RELIGION, LAW AND MORALITY IN PRECOLONIAL SOCIETY: EXAMPLE OF ANCIENT ILE-IFE KINGDOM IN YORUBALAND

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 enormous
significance in the cosmological explanations of Yoruba creation myths,
which lend credence to the heroic deeds of Odùduwà, the progenitor of
the Yoruba people. Evidence from oral traditions and ethnographic
accounts of Yoruba people's religious beliefs, social life, history, political
development, and economic growth exemplifies the roles and
contributions of the Ife kingdom as an autonomous empire with distinct
political hegemony. However, little attention has been given to the
administration of law and morality in the precolonial milieu of the Ile-Ife
kingdom. Utilising descriptive and historical content analysis of library
resources and secondary sources, the findings revealed that during the
precolonial era, Yoruba culture and indigenous practices established
strong social mechanisms for communal morality and strict compliance
with indigenous law through several ritual practices. The paper
concludes that all forms of social problems and acts of indiscipline in
society today are the result of moral dereliction and a flagrant disregard
for native laws.