ETHNIC CONFLICTS IN NIGERIA; IMPLICATIONS ON GOOD GOVERNANCE

BY

DAVID O. ALAO.

POPOOLA MICHAEL A.

ABSTRACT

Nigeria, as a multi ethnic nation, has continued to grapple with the challenges of

curbing the incessant ethnic conflicts that have constituted a serious challenge and put

the unity and peaceful co-existence of the various ethnic groups in the country at a risk..

This study examined the effects of ethnic crisis on governance in Nigeria, with the aim

of suggesting how ethnic plurality can serve as a centripetal rather than centrifugal

force in the country. The study adopted qualitative method of study. Materials were

mostly derived from secondary sources and content analysis method was used to

analyze data collected. The study discovered that ethnicity was a political behaviuor by

political elites, capitalizing on the settlement pattern, indegeneship, competition for

political and economic resources and government failure to seriously address issues of

conflict. The conflicts have led to loss of lives, destruction of property, refugees crises

and diversion of government attention and resources from business of governance to

conflict maintenance. The study recommended human capital development, equity, fair

play and justice on the part of the government, proactive conflict management and the

strong political will to tackle the issues of conflict adequately.

INTRODUCTION

Nigeria is a country referred to by scholars as a “rainbow

coalition” or “mega states” on the account of its multi-ethnic

groups which are conservatively put at about 250.1 It is worthy

of note that five decades after its political independence, the

country is still being confronted with the challenges of national

integration. Ethnic loyalty takes priority and appears printed

indelibly in the psyche of the country’s citizens more than

national patriotism. This situation often threatens the corporate

existence of the nation as tension and conflict between various

ethnic groups are like a recurring decimal in the country.

Although, extant literature confirm that ethnic division

/conflict in Nigeria predated colonial era. Unfortunately, the

colonial government did very little or nothing to properly

integrate the fragmented political entities they met on ground.

For instance, a record shows that as early as 1923, the then

Colonial Governor of Nigeria, Sir Hugh Clifford, opined that it

was virtually impossible to weld the “collection of self-

contained and mutually independent Native States” that made up

Nigeria into “a single homogeneous nation”.2 This trend continued

all through the colonial period.

But to make the matter worse,, the Nigerian political elites

that took over power from the British colonial government did

not make any serious attempt to foster national unity in the

country as well. For instance, Chief Obafemi Awolowo once argued

that Nigeria was no more than a “geographic expression.”3

Similarly, the then Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello,

referred to the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern

Protectorates of Nigeria as “the mistake of 1914”. In like

manner, another prominent Northerner elite, Malam Abubakar Imam,

captured the mood of those times with the following remarks,

“We despise each other, we call each other ignorant. The south is

proud of its western knowledge and culture – we are proud of our

eastern culture. To tell you the plain truth, the common people

of the north put more confidence in the white man than in either

their black southern brothers…”4 The above expressions were

epitomized by the political parties of that time which were

formed along tribal lines. The Northern Peoples Congress (NPC)

drew its support mainly from the Northern Region, the Action

Congress (AG) remained popular in the Western Region, while the

National Congress of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) had the Easter

Region as its main power base.

Consequently, the nation continued to remain polarized along

ethnic division. Suspicion, hatred, lack of trust and

discrimination have often characterized the relationship between

the people of different ethnic groups in the country, thereby

robbing the nation of true national loyalty or unity.

Unexpectedly, the country has been riddled with myriads of

violent ethnic crisis of different proportion such as the

Zagon/Kataf crisis in Kaduna State, the Tiv/Jukun crisis in

Taraba State, Hausa/Birom crisis in Plateau State. Ife/Modakeke

upheavals in Oyo Staate, Hausa/Yoruba in Lagos and Ogun States,

Igbo/Hausa in Kano, and Kaduna States among others, and even a

civil war (1967-1970). These crises have gone a long way to

threaten the social fabric of the nation.

A nation that is bedeviled with ethnic crisis cannot but

experience monumental loss of lives, destruction of property and

refugee crisis, that often divert the attention of government

from the business of governance to crisis management. This study

therefore examines the implications of ethno-communal conflicts

on good governance and recommends measures towards managing it in

order to ensure rapid socio-political and economic development of

Nigeria.

