TRADITION, STATE POWER AND THE BATTLE FOR THE UKWE STOOL IN TAKUM, NORTHEAST NIGERIA, 1912–2024
Abstract
Protracted interregnums and recurring instability in Takum stem from a fundamental clash between hereditary customary legitimacy and state-led legislative engineering. This conflict intensified following the 2024 rotational law, which seeks to dismantle a century of Kuteb genealogical primacy. Utilising Political Instrumentalism and Ethnic Competition Theory, this research employs a historical method, analysing government gazettes and judicial rulings alongside oral testimonies. The major finding reveals that the state acts as an ethnic entrepreneur, periodically redefining eligibility to achieve political equilibria by transforming lineage-based kingship into a statutory office. While the state characterises these reforms as administrative necessities for peace, the Kuteb community maintains a steadfast resolve to protect its tradition, viewing the legislation as an existential distortion of its way of life. The study concludes that stability sought through legislative fiat fails without community acceptance. Resolution requires a governance model that reconciles state inclusivity with the people’s non-negotiable resolve to preserve their ancestral identity and traditional heritage.