IRON TECHNOLOGY AND POLITICAL POWER: EXAMPLES FROM THE IRON SMELTING BELT OF NSUKKA AREA, ENUGU STATE, SOUTH-EASTERN NIGERIA

Abstract

Iron smelting and its technology in Nigeria, particularly in South-Eastern Nigeria, had long gone into oblivion. Most people seem not to recollect coherent information about it as people aver that the furnace walls and iron slag dotted across the zone grew out from the ground. What a crass show of ignorance! But pointers to the practice exist in so many areas in form of iron slag, broken pieces of tuyere and furnace walls, etc. One area in South-Eastern Nigeria that is replete with these clues even to an intimidating level is Nsukka area in Enugu State. The area, possibly due to its proximity to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka has been well researched on, archaeologically speaking, especially in the area of iron technology. However, one fascinating feature of this technology lies not only on the magnitude of these pointers but how its tangible aspects grade into the intangible cultural practices of the respective communities where they occur. Apart from the often touted military superiority of those who possessed iron over those who did not, our ethnographic research in Nsukka area shows that iron could be a symbol of power in another way. As we observed, some areas with large concentration of evidence of iron workings tend to produce kings of their communities and where it is otherwise, they anoint kings or title takers. Is this a coincidence? This paper attempts to bring out the state of archaeological research, the ways the past through the furnace walls and iron slag, live in the present and direct the future in Nsukka area. It also tries to explore avenues through which these could be harnessed to attract UNESCO attention so as to use the features for the benefit of mankind. It concludes by calling on the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) and Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC)/Culture ministry to redirect attention on those non-renewable national resources.

Key Words:  Iron, Technology, Political power, Nsukka, Iron smelting belt, Nigeria.