JSS1 HISTORY THIRD TERM NOTE.

WEEK 1:
TOPIC : CALABAR KINGDOM
LESSON OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
-Explain the origin of Calabar kingdom
-Discuss the social and political structure of Calabar kingdom
-Highlights the occupational activities of Calabar kingdom

ORIGIN OF CALABAR KINGDOM

1. Calabar appeared first on Dutch maps of the 17th century
2. Calabar is European in origin because they got the name calabar by the Europeans
(Portuguese) to differentiate them from the kalabari people; and it was formerly known
as Akwa Akpa
3. Calabar came to be due to a misunderstanding between the original settlers and Efik.
4. Their settling at obutong or old Calabar resulted to agitations with men who could
not tolerate competition in trade and they moved to Akwa Akpa.
5. Trading became possible; thus calabar is regarded as the Efik state of old Calabar.
6. Calabar which is located at the mouth of the river gave them opportunity to trade
with the Igbos, Ibibios and later Europeans.
7. The kingdom was ruled by obongs with the king of calabar as the high king together
with the town chief.

THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL STRUCTURE OF CALABAR KINGDOM

- They had the Obong as the king
- The leadership in the kingdom was derived from the Ekpe society
- The ekpe society was keeping outsiders out of the kingdom and also protect the
kingdom, and the secret society developed one of the major African scripts called
“Nsibidi written scripts”
- They were the first group in south-east to make contact with the European traders
due to their coastal ports.
- Administratively, government of calabar was by consultation because references are
made to the Ekpe society that perform religious and political functions.
- Political structure: calabar has three major landlord kingdoms, namely: the Qua
kingdom, the Efut and the Efik kingdoms. The qua has the Ndidem, the Efut has the
Muri Munene and Efik has the Obong as their grand patriarchs.

OCCUPATIONAL ACTIVITIES OF CALABAR KINGDOM

 Slave trade was the major source of wealth for the Calabar people during the trans-
Atlantic trade.
 Calabar was the first kingdom to use money in trading with the west Africa. this
money was called “okpolio”.
 After the fall of slave trade, they progressed into being a major trading port for
palm products like oil, kernels and also banana and cassava.
 They were also into fish farming and animal rearing.
 Calabar is also regarded as a tourist centre in the world because of its location and
the presence of natural resources which they also used to make money.

ASSIGNMENT
State five different ethnic groups in Niger delta in your notebook

NEXT TOPIC
Non-centralized states
WEEK 2:
TOPIC : NON-CENTRALIZED STATES IN PEE-
COLONIAL NIGERIA
LESSON OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
- Explain non-centralized state.
- Recognize five characteristics of non-centralized state.
- Analyze five advantage and two disadvantages of non-centralized state.
- Compare centralized state and non centralized state

MEANING OF NON CENTRALIZED STATE

Non centralized is the opposite of centralized state and they are independent ethnic
groups that had no central administration which means that they had no powerful ruler
at hand.
OR
It can also be seen as a form of government in which the power to make decisions,
laws and policies is spread out across the other lower levels of government. Examples
of ethnic groups that had non-centralized governments are the Igbo, the Tiv, ijaw,
Ibibio and so on.

CHARACTERISTICS OF NON CENTRALIZED STATE

 The system encouraged greater participation of the citizens.
 There was no system of taxation.
 There was the full practice of direct democracy in terms of decision making.
 There is no central authority or centralized government.
 There is no ruling monarch.
 Absence of central authority or centralized government.
 It was republican and egalitarian in nature.
MERITS OF NON-CENTRALIZED STATE
 It reduces the use of excess power or too much concentration of power.
 Social and regional unrest is easy to handle because people live in smaller
communities.
 It enhances economic development.
 It helps to bring new ideas in political matters.
 It respect ethnic and cultural differences.
 Quick and better decisions are taken especially during emergency.

DEMERITS OF NON CENTRALIZED STATE

 There is coordination difficulty because of diverse policies and procedures followed
by different units make coordination difficulty.
 Lack of qualified managers.

