Browsing by Author "Oyerinde, Oyebade Kunle"

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Conflicts over Agricultural Land and Indigenous Indigenous Institutions for Conflict Resolution in Rural Yorubaland (Soutwestern Nigeria)
(2002) Oyerinde, Oyebade Kunle
"Land constitutes a basic productive resource to the people of Africa and is the only major source of livelihood to many of them including the people in the rural/agricultural Yoruba communities1 of Southwestern Nigeria. An intricate relationship therefore exists between the individual, the family/compound, the larger community on one hand, and land on the other hand. The proper functioning of such a relationship is basic to healthy inter-personal, intra-and inter-family, and intra-and inter-group stability, and for political stability and unhampered economic growth in many parts of developing world. However, growing conflicts over land have led to inter-group fights/violence in many parts of developing world including Yorubaland. The conflicts over land in Yoruba communities along with its escalation and continuation are similar to other kinds of conflicts that exist in much of Africa where small-, medium-, and large-scale conflicts have continued to simmer and sometimes erupt into very serious violence."
The Constitution of Order Among the Yoruba of Nigeria
(2005) Oyerinde, Oyebade Kunle
"Understanding how human beings constitute order to affect productive ways of life is one of the central concerns of scholars. This study examines why three Yoruba communities of Nigeria - Ile-Ife, Ibadan and Abeokuta - differ in the extent to which their diverse groups of Yoruba elements engage in inter-group cooperation, resolve conflicts, and encourage commercial and industrial openness. The prevailing biophysical conditions and beliefs and past experiences in the three communities are first considered in order to come to terms with the particular contexts within which governance and property relationships are shaped. "In each community, the dominant beliefs and past experiences have served as the main sources of institutions for governance and property relationships. In Ile-Ife, most Ife elements believe that they are the individuals who can claim an ultimate descent from the presumed founder of the community. They serve as lords over most non-Ife elements such as Oyo elements. Most diverse Yoruba elements in Ibadan and Abeokuta, however, regard one another as equals in governance and property relationships. They see themselves as descendants of diverse groups of oppressed individuals that jointly founded their respective communities to be able to open up growing ranges of productive opportunities for most individuals. "Unlike Ibadan and Abeokuta, the failure to treat most individuals as equals in governance and property relationships in Ile-Ife has led Ife and Oyo elements to relate to each other as enemies and to use violence as a means to process their conflicts. The resultant insecurity of life and property has incapacitated Ile-Ife from having distinguished individuals, industrial estates, manufacturing companies and the substantial business investments found in Ibadan and Abeokuta. "These differences show that mutually productive ways of life can be precariously at risk when individuals relate to one another based on principles of inequalities rather than through principles of self-responsibility and mutual agreement among associates working with one another in self-governing communities of shared relationships. Ecological conditions, conflict types, cleavage structures and exposure to national political affairs are relatively similar across the three Yoruba communities and play little, peripheral role in explaining the different outcomes."
Design Principles, Common Land, and Collective Violence in Africa
(2019) Oyerinde, Oyebade Kunle
"The conventional wisdom blames colonialism as the root cause of violence in Africa, but at the expense of analytical clarity about the context of collective violence over common land. This article uses qualitative data and Elinor Ostrom’s perspective on governing the commons to analyze collective violence over common land in an African community. It finds that the absence of certain design principles strikes at the root of the violence in the African case. Exploring the less understood intricacies enriches analytical clarity about the conditions that lend themselves to sustaining the commons and gaining the compliance of generation after generation of resource users with property rights institutions for governing the commons."
Design Principles, Common Land, and Collective Violence in Africa
(2019) Oyerinde, Oyebade Kunle
"The conventional wisdom blames colonialism as the root cause of violence in Africa, but at the expense of analytical clarity about the context of collective violence over common land. This article uses qualitative data and Elinor Ostrom’s perspective on governing the commons to analyze collective violence over common land in an African community. It finds that the absence of certain design principles strikes at the root of the violence in the African case. Exploring the less understood intricacies enriches analytical clarity about the conditions that lend themselves to sustaining the commons and gaining the compliance of generation after generation of resource users with property rights institutions for governing the commons."
