Traditional Rulers and Contemporary Political Development in Yorubaland: 1960 – 1983

Epochal event such as colonial rule in the history of Nigeria, like other areas actually affected the politics of the period, which include the changing role and status of the traditional rulers. Expectedly, these changes however, did not stop with the end of colonialism. The traditional institutions continue to experience dwindling changes in their role and status in the post independence era and even up till now.An era in which traditional rulers became political non-activist making them to be mere appendages of politicians or of parliamentary enactments. This paper therefore examines the changes in the role and status of traditional rulers in Yorubaland after colonial rule and also beams a searchlight on their relevance in contemporary political development in Yorubaland in particular and Nigeria in general.