CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
This
work is on women and economy of precolonial Benin. This chapter is an
introductory study of the geography and people of Benin. Benin was one of the
states known for its remarkable civilization and development in the Guinea
Forest. Benin was one of the most famous kingdom in the forest region of West
Africa and that includes her political system. Scholars and writers alike have
shown interest in the history of Benin particularly its participation to the
world civilization. It is quite fascinating to known that the Benin history of
all the pre-colonial African States, in the most mentioned in contemporary
European literature and arts. This chapter centres on the geography and the
peoples of Benin.
Geographically,
pre-colonial Benin kingdom was located in the forest region of what is now
modern Nigeria in West Africa sub-region. This kingdom was not a single
administration unit, and its boundaries cannot be precisely drawn. The term
territory of Benin Kingdom is with the present Orodo, Ovia North-East, Ovia
South-West, Uhunmwonde, Orhionmwon and Ikpoba Okha Local Govenrent Areas of Edo
State. At the height of its power, the influence of Benin was recorded to have
extended westward along the coast of Eko which is present day Lagos and beyond,
westwards to Ekiti and beyond which marked the boundary between Benin and Oyo
Empire, eastwards to the River Niger as well as the Igbo speaking areas and
beyond, and southward to the Atlantic Ocean. The area of pre-colonial Benin had
a continuous expansion and that was because Benin was involved with lot of
warfare. Warfare and conquering of kingdoms are part of the key answers to
empire building. The area does not correspond with what was left of the empire
since the European conquest of the kingdom in 1897.
Evidence
have proved that for upwards of three millenniums, people speaking varieties of
Edo languages (Benin) have occupied an area, some thirty-one thousand square kilometres
(31,000sqkm) and that is about twelve thousand square miles (12,000skm). It
extends to the west of the River Niger in present day Southern Nigeria. From
the people, the Kingdom of Benin was established. Still on the linguistic and
cultural evidence was the fact that Benin was called differently by her
surrounding immediate neighbours. Their Yoruba neighbours called them ‘Ado’,
while the Igbo’s to the east called them ‘Idu’, among their southern
neighbours, the Urhobo’s called them ‘Aka’ while the Ijaw called them ‘Ado’ and
the Itsekiri call them ‘Ubini’.
It
is quite unreasonable to suppose that the Edo’s living in the Benin area in
pre-dynastic times were organized socially and politically in a manner that has
remained typical of that people. Cosmologically, the Binis believe in the
highest God who they call ‘Osanobua’ or Osanoghodua. They were engaged in
atonement of sins and lifting of curses as well as the worship of other smaller
gods or deities. The Binis refer to themselves as Owie-Edo which in English
means “Born of Edo”. They also refer to Edo-Newbo-Ahiris meaning Edo, the city
of love, drawing reference from an event that a man named Edo rescued a Bini
prince the certainty and truth of which can be ascertained in the history of
Benin during the rivalry period.
However,
some writers, academia and non-academia have tried to explain how the
Portuguese came to identify the area as Benin. Dr. Ekhayuosa Aisien, a medical
doctor and a surgeon who serves as one of the resource persons in the history
of Benin and culture, has argued that the Itsekiri’s passed the name Ubini to
the Portuguese and that Benin is the Portuguualization of Ubini. Professor
A.F.C Ryder disagrees with Dr. Aisien’s view. His disagreement came without any
explanation. That is to say, although he disagreed, he has not been able to
give a tangible explanation. However, what is important here is that the name
Benin/Ubini was given by the Europeans. Ubini was a name of territory which had
several villages, speaking the same Benin/Edo language. As early as the 15th
century, Benin has had contact with the Europeans. This was basically because
of Benin’s wealth and fame which included his art and bronze work. The
Portuguese were the first to have contact with Benin. They referred to them as
‘Beny’. The Europeans were so amazed at the level of achievement and influence,
that they described Benin as the city of bronze.
The
origin of Benin has for years had difficulties in reconstructing. This is
because of lack of documentation. Since the pre-colonial Benin was mostly
reconstructed by oral tradition. This occurrence, has created lots of version
as regards to the origin of Benin. In discussing the origin of Benin, there are
four interpretations, it can also be called the conflicting interpretation.