COMPARISON

CENTRALIZED STATE NON CENTRALIZED STATE

1. Development is slower at the local
level.
2. Civic responsibilities weaken with
time; people begin to take their
duties for granted.
3. The government here is more of
indirect democracy.
4. There is central authority
ASSIGNMENT
READ UP ON TIV AND IDOMA KINGDOM
1. Development is faster at the local level.
2. The citizens are more conscious of their
duty because monitoring is more
effective.
3. The government here is direct
democracy.
4. There is no central authority.
WEEK 3:
TOPIC : TIV KINGDOM
LESSON OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
- Explain the origin of Tiv kingdom
- Discuss the social and political structure of Tiv kingdom
- Highlights the occupational activities of Tiv kingdom

ORIGIN OF TIV KINGDOM

Tiv as a group represent both a people and a language, the Tiv people were said to
have come from central Africa from there they travelled to the Savannah lands of west
Africa Sudan through river Congo and Cameroon to south east and to their present
location.
According to oral history, the history of Tiv is seen in three theories, Gundu (1999)
stated them thus:
1. Creation theory.
2. Bantu theory.
3. Family theories of origin.
THE CREATION THEORY: according to this theory, Aondo (God) created the world and
settled closer to it until he was hit with a pestle by a woman who was pounding food.
This made him to move into the skies (Kwau Aondo) where he now resides.
THE BANTU THEORY: from the works of Talbot (1926) and Johnston (1929), believed
the Tiv are from Malawi due to the fact that they have similar dance, language,
physique and religion of Tiv with Bantu Nyanza in Malawi.
THE FAMILY TRACED THEORY: this traced the theory to one man, to some Tiv is
identified as the father of all Tiv people, some called Takuruku, Shon, Karagbe, Awanye,
and some called Anyamazenga, Gbe as the founding father of the Tiv people. In
essence, he had two sons- Chongo and Pusu. They all had children, Chongo had six-
Gondo, Kyura, Nongo, Ihar, Mase and Turan while Pusu had our- Shitire, Kum, Kpar and
Tongo. The Tiv people are believed to be descendants of these ten (10) children
through whom they are linked to Tiv family tree.

POLITICAL STRUCTURE:
The Tiv is a typical example of non-centralized state, they did not have administrative
divisions with chiefs or kings nor council, it was based on age, influence and wealth.
Thus:
Each compound which is ‘Ya’ had ‘Orya’ as the head and council of senior male
members who do the administrative work. He keeps to the peace of the compound,
settles disputes, distribute farmlands and punish offenders.
The Ityo: this is the supreme authority, with its council called ‘Ijir’ (judgement) helps in
discharging religious, economic, political and funeral responsibilities in accordance with
tradition.

PICTURES DEPICTING TIV PEOPLE AND CULTURE

SOCIAL ACTIVITIES OF THE TIV
 Religion: They believed in the existence of Aondo (God).
 Marriage: They had different types like marriage by exchange, by capture, by
purchase, by bride price, by elopement, and by inheritance.
 Food: They are lovers of yam, pounded yam (Ruam) and soup is their major food.

 Attires: They were good in the art of weaving which was passed from one
generation to another. Their cultural cloth is made up of white and black stripes.

ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
 They are mostly farmers with yam, cassava, and sweet potatoes as their main crops.
 Blacksmiths: they make hoes, digging sticks and other farming implements.
 They also engaged in trading.
 Pottery: weaving of cotton cloth, basket chairs and so on.

NEXT TOPIC
IDOMA KINGDOM.

WEEK 4:
TOPIC : IDOMA KINGDOM
LESSON OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
-Explain the origin of Idoma kingdom
-Discuss the social and political structure of Idoma kingdom
-Highlights the occupational activities of Idoma kingdom

ORIGIN OF IDOMA KINGDOM

The history of Idoma has been difficult to trace due to different versions of the story,
some hinged their origin to Akpoto (okpoto) which is an extinct ethnic group, but it was
largely rejected. Another story has it that they came from Sahara region because they
were forced to vacate the region, this was also attacked cause it lacked proves.
However, another history has it that Iduh was the father of Idoma who had many
children, but it was also not acceptable because all the Idoma groups do not have the
same origin. Finally, a good number of Idomas claim they had an ancestral homeland
called Apa (Beipi) which was associated with a one time capital of the legendary
kwararafa. It was claimed the Idoma people left Apa due to insecurity. In summary:
Idoma people migrated from Apa land to their present location.
The people did not arrive at their present location (Benue state) at the same time, for
this they had different origin.
Idoma is also the name of their language.

