Ethnic Prejudice and the Challenges of Nation Building in Contemporary Nigeria

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume III, Issue XII, December 2019 | ISSN 2454–6186

Ethnic Prejudice and the Challenges of Nation Building in Contemporary Nigeria

Mustapha Salihu¹, Yahaya Yakubu^2
1Ph.D. Candidate, Peace, Conflict & Strategic Studies, Nile University of Nigeria
²Political Science & International Relations, Nile University of Nigeria

Abstract: – Multi ethnic societies such as Nigeria have spent a better part of their existence trying to integrate various groups in a bid to foster the actualization of a supra-national identity. The inability of the state to manage diversity in amongst other factors, upholds the prevailing prejudice and antagonism that characterizes ethnic-groups interaction. Too often ethnic-based agitations have averted meaningful efforts at national integration thereby fostering favoritism, exclusion and discrimination to mention but a few. Hence, prevailing policies and institutions aimed fostering national integration should be reviewed in lieu of their inability to attain predetermined results.

Keywords: Ethnicity, Ethnic Prejudice, National Integration, Social Dominance and Resources.

I. INTRODUCTION

Been the largest state in Africa South of the Sahara, contemporary Nigeria is made up of hundreds of ethnicities (henceforth groups). The relationship that characterizes underlying groups has largely remained uneasy. The unhealthy manner in which resources are competed for, political relevance and prominence has pitched one group against another, resulting in a highly fragmented and polarized society. As in numerous social organizations the tendency for one group or individual to dominate or at least attempt to dominate the other remains overbearingly viable. The perceived cum actual dominance of one group over the other has resulted in far reaching rivalry that has been passed down from generations through socialization and orientation. At extreme instances ethnic prejudice in Nigeria was a major determinant of the 1963 civil war, and in recent times it constitutes a central factor in the clamor for actualization of the People’s Republic of Biafra.
Iwe ethnic prejudice denotes pejorative stereotype, often very resilient to change which is cherished by one ethnic group against the other1. It is further argued that ethnic prejudice has immense negative implications on peaceful co-existence in Nigeria, as it has also led to the escalation of inter-ethnic group conflicts in Nigeria. It is also thought to promote antagonism and tribalism, resulting in prevalence of organized or group selfishness2.

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