George Ayittey writes:
For those who asked about it, the politics of inclusion can be found embedded in Africa’s traditional system, where strangers and even slaves and foreigners could take part in the decision-making process.
In Senegal, slaves were closely associated to power. They were represented in royal courts and many became de facto ministers (Diop, 1987:2). More importantly, Boahen and Webster (1970) pointed out that:
image of Jaja of Opobo via Wikipedia
“Slaves had many privileges in African kingdoms. In Asante, Oyo and Bornu, they held important offices in the bureaucracy, serving as the Alafin's Ilari in the subject towns of Oyo, as controller of the treasury in Asante, and as Waziri and army commanders in Bornu. Al‑Hajj Umar made a slave emir of Nioro, one of the most important of the emirates of the Tokolor empire, and in the Niger Delta states slaves rose to become heads of Houses, positions next in rank to the king. Jaja, who had once been the lowest kind of slave, became the most respected king in the delta, and was no exception; one of the Alaketus of Ketu, and Rabeh of Bornu, rose from slave to king (p.69)...[continue reading]
