Oral tradition has played a pivotal and indispensable role in the reconstruction of the African past.
Oral tradition can be said to be history stored in the memory and transmitted by words of mouth from generation to generation. They can be preserved in some fixed forms and can be spoken or sung. Oral tradition has been classified according to Jan Vasina as; formulae, poetry, lists, tales and commentaries. In all, its major characteristic is verbalism and oral transmission. This valid source of historical writing has been invaluable in the writing of African history both in the pre-literate and literate times. Accounts of traditions of different African societies were only begun to be written as a result of the influence of the Arabs and in the 20 th century, with the coming of the Europeans. Therefore, before this era, any information about the activities of the people was heavily depended on oral traditions. Bearing this in mind, the importance of oral tradition in tracing and writing the history of different African people like the Yoruba in Nigeria and Akan in Ghana to mention