ADMINISTRATION

There are different rules and procedures involved in the setting up of the administration of Etsako. They may change from time to time, so the description given here may be different from what obtains now and at some point in the future.

There are 3 social structure of power. These are (a)Age (b)Title and (c)Wealth. Wealth can be divided into  (i)Man Wealth and (ii)Material Wealth. The ways which these three factors are useed in cln administration is shown below.

• During and after the Nupe rule, the method of taking titles in  Auchi, South Ibie and Aviele clans practised the foreign system of taking titles. In this method, the candidate after fulfilling the requirements of the chiefs and eders is turbanned and associated with a foreign title name. Some of thee title names are: DAUDA, YAMAH, KESSARAKI, TOMOH,YERIMAH,and JAGBA.   

• The above method was also the case to a lesser degree in the clans of Anwain, South Ineme, and Jagbe.
• The nupe also introduced some principles on leadership that were alien to the clans of Auchi, Uzairue, South Ibie and Ekperi. It is thought that in these clans, headship of the village was once vested on the oldest man in the clan. The Nupes demanded a more virile form of administration, and selected men of character, wealth and ability from among the people of the clan to act as their local agents. Under Nupe patronage, these men came to be regaded as headmen and tribute was rendered      them for the services they gave in acting as intermediaries with the slave raiders.
• At Auchi, Uzairue and Ekperi, the Nupes appointed Agents for the clan and these agents, in their turns, appointed village heads to whom they gave the Northern name, Dawudu. At South Ibie, local agents were appointed in each of the five villages and a clan headship did not evolve.

• In Avianwu, Okpilla, Wepa Wanno, Ekperi and North Ibie, a title is taken by whoever is desirous of it by paying fees in the form of money, livestock and food, to those who have already taken titles. The ceremony lasts from3 to 7 days varying from clan to clan in accordance with the customs of the clans.Among the Okpillas, a man is not qualified to take a title while his father is alive and among the Weppa Wannos, a similar tradition exists in the case of an Amoya son, also in Weppa Wanno, women can be given titles. In Ekperi and Avianwu, any free born male may offer himself up as a candidate for taking a title but public opinion may prevent a  person from taking a title in the presence of an older person in the family who has not taken it and a person may be prevented from taking a title if he is not rcommended by the head of the family.                                                                                                                      
•       A title holder establishes himself as a person of substance in the clan, he/she is qualified to contribute to administration of the clan affairs. Note that a man can also participate in the administration of the village or clan by virtue of actual long age and or by wealth.