We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 December 2019
How the interface of state law and indigenous market laws contributes to peacebuilding in Nigeria is an unexplored question that demands attention. First, law, human security and peace are interrelated through the cultural ideas and norms that inform human behaviour. Second, the co-existence of normative orders in Africa favours a top-down approach that inadequately acknowledges indigenous law, neglects its economic, cultural and religious influences, and thereby affects human security. Based on key informant interviews, focus group discussions and observation of markets in southern Nigeria, this article finds that although indigenous market laws are much altered, their foundational values inform market union constitutions, bye-laws and dispute resolution mechanisms. Union officials draft these laws with the assistance of Western-trained legal practitioners and apply them in close co-operation with state organs, who recognize market tribunals as quasi-judicial bodies. The article urges policy attention on the manner people adapt indigenous market laws to socio-economic changes.
Senior lecturer, University of the Western Cape, South Africa. I wrote this article as a guest researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsala, Sweden, from April to June 2018. I acknowledge the financial assistance of the University of Cape Town, South Africa, where I was a URC postdoctoral fellow at that time.
1 Werner, K “Rediscovering indigenous peacebuilding techniques: the way to lasting peace?” (2010) 3/2Africa Peace and Conflict Journal 60Google Scholar; Adebayo, AG et al. Indigenous Conflict Management Strategies in West Africa: Beyond Right and Wrong (2014, Lexington Books)Google Scholar. Indigenous law is used here in a plural and singular sense. It is also referred to as customary law, “people's law”, “folk law” and “traditional law”. For varying terminologies, see Allott, A and Woodman, GRPeople's Law and State Law: The Bellagio Papers (1985, Foris Publications)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
2 Zartman, IW “Introduction: African traditional conflict ‘medicine’” in Zartman, IW (ed) Traditional Cures for Modern Conflicts: African Conflict “Medicine” (2000, Lynne Rienner) 7Google Scholar.
3 Chanock, M “Neither customary nor legal: African customary law in an era of family law reform” (1989) 3 International Journal of Law and Family 72 at 76CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
4 Woodman, GR “Legal pluralism and the search for justice” (1996) 40/2Journal of African Law 152CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
5 Checkel, JT “International norms and domestic politics: bridging the nationalist constructivist divide” (1997) 3 European Journal of International Relations 473CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
6 For a similar argument on integrating state and indigenous mechanisms of peacebuilding, see Ginty, R Mac “Hybrid peace: the interaction between top-down and bottom-up peace” (2010) 41/4Security Dialogue 391CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
7 For a broad argument on the adaptation of indigenous norms to socio-economic changes, see Diala, AC “The concept of living customary law: a critique” (2017) 49/2Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law 143CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
8 I selected Imo, Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Delta, Rivers and Lagos states for their ethnic, religious and geographical homogeneity in order to assist data generalizability to the rest of southern Nigeria.
9 There is no unanimity on the population of the study area owing to the politicization of national census figures.
10 Again, there is no agreement on the number of local governments because the federal government refuses to recognize some local governments created by states. States receive money from the federal government based on their sizes, and decisions on population and number of local governments are influenced by the political party controlling the federal and state governments.
11 Oriji, JN “A study of the slave and palm produce trade amongst the Ngwa-Igbo of southeastern Nigeria” (1983) 91/23Cahiers d'Études Africaines 311CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
12 Manillas were copper or brass bracelets used by the southern Igbo and Ibibio people. See Ofonagoro, WI “From traditional to British currency in southern Nigeria: analysis of a currency revolution, 1880–1948” (1979) 39/3Journal of Economic History 623 at 624CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
13 Moore, SFLaw as Process: An Anthropological Approach (1978, Routledge) at 56Google Scholar.
14 Galanter, M “Justice in many rooms: courts, private ordering and indigenous law” (1981) 19 Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law 1 at 20Google Scholar.
15 Here, markets primarily mean marketplaces or locations of trade.
16 For criticism of the liberal peace, see Paris, R “Saving liberal peacebuilding” (2010) 36/2Review of International Studies 337CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Ginty, R Mac “Indigenous peace-making versus the liberal peace” (2008) 43(2) Cooperation and Conflict 139 at 139Google Scholar; Fanthorpe, R “On the limits of liberal peace: chiefs and democratic decentralization in post-war Sierra Leone” (2005) 105 African Affairs 27CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
17 Smith, AAn Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (ed Soares, SM, 2007, MetaLibri Digital Library)Google Scholar; Mill, JSPrinciples of Political Economy (1885, Appleton and Company)Google Scholar; de Montesquieu, C BaronThe Spirit of the Laws (1748, online Library of Liberty)Google Scholar.
