Ethnic Sentiments, Political Instability and Development in Nigeria

Abstract

Ethnicity is functional. Ethnic sentiments are the oil that lubricates them. In a multi-ethnic country such as Nigeria, with over 250 ethnic groups, the tendency to use ethnic sentiments to the advantage of the group and the disadvantage of the nation is very tempting. The position of this paper is that over the past decades, from colonial days to postcolonial and contemporary Nigeria, ethnic sentiments have been variously deployed by Nigerians to the detriment of the nation. The more these sentiments are used, the more disaffection they cause in the country and the more politically unstable we are as a nation. This cumulatively impedes development. The theoretical framework applied in this paper is group theory. The methodology is content analysis. The paper recommends that one major way to end political instability is for a re-orientation of the general populace to re-awaken national consciousness through the use of effective and autonomous agency and the teaching of orientation courses in our schools.