Abstract

In indigenous and contemporary societies, different elements of social and political institutions have come up with various inner mechanisms that are unique to their societies that can adjudicate in conflict situations. In traditional, indigenous Yoruba societies, agba were usually relied upon as agents and institutions of conflict resolution in view of certain qualities possessed by this category of people. This paper focuses attention on the role of agba in conflict resolution at various levels of Yoruba life. We acknowledge that agba have performed these roles in traditional, indigenous Yoruba societies. The opinion expressed in this paper is that agba, as theoretical and practical conflict resolution mechanism, can be philosophically developed and used as an alternative model to the current means of resolving conflicts through wars and terrorism and other forms of violence by aggrieved individuals and groups in national and international arenas.