IJO-ITSEKIRI RELATIONS DURING THE PRECOLONIAL PERIOD

ABSTRACT

This study examines the Ijo-Itsekiri relations during the precolonial period. It focused majorly on the economic, social and political relations between the Ijo and Itsekiri people during the precolonial period. The study showed that that the Ijo and Itsekiri had lived peacefully together in precolonial times. It was the advent of the Europeans with their new forms of trade, religion, education, and government that caused hostilities between the two groups in the Warri area of the Western Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The research has also shown that the activities of the Europeans in the Warri area of the Western Niger Delta region of Nigeria greatly influenced the relations between the Ijo and Itsekiri.4 The problems between the two groups were mainly caused by pride and insincerity mostly on the part of the Itsekiri. The research was carried out using primary and secondary sources. For the primary source, it included oral interviews to historians in Ijo and Itsekiri towns. The secondary sources included books, journals, working papers, articles, newspapers and internet sources. The research was divided into five chapters. The first chapter contained a general introduction and a background to the pre-colonial relations between the Ijo and the Itsekiris. The second chapter discussed the economic relations between the Ijo and Itsekiris during the pre-colonial period. The third chapter examined the socio-political relations between the Ijo and Itsekiri’s during the pre-colonial period. The fourth chapter examined the European influence in Ijo-Itsekiri’s relations. The fifth chapter gave a brief summary and conclusion of the study.