POLITICAL STRUCTURE:
Idoma was also decentralized.
 The family or ole is the smallest unit under the leadership of the family head
Adoole, his function is to settle dispute within the family.
 The highest organ of government and the ultimate power and authority was the
Ojiba or Ojila-mass meeting of all adult males.
 They had council of elders called ‘Al Onyakwuoche ole and other influential people.
 They had the oche-the chief priest and presides virtually all the cults in the
community.
 They also had a titled man called och’olihi-in charge of punishing people against
social deviants.
 They had also different age groups- they provide auxiliary services like clearing of
roads, markets and so on.

ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
 Farming was their major means of living-they were known with cultivating yam and
grains as their major crops and other crops like rice, cassava, cowpea, potatoes, etc.
 They also engaged in trading among them and their neighbors.
 They were also engaged in craft making, iron smelting, cloth weaving, wood carving
and so on.

Pictures depicting idoma attire and culture

Marriage
ATTIRE
WEEK 7:
TOPIC : IGBO KINGDOM
LESSON OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
- Explain the origin of the Igbo people
- Discuss the socio-political structure of Igbo people
- Examine the economic activities of Igbo people
ORIGIN OF THE IGBO PEOPLE
The Igbos are one of the largest cultural groups in Nigeria; they have the reputation of
being independent and as such didn’t permit monarchies and thus the saying “igbo
enwe eze”.
The origin of Igbos is still a matter of concern as there are different theories about them
which include: the theory of migration from the north, the migration from bantu and
the last and the most acceptable is the Nri version located in Awka region. The oral
tradition argued that the Igbos were engaged in fruit gathering, hunting and agriculture
and the Nri kingdom was believed to have thrived from about the 9th -16th century
and thus the city was considered to be the foundation of Igbo culture.

SOCIO-POLITICAL ORGANISTION
The political organization was based on direct democracy.
The socio-political structure of the Igbo is summarized with the diagram below:
Family- Extended family-lineage-village-clan (highest unit).
3. The Igbo recognize age grade systems called “otu-ogbo” and titles like ozo titles
and titled men are called “ ndi nze na ozo”, thus they perform the following:
a.They intervene in disputes to bring peace
b. Provision of law and order
c. They are enjoined to speak the truth all the time.
4. We also have the secret societies, the umunna (kindred) and the priests.
5. The Igbos have different customs and tradition which include: language, foods (yam
especially), arts works, religion ( the traditional religion known odinani and the
supreme deity known as Chukwu (great deity)), they believed in reincarnation. They
have four major market days: Nkwo, Eke, Orie and Afor and most Igbo parts don’t joke
with new yam festivals.

Economic activities
-Iron smelting
-They also engage in carving, pottery, carpentry cloth--
weaving and salt manufacturing.
-Trading
-Agriculture was a very important economic feature.
NEXT TOPIC
EBIRA KINGDOM
NEXT TOPIC:
EBIRA KINGDOM

WEEK 8:
TOPIC : EBIRA AND IBIBIO
LESSON OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
- Examine the traditional, social and political system of Ebira
-Examine the traditional, social and political system of Ibibio
ORIGIN OF EBIRA
POINTS TO NOTE
 They are ethnic group of central Nigeria with many dialects.
 Many of them came from Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa and Edo states.
 There are two main groups that make up the Ebira people: the Ebira Ta’o found in
four local government areas of Kogi state-Adavi, Ajaokuta, Okehi and Okene, each
with their own headquarters. The other group is the Ebira Koto found in six local
government areas of Kogi, Kotorkarfi, Bassa, Lokoja, Abaji in federal capital territory
and Nasarawa Toto local government area.
 The major towns of the Ebira are Adavi, Koton-karfi, Okehi and Okene.
 It is popularly believed that the Ebira migrated from the Jukuns of Kwararafa.
 6. They migrated from Kwararafa and settled with the Igalas, they lived together for
about 300 years and then separated due to disagreement and the Ebiras moved
towards the south east of the river Niger to their ancestral home known as
Ebiraopete, an area in Ajaokuta.

