Tribalism or ethnicity, religion and corruption are popular cliches used to describe or analyze various forms of anomalies in nigerian nation building. This is because, tribalism is a negative concept that is foiling the progress agitated by africans towards the nationbuilding of africa. The theory that best captures and explain ethnicity and identity crisis is the classical model theory by clifford geertz. In a pluralist society like nigeria, challenges pitfalls of nation building are enormous.
Igwara, obi patience 1993 ethnicity, nationalism and nationbuilding in nigeria, 19701992. A political history of nigeria and the crisis of ethnicity in. Introduction nigeria as one of the developing countries in the world is one of the countries where ethnic pluralism is. But all these emphasis was only placed on just one aspect of nation building national integration leaving the others. Ethnicity, nationalism and nationbuilding in nigeria, 19701992. Nigeria and the challenges of nation building in the 21st. Peace, state building, nation building, ethnicity, skewed federalism. They claim to own that region hence fight to keep intruders from taking over their land. Ethnicity and nation building in contemporary africa. Between ethnicity, nationality and development in nigeria.
Ghana, the yoruba of nigeria, the kpelle of liberia are congregated in a specific region of those countries. Nigeria as a nation is a constituent of several nationalities. Nigerias history is replete with shortlived governments, dysfunctional institutions and poor leadership. This study examined the effects of tribalism on africa nation building. As nigeria experiences a new democratic drive with the rising spate of insecurity, pundits believe this has ethnic as well as political undertone but dressed in boko haram garment.
The freedom that followed opened the door to agitations and expectations. A perspective for nonkilling emmy irobi polish academy of sciences summary the wish of every country is to have a harmonious, killingfree society where peoples dreams for a prosperous future is realized, and goods of modernity properly distributed fairly. There are over 250 ethnic groups and the major ones are yoruba, igbo and hausa. Ethnicity, nationalism and nationbuilding in nigeria.
Obi patience igwara ethnicity, nationalism and nation. Its main proponents included such leaders of the american academic community as karl deutsch, charles tilly, and reinhard bendix. It is thus narrower than what paul james calls nation formation, the broad process through which. The paper, a historiopolitical venture, argues that the path was colonially charted though. Its sketchiness is rooted in the fluidity of underlying triggers of conflict. Nation building is the process through which these majorities are constructed. Pdf ethnicreligious insurgencies and nationbuilding in. While large british colonies like india and the sudan had a single administrative. Nationbuilding is constructing or structuring a national identity using the power of the state.
The classical model theory which is titled integrating revolution offers an explanation for the difficulties in nationbuilding in the new states and on the other hand, how the problem can be overcome. Nation building aims at the unification of the people within the state so that it remains politically stable and viable in the long run. Nigeria and the challenges of nation building in the 21st century. This is particularly important in a country like nigeria which has about 370 different ethnic groups alubo, 2006. The challenge then is to make diverse cultural identities an integral part of the national one. It has been fashionable in the 1960s, and it is making it back centerstage right now. Ethnicity, politics, and nation building in nigeria. It is incontrovertible that nigeria is multi ethnic and the interplay of this ethnic factor pose a certrifugal and daunting challenge to the corporate existence of nigeria as a nation. Introduction the vilification of ethnicity as the scapegoat of all vices associated with the nigerian body polity has made the subject a dominant theme in the study of nigerian political economy. Pdf over the last decade, the activities of ethnicreligious insurgencies have permeated the nigerian nation, bringing into question the.
Ethnic religious insurgencies and nationbuilding in nigeria. In this article, tribalism and ethnicity are used interchangeably, because of its varying use to different people, but refers to same subject in the discourse. Readers in search of a carefully crafted analytical account of nigeria s political development will find this relatively brief study rewarding and refreshing. This is because, tribalism is a negative concept that is foiling the progress agitated by africans towards the nation building of africa. According to harris mylonas, legitimate authority in modern national states is connected to popular rule, to majorities. On the study of ethnicity in nigeria by ukoha ukiwo 1.
Nation building is thus a complex and dynamic process with ideological, philosophical, political, socioeconomic and cultural dimensions. But nation building by one nation may destroy others. Lagos is regarded as one of the largest technology hubs in africa with its thriving tech ecosysytem. Its southern coast is on the gulf of guinea in the atlantic ocean. The paper adopted analytical approach and essentially relying on textbooks, journals, articles, magazines, newspaper publications and past researches. The federation comprises 36 states and 1 federal capital territory, where the capital, abuja, is located. The historical legacies of colonial rule create some challenges for nationbuilding in nigeria. Although the divided populations of africaof different tribes.
