Religion, Law and Morality in Precolonial Society: Example of Ancient Ile-ife Kingdom in Yorubaland
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Ile-Ife is one of the ancient towns in Yorubaland, southwestern Nigeria.The town is believed to be the cradle of Yoruba culture, civilisation,religious beliefs, and artistic craftsmanship. The town holds enormoussignificance in the cosmological explanations of Yoruba creation myths,which lend credence to the heroic deeds of Odùduwà, the progenitor ofthe Yoruba people. Evidence from oral traditions and ethnographicaccounts of Yoruba people's religious beliefs, social life, history, politicaldevelopment, and economic growth exemplifies the roles andcontributions of the Ife kingdom as an autonomous empire with distinctpolitical hegemony. However, little attention has been given to theadministration of law and morality in the precolonial milieu of the Ile-Ifekingdom. Utilising descriptive and historical content analysis of libraryresources and secondary sources, the findings revealed that during theprecolonial era, Yoruba culture and indigenous practices establishedstrong social mechanisms for communal morality and strict compliancewith indigenous law through several ritual practices. The paperconcludes that all forms of social problems and acts of indiscipline insociety today are the result of moral dereliction and a flagrant disregardfor native laws.
Author: George Olayeye Olatayo
Institution: Redeemer's University
Language: English
Subfield: General Social Sciences
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W7204239730