The Ibadan elite, 1893-1966

This thesis examines the mutations in the make-up, values and outlook of the
Ibadan elite in the period between 1893-1966. This has become necessary because
of the centrality of the elite in the society. The changes in the elite category are.
seen as reflections of other transformations in the society at large.
The study begins by examining the nineteenth century military elite . in
Ibadan and goes on to discuss how it responded to such factors as colonialism,
Christianity and Western education, Islam, economic enterprise and partisan
politics. The elite bas had to modify its membership, criteria for new recruits, and
. values as a result of these. encounters. Partisan politics proved to be the greatest .
challenge to the traditional elite structure by bringing the weight of the rival
Federal and Regional parties in power to support the local partisans. But the
traditional framework of the Ibadan elite never collapsed. There was still some
continuity despite these various changes. The conclusion is that the Ibadan elite
successfully transformed itself without breaking its traditional basis. .
This study has borrowed insights from Sociology on the elite theory and
other related concepts. This is in addition to its dependence on archivai materials,
private papers, Government documents, Church/Mosque papers, oral interviews
etc. The idea is to demonstrate the value of the inter-disciplinary _approach to
historical enquiry.