Intergroup Relations SS1 Government Lesson Note

This is the interaction between states, kingdoms, communities etc to foster political, economic and social developments.

    Factors That Promoted Intergroup Relations

1. Trade
2. Trade routes
3. War
4. Diplomacy
5. Marriage. etc

Commercial Contact Between Nigeria’s Diverse Peoples

Around the 14th century, trade routes had linked the:

1. Hausaland with Bornu
2. Bornu with Adamawa and Benue Valley
3. Hausaland with Nupe and the confluence
4. Hausaland with Yorubaland and
5. Benin with Yorubaland
6. People of the coastal region also exchange fish for tuber crops from the interior.

Intermarriage, Bilingualism, Linguistic and Cultural Borrowing

1. The Hausa and Fulani inter-married, as well as the Yoruba and the Edo, the Igala and the Nupe etc.
2. These intermarriages resulted in cultural fusion and the emergence of distinct societies.
3. The Itsekiri kingdom evolved out of Benin, Ijaw, Urhobo and Yoruba peoples.
4. Cultural borrowings e.g. Nupe’s egungun taken over by the Oyo Yoruba, the Igala Okega and the Igbo Ikenga, the ekura masquerade derived from the Jukuns, etc.
5. Specialisation in crafts and industries e.g. Yoruba and Benin were artists and carvers, and awka were blacksmiths.
6. The result of this for intergroup relations is that it encourages contact between the various Nigerian groups. People migrating often trace their way to these places of industry.

The Trading Association That Cut Across Linkage and Territorial Barriers

1. The Awka blacksmiths, carvers and those who dealt in Ivory and beads travelled the length and breadth of Igbo and Ibibio territories where they ‘carved out spheres of influence’ for themselves.
2. The Aro people whose trading mercenary created a network of market trade routes throughout Igbo land. They also used their mercenaries to raid slaves in these zones.
3. The trade-in cattle and kola nut between the Yorubas and the Hausas.
4. Cattle Fulani who lived and traded in Yorubaland such as ijebu-Ode, Sagamu etc.
5. The forest trade was controlled by Benin in Yorubaland-Akure.

The Role Of Migrations In Intergroup Relation Forms And Patterns Of Migrations

1. The forced migration of slaves and captives.
2. Islamic teachers and scholars fleeing war zones. e.g. Muslim preachers ‘drifted’ from Hausaland and Bornu into Nupeland and Ilorin.
3. Wars of expansion and incorporation of diverse peoples into Kingdoms and empires e.g. as in Itsekiri land, aboh Tawuri etc.
4. Groups with centres of political or ritual power also attracted immigrants e.g. Oyo, wukari, Bornu, Benin and Igala.

ASSIGNMENT 

1. Discuss the commercial and cultural relations among Nigerian Peoples.
2. Describe the role of crafts and industries on inter-group relations.
3. Examine the pattern of migrations in Nigeria.
4. Describe the effects of wars and relate these to inter-group contacts in Nigeria.