Ethnicity and national integration in Nigeria: A historical overview

One of the numerous problems confronting Nigeria today is unity. The structure of Nigeria's ethnic relations, more often than not generate tension that sometimes threaten efforts at national integration. Contemporary Nigerian society is a complex web of contending, often hostile, ethnic, religious and regional issues. Indeed, a study of the multiethnic, multireligious, multiclass and multiregional dimensions of the Nigerian society and their impact on national integration makes this work invaluable giving the wave of oddities that presently threaten the peace and unity of Nigeria. This paper attempts an examination of the impact of ethnicity on national integration in Nigeria. There is no doubt that conflict among the various ethnic groups in Nigeria namely the Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba and Igbo began in the colonial era but assumed a disturbing dimension after the country's independence in 1960. The paper also seeks to examine the impact of these conflicts on national unity and integration.