An appraisal of the diplomatic role of benin kingdom in pre-colonial Era

This paper presents an appraisal of the role of the Benin Kingdom in Pre-Colonial Era to emergence of public administration in Nigeria. Nigeria nation, more than anything else, the greatest obstacle to the nascent democracy and survival of public administration is the pervasive insecurity of lives and property, as evidenced by the spate of armed robbery attacks, political assassinations, power distribution coupled with the seeming helplessness of security agencies to handle criminal acts. The situation is worsened by the increasing number of unemployed Nigerians some of whom are ready recruits for criminal activities. The above statement from an editorial comment by a national daily in Nigeria indeed, epitomises the central focus of this paper; the aim of which is to appraise the nexus between new public administration in Nigeria and nascent democratic nurturing, sustenance and eventually consolidation vis-a-vis the battles with one of the major ills of Nigeria nation. This paper evaluates the role and landmarks made by Benin Kingdom in diplomatic relations with her immediate neighbours and other advanced nations like Portugal, France, Holland and Britain in pre-colonial period. The study also revealed that there were military, political, economic and other forms of alliances between the Benin Kingdom and other Kingdoms in the pre-colonial period. The investigation reveals that there were conflicts, wars, marriages, bilateral and multilateral relations between Benin and other Kingdoms in pre-colonial periods. The study revealed that Benin Kingdom in the reign of Oba Ewuare, Ozolua, Esigie, Orhogbua, Ehengbuda and Ovonramwen employed diplomatic methods in their interactions with sophisticated and advanced Kingdoms. In the course of this study, the appraisal of the Role of Benin Kingdom in Pre-Colonial Era, with particular reference to the towns and villages conquered in Nigeria were brought to the fore while the objectives of the study are well spelt out. Hypotheses were postulated and Group Theory was used to explicate the works. Data were obtained from both primary and secondary sources. From the primary sources, the survey method, that is, the use of questionnaires designed and adopted. Data obtained from this method were analyzed with the aid of Simple Percentage. Thereafter, the five researchable hypotheses were tested and accepted while the null hypotheses were rejected. The implication is that there was a relationship between the dependent and independent variables. Generally, the paper brought to focus that the Diplomatic Role in the Benin Kingdom in Nigeria is a collective effort in reaching a compromise in the Administratio n of Pre-colonial era and it has contributed immensely to the growth and development of Public Administration elsewhere. Finally, it suggests policy prescriptions and recommendations which are aimed at repositioning Public Administration in Benin Kingdom not only in Nigeria in particular, but also elsewhere in Nigeria in the globe.