of the native authorities and courts in their respective administrative district. The introduction of tax in 1919 reduced the kings’ economic power but introduced salary based on revenue from their districts. Consequently, the kings were ready to federate and work for the colonial authorities, but the merger destroyed kingship culture and affected their traditional functions. Between 1920 and 1940, pelupelu was reconstituted to play civic roles. Problem of hierarchy and authority to wear crown became the order and dependent on colonial authority, which significantly disrupted the kings’ relationship. Ekiti Superior Native Authority proposed in 1940 fractured pelupelu rank but became functional from August 1944 as a miniature advisory council until 1952, when it was merged with the erroneously labelled Western House of Chiefs. In 1955, Ekiti society was re-organised into eight districts and the kings became unofficial members. From 1960 to 1975, the political elite subjected the kings to democratic principles and classified them in order of seniority; the 1976 Land Use Decree stripped them of their power over land. While their interaction has enabled them to have wider opinion on issues affecting Ekiti society, their structure into hierarchy during the colonial and classification in the post-colonial period created problem of competition, power politics, leadership struggle among the oba and between the traditional and the political elite. The selection of king is at the order of the state government against the tradition and culture of kingship. The colonial authorities took cognisance of cultural basis of development and involved the pelupelu institution in the administration of the Ekiti society. These endangered Ekiti kingship culture but facilitated social development. Government acknowledgement of the diversity of traditions and cultures as basis of development can further assist the government within the framework of national development.
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    THE DEVELOPMENT OF BRITISH ADMINISTRATION IN EKITILAND, 1915 - 1951
    (1995-07) ADELOYE, T. S.
    The thesis focuses attention on the development of British Administration in Ekitiland from 1915-1951, It discusses the British occupation of Ekiti- land and analyses the efforts made by the British to consolidate their administration through the creation of a centralised political authority. It examines the administrative structures evolved and observes that the Ekiti Oba were generally used as Instruments of British Administration, It is shown that under the new political dispensation, the Oba virtually became ciphers in the hands of British Administrative Officers. It is argued that some of the responsibilities assigned to the Oba eroded their traditional power, authority, status and prestige. The thesis also examines the efforts made at creating a central Administration in Ekitiland between 1920 and 1936, The attendant problems of this political experiment are discussed. In particular, the political agitations for secession, autonomy and other political reforms by some communities such as Ado-Ekiti, Akure, Igbara-Odo, Ilawe, Osi etc between 1938 and 1946 are discussed, It argues that these agitations not only threatened political Integration in Ekitiland but also contributed largely to the failure of central Administration put in place by the Colonial Government. The re-organisation efforts made by the British to re-invigorate their tottery administration in Ekitiland between 1946 and 1951 are analysed. The new political dispensation, which was a shift from a rigid centralisation of political authority that was unpalatable to Ekiti Oba to that of loose centralised Administration which allowed them (the Oba) to retain their sovereignty, succeeded to a large extent up to 1951. The economic dimension of British Administration in Ekitiland during the study period is also examined. While contending that British Administration was largely exploitative and resulted in a monumental disruption of the pre-colonial economic structure of the Ekiti society, it identifies certain sectors where the British Administration achieved some measure of development. The study concludes that though the British Administration tried to consolidate itself in Ekitiland, their initial objective of rigid political centralisation that would have brought Ekiti Kingdoms under one central authority was not realised. Furthermore, it observes that British Administration was a mixed blessing to the people of Ekltiland. The Ekiti accepted some of the changes considered beneficial to their society while rejecting those they considered detrimental to their well-being. The thesis has complemented the existing studies on British Administration in Nigeria in general and has also revealed the abysmal failure of British attempt to create a Central Administration in a society which was hitherto apparently segmentary.
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    HISTORY OF COLONIAL MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES IN IBADAN 1900 – 1960
    (2014-04) OLUYITAN, J. A.
