NIGERIA’S NATIONAL UNITY VERSUS REGIONAL POLITICAL TENDENCIES: ASSESSING THE TENABILITY OF REMAINING TOGETHER

Joshua Timothy                                                                               

Department of Political Science,

Wesley University, Ondo, Ondo State.

Email: joshua_timothy84@yahoo.com. Josday37@gmail.com

Abstract: History is replete about instances in which two or more ethnic groups have come together with a desire to live and be governed by the same political administration. Although there have always been ethnic tensions at the beginning, these groups have often found a common ground that helped them to tolerate one another, and this has been positively exploited by some countries, such that they were able to see and tap into the enormous strength in their ethnic diversities. Nigeria, a country in the Western Sahara, is blessed with several ethnicities, but they have struggled unsuccessfully to live together as one country, due to ethnic chauvinism, which has been exploited by the political class so blatantly, that it has become commonplace for citizens to vote on ethnic lines during general elections. This paper assesses the historical coexistence between the various ethnicities in Nigeria, with a particular emphasis being placed on the reasons why they have found it difficult to live together. It further analyses the tenability of the forced amalgamation in the face of daunting events which point to uneasy coexistence. Having dissected the above, this paper recommends some policy alternatives, which, if adopted, will solve most of the problems militating against Nigeria’s unity.

Keywords: Ethnicity, Diversities, Union, Constitution, Regionalism, Primordialism, Instrumentalism, Coup d’état, Colonialism.

Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Joshua Timothy (2017), Nigeria’s National Unity Versus Regional Political Tendencies:  Assessing the Tenability of Remaining Together. J. of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Vol. 9, Number 3, Pp. 76-91