e - CIFAS

.. GOVERNMENT IN ZAZZAU
ways, Q)otained Yacious structural checks and balances which were
of value in promoting and maintaining the equilibrium of the
system; and thereby in ensuring its continuity. Apart from their
functional differentiation in terms of military and civil interest?
offices were also differentiated in terms of their political and ad~
ministrative significance at Abuja, and this differentiation was re~
lated to the variable composition ofsegmentary political groupings.
The interest and constitution of these contraposed groupings
altered according to the context or issue, while the segments themselves
reflected certain pervasive principles, namely, the rank~
ordering of offices, the distribution of office according to status
conditions, their promotional organization, economic differentiation,
and the like. The presence of administrative agencies specialized
to co-ordinate these contraposed units and to maintain the
minimal conditions essential for the order and unity of the system
as a whole is correlated withthis variability ofpolitical segmentation
at Abuja. Whether the operation of multiple principles of alignment
and conrraposition precedes the development of specialized
administrative agencies cannot be stated, either for Abuja or in
general. Probably, the two developments are functionally related,
and probably the multiplication of principles of alignment is
initially associated with the growth of politically significant
differences of status, especially hereditary differences.
(b) The System ojPolitical Relations
In the general discussion of government, political action was
defined by its focus on policy, and by its segmentary process and
form. These segmentary processes were further defined by conditions
of variability in the comPQsition of contraposed units; and
this variability is limited on the one hand by the range of issues,
and on the other by the basic principles of the particular social
structure. From this, it follows that the operation of segmentary
principles defines the field of political relations, and also that the
differentiation ofadministrative action is associated with the opera~
tion of an increasing number of segmentary principles as criteria
for the composition of contraposed political groups. This increase
in the number of segmentary principles considerably increases the
variability of political groupings, with the consequence that
specialized agencies committed to maintain the minimal conditions
of order and unity are necessary if the system is to persist. These
GOVERNMENT IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY ABUJA 49
general ideas can be applied usefully to the organization of
government at Abuja.
At Abuja, the principal field of political relations was constintted
by the king, the household officials, and the two orders of public
officials, namely the Tukuni and the rawuna. The chamber officials
were marginal to this structure, although they were indirectly
linked to it, as they supplied holders of the offices of Galadima,
Wambai, and Dallatu. On the information at our disposal, it is
difficult to see how either the maUams, the dynasty, the royal
officials or the order of titled slaves could enter into contraposition
with one another, or with either of these previously mentioned
groups. The chamber officials, despite their prospects ofpromotion
to rukuni eunuch offices, must also be regarded as a subordinate
administrative staff, the main functions ofwhich were cornmunica·
tions, care of the treasury, the insignia, the royal harem, and the
king. The king was head of both the political and the administra·
tive systems, controlling the latter directly, hut not the former; and
he was probably preoccupied with problems of co-ordination and
equilibrium, rather than with the personal direction ofthe govern·
ment as a whole. In other words, the monarchy was limited in its
power, simply by virtue of its participation in a system of seg·
mentary political relations with the orders of public and household
officials. In this situation, neither the king nor his political part~
ners had the decisive voice in selecting his successor.
Although political issues mobilized political groups at Ahuja, the
variety of segmentary principles at work in the official orders ensured
that the composition of these groupings would vary according
to the issue. One reason for such variability lay in the fact that
the principles in terms ofwhich contraposed groups were organized
were not all of the same order. For example, together the rukuni
and the r4WUna formed a single inclusive group of public officials
which was distinguished structurally and functionally from the
inclusive group of palace personnel, namely, the household
officials and chamber eunuchs. Unlike these two latter orders, the
rukuni and rowuna administered territorial fiefs. The household
officials were dependent on the king for reward; and the chamber
eunuchs were also partly dependent on the king, although, in their
capacity as messengers to the vassal chiefs and the other official
orders, they enjoyed certain benefices. Their lack of salary or any
specified means ofofficial reward distinguished the order of house-