    The provision of modern health services was a legacy of colonial administration in Africa. Yet, little attention has been paid to the history of medical and health development in Africa, especially Ibadan, which benefited greatly from the colonial health policy. This study, therefore, examined the changing trends in the growth and development of colonial medical and health services in Ibadan between 1900 and 1960 with a view to highlighting the impact of colonial medicine in the city. Adopting an ethnographic design, the study utilised archival and oral sources. The former was obtained from the National Archives, Ibadan. It included Chief Secretary’s Office Papers, Oyo Provincial Papers, Oyo Divisional Papers, Ibadan Divisional Papers, Yoruba News, 1924 – 1945; Daily Times, 1926 – 1960; Daily Service, 1933 – 1960 and Southern Nigeria Defender, 1944 – 1960. The latter comprised in-depth interviews with 35 people, ages 50 to 95, selected through a snowball approach and purposive sampling. The sample comprised traditional healers (10), Western-trained medical doctors (6), nurses (6) community elders (6), university lecturers (5), and civil servants (2). Data were subjected to historical analysis. Colonial health services in Ibadan evolved in consequence of European health needs. These services were later extended to the local people due to the indispensability of indigenous labour to the running of the colonial state. With the opening of Jericho European Hospital (1900), Oranyan Dispensary (1901), Agodi Dispensary (1920) and Adeoyo Hospital (1927), the elite demonstrated enthusiasm in hospital treatment due to their exposure. A majority of the natives shunned medical amenities because of their negative perception of colonial medicine. Yet, hospital patronage for treatment of infectious diseases such as typhoid fever, yellow fever, guinea worm and non-infectious diseases, like hernia and asthma, increased from 590 (1928) to 12,351 (1945). This development was connected with colonial propaganda on hospital medication. The period also witnessed vaccination campaign against smallpox and introduction of maternal and child health services at Adeoyo, Elekuro, Aremo and Agbongbon which had positive impact on childhood mortality. Equally, building of public latrines (148), incinerators (50), and slaughter slabs (8) were some of the health measures carried out. However, hundreds of people did not have access to these amenities; overcrowding with insufficient beds, shortage of clinical personnel and drugs also characterised hospital services. This situation provoked virulent criticism of the colonial administration by the elite. They demanded more modern health services. Colonial administration partially responded (1946) with a Ten-Year-Medical and Health Development Plan which affected the whole country. This situation became consolidated with the introduction of free medical services by the Western Regional Government (1954). The opening of the University College Hospital (1957) and the inception of Ibadan Government Chest Clinic (1959) further enhanced expansion of health services. Yet, these facilities were largely concentrated in the city of Ibadan. Up till 1960, medical and health services were non-existent in the villages. Colonial medical and health services which evolved between 1900 and 1960 occasioned a fair improvement in the medical condition and health status of the people of Ibadan. Therefore, colonial medicine in Ibadan was, overall, partially effective
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    The Pan-African Nation: Oil and the Spectacle of Culture in Nigeria
    (The University of Chicago Press, 2008) Olaniyi, R.
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    Resistance to Forced Labour in Colonial Nigeria
    (Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan, 2017) Olaniyi, R. O.
    Until the enactment of the Forced Labour Ordinance of 1933, the employment of forced or compulsory labour for sanitary measures, maintenance of roads, clearing of markets, public works and personal services of chiefs persisted in Nigeria through the manipulation of native' laws and customs by the colonial state. This paper argues that discontent with forced labour brought into play new power relations between the colonial state and the colonial subjects. In defiance of the international convention, forced labour was not regulated by any statute in Nigeria. It was discussed in loose and general terms without any serious attempt to ascertain where and how it persisted. Many native authorities resorted to forced labour in order to balance their budgets but their decreasing power over young men made it difficult over the years. From the 1940s, some able-bodied men refused to perform forced labour, arguing that having paid taxes; they could not be called upon for a communal service or political labour. There were petitions against forced labour. This paper explores the role of Christian missionaries and nationalists in the struggle against forced labour.
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    Human Capital Development in Western Region, Nigeria, 1955-1968
    (University of Ibadan Centre for Sustainable Development, 2016) Olaniyi, R. O.
    This paper discusses sustained approaches, programmes and strategies for human capital development in the defunct Western Region of Nigeria. Three broad approaches were vigorously pursued, namely, education, technical skills development and agriculture. The most enduring legacy was human capital development through the introduction of free education at the primary school level, which for a long period placed the region among the most highly educated people in Africa. A composite system of secondary education, which provided technical and vocational as well as grammar school, was built up. In fact, education consumed a substantial portion of recurrent and capital expenditure. Within the framework of the Six-Year Development Plan, 1962-1968, Farm Settlement Schemes were established in various parts of the Region for young school leavers in order to boost agricultural production and provide employment opportunities. The paper argues that development plans were indispensable to human capital development.
