Political Organization in Nigeria Since the Late Stone Age

Political Organization in Nigeria since the Late Stone Age employs a diachronic and multi-disciplinary approach to analyze the evolution of Igbo political systems. The work serves as a pioneer study of the broad changes these systems underwent from the prehistoric period, filling a gap in the historical record regarding Igbo political structures before the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. According to Project MUSE, the text demonstrates that these political systems were never static, but instead experienced continuous processes of aggregation and fragmentation since the Late Stone Age.

John Oriji is a Professor of African History at California Polytechnic State University in the USA. His academic approach is informed by both professional research and personal heritage, as he grew up observing his father, Chief Erugo Oriji, serve as a Customary Court Judge between 1936 and 1966 in the village of Eziama-Nvosi and the Isiala Ngwa area. To construct this history of the prehistoric period, Oriji synthesized the works of various specialists, including archeologists, anthropologists, and historians.