18 Barbieri, KThe Liberal Illusion – Does Trade Promote Peace? (2002, University of Michigan Press) at 1CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
19 Ibid.
20 Khalidi, RResurrecting Empire: Western Footprints and America's Perilous Path in the Middle East (2010, Beacon Press)Google Scholar; Clements, B “Public opinion and military intervention: Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya” (2013) 84/1The Political Quarterly 119CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
21 Curtis, MThe New Colonialism: Britain's Scramble for Africa's Energy and Mineral Resources (2016, War on Want)Google Scholar.
22 Mac Ginty “Hybrid peace”, above at note 6 at 408.
23 Coning, C de “Adaptive peacebuilding” (2018) 94/2International Affairs 301 at 303CrossRefGoogle Scholar, citing, among others, Smith, DTowards a Strategic Framework for Peacebuilding: Getting Their Act Together (2004, Peace Research Institute Oslo)Google Scholar. See also Willett, S “New barbarians at the gate: losing the liberal peace in Africa” (2005) 32/106Review of African Political Economy 569CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
24 Willett “New barbarians at the gate”, above at note 23.
25 Benda-Beckmann, F von “Who's afraid of legal pluralism?” (2002) 34/47Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law 37CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
26 de Sousa Santos, BToward a New Legal Common Sense: Law, Globalization, and Emancipation (2002, Cambridge University Press)Google Scholar.
27 Moore Law as Process, above at note 13.
28 Moore, SF “Law and social change: the semi-autonomous social field as an appropriate subject of study” (1973) 7/4Law and Society Review 719CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
29 Moore Law as Process, above at note 13 at 57.
30 de Sousa Santos Toward a New Legal Common Sense, above at note 26 at 94 for multisectoral influences on social fields.
31 Berman, PS “Towards a jurisprudence of hybridity” (2010) 1 Utah Law Review 11Google Scholar; de Sousa Santos, B “Law: a map of misreading. Towards a postmodern conception of law” (1987) 14 Journal of Law and Society 279CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
32 Prominent oracles include the Ogwuwu Akpu of Okija, Anambra State, Ala-Ogbaga of Chokoneze in Mbaise, Imo State, Ebinokpabi/Ibini Ukpabi Oracle of Arochukwu, Abia State, and the Sango Shrine of Oyo State.
33 Gugler, J “Life in a dual system: eastern Nigerians in town, 1961” (1971) 11/43Cahiers d’Études Africaines 400 at 401Google Scholar.
34 Diala, AC “Legal pluralism and social change: insights from matrimonial property rights in Nigeria” in Rautenbach, C (ed) In the Shade of an African Baobab: Tom Bennett's Legacy (2018, JUTA) 155Google Scholar; Moore “Law and social change”, above at note 28.
35 Ukeje, C “Globalization and conflict management: reflections on the security challenges facing West Africa” (2008) 5/1Globalizations 35Google Scholar; Richmond, OP “Emancipatory forms of human security and liberal peacebuilding” (2007) 62(3) International Journal 459Google Scholar; Conteh-Morgan, E “Peacebuilding and human security: a constructivist perspective” (2005) 10/1International Journal of Peace Studies 69Google Scholar.
36 Cockell, JG “Conceptualising peacebuilding: human security and sustainable peace” in Pugh, M (ed) Regeneration of War-Torn Societies (2000, Palgrave Macmillan) 15CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
37 Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted by the UN General Assembly, UN doc A/CONF.157/23 (12 July 1993).
38 Jacobs, G “Integrated approach to peace and human security in the 21st century” (2016) 3/1Cadmus 48Google Scholar.
39 Conteh-Morgan “Peacebuilding and human security”, above at note 35.
40 Merry, SE “Legal pluralism” (1988) 22 Law and Society Review 869 at 869CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
41 Rautenbach, C “Deep legal pluralism in South Africa: judicial accommodation of non-state law” (2010) 42/60Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law 143CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
42 To safeguard family interests, indigenous law restricts land alienation and requires heirs to promote the best interests of deceased persons’ dependants. For analysis, see Diala, AC and Kangwa, B “Rethinking the interface between customary law and constitutionalism in sub-Saharan Africa” (2019) 52 De Jure 194CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Diala, AC “Reform of the customary law of inheritance in Nigeria: lessons from South Africa” (2014) 14/2African Human Rights Law Journal 633Google Scholar.
