Yoruba people

=== Leadership ===
[[Gerontocratic]] leadership councils that guarded against the monopolization of power by a monarch were a trait of the Ẹgba, according to the eminent Ọyọ historian Reverend [[Samuel Johnson (Nigerian historian)|Samuel Johnson]]. Such councils were also well-developed among the northern [[Okun people|Okun]] groups, the eastern [[Ekiti people|Ekiti]], and other groups falling under the Yoruba ethnic umbrella. In Ọyọ, the most centralized of the precolonial kingdoms, the ''Alaafin'' consulted on all political decisions with the prime minister and principal kingmaker (the ''Basọrun'') and the rest of the council of leading nobles known as the ''[[Oyo Mesi|Ọyọ Mesi]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Selecting a new Alaafin: Oyo Mesi and the burden of tradition and truth |url=https://www.premiumtimesng.com/opinion/554519-selecting-a-new-alaafin-oyo-mesi-and-the-burden-of-tradition-and-truth-by-hammed-isiaka-eyinade-adelabu.html?tztc=1 |access-date=2023-09-18 |website=www.premiumtimesng.com}}</ref>

Traditionally kingship and chieftainship were not determined by simple [[primogeniture]], as in most monarchic systems of government. An electoral college of lineage heads was and still is usually charged with selecting a member of one of the royal families from any given realm, and the selection is then confirmed by an [[Ifá]] oracular request.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ellis |first1=Alfred Burdon |title=The Yoruba-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa: Their Religion, Manners, Customs, Laws, Language, Etc. With an Appendix Containing a Comparison of the Tshi, Gã, Ew̜e, and Yoruba Languages |date=1894 |publisher=Chapman and Hall |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x9UKAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Chapter%20X.%20System%20of%20government%22}}</ref> The Ọbas live in palaces that are usually in the center of the town. Opposite the king's palace is the ''Ọja Ọba'', or the king's market. These markets form an inherent part of Yoruba life. Traditionally their traders are well organized, have various guilds, officers, and an elected speaker. They also often have at least one ''[[Iyaloja]]'', or Lady of the Market, who is expected to represent their interests in the aristocratic council of oloyes at the palace.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vf8VAQAAIAAJ|page=112|title=Africa since 1914: a historical bibliography|volume=17|author=ABC-Clio Information Services|publisher=ABC-Clio Information Services|year=1985|isbn=978-0-87436-395-1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0VGBAAAAMAAJ|title=Where Women Work: A Study of Yoruba Women in the Marketplace and in the Home, Issues 53-56 of Anthropological papers|author=Niara Sudarkasa|publisher=University of Michigan|year=1973|pages=59–63}}</ref>