The dynamics of ethnic politics in Nigeria

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Periodical article

Title:	The dynamics of ethnic politics in Nigeria
Author:	Nnoli, Okwudiba
Year:	1976
Periodical:	Odù: Journal of Yoruba and Related Studies
Issue:	14
Pages:	3-25
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Nigeria
Subjects:	ethnicity acculturation
Abstract:	This article's purpose is to contribute to a solution of the ethnic problem in Nigeria. Previous explanations, identifying the origin of ethnic conflict in group interaction, fail to investigate fully the case and nature of such contact, and make no effort to examine the role of factors which define the Nigerian urban situation. This article identifies these factors as follows: the colonial heritage of the country, particularly its status as a dependent and peripheral appendage of the advanced capitalist societies; its inferior role in the international division of labour; scarcity of goods and services; socio-economic competition of the type underlined by J.S. Furnivall (Colonial Policy and Practice. Cambridge, 1943); inegalitarianism in socio-economic life; social atomization of the population; the pervasive socio-economic insecurity of the individual; and the low level of class consciousness of the population. Sections: Introduction - Ethnicity and the colonial urban setting - The emergence of ethnic identity - The growth of interethnic hostility - Conclusion. Notes and ref.