43 There is, however, modest research on pre-colonial trade. See, eg, Ukwu, UI “The development of trade and marketing in Iboland” (1964) 3/4Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria 649Google Scholar; Dike, KOTrade and Politics in the Niger Delta, 1830–I885: An Introduction to the Economic and Political History of Nigeria (1956, Clarendon Press)Google Scholar; Jones, GIThe Trading States of the Oil Rivers (1963, Oxford University Press)Google Scholar; Alagoa, EJThe Small Brave City-State: A History of Nembe-Brass in the Niger Delta (1964, Ibadan University Press)Google Scholar; CM Good “Markets in Africa: a review of research themes and the question of market origins” (1973) Cahiers d'Études Africaines 769 at 769; Jones, GI “Native and trade currencies in southern Nigeria during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries” (1958) 28/1Africa: Journal of the International African Institute 43CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
44 Niekerk, GJ van “Orality in African customary and Roman law of contract: a comparative perspective” (2011) 44/2De Jure 364Google Scholar.
45 Anene, JC “The foundation of British rule in ‘southern Nigeria’ (1885–1891)” (1959) 1/4Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria 253Google Scholar.
46 Ryder, AFCBenin and the Europeans: 1485–1897 (1969, Humanities Press)Google Scholar.
47 Shaw, CTIgbo-Ukwu: An Account of Archaeological Discoveries in Eastern Nigeria (1970, Faber and Faber)Google Scholar. But see Shaw, T “Those Igbo-Ukwu radiocarbon dates: facts, fictions and probabilities” (1975) 16/4Journal of African History 503CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
48 Shaw Igbo-Ukwu, above at 47 at 225–239.
49 For an explanation of this dynasty, see MA Onwuejeogwu Nri Kingdom and Hegemony: An Outline of Igbo Civilisation, AD 994 to Present (1980, Tabansi Press). See also Jeffreys, MD “The divine Umundri king” (1935) 8/3Africa 346 at 350–52, 354CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
50 See, eg, Jeffreys, MD “The Umundri tradition of origin” (1956) 15/3African Studies 119CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
51 These accounts were provided by the traditional leaders of Isu-Awaa in Awgu, Enugu, Umuaghara Onicha Nwenkwo in Ezinihitte Mbaise, and Alaoma Owerri-Ebeiri in Orlu, Imo State.
52 Shaw, CT “The significance of Igbo-Ukwu and future archaeological research in south-eastern Nigeria” (1972) 1/1Ikenga: Journal of African Studies 3Google Scholar.
53 A notable historian quoted an Mbaise elder thus: “The Igbos did not come from anywhere and the ancestors of the Igbo people originated from where they live today starting from Nri, an ancient clan in present Anambra State.” See Isichei, EAA History of the Igbo People (1976, Palgrave Macmillan)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Acholonu, COThey Lived before Adam: Pre-historic Origins of the Igbo – The Never-Been-Ruled (Ndi Igbo since 1.6 Million BC) (2009, Fylann Limited)Google Scholar.
54 Northrup, D “The growth of trade among the Igbo before 1880” (1972) 13/2Journal of African History 217 at 217CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
55 Dike Trade and Politics in the Niger Delta, above at note 43 at 62.
56 Hartley, CWSThe Oil Palm: Elaeis Guineesis Jacq (1967, Longmans) at 1–9Google Scholar; Gilmore, HW “Cultural diffusion via salt” (1955) 57/5American Anthropologist 1011CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
57 Igwegbe, ROThe Original History of Arondizuogu from 1635–1960 (1962, International Press)Google Scholar; Horton, WRG “The Ohu system of slavery in a northern Ibo village-group” (1954) 24/4Africa: Journal of the International African Institute 311CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
58 Northrup “The growth of trade”, above at note 54 at 221.
59 Ibid.
60 Laird, M and Oldfield, RAKNarrative of an Expedition into the Interior of Africa: By the River Niger, in the Steam-vessels Quorra and Alburkah, in 1832, 1833 and 1834 (1837, Richard Bentley) at 102Google Scholar.
61 Northrup “The growth of trade”, above at note 54 at 222, citing Laird and Oldfield Narrative of an Expedition; Heywood, TTRA Narrative of the Expedition Sent by Her Majesty's Government to the River Niger in 1841 under the Command of Captain HD Trotter (1848, Frank Cass) at 270Google Scholar; Isichei, E “Historical change in an Ibo polity: Asaba to 1885” (1969) 10/3Journal of African History 421CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
62 Northrup “The growth of trade”, above at note 54 at 222.
63 Ibid.
64 Laird and Oldfield, Narrative of an Expedition, above at note 60; Crowther, SAJournal of an Expedition up the Niger and Tshadda Rivers: Undertaken by Maegregor Laird in Connection with the British Government in 1854 (1855, Church Missionary Society) at 171–73CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
65 Dike Trade and Politics in the Niger Delta, above at note 43.
66 Ukwu “The development of trade and marketing”, above at note 43 at 655.
67 Interviews with Steven Edeokoye of Idumota Market, Lagos, 31 January and 3 February 2017, Pa Cyril Elegalam of Umumgbeke Village, Ugirike, Imo State, 8 February 2017, and His Royal Highness, Igwe (Dr) Udemgaba Maduka (JP), the Iyiakwa l and Okaibe ll of Isu-Awaa, and Akazuoha l of Enugu, 10 February 2017.
