The Igbo Pre-colonial society was by and large segmentary. The word segmentary is used to describe the socio-political organization of societies without a central government usually headed by a single person in Pre-colonial Africa. Segmentary societies are distinguished from the stratified societies which usually have royal and noble families who pass high political office from generation to generation. In segmentary societies, stable government is achieved by balancing small equal groups against each other and by the ties of clanship, marriage and religious associations. These institutions therefore have special significance because of their interrogative functions in these societies.
Among the Igbo, there were clans. Usually the people making up the clan claimed a common ancestor. The relationship was patrilineal. All those living in one clan are considered relatives. A clan was made up of many villages. The village was the political unit of Igbo land. Village government consisted of two basic institutions, the Ama-ala and the village assembly of citizens. Normally, the heads of compounds sat on the council. In routine matters the elders ruled by decree and proclamation, but where decisions likely to produce disputes were to be taken, the Ama-ala could order the town crier to announce a village assembly in the market place. At the assembly, the elders laid the issues before the people. Every man had a right to speak and the people applauded popular proposals and opposed unpopular opinions. Decisions had to be by consensus and it was here that young or wealthy men with records of service and dedication to the village could influence policies.
The Igbo political system had checks against the elders. If they acted arbitrarily the people could protest. An unpopular elder would be ignored and no one would speak to him. This social pressure compelled the elder to hand into the popular will. The village assembly was considered the Igbo man's birth right, the guarantee of his rights, the expression of his individualism and the means where by the young and progressive expressed their views against the old and conservative. The administration of justice possessed the same democratic quality.
Quarrels between individuals from different families in the ward were settled amicably with the elders acting as arbiters. Quarrels between major segments or serious crimes such as theft would come before the full Ama-ala and village assembly. In such a situation, the individuals concerned might call witnesses and any one in the assembly can speak. Once both sides of the Ama-ala and assembly argued the pros and cons of the issues in the matter brought before them, judgement was passed. When the decision had been taken, one elder will be asked to give judgement.
One of the major forms of the inter-clan cooperation was the oracle system. Some clans possessed an oracle for the settling of disputes when evidence of guilt was inconclusive. Although there were many oracles, only a few became nationally famous for the impartiality of their judicial decisions. For example, there were oracles at Agwu, the Agbala oracle at Akwa, but the most famous of them all was the Arochukwu oracle (the voice of chukwu). Since the Arochukwu was far away, with little direct interest in the dispute, it's impartiality was an important element in its popularity. In a dispute involving rival clans, the guilty party were fined so many slaves according to their degree of guilt. The slaves were sacrificed to Chukwu to appease his wrath for the offence committed. An individual who was found guilty by the Arochukwu oracle also never returns as he was supposedly sacrificed to the oracle. To ignore the verdict of Chukwu was believed to bring down the displeasure of the gods in the form of famine, disease.
The age-sets were also an important aspect of the Igbo political organization. Young people of a certain age were initiated into an ageset in which they remained all their lives. The population was thus arranged in two parallel male and female age-set organizations. Age-sets besides being societies for mutual help and for discipline were convenient for organizing public works. Younger age-sets were responsible for keeping the village clean and the older ones for clearing the bush for new markets, providing guards.
Regardless of cultural differences between the groups, there were certain characteristics typical of the Igbo society. The Igbo respected age and leadership came from the elders. Respect for the elders was not entirely the result of their age but also because of their priestly functions. The family, lineage heads were for example responsible for rituals and sacrifices to the founder of the family and this helped to maintain peace, prosperity and happiness of the group concerned. Although the Igbo respected age, respect was not servility and was balanced by the belief that birth did not confer advantage on any man. The Igbo society was individualistic and egalitarian; every man considering himself as good as everyone else and demanding a voice in local affairs. Since everyone had a right to rise in the society, Igbo culture emphasize competition between families and between clans.
Although the Igbo society did inhabit the Montesquieun model of power separation, autocracy was checked by in built system of checks and balances. Unlike the Yoruba, the Igbo society was republican and did not have a monarch presiding over the whole kingdom.