There are:
The
Hermitic Hypothesis
The
tradition of migration
The
tradition of original settlers
The
snail shell hypothesis
The
first account on the origin of Benin is the Hermitic Hypothesis. This theory
was propounded by Charles C. Seligman in his book, “The Races of Africa”. This
was published in the year 1930. He attempts to explain in his book that African
initiative and contribution to human or world civilization was the handiwork of
Hermites who are believed to be of the Caucasian race. This hypothesis through
describes or offers an explanation for the conquest of Benin by some foreign
invaders who imposed their idea of states formation. These invaders are claimed
in historiography to have migrated in waves after waves from the North and over
ran the original settlers to establish a new state and society. A study of the
dynasty will help to bebunk the hamitic hypothesis as far as pre-colonial Benin
history was concerned. The point here is that the Ogiso dynasty was a product
of autonomous Benin people and not, the Hamites as supported by the Hamitic
Hypothesis. It is recorded that the dynasty has flourished centuries before the
Europeans had contact with them. Still on the line of over-ruling this Hamitic
Hypothesis, it should be noted that the Ogiso dynasty was not just a dynasty,
but was all about state formation and civilization of the Benin. Based on these
facts, the authenticity of this theory is indeed a questionable one.
The
second account of the origin of Benin is the Tradition of Origin. It is closely
related to the Hamitic Hypothesis. This theory has three explanations which can
also be regarded as the three waves of migration. The first wave of migration
was said to be from Nupe in the Middle Belt of present day Nigeria. The
migration was southwards which led to the establishment of the settlement now
called Benin. This theory has been without a concrete date. The second wave of
migration was from Sudan through Nupe in about 7th century A.D to form the
present day location of Benin. The third was of migration claimed to have
started from Egypt through the Sudan to the Sahara to Ile-Ife, as a place of
brief sojourn before moving to present abode Benin. This third wave of
migration was greatly supported by a local historian Chief J.U. Egharevba.
According to him,
Many
years ago, the Binis came all the way from Egypt to found a more secure shelter
in this part of the world after a short stay in the Sudan and at Ile-Ife, which
the Benin called Uhe. The claim has caused a lot of arguments, Egharevba’s
trace of the origin of Benin to Egypt cannot stand the “acid test” of historical
scrutiny and analysis. For one thing Egharevba’s proposition gives credence to
the Hamitic Hypothesis which has it that everything of significance that took
place in Africa South of the Sahara was brought about by the Hamites (Whites).
This ascribes Africa’s pre-colonial achievement to the handiwork of white
skinned invaders who was supposedly of the Caucasian stock. This however, means
that the Benin civilization must have come from Egypt. For another thing the
people of Benin do not have any theory of tradition of migration from Egypt.
In
addition to these facts is that Benin had been in existence for a long time
before the establishments of Ile-Ife by Ododuwa and what this point implied is
that the founder of Benin whom Egharevba claims migrated from Egypt could not
have sojourned in Ile-Ife on his way to Benin. Moreover, the Egyptian culture
is significantly absent from the Benin culture, in terms of social and
political culture. An example is the Egyptian writing culture known as the
hieroglyphics writing. It is purely absent that of Benin. Although there is
evidence that the people who moved into the forest region from the northern
fringes of west Africa as a result of the desertification of the Sahara. With
this, there is a possibility that some of these people may have found their way
to Benin. Egharevba’s view still harbours some uncertainties.
The
third account is the theory of evolution. The Benin people in this theory claim
that they are the original settlers. According to their belief, they hard
occupied the territory from the beginning of the world. They regard themselves
as the children of the soil. In most cases, they trace the location to an area
in Benin called “Ivbiotor”. Some other areas located at Upper Sakponba and one
of such is known as “Igodomigodo” very close to Ugbekun.
The
fourth account is anchored on the Benin myth. It is known as the snail shell
hypothesis. According to this theory, the Benin mythology has it that Benin was
founded by the youngest son of “Osanobua” (the High God) with his elder
brothers. It holds that the High God sent his sons to the world, for the
journey’s sake, each was allowed to take something with him. While some chose
wealth, material things and magical skills and implements, the youngest son was
left with nothing to choose from. At the corner was a snail shell which a
mystic voice asked him to take. On reaching the earth, they found out it was
covered with water, so they could not settle. As they hovered around, a
mystical bird instructed the youngest son to upturn the snail shell and when he
did so, sand came out from it to form a land. For this reason, the youngest son
of ‘Osanobua’ became the owner of the land in the world and became the first
king of Benin. His elder brothers had to barter their possessions in return for
a place to settle.
Hence,
though he was the youngest, he became the wealthiest and most powerful. It is
believed that the first semi-mythical ruler of pre-colonial Benin during the
first dynasty which was known as the Ogiso dynasty (meaning king from the sky)
was the youngest son of Osanobua. Prince Eweka claimed in one of his lectures
that Benin is the cradle of the world. Meaning “Edo orisiagbon”. It is believed
that all other people started on Edo land for the Oba owns the land. This
version of origin of Benin is supported by the present Omon n’oba Erediauwa in
his lecture on Evolution of the Traditional Rulers in Nigeria given under the
auspices of the University of Ibadan Institute of African Studies.