68 Interview with Eze-elect Bakason Boniface Ohanaga of Umuaghara, Onicha Nwenkwo autonomous community of Ezinihitte Mbaise, Imo State, 17 February 2017.
69 Uka, NGrowing up in Nigerian Culture (1966, Ibadan University Press)Google Scholar.
70 Interview, Pa Cyril Elegalam, 8 February 2017.
71 Hodder, BW and Ukwu, UIMarkets in West Africa: Studies of Markets and Trade among the Yoruba and Ibo (1969, Ibadan University Press)Google Scholar.
72 MDW Jeffreys “The Umundri traditions of origin” (1956) 15/3 African Studies 125.
73 Ukwu “The development of trade and marketing”, above at note 43 at 650. These daily markets are called Ogwumabiri/Ogwunabiri in Igbo and oja aaro/ale in Yoruba.
74 See generally Hodder and Ukwu Markets in West Africa, above at note 71.
75 Eighmy, TH “Rural periodic markets and the extension of an urban system: a western Nigeria example” (1972) 48/3Economic Geography 299CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Onukawa, MC “An anthropolinguistic study of Igbo market-day anthroponyms” (1998) 11/1Journal of African Cultural Studies 73CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
76 EA Isichei A History of the Igbo People, above at note 53 at 49–63.
77 Okonjo, K “The dual-sex political system in operation: Igbo women and community politics in midwestern Nigeria” in Hafkin, N and Bay, E (eds) Women in Africa: Studies in Social and Economic Change (1976, Stanford University Press) 47Google Scholar.
78 Meek, CKLaw and Authority in a Nigeria Tribe: A Study of Indirect Rule (1937, Oxford University Press) at 452Google Scholar.
79 Id at 104; Basden, GTNiger Ibos (1938, Seeley, Service & Co; 1966, Frank Cass) at 339–340Google Scholar.
80 Interview with His Royal Highness Eze Anselm K. Okorie Ikegwoha (JP), traditional ruler of Alaoma Owerri-Ebeiri Autonomous Community, Orlu, 11 February 2017.
81 Personal covenants are referred to as igbandu or oriko in Igbo and majẹmu in Yoruba.
82 Talbot, PThe Peoples of Southern Nigeria Vol. 3 (1937, Frank Cass) at 682Google Scholar.
83 Jones, GIThe Trading States of the Oil Rivers (1963, Oxford University Press) at 70, 87Google Scholar; Leonard, AG “Notes of a journey to Bende” (1898) 14 Journal of the Manchester Geographical Society 190 at 191Google Scholar.
84 Some of these elements find support in literature. See, eg, Mbiti, JAfrican Religions and Philosophy (1970, Heinemann)Google Scholar; Ayittey, GIndigenous African Institutions (2006, Brill Publishers) at 91CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
85 Caulker, PS “Legitimate commerce and statecraft: a study of the hinterland adjacent to nineteenth-century Sierra Leone” (1981) 11/4Journal of Black Studies 397CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
86 Edgerton, RBThe Fall of the Asante Empire: The Hundred-Year War for Africa's Gold Coast (2010, Simon and Schuster)Google Scholar.
87 “The scramble for Africa” (23 December 1999) The Economist, available at: <https://www.economist.com/node/347120> (last accessed 22 May 2018).
88 Crowther Journal of an Expedition, above at note 64 at xxviii.
89 Nwabara, SN “British foundation of Nigeria: a saga of hardship, 1788–1914” (1963) 13/3Civilisations 308 at 312Google Scholar.
90 Forde, CD and Jones, GIThe Ibo and Ibibio-Speaking Peoples of South-Eastern Nigeria (1967, OUP-International African Institute)Google Scholar.
91 Jaja successfully battled the Manilla Pepple House, taxed British traders and exported oil directly to Liverpool. See Cookey, SJSKing Jaja of the Niger Delta: His Life and Times, 1821–1891 (2005, University of Granada Publishing)Google Scholar.
