SUMMARY
The study examined the brief history of the socio-economic and political institutions of Esan people.It provided a background to the historical origin, revealing the possible reasons for the migration story. However, it maintained that, the traditions of origins of Esan People like that of other societies remain a recurrent theme in Nigerian history. It is an issue which touches the very foundation of the group identity of a people. This is especially so in a plural society like Nigeria with many central tendencies and in which access to limited resources, political offices and employment opportunities is largely determined by ethnicity. The unique feature of Esan traditional socio-political institutions is that everybody, respective of status was important and had a vital role to play. Society was divided into different groups that worked separately but co-operatively. The men, women and youths of divergent categories were stratified into a workable system of government that served the needs of the people well. Moreover, having established an effective socio-political mechanism, they equally instituted effective economic activities to meet their material and transactive needs. The study of economic activities in pre-colonial Esan Kingdom was a good exercise in unearthing a virile traditional economic system, solely designed by the people. Life became suitable and attractive through the institution of sources of income and expenditure. Economic activities in Esan Kingdom were all-encompassing in the sense 54 that the major economic pursuits, viz, agriculture, industry and trade were predominant and widely practiced by all sections of the traditional polity. Generally the study of economic activities in pre-colonial Esan was in elaborate excursion into, traditional labor system, land acquisition and tenureship, division of labor, trading currencies and traditional scientific and technological prowess of the people. One of these economic activities was agriculture, which involved both food and cash crops production and rearing of animals, otherwise known as animal husbandry. Agriculture was a universal economic endeavor as almost everybody was part and parcel of it. It was a household or individual effort that revolved mostly around subsistent production and limited production for sales in the local and far markets. Crops, such as maize, okro, vegetables, banana, yam, cocoa-yam, palm-trees, coconut and melon were planted for both consumption and sale. Land acquisition and labor procurement were functions of the village and family, respectively. However, during the rainy season, between March and October, agriculture took the centre stage of economic pursuit as people engaged in the planting or harvesting of one crop and another. Moreover, agricultural was not the only economic activity, traditional industrial manufacturing also held sway. Industries are places were goods are produced to meet all human needs. All kinds of industry existed in Esan. These industries were responsible for the production of a wide range of goods, such as, mats, chair, pomade, cream, salt, clothes, palm-oil, and gin. Every Esan household was known for the manufacturing of 55 one industrial goods or the other. These productions served the consumption and the transactive needs of the people.
