I will use the Yoruba as an example because I am a Yoruba person but actually, the old system of government used across the globe was basically thesame. It is what is called monarchy apart from some communities like the Nri Igbos in Nigeria that did not fully have such an institution in the past. The Nri had the Eze Nri but that Eze had no power more than to appeal to people. The Eze Nri was essentially a priest while Nri villages had no Eze in the real sense of it. They structured their communities to need no Ezes with populations never exceeding between one thousand and two thousand, whenever a communal decision is to be made, all the men who were family heads would gather at the village square to argue it out and the person with the best way forward will carry the day. No King required. Wars were rare, so the society was peaceful for centuries is why they developed the caste system where some people are designated as outcasts. If they were living in huge cities under a constant threat of attack from enemies, having been burnt down a couple of times, they would not be able to afford the luxury of stratifying the society into castes. Same, I believe applies for India. My take on the caste system is, 'if people dont want to marry you, then you should not want to marry them as well. Marry others'. With a history full of war and turbulence, a nation will not be able to afford the luxury of being stratified into castes.


Back to the old system of governance as against the now popular one of democracy with universal adult sufferage and
periodic elections. The old system among the Yoruba is that the Ogboni ruled, the Ogboni is a society of which all free men are members and there is an Ogboni council in all Yoruba towns and cities. The Ogboni is an assembly of free men, in the past, only slaves were barred from being Ogboni members. So the Ogboni owned everything. In an Ogboni assembly, there is no opposition party and their motto is a solemn prayer that anyone that does evil or is unfair to another human being among them must not prosper followed by a solemn Ase. So in an Ogboni assembly, if you suggest something and someone points out to you that it is unfair to somebody, you have to drop it immediately to avoid the Ogboni curse attached to doing evil. For example, if you suggested socialism as an economic model, someone will point out to you that such a policy is unfair to someone who saved money to start a business but the Ogboni will support the eradication of poverty which is unfair to no one and okay by all except of course people like Pastor Adeboye of the
RCCG and similarly minded oligarchs who foolishly think they have something to gain if millions are kept in misery.


So the old system of the Yoruba was that the Ogboni will approve somebody to be CEO of the nation which is termed Oba. To the Ogboni, the Oba is like a domestic servant who can be removed at any time. So to call for an election periodically would have sounded foolish to our ancestors. Why waste money on such an exercise when you can just remove the Oba? The Ogboni are able to remove an Oba by asking him or her to go on exile, commit suicide and etc depending on the gravity of misdemeanour. There were instances in the past when A was removed unceremoniously, replaced with B, B was later compelled to commit suicide and A re employed as happened with Alaafin Sango and his brother in Oyo. Such also happened in all the Yoruba nation states in the past.


So, the so called monarch of the past was a worker who can be dismissed at anytime. The ruling body in any Yoruba nation state of the past was the Ogboni, a society founded on truth, fairness and a sense of responsibility towards others. In a Yoruba city, if two people are caught fighting physically instead of sorting things out amicably, they will be arrested and will have to pay a heavy fine to the Ogboni society.


So it can be seen that the old system if managed properly is way better than democracy, more cost effective and more efficient. However, rather than making the position of CEO known as Oba by the Yoruba a hereditary position, it should have been made open to all.


There may be some advantages in universal adult suffrage democracy. Some nations have even made voting compulsory for all adults who are of age regardless of their level of reasoning, self comportment and etc, all in a bid to make the process open and as all inclusive as possible but we can all agree that employing people and keeping an eye on them while being able to dismiss them at any time is more advanced than changing overlords every four years.