By pre industrial standards, the economy of the Yoruba was well developed in the past. People belonged to Agbo iles and Agbo iles belonged to towns, towns belonged to nations and a nation was ruled by the Ogboni council of elders and administered by the Oba in council who were mere servants of the Ogboni as well as Ogboni members. The Ogboni was the one party ruling the state.

A developed economy is one in which there are many products as well as highly skilled people who make them leading to the national labor force working in the economy to be finely divided. It leads to development of knowhow passed down from generation to generation in family lineages but without universities, libraries and written scholarship, a lot of know how is lost. Also, without corporatocracy that enables a more efficient use of capital, it would be difficult if not impossible to take capital deployment to the next level. In the pre industrial Yoruba economy, there were no universities, knowledge libraries or corporate bodies outside the crown which did not have to give account to anyone just as was the case in Portugal and Spain. However, Yoruba society was more liberal and free than European society. There was no class in the society. Every individual was a member of an ile and under the protection of his Baale, the individual maybe a slave or a freeborn but that is only a nomenclature. A slave could become a Baale if he carried himself well, he is the oldest in the compound, influential and supported by the whole ile. People could travel outside their domains for trade and etc unlike what was the case in feudal Europe. Any member of an Agbo ile remain an asset to the Agbo ile wherever they are, regardless of their being a slave or not.

There were many sectors of the economy including agriculture, food production, trading, cloth weaving, mat making, bead making, theology, theatre arts, civil service, healthcare, wood carving, metal working, construction, tailoring and many others.

A particular town may specialise in a special kind of textile, drawing people to their markets from all over West Africa like in the case of the Okun and etc. All Yoruba towns produce quality textiles but some take it farther by adding value. This is similar to how Japan and Germany control the automobile export market globally despite that they are not necessarily the top producers, they nevertheless control the export market. Ijesa for instance produced intricately woven mats, kolanuts, clothes and etc and their markets are filled with these products.

There was no unemployment because so long as you are a member of an Agbo ile or household, you will have a job and you will never be alone. Whether or not you will be upwardly mobile will totally depend on your own vision and personal plans. You can work hard, save money, start trading and become a big business man. That was called Osomaalo among Ijesas. Those were hire purchase merchants who travelled across West Africa and made a lot of money in business back then. In Ogbomosho was also another variety called San diedie, another hire purchase merchant class but not as prominent as the Ijesa Osomaalo. There were travelling theaters who perform as full time drama groups all year round from town to town, occasion to occasion and etc, performing impossible feats like turning to snakes, lions and etc to the admiration of onlookers. They performed for fees at coronations, town festivals and etc, all year round as professionals. They held their own sector in the economy. There were bronze workers, wood workers, bone workers and etc, who wor for a fee. There were professional musicians and etc. Theology was a huge sector comparable to the trading sector.

So, with bustling markets containing thousands of traders filled with hundreds of goods of different kinds and vibrant activities in all sectors, one may opine that by pre industrial standards the economy of the Yoruba was well developed and more stable, even and equal than any modern economy on Earth today. The only edge the modern or industrialized world has is technology for mass production and other knowhow. So, no famines and epidemics as used to be the case across the world in the past. But are we using the knowhow well?. Have we taken full advantage of it? The question is for us to answer.

add link to the right up so that credit can go to the author

crestedaguiyi:
add link to the right up so that credit can go to the author

I Am The Author