RELEVANCE OF TRADITIONAL RULERS IN CONTEMPORARY NIGERIA AS GOVERNANCE

Abstract

For centuries, before the advent of British rule, governance in different parts of present-day Nigeria was synonymous with traditional institutions and their rulers. Local administration generally centered on the traditional ruler who was considered the repository of religious, legislative, executive and judicial functions.. This study investigates the relevance of traditional rulers in contemporary Nigeria as governance using traditional institutions in Lagos State, Nigeria as a case study. The study adopted descriptive survey research design, while multi stage sampling technique was used to choose only three Local Government Areas (LGAs) out of 57 LGA in Lagos State and simple random sampling method was applied at choosing the sample of 100 LGA employees from each of the LGAs making a total of 300 respondents from the three 3 LGAs. The instrument used for the study was a self-structured research questionnaire. The questionnaire was administered to the participants and was collected immediately after administering them. The data collected from the respondents was analysed using Chi-square statistical tools and inferential statistics was used to analyse the personal data of the respondents. The study found that there is significant relevance of traditional institutions among the people of Lagos State; there is significant importance of traditional rulers to governance in Local Government Area level in Lagos State and finally, there is significant relevance of traditional rulers in governance in State level using Lagos State traditional institution as a case study. The study concludes that the traditional rulers play active roles in the emergence of political leaders as well as the success of successive governments in contemporary Nigeria at all levels local, state and federal. The study recommends that there is a need for the Federal Government to give legitimacy that traditional institutions deserve. The researcher recommended that there is need for public re-orientation on the importance of traditional institutions and how they can constitute crucial resources that have the potential to promote grassroots governance and to facilitate access of rural communities to public services.