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Introduction:

Abstract

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Since Nigeria had political independence in 1960 certain key problems have played dominant roles in determining the nature, character and direction of government and politics in the country. Most of these issues have been described by scholars and commentators on Nigeria politics as the legacies of the country’s colonial experience, whose origins can be traced back to the almost one hundred years of colonial domination.



One of the issues or fall-outs of the Nigerian federal system is ethnicity. Ethnicity in Nigeria derives from the multifarious and diverse nature of the Nigerian territory, which consists of people of different background, ancestry and tradition. In essence members of an ethnic group could then be described as consisting of those who regard themselves as being alike by virtue of their common ancestry, language, custom as well as tradition, Olisa et al (1990).

Ethnicity as a force in Nigerian politics originated from the colonial policies of the British, who, through their ‘divide and rule policy’. Encouraged the use of different applications of colonial policies on the traditional institutions and structures of the various ethnic groups in Nigeria.

This unequal impact of colonial policies saw the partial exposure of western education by the British Missionaries to a particular part of the country, namely the southern part of Nigeria, thereby alienating the northern part. The dangers inherent in these segregationist policies soon became apparent in the 1940s, 1950s and soon after political independence in 1960.



In his work, Okwudiba Nnoli traces the origin of ethnicity in Nigeria and rightly blamed it squarely on European Imperialism. He also wrote extensively on the origin of the struggles and clashes between the Igbos and Yorubas and Igbos and Hausas among others. Nnoli sees tribalism which became the recurring feature of Nigerian political life as part and parcel of colonial racism whose primary objective was the complete alienation of the colonized African, enabling a better and more complete domination and control of her.

Introduction

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