ABSTRACT
The goal of many of Mushin's top leaders was to perpetuate their position of power. The military accession to power in 1966 injected a number of uncertainties into the political environment. One of the principal qualities of the political system, displayed in this encounter, was that leaders who were lower in the levels of community power were able to rein in those at the top. The conferral of titles was also used to increase the stature and power of people already active in the chieftaincy system. The Awori chieftaincy division of Ojuwoye had, of course, employed similar strategies to the settlers by trying to bring into its camp influential people who might improve its position. The second step in the process of legalising the chieftaincy system was to secure official recognition for junior chiefs and honorary title-holders. The efforts of both Awori and settlers were directed toward institutionalising legally and bureaucratically the high positions they had established for themselves.
