Bekwarra

A historical perspective of the people, justice system, and the economy

Abstract

Background: Due to the minority status of the Bekwarra ethnic nationality, she has received relatively little attention by scholars and researchers alike in their study on the British occupation of former South-Eastern Nigeria region.

Objective: To provide a fundamental insight into the origin, traditions, customs, and the economy of Bekwarra during the pre-colonial and colonial eras. The paper provides an insight into justice and law in pre-colonial Bekwarra and the transformation it has witnessed in an age of globalization. Furthermore, the study examines the impact of British colonial economic policies on the Bekwarra society.

Methodology: The qualitative data survey methodology was adopted. The researcher examined existing literature  on the subject matter with focus on books, published journal articles as well as other Internet sources.

Result: This paper reports that the origin of the Bekwarra people spans to over 400 years ago. The people had a very high degree of tribal and linguistic homogeneity and the administration of justice in pre-colonial Bekwarra is established through generally accepted mechanisms.

Unique contribution: This study  has  engineered our consciousness on the need to pay close attention to issues concerning ethnic minority groups not only in Nigeria, but across the world. The study  makes a case for the need to avoid focusing only on major ethnic groups because there are interesting aspects of minority groups that merit attention in literature.

Conclusion: The British economic policies brought some measurable changes into the Bekwarra society including the commercialization and commoditization of the agricultural system, and the migration of the Bekwarra youth in search of white-collar jobs.

Recommendation: Researchers should  focus on other  ethnic minority groups that have not been given significant attention in literature.