Although
a firm conclusion on the origin of Benin cannot be stated, it is believed that
all the four traditions of origins has proved questionable at some point.
However, I will draw my conclusion by stating that based on the beliefs,
customs and traditions from the Oba to his subjects, it is quite clear that the
snail shell theory holds all the answers to the way the Oba is regarded and why
he is believed to have come from the sky, and also based on their belief that
the Oba owns the land, (Obayanto).
1.2 STATEMENT OF
PROBLEM
Over
the last few decades, the contribution of women to economic growth and
development has been increasingly recognized in both academia and policy
circles. This growing recognition reflects the active participation of women in
various aspects of growth, both through formal and informal production in
recent years. More recently, a number of researchers have drawn on neoclassical
and overlapping generation models to show that the potential contribution of
women to growth would be even more significant in the absence of household
occupational constraints, often exacerbated by the absence of or poor state of
infrastructure in low-income countries (Agénor, Canuto and Pereira da Silva
2010; Fofack 2012). These infrastructure constraints tend to lower the
productivity of women through suboptimal time allocation and use. This rather
long lag in the recognition of women’s contribution to growth and economic
development, particularly in academia, is largely driven by statistical artefacts,
most notably the non-inclusion of home production in the estimation of gross
domestic products and more generally the challenges related to estimation of
home produced and consumed goods (Deaton 2001; Stiglitz et al. 2011). Moreover,
the delimitation of the time frame and span of the analysis to the
post-independence era in the overwhelming majority of empirical studies, though
dictated by the availability of data, may not fully capture the contribution of
women to economic growth and development. Equally important, the absence of a
historical understanding of the processes by which women’s economic
contribution became subsumed under the category of household production and
their labour formally unaccounted for undermines policies that seek to
strengthen women’s economic roles.
1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE
STUDY
The
main aim of the study is to critically examine the economic influence of women
during the precolonial era. Specific objectives of the study are:
i.
to investigate how gender discrimination manifests itself and why gender-based
discrimination is still happening;
ii.
to evaluate the economic contribution of women during the precolonial Benin;
and,
iii.
to establish the extent of the economic influence of these women, till this
age.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION
i.
what factors led to gender discrimination in the precolonial era and still
sustain it till now?
ii.
what are the economic contribution of the women?
iii.
what is the depth of the women influences?
1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This
article in its focus on the pre-colonial and colonial periods, and its
contextualization of the centrality of women to production and reproduction in Benin,
Nigeria. African societies shed important light on the dynamics that have
resulted in the capture of female labour. Though it is difficult for a huge
continent with a paucity of sources for its early periods to pinpoint the
origins of female exploitation or gender-based discrimination, historical and
ethnographic scholarship enables a careful reconstruction of the historical
contexts in which the exploitation of women operated. It should be pointed out
that although this article relies heavily on the West African historical
record, it also draws upon cases from other regions of the continent. However,
the major historical developments in West Africa and themes discussed below
find parallels elsewhere in Africa where gender and economic growth are
concerned.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE
STUDY
The
contours of the colonial production system which excluded women from the cash
economy and the gender-biased educational system introduced by missionaries are
among some of the most critical determinants of persistent gender inequality in
the region. Ultimately the intersection between the colonial economic structures
and gender-biased education systems shape the production parameters and nature
of factor input, even when agricultural production no longer depended
exclusively on plough cultivation. The gender based colonial constructs and
codification of gender roles discussed in this article had significant impact
on the dynamic of gender relations with long-term consequences for gender
production. To the extent that the contours of the production system in the
region and gender production continue to reflect the sexual division of labour
established during the colonial period, these colonial constructs may just be
as sticky as pre-colonial social norms and cultural beliefs. Furthermore, they
may explain counterfactual evidence from economic dependency models, which have
found that breadwinner wives continue to perform more housework than linear
dependency models would predict (Brines 1994; Greenstein 2000).
1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS
Precolonial: occurring
or existing before the beginning of colonial rule.
Women labour: the
participation of women in
social production. In an exploitative class society, private ownership of
the means of
production gives rise to social inequality for women, including job discrimination.
Gender discrimination: Gender
inequality is the social process by which men and women are not treated
equally. The treatment may arise from distinctions regarding biology,
psychology, or cultural norms prevalent in the society. Some of these
distinctions are empirically grounded while others appear to be socially
constructed.