ABSTRACT
It is appropriate that this book end with mid 1975, just as the political community of Mushin seemed, sociologically speaking, to have reached a rather satisfying state of ‘completion’. In that year, eighty-three junior chiefs were recognised, a new committee of management was sworn in, and the old guard of community leaders stood firm. But stasis is not the story of Mushin. On 29 July, 1975, a coup d’état brought a third military government to power in Nigeria. In some ways the takeover was reminiscent of the closing days of Nigeria’s first civilian regime in 1965 when seven Mushin ọba were recognised by the government only a few weeks before it was overthrown by the military. The reasons behind the recognitions at these critical points in Nigeria’s history were, I believe, the same. As the two governments waned in popularity, each grasped an opportunity to gain support of the masses by recognising leaders they believed were close to the public pulse.
