The Origin of Democracy and Republican Systems of Government of the Gade People in Precolonial African Contexts

The origins of democracy and republican systems within the Gade people in the precolonial African contexts provide a profound insight into the political and governance structures of indigenous African societies before colonial imposition. This paper explores the democratic frameworks and republican traditions of the Gade People in the former Gade Republic or Gade Federation, emphasizing their communal decision-making processes, the role of elders (equivalent to National Assembly or National Council/Congress), and the decentralisation of power. Gomo or Góré as the head of state and government of every Gade community with Bàtsàkpá ‘Congressmen or Council of Elders’. Gomo, in its actual sense is the modern equivalent to President or Governor in some special circumstances, and Council of Elders as ‘Federal Executive Council’ or ‘National Economic Council’. Drawing from oral traditions, historical records, and anthropological studies, the research identifies key elements of governance, including participatory deliberations, confederate monarchy, collective decision-making, and the balance between individual rights and collective responsibilities. It further examines the system of check and balances inherent in Gade governance, where the power of leadership was subject to the scrutiny of various societal groups, ensuring accountability and transparency. The study also highlights the unique role of age grades, kinship ties, and cultural institutions and ministries in the formation of a political system that was both republican and democratic. By contextualising these governance structures within the border African political landscape, this paper contributes to a deeper understanding of African political thoughts and challenges colonial narratives that often undermine the complexity and sophistication of indigenous governance systems. Through this exploration, the paper posits that the Gade People’s political systems were not only precursors to modern democratic practices but also exemplified a distinct and rich tradition of participatory governance in a confederate independent society. This study further explores the nature and systems of governance or structure of the Gade people in the present-day (at the time of publishing) North-Central even before the uprising of Kwararafa Confederacy in the region around 15^th century AD. It furthered established that there was no stateless region in the present-day Middle belt of Nigeria; the Gade people flourished in terms of history, political systems, anthropological and archaeological, rich cultural institutions, governance, rule of law (absence of lawlessness) in Gade Republic or Gade Confederacy. With these, Gade (with an estimated population of over 8,000,000 people as at the time of publication) are not part or not formed part of the Kwararafa Lineage as wrongly classified as there are no biological theories and hypotheses to established same, under several Gomoship interregnum in Gade Republic, there were city fences [city wall]. This study also established that the Gade people were in the present-day Nigeria around 36000 BCE that flourished in terms of Sciences and Technological, philosophy and governance. Most importantly, the Gade are linguistically classified as Gadoid as propounded by GT Obadiah as against Nupoid; the empirical democracy, empirical republicanism and evidence form(s) of system of governance of the Gade people are considered.