ABSTRACT
Having agreed with countless evidences that the African people and societies at large, in contrast to the derogatory remarks littered all over Eurocentric literatures and articles of cheap literatures, have rich historical and cultural backgrounds, historiography itself has done Justice in bringing to limelight some of these societies. Thus, the likes of the highly centralized States such as the ancient Benin empire, Kanem Bornu, Oyo, Sokoto Caliphate and others have received so much focus and as such so much is already known as reviewed by different sources both primary and secondary. However, it is disturbing to know that his stereography has not done well enough in if only projecting the peoples States and societies in Africa from earliest times, as emphasis have been heavy on setting areas for reasons that may not matter so much to this research project. This neglected or not so much talked about people however are adoptedly parts and parcels of the history of Africa and in pre-colonial Nigeria the Asian people of current day Edo state South-South make a large part of the socio-cultural and overall development of the Edo speaking people.
Beans scattered into diverse minor groups the Asian people grew from small settlements predominantly preoccupied by people of the same distance or ancestry into villages and then chiefdoms with the passage of time. Oto-Esan (land of Esan), as the place is indigenously known remains one of the loudest names when ethnic divisions in the Edo area of Nigeria is considered. Although centralization or any elaborate hierarchical order is not the order of the day the administration of the different chiefdoms under the any gear system remains quite lordable as one organized form of political setup in the area under the period of this.
With the system of primogenital adopted continuity and sustainability was given the fair chance and also goes a long way improving the healthy interactions that ensued amongst different states and peoples of pre-colonial Nigeria as the primogeniture idea was fundamentally a custom borrowed from the ancient Benin Kingdom. one May rightly open therefore that the Asian people and societies as early as centuries before the pervasive role of the Western world believed in the interdependent nature of the contemporary world as solution using was never a Fame or do each people exercise some autonomy and toss were independent in their internal affairs and administration to some considerable extents.
From the various heads of the families collectively known as elder fair and authority believed to be the primary form of political administration seeing that the family forms a fundamental bedrock to other aspects of the society down to the various word’s villages and then chiefdoms the Asian people showed evidences of a society with loadable cultural heritage and a rich social economic background worthy of study. By dividing the general populations into age grades a deliberate effort was made to West stratifying the society into clearly recognized status and sets made up of people bound by common age brackets and who play distinct roles in the development of the different villages shipdoms and by extension the entirety of Esanland.
In order to ensure both organization and order, the Odafe of each family wheels both political and religious authority over his household and this goes a long way in aiding the process of socialization which is very crucial for every evolving society. The extended family join forces with the office of the elder fail to make the process of socialization and continuity a success and this was seen in areas such as intermarriage, festivities, religious rituals, burial rituals and others as well as in intimating the younger generation with the needed information about the culture and traditions of their people so as to save the face of.
Themes such as inheritance rights, life cycle, guardianship, circumcision and others were also considered in this research and in all, the essence of the family as an agent of socialization and sustenance of cultural heritage cannot be overemphasized. For the purpose of Peace security and by extension prosperity the pre-colonial Esanland showed expertise in conflict resolution and the success of the different levels of mediations as seen in the wards, villages and central stages is clearly reflected in the progression of things in the Esan Communities especially as it relates with relations with one chiefdom and another and this also cuts across the exchange of ties between the Esan people and their neighbors. Even the pre-colonial Esan community proved nothing short of corporation and communal efforts towards ensuring survival and the development of a society. By the time the intrusion of the Western world reached its speak by the 19th century, the Esan land already involved a Civilization worthy of both study and accolade and the different socio-cultural political and economic designs set in motion by the indigenous people from the earliest point in history have continued to shape the historical development of the Esan society even to current reality.