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    Bororo Fulani Pastoralists and Yoruba Farmers’ Conflicts in the Upper Ogun River, Oyo State Nigeria, 1986–2004
    (SAGE, 2015) Olaniyi, R. O.
    This article, based on in-depth oral interviews, focuses on the conflicts between Bororo Fulani pastoralists and Yoruba farmers in Saki and Iseyin towns of the Upper Ogun River (Oke-Ogun), Oyo State Nigeria to show the power disparity and competition over land resources. The conflicts that occurred between Bororo Fulani pastoralists and Yoruba farmers are classified as: economic (crop destruction and cattle killing); social (murder, rape, armed banditry, molestation on both sides of the conflict); and communal (large-scale destruction of villages, pastoral settlements and markets). Other conflicts involved access to grazing and water resources and access to markets. These conflicts were products of resource scarcity and broader challenges of power relations between indigenes and settlers/migrants in Nigeria. Ethnicity became more conspicuous among local people as these conflicts intensified. This article discusses the intervention of Yoruba traditional rulers (Oba) and Fulani headman (Ardo) in the formation of peace committees in Iseyin and Saki towns.
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    Returning to El-dorado: Portuguese Migration and Resettlement in Postcolonial Africa
    (Department of History and Diplomatic Studies, faculty of Arts University of Abuja, 2014) Olaniyi, R. O.
    For a long time, migration from Africa towards Europe has been a constant phenomenon and part of its colonial and postcolonial conditions. Conversely, the accelerated economic crisis and austerity measures in Europe signaled a reversal of roles between the former colonial powers as destination havens for African migrants and former colonies as European dream and land of opportunities. Portugal was the first European power to establish a colony in Africa when it captured Ceuta in 1415; it became one of the last to disengage in 1975 and the first to embark on reverse migration from 2002 which echo an unending return to El-dorado. This paper argues for the relevance and importance of Appadurai's (1996) concept of ethnoscape-the global flow of people or the global flow of talent to the study of Portuguese reverse migration and resettlement in postcolonial Africa. It locates the manifestations of the postcolonial Portuguese migration to Angola and Mozambique in a particular historical context. The colonial system had developed an entrenched and entwined relationship "luso-tropicalism" between Portugal and her former colonies such that migration is acted out. Several features of imperialism have re-emerged, especially the export of "surplus population" and capital through which the former colonial power maintain influence on postcolonial Africa. How is the new migration manifesting in political, economic, visa regimes and foreign policies of the African host countries? What are the emerging power relations between decolonised societies receiving migrants from their old imperial centre?
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    West African ‘Stone Boys’ in the Ibadan Mining Frontiers Since the 1990s
    (2014) Olaniyi, R.O
    In the last two decades of the 20th century, the city of Ibadan, capital of Oyo state, Nigeria hosted migrant entrepreneurs, “stone boys "from the West African sub-region who were actively involved in the export of gemstones. This paper drew on fieldwork to explicate how culture of migration, prevalent among West Africans, intertwined with entrepreneurship in the international gemstones trade and its implications on the Nigerian economy. It argued that gemstones trade among West African m igrants was an inherited commercial heritage. It further advanced that lack of government investment in the non-oil solid mineral sector provided a leewayfor artisanal miners and unregulated export of gemstones; and social solidarity and identity empowered the migrants to dominate the export of gemstones.
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    The Lebanese In Ibadan, Nigeria, 1986-2012
    (2014) Olaniyi, R. O.; Ajayi, O. M.
    This paper examines the contributions of Lebanese migrants to the economic development of the city of Ibadan, one of the cities in Nigeria with the highest population of Lebanese, from 1986 to 2012. Since 1986, Lebanese migrants diversified into medium and large scale industrial production of several consumer products with diverse impacts on the host society. This study lays emphasis on the major developments involving Lebanese activities in Ibadan with particular reference to their contribution to the process of industrialisation and its impact on the society. Using a descriptive and interpretative framework, the study highlights the social, economic and political forces that aided Lebanese economic success in the period under study. Lebanese social networks in the city were analyzed as a way of assessing their relative importance to the host community. The study demonstrates that their utmost loyalty and preference for their own community perpetuated a resolve to limit their dealings within their own