The Ife and Modakeke are both Yoruba of Osun state in southwestern Nigeria.
According to local ancestral myth, both are descendants of Oduduwa, the perceived progenitor of the Yoruba people.
The socio-cultural and political systems of the two communities are essentially identical and their geographical distribution largely overlaps.
As related as Ife and Modakeke are, however, both have engaged in the protracted conflict for over a century. It remains the oldest intra-ethnic conflict in Nigeria.
The Modakeke people are generally considered strangers, tenants, and migrants in Ife. Historical accounts suggest that they migrated and settled in Ife in the aftermath of the collapse of the Old Oyo empire in the nineteenth century, causing a refugee crisis to the south and resulting in the occupation of their contemporary location.
Two distinct categories of people were thus created: the original settlers (landlords) and the migrants, tenants, farmhands, and a resettled group considered as refugees (Modakeke). These categorizations form the remote causes of the conflicts between the two groups.
Indeed, crises are bound to exist in relationships like this when parties perceive their aspirations to be contradictory and their values need or interest divergent.
Thus, while from a general socio-cultural and identity perspective the two groups are identified as part of the Yoruba race, economic and political gains engendered through superior-subordinate notions have created an overarching challenge to peace.
This study found out that the major core causes of the conflict between Ife and Modakeke group include land issues, Ife East Local Government issue, the debate about Modakeke's sovereignty or staying with Ife, masquerade (egungun) crossing into each other's territory, boundary disagreement, etc.
This finding was supported by Akanle (2009) that the Modakeke people are generally considered strangers, tenants, and migrants in Ife.
According to Akanle, historical accounts suggest that they migrated and settled in Ife in the aftermath of the collapse of the Old Oyo Empire in the nineteenth century, causing a refugee crisis to the south and resulting in the occupation of their contemporary location. ...
... Secondly, this study discovered that some of the shortcomings of the past methods of managing the Ife-Modakeke conflict are because those who have suffered various degrees of losses were not compensated.
This finding is in harmony with the submissions of Akanle (2009) that the destruction of lives and property during the Ife- Modakeke struggles has been wanton.
Records suggest that during the 1997 crisis alone no fewer than 2,000 and perhaps as many as 5,000 people were killed. ...
... Youth organizations have emerged, however, that have transcended the conflict and immediate post-conflict era. Some of these youth organizations include the Great Ife, Youth Vanguard, Modakeke Progressive Union, and Drivers' Union (Akanle, 2009).
This study discovered that the roles of traditional institutions in managing the conflict and sustaining post-conflict peace cannot be underestimated. .
Author: Olayinka Akanle