92 Anene, JCSouthern Nigeria in Transition 1885–1906: Theory and Practice in a Colonial Protectorate (Cambridge University Press, 1966)Google Scholar.
93 Galway, H “The rising of the brassmen” (1935) 34/135Journal of the Royal African Society 144Google Scholar.
94 Ukwu “The development of trade and marketing”, above at note 43 at 657.
95 Meek, CK “A note on crown land in the colonies” (1946) 3/28Journal of Comparative Legislation and International Law 87Google Scholar.
96 Ukwu “The development of trade and marketing”, above at note 43 at 660.
97 Hodder, BW “Rural periodic day markets in part of Yorubaland” (1961) 29 Transactions and Papers (Institute of British Geographers) 149CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
98 Ottenberg, SC and Ottenberg, P “Afikpo markets: 1900–1960” in Bohanan, PJ and Dalton, G (eds) Markets in Africa (1962, North-Western University Press) 196Google Scholar.
99 Ukwu “The development of trade and marketing”, above at note 43 at 659. Examples of administrative sites are Enugwu, Owerre, Bende, Awka, Okigwi, Aba, Afikpo, Abakaliki, Udi and Orlu. Indeed, the attempts of colonial authorities to eradicate indigenous tribunals contributed to the distortion of indigenous trade laws. See, eg, Messenger, JC “The role of proverbs in a Nigerian judicial system” (1959) 15/1Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 64CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
100 Street markets are called Oja gbamgba in Yoruba. See generally Hodder, BW “Distribution of markets in Yorubaland” (1965) 81/1Scottish Geographical Magazine 48CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
101 Art 5 of the amended OMMTA Constitution.
102 For example, the OMMTA Constitution states its membership fee to be ₦1,000.
103 Interviews with Obute Aloysius, chairman of the Ogbete Market Peace and Disciplinary Committee, 2 February 2017, and Olori Olabisi Falodun-Onagoruwa, the iya oja (market general) of Union Homes Shopping Complex (Success Market Union) Idumota, Lagos, 27 February 2017.
104 Olaoba, OB and Ojo, OE “Influence of British economic activities on Lagos traditional markets, 1900–1960” (2014) 23 Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria 111Google Scholar.
105 Lawal, A “Markets and street trading in Lagos” in Falola, T and Steven, JS (eds) Nigerian Cities (2004, Africa World Press) 237Google Scholar.
106 Report of the Zangon Kataf (Market) Riots Judicial Commission of Inquiry, June 1992, at 1 and at 52, para 87(v).
107 See, eg, the Ogbete Main Market Traders’ Association bye-laws.
108 Sec 13 of the OMMATA Constitution provides for a legal practitioner to act as legal adviser.
109 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended.
110 Peterson, JH “‘Rule of law’ initiatives and the liberal peace: the impact of politicized reform in post-conflict states” (2010) 34/1Disasters 15CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
111 Interview with Comrade Lucky Otu, president of the Ogbudu Market Traders’ Association, Delta State, 14 February 2017.
112 Interview with Steven Edeokoye at Idumota Market, Lagos, 3 February 2017.
113 Chukwuemeka Azubike, chair of the Enyimba Line Traders’ Association, Aba, related an intriguing system of registration: disputants pay a ₦5000 fee each and the losing party forfeits this sum. The winning party may “settle” members of the peace committee with any amount he deems fit from the refund.
114 Focus group discussion in Onitsha on 21 February 2017. Views on the peace committee were expressed by its chair, Uche Eze, chief whip, Uzoma Nwadike, and a trader, Chinekebuka K. Obichie.
115 Sec 4 of the OMMTA bye-laws titled “Under peace committee”.
116 Interviews with Olabisi Falodun-Onagoruwa and Adeoye Rahman, secretary of the Agarawu Traders’ Association (Hardware Zone) of Idumota Market, Lagos, 27 February 2017.
117 Lugard, LFJThe Dual Mandate in British Tropical Africa (2013, Routledge; 1st ed 1922, Blackwood) at 79CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
118 Mertus, J and Helsing, JHuman Rights and Conflict: Exploring the Links between Rights, Law, and Peacebuilding (2006, US Institute of Peace Press)Google Scholar.
119 Mac Ginty “Hybrid peace”, above at note 6 at 408.
120 Id at 406–407.
121 Id at 408.
122 de Coning, C “Understanding peacebuilding as essentially local” (2013) 2/1Stability: International Journal of Security and Development 1CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
123 Alemika, EEO “Colonialism, state and policing in Nigeria” (1993) 20/3Crime, Law and Social Change 187CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
