Revisiting Indigenous Methods of Arbitration for Peace Building in the Contemporary Yoruba Society
Keywords:
Arbitration, Indigenous Methods, Peace building, Ancestors, ReligionAbstract
This study focused on the indigenous method of arbitration and peace building in order to show how effective it was in the maintenance of law and order as well as social equilibrium in the pre-colonial Yoruba societies compared to our modern day society. In traditional Yoruba societies, peace was not an abstract poetic concept, but rather a down to earlh and practical concept. In Yoruba indigenous religious institution, peace is conceived, not in relation to conflict and war, but in relation to orderliness. It is a religious value in that, the peace in the universe and society is believed to be divinely established and the obligation to maintain it is religious. It is also a moral value since good conduct is required of human beings if peace and order are to be maintained. The study was descriptive and qualitative relying on secondary data sources. It found that the Traditional models provided for a win-win arrangement relying on collective wisdom of the society while the involvement of native gods compelled compliance with resolution terms for fear of non-compliance. The study concluded that the relevance of the ancestors, community leaders and the gods are largely limited to intra-ethnic conflicts while it has been perverted by political elites but do not imply that they are no longer relevant. The study recommended that government must pay attention to early warning signals to minimize direct violence and develop strong political will to confront the issues of conflict. Finally, the indigenous methods of arbitration and peace building models concerning the intervention of the ancestors, community leaders and the gods could be combined with Western models where practicable as they cannot stand alone.