Nigeria is a multi ethnic and culturally diverse society that has witnessed conflicts arising from this ethnic and cultural diversity. Federalism is often regarded as the appropriate governmental principles for countries with huge ethno cultural diversities. Dele babalola teaches at the department of international relations and diplomacy, baze university, abuja, nigeria. He explores the evolution of nigerian federalism through its myri. Bequeathed a contentious federal system by the united kingdom at independence in 1960, successive nigerian governments relentlessly centralized all revenue. Federalism and ethnic conflict in nigeriarotimi suberuwashington dc. Less than four years after the reestablishment of a democratically elected civilian government fourth republic in nigeria in may 1999, the countrys federal political order once again appears to be in distress. Now that the ethnic federal experiment is more than a decade old, it is possible to make a tentative evaluation of its performance. Project muse federalism and ethnic conflict in nigeria. Concepts and theories 25 of treaties and the coining of money is independent of the government of the associated states, and, on the other hand, state governments which in certain matters are, in their turn, independent of the general government. Ethnoreligious crises are part of issues that are of grave concern in nigeria. A challenge to inclusive social and political development by toyin cotties adetiba. Nigeria is said to be a british creation by uniting the various nationalities into a single country today known as the federal republic of nigeria. Federalism and groupbased inequalities in nigeria global centre.
The impact of ethnoreligious conflict on nigerian federalism. Regulation in india and pakistan federalism and ethnic. Federalism is the mixed or compound mode of government, combining a general government the central or federal government with regional governments provincial, state, cantonal, territorial or other subunit governments in a single political system. Ethnic conflict and federalism in nigeria agecon search. Nigeria sectarian violence between rural farmer and herder communities is prevalent in more than a dozen states, primarily in the broadly defined middle belt region of the country. Since its inception, nigerian federalism has always reflected attempts by the countrys emergent political class to regulate political conflict along ethnic lines by. Theoretical perspective 79 languages, customs and traditions gives the country a rich cultural diversity. Therefore, disfunctional political system reform and restructuring for maintaining social justice with all without any discrimination. Nigeria is one of africas most diverse and deeply divided states. With different development plans by the government targeted towards sustaining the nation, little or no results seem to be forthcoming. This instructive study helps explain why it lacks a stable political framework for economic and social development. Nigeria is tropical africas most important country, with an estimated 110 million people and major oil resources.
This study examines the ethnic conflicts caused by the introduction of sharia law in the northern state of nigeria. Chapter 4 provides a theoretical framework for understanding the boko haram dilemma and the factors responsible for the evolution of the armed sect and the. Students first had to describe federalism in nigeria. Federalism federation as a method of ethnic conflict. Across nigeria, the inability of the police and judiciary to protect citizens has prompted the establishment of vigilante groups and militias by ethnic or religious communities. From this point of view it describes the main types of modern federal state. This is due partly to the character of the competition to control the nigerian state, which impelled political parties in the first and second republics to crosscut ethnic. The appropriateness of using the term intergroup to describe the nature of conflicts in nigeria stems from the fact that conflicts in nigeria sometimes arise between ethnic groups and at some other times between religious groups some of which may be of the same ethnicity. The origins of nigerias federalism lie not in the pluralities of economic and geographic regions or of ethnic nationalities, but in the plurality of colonial administrative traditions imposed by the british. Pdf federalism and communal conflict in nigeria researchgate. Federalism and ethnic conflict in nigeria, journal of. In view of the above, during the imperial periods, a central issue in ethiopian politics was the. Ethnic and religious identityand consequently ethnic and religious conflict are often intertwined, especially when the majority of one ethnic.
Federalism and ethnic conflict in nigeria rotimi t. A true federalism and true democracy can be used as a real panacea of ethnic conflict. Challenges and opportunities abstract the study analyses the role of federalism in solving the national and ethnic conflicts. Nigeria needs good institution which could be successful in maintaining good governance.
The problem i want to examine is how to characterize the relationship between ethnicity and federalism in nigeria. Suberu 2001 federalism and ethnic conflict in nigeria. Diffenent modelsdifferent challenges advantagesdisadvantages by dr. Chapter 4 provides a theoretical framework for understanding the boko haram dilemma and the factors responsible for the evolution of. I want to illustrate how the dynamics of ethnicity, by which i mean its manipulation as a political resource of conflict and accommodation by the political elite, has shaped the development of federalism in the country. Federalism and ethnic conflict in nigeria journal of. Before we start discussing federalism in nigeria, it is pertinent to know what federalism really is. Erato kozakoumarcoullis former minister of foreign affairs at the roundtable discussion organized by the european. Managing ethnic and cultural diversity for national. Ethnic groups and conflicts ethnic group means different things to different people. The effect of institutional arrangements on ethnic conflict in nigeria. Worldview, 2000, xviii, 410pp, symbol not transcribed49. Let us begin with the southwest, which is dominated by the yoruba.
Foreword to federalism and ethnic conflict in nigeria, by rotimi suberu. Just as we have many authors, so we have several definitions of the concept. Pdf the impact of ethnoreligious conflict on nigerian. The clamour for true federalism in nigeria, true federalism means different things to different people. Nigeria also has probably the most elaborate system of government in the region. Federalism and ethnic conflict in nigeria sage journals. Nigeria, with over two hundred and fifty 250 ethnic groups inherited a federal system from britain in 1960 and successive. Usa, frg, multiethnic switzerland, presentday russia and multinational forms former. This paper expounds such conceptual issues as ethnicity, cultural diversity, federalism and national integration and then presents the historical background to ethnic and cultural conflicts in nigeria. The newfound phrase could be better understood using a geopolitical lens. Four broad traditions of explanatory enquiry in the research on ethnic conflict can be defined. Advances in african economic, social and political development. Vigilantism gained a particularly high profile in nigeria s southeastern states when, during the first term of obasanjos.
These problems includes the activities of social cultural or ethnic groups such as niger delta militant group, the movement for the actualization of the sovereign state of biafra massob among others, which was a fallout of nigeria federalism, second fallout is the ongoing boko haram menace which is threatening the unity of nigeria. Pdf this article examines the functioning of the current nigerian federal system against. In the conflict, the colonialists manipulated igbo. Federalism, the consociational state, and ethnic conflict. Federalism, the consociational state, and ethnic conflict in nigeria. It is also due partly to a crude machiavellian equation of political conflict in civil society with a war situation in which rules can be disregarded. Federalism and ethnic conflict in nigeria united states. Different administrative traditions were especially evident in the northern and southern regions of nigeria. Federalism can be seen as a system of government in which governmental powers that exist in a country are shared between central government and other component units i. Its distinctive feature, exemplified in the founding example of modern federalism by the united states under the constitution of 1787, is a. Emperor menelik ii was credited for being the first to implement a federal system before the concept of federalism flourished in the western political market. But the effectiveness of federalism and consociationalism as conflict regulating mechanisms has been limited. They also needed to explain one way nigeria s federal structure accommodates different religious groups, as well as one way the federal structure accommodates different ethnic groups in the country. Nigeria with some form of contextual discrimination, relationships between people may be characterized by lack of cordiality, mutual suspicion and fear as it is the case among ethnic and religious groups in nigeria.
He holds a phd in politics and government from the university of kent and also obtained an mphil in west african politics from the university of birmingham united kingdom. The ethnolinguistic groups include various afroasiatic, khoisan, nigercongo and nilosaharan populations the official population count of the various ethnic groups in africa is highly uncertain, both due to limited infrastructure to perform. In fact, this mutual suspicion and lack of cordiality religious conflicts have become a. Federalism and ethnic conflict in nigeria foreign affairs.
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