Political structure of the Ebira

 They were independent units without a central king but were managed by leaders
of each family especially the eldest in the lineage.
 They had many autonomous villages as clans with their leaders.
 Around 1865 and 1880, the Ebiras fought with the Fulani Jihadists under their
leader called AchigidiOkino against the Fulani leader called Ajinomoh but could not
conquer the Ebiras because they were living in the Hills and that provided
protection for them.
 The British came up with indirect rule but it failed due to their leadership system.
 The British now appointed heads to represent the Ebiras,
they include:
 Adidi of Eikaomadivi- fought the Jihadists but supported trade with the British.
 Adano too and was succeeded by Ibrahim who was called the Attah Ibrahim or
Attah of Ebiraland.
 Ibrahim was a muslim and he tried to convert the Ebiras but it could not work out
for him.
 He was succeeded by Saniomolori, who held the title Ohinoyi of Ebira land
 (traditional ruler of Ebira land).
 e. The current Ohinoyi of Ebira is his royal majesty Alhaji Dr. Abdul Rahman Ado
Ibrahim who assumed office on 2 June, 1997.
 f. The position is elected by a group of elders and was traditionally rotated among
major clans of Ebira.

ORIGIN OF IBIBIO
Facts
1. The origin of the Ibibios can be partly be traced to Afaha, a small tribe in Cameroon
but later migrated both by land and sea.
2. The first group settled in Ibom which is the present day Arochukwu and they erected
a shrine known as “long juju of Arochukwu”. Some of them later spread to Uyo, Abak,
Ikot Ekpene and etc.
3.The core Ibibio people were of the Afaha lineage whose original home was Usakedet
in the Cameroon, Usakedet is popularly known as edit Afaha and both are traceable to
a small tribe in Cameroon.
4. The Ibibios lived in Ibom-Arochukwu for years but had clashes called the famous
“Ibibio war” with the Igbos from 1300-14oo AD, about 100 years and then they moved
to their present day Ibibio land which occupies the entire Akwa Ibom state.
5. They are mainly found in the South-south region.

The traditional, social and political system

 The Ibiobos consist of different communities ruled by their traditional and religious
head called the “Ikpaisong”.
 The Obong Ikpaisong ruled with the Obong Ekpuk (head of families), these together
with the head of cults and societies make up the Afe or Asan or Eson Ikpaison
(traditional council).
 Decisions are enforced by the members who act as messengers of the spirit, the
military and the police of the community.
 Fear and punishment from the ancestors prevent the people from accusing those
members who over-step their social boundaries by being brutal to the people.
 Membership to the Ekpo society is open to all Ibibio males but one must have
access to wealth to be able to move to political grade which is very essential and
the society is very attractive with its musical skill.

Religion of the Ibibios

In pre-colonial period, it was centered on pouring of libation, worship and invocation
of the God of heaven (Abasi Enyong) and the God of the earth ( Abasi Isong) by the
Obong Ikaison.
They also worshipped invisible or spiritual bodies which they call Ndem through which
they communicate to the Abasi Enyon and Isong.
The temple chief priests of various communities always participate in these religious
activities.

ASSIGNMENT
WRITE ON THE ORIGIN, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SYSTEM OF
URHOBO
NOTE: WRITE IT IN YOUR NOTEBOOK
WEEK 9:
TOPIC : IJAW KINGDOM
LESSON OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
- Explain the origin of the Ijaw people
- Discuss the socio-political structure of Ijaw people
- Examine the economic activities of Ijaw people

Origin of Ijaw People

Facts about the Ijaws:
 They are descendants of an ancient tribe in Africa known as the ORU because they
have kept to their ancient language and culture but it is not clear when they settled
at Niger Delta.
 They inhabit the forest regions of Bayelsa, Delta and River states.
 Some are natives of Akwa Ibom, Edo and Ondo states.
 They have lived in locations near many sea trade routs and got connected to many
trade routes.
 They were one of the firs people to have contacts with the whites (Portuguese and
British) because they were active agents in slave trade

The traditional, social and political system

1. Politically or traditionally: they lived in villages and towns, they were run by a system
of chiefs who were family clan heads, there was no central authorities until the coming
of the British.
2. Socially: the people awards titles to those who are wealthy and influential; they
speak ijaw as their language.
3. Religion: most of them are Christians; but in the olden days like veneration of
ancestors.
4. They also practice ritual acculturation (acculturation), whereby an individual from a
different, unrelated group undergoes rites to become Ijaw. An example is King Jaja of
Opobo.
5. Food custom: the have many local foods that are not widespread in Nigeria, many of
the food involve fish and other seafood such as clams, oysters, periwinkles; yam and
plantain.

Typical Ijaw people: bride and her girls

Ijaw couple and little Ijaw baby in her dancing regalia