Jumping the hurdles onifade, comfort adenike corresponding author. University, france, available at docs00586038pdfdtgreqam. Introduction nigeria as one of the developing countries in the world is one of the countries where ethnic pluralism is well pronounced. Ethnic politics and democratic consolidation in nigeria. Readers in search of a carefully crafted analytical account of nigerias political development will find this. Nationbuilding theory was primarily used to describe the processes of national integration and consolidation that led leading up to the establishment of the modern nationstateas distinct from various form of traditional states, such as feudal and dynastic states, church states, empires, etc. The meanings of these terms became more confused when they were translated into different languages. Phd thesis, london school of economics and political science united kingdom. Ethnic conflict and sustainable development in nigeria. The historical legacies of colonial rule create some challenges for nation building in nigeria. African leaders are known to be tribally discriminative in addition to posses attitudes due to their urge for wealth, power and building. Ethnicity, politics and nationbuilding in nigeria research. We take just a few for constraints of time and space. While conflicts in nigeria manifest in four variants, namely.
In nigeria, ethnicity has been a prime cause of political instability and the breakdown of law and order. Nigeria is marked by underlying ethnic cleavages and interethnic fears and tensions, hence a bellicose nation. Unfortunately, this has been succeeded in the subtlest. No work is deemed scholarly that does not consider the salience or. In this article, tribalism and ethnicity are used interchangeably, because of its varying use to different people, but refers to same subject in. It is argued that ethnicity is not necessarily incompatible with nationalism and nationbuilding. Managing ethnic and cultural diversity for national.
Rakov, vassar college 92 english 32, fall 1990 the ethnicity of nigeria is so varied that there is no definition of a nigerian beyond that of someone who lives within the borders of the country ukpo, p. Nigeria reveals, prior to the end of the nation s civil war, ethnicity was the bane of nigeria s political unity and social harmony. They are each functional to political stability and, therefore, to civil peace and to the ability of individual. The ethnicity of nigeria is so varied that there is no definition of a nigerian beyond that of someone who lives within the borders of the country ukpo, p. Nigerians were highly excited by the inauguration in 1999 of the democratic regime, especially the termination of the protracted military stranglehold on the society, and the progressively widening political space. Ethnicity, ethnic conflict, peace education, social justice, sustainable development 1. An evaluation and understanding of the political development in nigeria requires a consideration of the impact of ethnicity. Nigeria has three predominant regions, namely northern nigeria inhabited by the hausas, west nigeria with the yoruba and south with the igbos. Mar 07, 2017 nation building is constructing or structuring a national identity using the power of the state. The conditions for nation building, including homogeneity of the population, were much more positive than they are in africa. This dissertation explores the relationship between ethnicity and nationbuilding and nationalism in nigeria. Ethnicity has been perceived in general as a major obstacle to the overall politicoeconomic development of the country.
Conceptual issues to begin with, ethnicity1 may be defined as the employment or mobilization of ethnic identity and difference to gain advantage in situations of competition, conflict or. Ethnicity, state, and nationbuilding experiences, policies and conceptualization the term nationbuilding is both old and new. In building on the scholarly discourse on this phenomenon, this project seeks to examine the relationship between political violence in kenya around the general elections 2 yang, p. This period saw the promulgation of the reconciliation, rehabilitation, and reconstruction3rs. The boundaries of the formerly english colony were drawn to serve commercial interests, largely without regard for the territorial claims of the indigenous peoples 38. Indeed, arguments cropped have proven that the very. The virus of ethnicity has been one of the most definitive causes of social crisis, injustice, inequality and religiopolitical instability in nigeria. Nation building is a concept that gained prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s when president julius kambarage nyerere of tanzania strongly advocated it for fragile postcolonial african states. As nigeria warms to its centennial amalgamation birthday, the nigerian political history is summable as a squandered century of nationhood, a nation building in close. Oct 16, 2009 nation building is thus a complex and dynamic process with ideological, philosophical, political, socioeconomic and cultural dimensions. Ethnic diversity, democratization and nationbuilding in. Tracing the colonial roots it is pertinent to note that british colonialism. Ethnicity and nationalism both play a role in nationstate formation.
Peace, statebuilding, nationbuilding, ethnicity, skewed federalism. May 15, 2015 in a pluralist society like nigeria, challenges pitfalls of nation building are enormous. Abuja has been the capital of nigeria since december 12, 1991. Nevertheless, ethnicity and ethnic nationalism is critical to statemaking as both generate solidarity and garner popular participation of people in politics, yet, ethnicity, by its adversarial nature, is contraindicated to the concept of nationbuilding. Nigeria and the challenges of nation building in the 21st century ele samson department of history, faculty of arts and social sciences, gombe state university, gombe, nigeria email. Expectedly, politics by its nature and character is to give birth to a democratic structure capable of engendering development.