An Institutional Study of the Administration of Forest Reserves in Osun State
(1997) Oyerinde, Oyebade Kunle
"The administration of forest reserves in Nigeria is now at the crossroads concerning their sustainable use and their ability to meet human needs. Over the years, the administration of the renewable natural resources has been monopolised by the state government within the federal structure in Nigeria. The failure to involve forest users and the other levels of government, especially the local government, in their administration has apparently led to their inability to generate benefits to meet human needs across generations. Yet their ability to meet intergenerational needs requires the involvement of the stakeholders in decision making and implementation. "This study is focused on the administration of forest reserves in Osun State. The need for the study was informed by the importance of forest reserves to human survival. The study critically examined the administration of forest reserves in Osun State by the state government acting through its Forestry Department; determined the extent to which forest users participate in the administration of forest reserves in Osun State and the implications of such involvement in terms of governance; and suggested a better approach to their administration. "The Institutional Analysis Approach was used as the framework for the study. Both primary and secondary sources of data collection were employed for the study. Primary data were obtained through the use of questionnaire and structured interviews. Secondary data were sourced from the library and official documents. "The study discovered that sustainable administration of forest reserves is yet to be realised in Osun State whose forest reserves have shrunk by about 78 % over the years through unguided tree-felling. In the face of this crisis, the administration of the reserves has been and remains the exclusive preserve of the Osun State Government acting through its Forestry Department. To resolve this crisis, the study recommends the involvement of forest users in administering the natural resources. "The need to involve forest users in the administration of forest reserves in Osun State is confirmed by the findings of the study. It was discovered that the efforts of forest users' associations, especially those of timber-contractors, though not officially recognised, have often complemented those of Osun State's forestry personnel in Zonal Offices in reducing illegal exploitation. It was further discovered that the poor salaries and wages of the forestry staff has contributed to illegal exploitation in the forest reserves - as they could easily be induced with money. It is therefore also recommended that a better remuneration package be arranged for forestry staff in Osun State."
Institutions and Organizations of Defense and Security Among the Yoruba in the Nineteenth Century
(2006) Oyerinde, Oyebade Kunle
"Maintenance of the security of life and property in society enhances both public peace and mutually productive ways of life. With public peace achieved in society, a myriad of opportunities exist to create commercial and industrial openness and thereby attract productive entrepreneurs. The more secure productive entrepreneurs feel about their lives and property, the greater the confidence they have in receiving reasonable returns from their investments. Productive entrepreneurships are further enhanced when operational rules effectively lower transaction costs and thereby facilitate increasing possibilities for most participating individuals to reach more mutually acceptable contractual agreements. Economic development is more likely in such a political economy."
Why Differing Patterns of Land Rights Transformation and Land Conflict among the Yoruba of Nigeria?
(2009) Oyerinde, Oyebade Kunle
"The varying impacts of indigenous ordering principles on land rights transformation in African communities have been generally neglected in scholarly works. Despite strong reasons to believe that indigenous ordering principles can be hugely important in explaining a wide variety of outcomes, extensive attention in property rights research has gone to models of efficiency, the relative power of actors, distributional conflict, colonial legacies, and the role of African national governments as possible explanations. Based on a priori assumptions, studies on the Yoruba of Nigeria have treated Yoruba indigenous institutions as similar, with scholarship on African indigenous institutions treating these indigenous institutions as wholly useful for governance and property relationship reform. Yet, it is puzzling why changes in the distribution of land rights in Yoruba communities of Nigeria have led to differing patterns of violence. The main focus of this paper is to attempt to resolve this puzzle by analyzing how indigenous ordering principles in three relatively similar Yoruba communities of Nigeria--Abeokuta, Ibadan, and Ile-Ife--have influenced land rights transformation to lead to different patterns of violence. This study uses data from archival research, and unstructured and semi-structured interviews."