Historically, Nigerian ethnic teams had attained a high level of integration before the colonial cure. Long length trade, migratory movements and socioeconomic inter-group relations had helped help to make ethnic and cultural the usage an integral part in the evolution of modern Nigeria. Obafemi Awolowo’s view that “Nigeria is geographical expression and a country unnaturally created by British” has become faulted about historical realities. This is in relation to the country’s diverse nationalities, languages, reputations, religions and worldviews. In the past, nations emerged from range and ongoing to adjust to historical and political processes. The evolution of recent France and Germany exemplify this process. In the matter of Nigeria, pre-colonial ethnic migrant workers were in numerous places integrated and assimilated into their sponsor communities.
The geo-political entity thought as Nigeria continued to be the most everlasting hangover in the British colonialism. Before the 1914 popular amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates, each of the over two hundred fifty ethnic groups that make up Nigerian State persisted to some extent individually and distinctly in culture and tradition, but not that they were not reaching one another in favorable term. What happened inside the 1914 event of the northern and southern unification was reminiscence of any marriage, which can not always be so pleasant but cannot be easily divorced. Consequently, the British displayed their politics craft by introducing federalism. Still, the 1914 exercise it would not bring to carry the desired integration and inter-group relations. As a result of the problems inherent with federalism or federal arrangement, National Character Rule was launched as a remedy.
In addition to the economic decrease and connected problems, Nigeria and Africa at large is affected with continuing clashes and protection problems which includes led to inhospitable inter-group human relationships. Osei-Hwedie (1998) has also explained that multiparty politics offers heightened cultural and local divisions that had been intensified and consolidated underneath colonialism. African conflicts often times have domestic and regional causes. This is due to concerns associated with sociable, ethnic, social and spiritual differences in the context of massive inequalities in the syndication of electric power, wealth and also other resources that make challenges for the status-quo inevitable. According to Deng and Zartman (1991) the fight against colonialism brought collectively different ethnic groups against a common enemy, and thus for some time, differences were put aside consequently as in Nigeria, as a prevalent front was crucial inside the Nationalist problems. The people have got reconceived and sharpened their particular demands from purely cultural and ¢economic to politics demands which were refocused upon relative autonomy and self-determination for their cultural areas within the context of the Nigerian federation. All this features resulted in a circle of conflict between government as well as the people and between the areas and other areas and their teams.
Ethnicity, Ethnicity continues to be perceived by various sociologists and scientists as a much corseted concept. It is a basis either for nationwide separation or for personal subordination. In practice, ethnicity is commonly used freely to refer to commonality of language, religious beliefs, identity, countrywide origin and in many cases skin color. Relating to Bulmer (1986) along with many sociologists and anthropologists, the key element in ethnicity has to do with “memories of a shared past”, relating to the collective memory space of a people. The challenges and possibilities of contemporary ethnic relations in Nigeria happen to be shaped within the framework of social, personal, economic and cultural corporations. Contemporary developments, currents of opinion and attitude happen to be influenced simply by significant incidents and weaved into a porous configuration of local, regional and national relationships. The colonial masters introduced ‘the principle of divide and rule” inside the administration of pre-independence Nigeria thereby deepening the ethnic division in Nigeria. The colonial professionals also still left at freedom a country that was ethnically and religiously divided. It had been this situation characterized by suspicion and distrust that eventually triggered Nigeria’s detrimental war knowledge regarded as the bloodiest personal crisis. in Nigeria which has been more of an “ethnic cleansing”, a terrible euphemism for genocide as it stated over 31, 000 lives of Igbo’s living in the Northern area. One cannot also forget the fallouts with the annulment of the June doze, 1993 President election which in turn Chief Meters. K. To. Abiola was said to possess won. Following annulment and eventual incarceration, ethnic sentiments were provoked as politics tension mounted. The annulment generated very much resentment among the list of Yoruba cultural group who saw this as a strategic attempt to deny them a chance to rule the, especially when the election was acclaimed as the freest ever before in the good Nigeria. The consequent effect of this was disorder, chaos and violence in the Western part of the country plus some other parts from the country. Ethnic rivalry is known as a major reason for Africa’s in reverse states. Countless numbers have beep manipulated during inter-ethnic dissension in Africa particularly in countries like Somalia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Uganda, Chad, Niger Republic, Nigeria etc .
Conflicts and intergroup relationships
One of the first definitions of conflicts was by Karl Max (1818 -1883) a conflict theorist who identified conflict while the existence of divergent interests in a group or maybe the result of every group or class looking to pursue her interest in addition to the process arrive against one another with discord emerging. The World Bank Survey on Nigeria (1996) described Nigeria like a Paradox: “the country is usually rich nevertheless the people are poor Nigeria can be rich in terrain, people, olive oil and organic resources. In the event more wealth had been transfered to the development of its people Nigeria could have been poised to get a promise”.
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