SUBJECT; - HISTORY

TOPIC; - AREAS OF INTERACTION AMONG

PEOPLE OF CENTRES OF CIVILIZATION (I-III)
SUB TOPIC; - I. TRADE AND COMMERCE
II. MARRIAGE
III. WAR AND DIPLOMACY
IV. RELIGION AND FESTIVALS
CLASS; - JSS2
DURATION; - 40 MINUTES PER TEACHING
PERIODS
WEEK; - FIVE-TEN
OBJECTIVE; - At the end of the lesson
students should be able to;
i. Explain the meaning of interaction.
ii. State the role of trade in the
promotion of interaction among the
people of Nigeria in pre-colonial era.
iii. State the role of marriage in the
promotion of interaction among the
people of Nigeria in precolonial era.
iv. State the role of religion and festival
in the promotion of interaction
among the people of Nigeria in
precolonial era.
v. State the role of war in the promotion
of interaction among the people of
Nigeria in precolonial era.
vi. State the role of diplomacy in the
promotion of interaction among the
people of Nigeria in precolonial era
PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE; - students are
being introduced to this topic for the first
time
TEACHING AID; lesson notes, laptop,
projector, interactive charts and pictures.
ENTRY BEHAVIOUR; - LEADING IN METHOD
INTRODUCTION
Teacher begins the lesson by writing the
topic on the board and then begin to
explain the content of the notes.

AREAS OF INTERACTION AMONG PEOPLES

OF CENTRES OF CIVILIZATION (I): TRADE
AND COMMERCE
INTERACTION
Interaction is simply the relationship
between two or more people, community,
services. Interaction aids peaceful
coexistence. Interaction among people of
centers of civilization was facilitated by
several factors.
1. TRADE AND COMMERCE
Trade and commerce means exchange and
distribution of goods and services between
people or groups of people. The exchange
and distribution of goods and services
during the pre-colonial period was through
the trade routes, waterways, markets and
specialized traders. Trade and commerce
played major roles in the promotion of
interaction among people of pre-colonial
Nigeria. Several interactions through trade
and commerce was established between
two or more states in the pre-colonial. Such
as the Hausa States and Kanem- Bornu, the
Igbo and the Benin, the Yoruba and the
Igbo, the Tiv and the Idoma, the Hausa
States and the Yoruba, For Instance, the
Yoruba produced and exchanged Kolanut
with Hausa products such as Onion. Also,
the Ijo exchanged their fish with the Urhobo
agricultural products such as Cassava and
Yam.
EVALUATION
1. Explain the meaning of interaction
2. State the roles of trade and commerce in
the promotion of interaction among the
people of Nigeria in pre-colonial period.
AREAS OF INTERACTION AMONG PEOPLE
OF CENTRES OF CIVILIZATION (11):
MARRIAGE, FESTIVALS AND RELIGION.
MARRIAGE
Marriage is the Union between a man and
woman. Marriage could however take the
form of intra or inter-ethnic Union. Intra-
ethnic Union is the marriage between
persons of the same ethnic group while
inter-ethnic marriage is the marriage
between a man and a woman of different
ethnic groups, such as Hausa and Yoruba
Igbo and edo and Fulani. Marriage
promoted interaction among the people of
Nigeria in the pre-colonial era. There were
examples of inter relationship among the
people of Nigeria which helped to foster
interaction in pre-colonial Nigeria.
Marriages among Nigerian people
promoted peaceful inter-communal
relationship. There were instances of inter-
ethnic marriages among Nigerian people
such as the Idoma and Edo, Hausa and
Fulani etc. Inter-ethnic marriages occurred
among immediate neighbors and distant
neighbors. Inter-ethnic marriages promoted
cultural integration among the pre-colonial
Nigerian people.
RELIGION AND FESTIVALS
Festival celebration was one of the factors
that promoted interaction among the
people of Nigeria in the pre-colonial era.
Every colonial society in Nigeria celebrated
one form of festival or the other as part of
its religious practices. Such festival included
religious festival such as Ogun Festival
among the Yoruba, the Igue Festival among
the Benin, the new yam festival among the
Igbo. These festival celebrations provided
opportunities for different Nigerian groups
to interact with one another.
EVALUATION
1. State the role of marriage in the
promotion of interaction among the people
of Nigeria in the pre-colonial period
2. State the role of religion and festival in
the promotion of interaction among the
people of Nigeria in the pre-colonial period.
AREAS OF INTERACTION AMONG PEOPLE
OF CENTRES OF CIVILIZATION (111)
WAR AND DIPLOMACY
War is the violent conflict between two or
more people. There was war between
related Nigerian community such as the
Yoruba civil wars between Ibadan and Ijaye,
between Ibadan and Ekiti, and wars among
several Hausa states. These words often
committed disharmony among Nigerian
ethnic groups and people in the pre-
colonial. Such as the Ife Modakeke war of
the 19th century.
Diplomacy is the conduct of business
between States through peaceful means in
the pre-colonial era. Diplomatic relations
took place among the Nigerian state,
kingdoms and empires. Several methods
were adopted to promote diplomatic
interactions among the people in the pre-
colonial societies. Diplomatic symbol such
as palm fronds were used to promote
peaceful interactions. Diplomatic relations
to place among community leaders and the
pre-colonial period. Such diplomatic
relations often resulted in marriages and
treaties between two communities.
Interaction was promoted through the use
of diplomats or messengers
EVALUATION
1. State the roles of war in the promotion of
interaction among the people of Nigeria in
the pre-colonial era.
2. State the role of diplomacy in the
promotion of interaction among the people
of Nigeria in the pre-colonial era.

