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CAUSES OF ETHNIC CONFLICT WITHIN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

Ethnic conflict in Nigeria has led to the lack of peace and harmony. Nigeria is a complex country in Africa with over 300 ethnic groups and 120 different languages spoken throughout the country. The issue of discrimination, based on “We” and “Them.” negatively affect the socio-economic and political development of Nigeria. Since the day of independence, there has been the struggle for superiority and recognition among the various ethnic groups that led to the Nigerian civil war from 1967-70. Colonization, the struggle for position and power, resource control, social class status and land dispute has been the causes of ethnic conflicts within Nigeria. The objectives of this study are to explain the root causes of ethnic conflicts that lead to ethno–religious conflicts in Nigeria and to evaluate the magnitude of human and material resources destroyed as a result of such conflicts. A historical research method was employed for gathering secondary data from sources such as books, newspapers, magazines, dictionaries, journals, government publications and online information. The result revealed that the six geo-political zones of Nigeria namely; North West, North East, North Central, South West, South-South and South East zones have all witnessed all kinds of ethnic conflicts resulted from the same set of causes. Based on the findings, it was recommended that Nigeria should stop the practice of federalism and embrace confederation, which will give the country and its people autonomy to rule and manage their resources. The government should not be biased in sharing the wealth of the nation, one ethnic group, in particular, should not be favored against another.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   Background of the Study

An ethnic conflict is a conflict between two or more contending ethnic groups. While the source of the conflict may be political, social, or economic, the individuals in conflict must expressly fight for their ethnic group’s position within society. This final criterion differentiates ethnic conflict from other forms of struggle. (Varshney, Ashutosh 2002).

Ethnic conflict does not necessarily have to be violent. In a multi-ethnic society where freedom of speech is protected, ethnic conflict can be an everyday feature of plural democracies. For example, ethnic conflict might be a non-violent struggle for resources divided among ethnic groups. (Olzak, Susan 1992) However, the subject of the confrontation must be either directly or symbolically linked with an ethnic group. In healthy multi-ethnic democracies, these conflicts are usually institutionalized and “channelled through parliaments, assemblies and bureaucracies or through non-violent demonstrations and strikes.” (Varshney, Ashutosh 2007) While democratic countries cannot always prevent ethnic conflict flaring up into violence, institutionalized ethnic conflict does ensure that ethnic groups can articulate their demands in a peaceful manner, which reduces the likelihood of violence. On the other hand, in authoritarian systems, ethnic minorities are often unable to express their grievances. Grievances are instead allowed to fester which might lead to long phases of ethnic silence followed by a violent outburst. (Varshney, Ashutosh 2007) Therefore, ethnic peace is an absence of violence, not an absence of conflict. Another consequence is that violent ethnic rebellions often result in political rights for previously marginalized groups. (Koos, Carlo 2016)

Academic explanations of ethnic conflict generally fall into one of three schools of thought: primordialist, instrumentalist or constructivist. Recently, several political scientists have argued for either top-down or bottom-up explanations for ethnic conflict. Intellectual debate has also focused on whether ethnic conflict has become more prevalent since the end of the Cold War, and on devising ways of managing conflicts, through instruments such as consociationalism and federalisation.

Ethnicity refers to a group of people with a common socio/cultural identity such as language, common worldview, religion and common cultural traits (Boaten, 2000). Thus ethnic groups are social formations distinguished by the communal character (such as language and culture) of their boundaries (Nnoli, 1980). In other words, ethnic groups represent categories of people characterized by cultural symbols including language, value systems and normative behaviour, and whose members are anchored in a particular territory (Otite, 1990). Actually, the word ethnic is derived from the Greek word ethnos which means a group of people who share a common and distinctive culture. In its classical meaning, ethnic relates to a member of a particular ethnos (Imobighe, 2003). Hence ethnicity according to Imobighe should be seen as the feeling of belonging to a distinctive cultural or linguistic group, or a manifestation of ethnic consciousness in relation to other groups.

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