Erin-Ijesa Traditional Administration

Erin-Ijesa had an administrative organization similar to those of other major Yoruba kingdoms before the imposition of British rule. The Akinla, as a direct descendant of Oduduwa, was the supreme ruler of the land and headed his own government with several officials in his cabinet. He had Akinla-In-Council made up of several chiefs. Administratively, the chiefs fell into three categories, namely: Iare, Uro, and Emo. The hierarchy of the chiefs and their organization were in the order shown below.

The first categories of chiefs were referred to as “Agba Ilu” (elders of the town). They were the most senior chiefs; and they were sub-divided into three lines in the following order:

The second set of chiefs were the war-chiefs. They were called the “Elegbe”. The Elegbe were sub-divided into three lines in the following order:

The third class of chiefs performed the functions of policing the town. They were also arranged in three sets as follows:

Each category of chiefs had three of its members in the Akinla’s Council chaired by the “Orisa” or “ Babarisa” who was the traditional prime minister, next in rank to the Akinla.

The functions of the council were many and varied. It had legal powers on all economic, social and religious matters affecting the lives of the people and it regulated trade and levied taxes. Decisions on all such matters were taken at meetings held during peace times in the Babarisa’s hall of meetings. This was situated at the centre of his residence in a pattern similar to that of Akinla’s palace. However, the carvings and craftworks installed in the hall were usually less elaborate and less sophisticated than that of Akinla’s. In war or emergency times, council meetings and consultations were held in Sajowa’s court, amidst tight security. This situation made the people to refer to Chief Sajowa as “Sajowa, Alagbala Ote”, i.e. “Sajowa, owner of the court of intrigues and conspiracies”; a description analogous to the role of ambassadors in modern statecraft who engage in diplomatic maneuverings in favour of their sovereign states.

All decisions taken either at the Babarisa’s court or the Sajowa’s court were brought and presented to the Akinla in his palace with all the council members present. If any decision was not acceptable to the Akinla, he would make his views known on such areas of disagreement and ask the Council to take note of the objection. Where there was a deadlock and the chiefs were adamant, the decision of the greatest number of the Council’s members was final. The Akinla would therefore be expected to either accept such a decision or refuse it. But if he insisted only on his own way, he would be expected to either abdicate or commit suicide. No such occasion had, however, been recorded in the history of the kingdom.

The Council’s treasury was not in the hand of anyone permanent chief or treasurer; but in any trusted member of the council. There were two main sources of revenue for the council. The first one was from the levy or tax collected from the three categories into which the chiefs fell, namely “Iare”, “Uro”, and “Emo”. How the levies were collected from among the people of each division was the responsibility of the chiefs in each of the three categories. The second source was revenue collected from landed property of a deceased Oba. Such property was always in the hands of the council during an interregnum. The said property automatically reverted back to the new Oba on his accession. Maintenance of essential services was financed from the Council’s treasury and a percentage was given to the Akinla for the maintenance of the court. Apart from this, Akinla had his own treasury in his own court. His sources of revenue included taxes on landed property, court fines, gifts, and royalties from farm products.

Erin-Itadogun, now Erin-Ijesa, had a very large standing army. The army, as a matter of afct, was maintained at war times by the Akinla’s government. During peace times, the warriors went about their normal occupation of farming for they received no salaries. But during war time, they readily picked up their arms and joined their normal divisions of the army in which Akinla was the Commander-In-Chief of the Army. Chief Looyin was the Chief-Of-Staff, Chief Risinkin was the Commander of the first division of the army, while Chief Yegbata was the Commander of the secon division. Akinla would summon an emergency meeting of the council and inform it of an imminent war. The council would gather at Sajowa’s court for a comprehensive review of the situation and then decide on the strategies, arms, ammunitions, and general mobilization for the war. The council would go back to report to the Akinla of decisions reached and the state of preparedness. Akinla would thereafter declare war on a date already decided.

Similarly, the judiciary was headed by the Akinla in the pre-colonial times; but he was not always the only judge. He had a host of other judges such as family or lineage heads who settled minor disputes. Cases that were beyond the powers of lineage heads / judges were however referred to the Akinla who attended to them himself, passed judgment, and imposed fines. In cases of murder, the Akinla would summon his council which would constitute itself into judicial council to take pleadings, receive evidence and make decisions based on its findings and evidences presented to it. Chief Looyin would enforce the punishment. The punishment for murder was usually death but in exceptional cases this could be commuted to banishment and the confiscation of the properties of the murderer.