GHANA EMPIRE (I)

ORIGIN AND SOCIO POLITICAL STRUCTURE
THE ORIGIN OF GHANA

OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, students should
be able to:
1. Explain the socio political structure of
Ghana Empire.
2. Explain the origin of Ghana Empire
Ghana Empire was the first empire to
emerge from the Western Sudan now
known as West Africa. Ghana Empire
started around 300 AD in western Africa.
The empire was also called the Wagadou
Empire or the land of gold. Ghana Empire
was given the name Ghana under the
leadership of King Dinga Cisse. The name
Ghana means war chief in the Mande
language, the Mande language was the
language of the people living in the Empire,
and these people were called to the Mande.
Available sources indicate that it was the
Mande people who founded Ghana Empire.
The ancient Ghana came into existence
when a number of clans of the Soninke
people in Mande speaking people living in
the region bordering the Sahara came
together under the leadership of Dinga
Cisse.
The Ghana Empire was situated on the
grassland between the North of the
headwater of river Senegal and Nigeria.
following its emergence, the leadership of
the Empire extended its territory to all
fronts it stretched twist to the river Senegal
South to Bambuk region, East to the Niger
and north to the Berber town of Audaghast
on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert.
By the middle of the 11th century when the
emperor was at the peak of her glory and
expansion, it had control of the area
covering most of the modern states of
Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, a territory of
roughly 650,000 square kilometers is the
population of several millions of people.
THE SOCIO POLITICAL STRUCTURE OF
GHANA
There were six social classes in ancient
Ghana. First there was the king who ruled
over everyone and was thought to have
divine powers. There was the noble’s
people who fought in the king's army and
provided it with weapons, next to were the
farmers; they were the largest social class
throughout ancient Ghana and worked on
land owned by the nobles. Crafts people
came next and they produced things such
as metal works, and poultry. Tradesmen
came after the craft people and were looks
down upon due to the fact that they did not
make their own goods. However they were
quite rich, most of them richer than
farmers. Lastly there were the slaves;
slaves worked for the richer people of
ancient Ghana and were often traded for
textile, beads, and order finished goods.
The government of Ghana Empire was
organized in three divisions namely central,
provincial, and vassal. In other words there
were three levels of government in ancient
Ghana namely the government at the
center the provinces and the vassal States.
1. THE KING: at the center, the king was the
head of the legislative and executive and
the judicial system of the Empire. The king
had absolute power over the Empire and
was thought to possess a divine power. His
arrival to a public gathering was announced
by the beating of a special drum. Kubi Saleh,
the capital was the seat of the central
government. After the introduction of
Islam, the capital was divided into two
sections. The king and the indigenous
population lives in the first section while the
Muslim population mostly immigrants and
traders live in the other sections. Thus, the
king, the governor of the capital city and
the minister had the responsibility over the
central government. The king serves as the
commander-in-chief of The Empire’s army,
the head of justice administration and he
control all the trading activities in the
region.
2. COUNCIL OF MINISTERS - the king was
assisted by a cabinet of ministers and other
state officials who supervised various
aspects of the state's affairs. By AD1067,
the majority of the cabinets officials were
Muslims, appointed because of their level
of education in Arabic and wider knowledge
around the world. There were three
prominent officers who assisted the king;
they were the Vizier Waziri or Prime
Minister, the court interpreter, the state
treasurer.
3. THE COURTS: there were court of various
grades in the Empire and appeals from
lower court finally went to the king who sat
with number of judges. At the court
sections, the king sat patiently and listen to
all petitioners with his ministers or
councilors, and will ensure that everybody
got fair judgment. The administration of
justice was based on trial by fetish, this was
a process where the accused person will be
given a special drink made up of
concoctions to drink. It was believed that if
the person vomited the drink, he was
innocent of the charge but if not, he was
guilty.
4. THE ARMY - within the political structure
of the Empire was a very organized military
machinery. The army was made up infantry
and cavalry. The army was meant to
maintain peace, suppress the revolt, control
immigration, and defend frontiers as well as
continuously acquires new Territories. The
king was the head of the army.
5. PROVINCIALS GOVERNORS- power was
delegated to the provincial governors and
were allowed some measures of
independence in the day-to-day
administration of the provinces so long as
they regularly remitted tribute to the
center.
6 VASSAL CHIEFS: below the provincial
governors were vassal chiefs who were
allowed to rule over their traditional areas.
It should be noted that all the rulers at the
provincial and the vassal levels made
mandatory annual tribute to the king and
the capital city.
EVALUATION
1. Explain the origin of Ghana Empire
2. Explain the social political structure of
Ghana Empire.