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Nigeria Political System And The Impacts Of Ethnicity
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1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Nigeria‟s struggle for democracy
and good governance has so far been pursued within the federalist logic,
though under a perverse practices condition of the successive limilary
regimes with no exception to the ethno-religious and political crises.
Most notable of such perversions relates to the recent Boko Haram and
the recurring bomb attacks in Nigeria. Scholars and political
commentators have argued that it is an attempt to impose religious
ideology through terrorism (Bagaji, et al, 2012). Religion has
manifested itself as a potent force in the political development of the
Nigerian state from time immemorial. More so, it is very difficult to
separate the state from religion-voting behavior and many times
ascension to political offices is circulated on the basis of religious
affiliation (Kukah, 1994; Danjibo, 2009; Omotola, 2010). In a religious
country like Nigeria, it is expected to be at peace with itself and all
those living within its sovereign territory. Paradoxically, recent
studies have revealed that the role of religion and ethnicity in Nigeria
is in negative light than its positive contribution.
Nigeria remains
underdeveloped and always ranked low in indexes such as health care,
poverty reduction, capacity building, educational standard, unemployment
reduction, water supply and sanitation. The reason behind this is as a
result of the various ethnic and religious politics played and social
conflicts caused by our leaders, religious fanatics, greedy politicians
and self-centered individuals (Coleman, 1995). As religious as Nigeria
is, the country‟s major „national issue‟ remains largely an unresolved
political, economic and social crisis. The steady growth and
consolidation of communal allegiances and ethno-religious identities
among various ethnic and religious groups in pursuit of competing
material and value preferences, and their negative aftermath effect have
characterized most of Nigeria‟s political, economic and social
underdevelopment, particularly since the 1950s ( Usen, 2010). Across the
length and breadth of Nigeria, ethnic and religious considerations in
political, economic, social and academic matters can hardly be avoided.
Politics is ethnic oriented; ethnicism is more often than not the
consciousness of Presidents, Heads of states, Ministers, and those on
National assignments. This has been one of the most important causes of
social conflicts in Nigeria, especially in a situation where this
consideration do not favour the minority group and some elites in the
majority group. This social conflict in the form of violence resulting
from destruction of lives and properties has been perceived in general
as a major obstacle to the overall political, social and economic
development of the country.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The
main objective of this study is to evaluate the impacts of Ethnicity and
Religion on the political processes in Nigeria. The specific objectives
are;
• To examine the relevance of religious groups on the political processes in Nigeria.
• To evaluate if ethnicity and religion are distracting factors to the political processes in Nigeria.
• To determine if ethnicity and religion are the basic causes of political conflicts in Nigeria.
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