It is argued that ethnicity is not necessarily incompatible with nationalism and nation building. Ph d department of religion and cultural studies university of nigeria, nsukka. According to preliminary results of the 2006 census and subsequent estimates, the most populous cities in nigeria are lagos about 8 million, kano 3. Nigeria s ict sector has experienced a lot of growth, representing 10% of the nation s gdp in 2018 as compared to just 1% in 2001. However, it is difficult to speak about nationbuilding in those two countries, as their nations. This study examined the effects of tribalism on africa nationbuilding. These projects mainly involve manual labour, such as building bridges. Thus, the paper argues that there is positive relationship between political socialization and nation building. In the building of the us nation and others, aboriginal nations were erased or marginalized.
This broad view of nation building, then, is a deliberate political and cultural process of constructing or moulding a common nation out of hitherto independent political and ethnocultural groups or tribes. These reformed states would then become viable and coherent national entities. In some colonial territories, for instance nigeria, the strategy of decolonization gave impetus to political ethnicity. This has shaped how nigerians perceive issues of politics and nation building. A political history of nigeria and the crisis of ethnicity. May 16, 2015 it was after the bitter experience of the civil war, that nigeria made any serious efforts at nation building. The secessionist biafran war in nigeria also failed. This is significant as state or nation building cannot be wished or imposed, but a product of conscious statecraft built by exemplary men and women with vision and resolve.
Nationbuilding always has been a highly complex term, encompassing the description of historical experiences, a set. From time immemorial the desire to build a just, orderly, peaceful and progressive society has been uppermost in the minds of nigerian leaders. Cultural identity implies freedom of association with groups, communities and ideologies. Most studies carried out on race, ethnicity and national question have posited and concluded on the phenomenon as germane. Ethnicreligious insurgencies and nationbuilding in nigeria. It is however very disturbing that nigerians have become slaves to their ethnic origins instead of harnessing these diversities towards national development. Ethnicity, state, and nationbuilding jochen hippler. Ethnicity, nationalism and nationbuilding in nigeria, 1970. Nigeria reveals, prior to the end of the nations civil war, ethnicity was the bane of nigerias political unity and social harmony. To understand the above questions, an examination of the definitions of ethnicity by scholars and two schools of ethnicity primordial and instrumentalist is very important to this study.
Pdf ethnic religious insurgencies and nationbuilding in nigeria. The divideandrule policy was effectively utilized by the british as. Colonial rule divided nigeria into north and south with different land tenure systems, local government administration, educational systems, and judicial systems. Nation building according to ndolo, 2005 citing eleazu 1977, nation building is the process of politically socialising the people into becoming good citizens of the political order and making the citizens feel they have a stake in the community worth fighting for. This was a new type of nation state, because its people were not all of the same ethnicity, culture, and language, as had been thought to be the case in the early defining of the concept of nation state. In the modern era, nationbuilding referred to the efforts of newly independent nations, notably the nations of africa but also in the balkans, to redefine the populace of territories that had been carved out by colonial powers or empires without regard to ethnic, religious, or other boundaries. Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, is the scourge of tribalism. May 15, 2018 ethnicity, politics, and nation building in nigeria. The boundaries of the formerly english colony were drawn to serve commercial interests, largely without. Without doubt, one can say that ethnicity influences political. It is the position of this paper that much remains to be done because the transition or successful. Based partly on relevant secondary sources and on ethnographic data obtained by the author in the niger delta in 2003, this study attempts to do the following. Ethnicity, democracy and the development nexus in nigeria. Above all, it is about building a common sense of purpose, shared destiny and collective belonging and community.
Nevertheless, ethnicity and ethnic nationalism is critical to statemaking as both generate solidarity and garner popular participation of people in politics, yet, ethnicity, by its adversarial nature, is contraindicated to the concept of nation building. Ethnicity and nationalism both play a role in nation state formation. The challenges of nationhood and statebuilding in nigerias. Tribalism as a foiled factor of africa nationbuilding. However, it is difficult to speak about nation building in those two countries, as their nations. Thus ethnicity has created the notion of regionalism, which is also counter to nation building in the modern world. The conditions for nationbuilding, including homogeneity of the population, were much more positive than they are in africa. This dissertation explores the relationship between ethnicity and nation building and nationalism in nigeria. In the spirit of indirect rule, the major administrative and political units of nigeria were made to coincide with the spatial locations of the three major ethnic groups. It is now an instrument for allocating and distributing power and national resources.