International records / OpenAlex research

Igbo 'Traditional Rulers': Chieftaincy and the State in Southeastern Nigeria

Since the 1970s, the institution of chieftaincy has gained much prominence in the social and political life of Nigeria. The growing importance of Traditional Rulers (sometimes even called 'natural rulers') in everyday affairs, in local and national politics in Nigeria has received comparatively little attention by social scientists especially so for areas where no strong chieftaincy institutions existed in pre-colonial times.2 The expansion of the chieftaincy institution, in terms of influence and quantity of office-holders, and its increasing visibility are irritating facts, compared to the p…