e - CIFAS

6+ GOVERNMENT IN ZAZZAU
household officials and the public orders were heavily buttressed
by other factors, such as rank-order and precedence, functional
differentiation, and especially, perhaps, by the promotional linkages.
Through this promotional system, all holders ofsubordinate
office including slaves were motivated to regard their present
appointment as a stepping-stone to higher positions in which their
economic independence wouW increase together with their rank
and responsibilities, whether these were civil or military in character,
or political or administrative in form. Of themselves these
promotional arrangements coIl8iderahly reduced the dangers which
faced the governmental structure through the development of an
unbridled competition for economic reward among its officials.
But the way in which the distribution of political and administrative
functions was associated with this economic differentiation
of offices was of equal significance for the continuity of the
system.
In Ahuja, as freemen the king's household officials were eligible
for promotion firstly to the Tafl.lUna rank, and thence to the principal
office of Madawaki: hut, so long as they remained household
officials they were completely dependent on the king for official
rewards. None the less, in M. Hassan's words, 'the whole country
was theirs, as they appointed the other (i.e. public) officials'.l This
implies that the household officials shared in the king's official
income, and had no need of separate remuneration, since their
control of appointments itself guaranteed their income. As noted
above, the vote of these household officials was decisive in council,
and their leader, the Sarkin Fada, had the power to veto proposals
made by the Madawaki on behalf of the public orders. Only in
cases of deadlock: between his public and household councils was
the king free to act summarily; otherwise he was obliged to take
counsel first with the household officials, and whether or not agreement
was reached, in matters of public interest, with the public
orders also. In this way the king couLd appeal to the public orders
under the Madawaki. and the GaJadima for support against the
advice of the household officials under the Sarkin Fada. At the
same time, as M. Hassan tells us, the Madawaki and the Sarkin
Fada would sometimes arrange privately beforehand to override
the king with joint proposals.
The position of the household officials in this political system
1 M. Haesan, pe11Ional communication. See Appendix A.
GOVERNMENT IN NINETEENTH~CENTURYABUJA 6s
under their head, the Sarkin Fada, was certainly a strategic and
noteworthy one. It cannot be explained simply in terms of a tripartite
division of political power. In such a system agreement
between two ofthese three political units would be both necessary
and decisive for policy formation. But even within the tripartite
political structure of Abuja there was room for a wide variety of
alignments, consequent on the multiplicity of segmentary principles
which entered into its constitution. Moreover, the :Madawaki's
council coIl8isted of two orders, the rukuni and Tawuna,
whereas the Sarkin Fada's consisted of only one. Yet, apart from
the royal succession, we are informed that whatever the issue, the
Sarkin Fada, as head of the household officials, had power to veto
proposals by the public orders directly, and was indirectly able to
thwart the king's policy. This means that the household officials
exercised an inftuence over official appointments and also over
promotions and dismissals, which had definite policy implications.
Thus although the economic conditions under which they held
their offices were apparently unrewarding, the order of household
officials, as the dominant political order within the state, had the
least need of such economic prescriptions, and may have enjoyed
the greatest security of official tenure. None the less, despite their
political dominance in council, these household officials were
economically dependent on the throne, and the king, by agreement
with the public orders under the Madawaki, could promote
individual members of this household order out of their strategic
position, or simply dismiss them from otlice. On the other hand,
these household officials occupied positions which allowed them to
secure their own appointments to higher offices of rawuna or
rukuni rank. These promotions involved a certain loss of political
power, but they also carried high rank and prestige, substantial
administrative responsibilities, increases in official income and
economic independence. To obtain these individual goals, the
household officials, especially their leaders, had to maintain good
relations with their counterparts in the public administration, and
also to keep in favour with the king. In this way, the promotion
of these household officials was contingent on restraint in the use
of their privileged political position.
Differential political power and administrative responsibilities
were linked with this economic differentiation of office in a significant
manner. Under the king, those offices which exercised