LITERATURE REVIEW

An ethnic group is a distinct group of people, often

identifiable on the basis of cultural, racial or linguistic

characteristics, serving as a means of differentiating itself

from others. Ethnicity is a complex phenomenon that means

different things to different people under different situations

or circumstances. Hassan observes that ethnicity relates to a

people whose unity rest on some racial, linguistic, religious or

cultural ties, and a unique set of symbol.5 Enloe notes that

“of all the groups that man attaches himself to, ethnic groups

seem the most encompassing and enduring. It can be a building

block, but also a potential stumbling block on the road to

modernity, as no ethnic group can remain isolated”.6 It is

equally important to acknowledge the fact that ethnic grouping

equips an individual with a sense of belonging.

Deutch, Coleman and Marcus opine that in a deeply divided

societies, ethnic affiliations impact not only family and social

life, but also formal organization life as it applies to both

political and economic life.7 This explains why they reason that

ethnic groups which are tied heavily to kingship are bounded in

such a way to maximize the effective use of political

structures . They argue further that: “when emotionalism turns

out to be a serious force or factor in inter-ethnic relationship,

it limits the application of wisdom, reason, genuine feelings and

the hope of viewing the other ethnic group(s) as moral equals

that is entitled to their own opinion and sympathy”.

Osinubi & Osinubi state that

“ethnic identities are not preordained, they aredeliberately constructed and constantly modified andpeople choose to be ethnically inclined when this meetstheir needs and expectation. It is an individual and groupfalling back unto an identity which provides him with apsychological safety net. A weapon for manipulation bythe state particularly where what obtains is not thenational state but nation state”.8

In addition, Nnoli asserts that ethnicity offers a personal

solution to the problems of exploitation, oppressions,

deprivation and alienation. It often serves as the last port of

call when other means of attainment of specific objective proved

difficult.9

This may explain why Osaghae opines that ethnicity does not

exist in pure form, but usually in conjunction with other

cleavages like religion, race and regionalism binding the

group.10 Hence, ethnicity is a political behavior which is

exploited among and between ethnic groups to achieve individual

and group interest; in competition with others.

ETHNIC CONFLICT

Ethnic conflict is viewed as conflict, disagreement,

misunderstanding whether violent or otherwise between different

ethnic groups. Galtung believes that ethnic conflict arises as

a result of common group consciousness for survival or quest to

attain certain goals that are considered to be of great value and

which is perceived as being blocked.11 This encourages

discrimination, based on ‘We’ and ‘Them’. According to Usman

the prevalence of ethno- communal conflicts could be traced to

mistrust, suspicion, selfishness, intolerance and ignorance

between groups. 12 In his own view, Sears states that ethno

communal conflict is further made complex when the State is

perceived to be serving the particular interests of the most

powerful or influential group while claiming to represent the

interests of all.13 Moreover, Lloyd contends that ethnic loyalty

stands at the base of ethnic conflict. He describes ethnic

loyalty as a feeling of attachment to one’s ethnic group. The

loyalty carries with it the willingness to support and act

positively or otherwise, on behalf of the ethnic group and

having a rejective attitude towards those regarded as

‘outsider’. 14

Galtung15 opines that, more often than not, ethnic and other

sectarian conflicts are highly complicated and much more

difficult to resolve than even inter- state wars. The reason is

anchored on the fact that the affected people live in the same

country or community, experience the tremendous loss of lives of

their loved ones and property, and gross human rights violations

which are traceable to known individuals that they still see

constantly. This, undoubtedly, may lead to nursing of deep

hatred towards the perpetrators of such conflicts, especially

when justice is not meted to them. Perhaps this is why attack

and counter attack always follow the outbreak of an ethnic

crisis, -a reason which account for government’s inability to

find an enduring solution to some ethnic crisis in Nigeria.

Furthermore, Bouka argues that ethno- communal conflict is

either intra or inter ethno-communal in nature. Intra communal

conflicts are those conflicts between the people of the same

ethnic group. Examples of such in Nigeria are Ife-Modakeke in

Osun State, Offa-Erinle in Kwara State, and Agunleri-Umuleri in

Anambra State. On the other hand, inter ethno-communal conflict

is the one which involves two different ethnic groups such as

Share-Tsaragi (Yourba/Nupe) in Kwara State, Hausa-Fulani-

(Sawaya) in Bauchi State, Tiv-Jukun in Taraba State, Ijaw-

Urobo in Delta state, Ijaw-Ilaje in Ondo , Hausa –Birom in

Plateau State, Hausa-Yoruba in Ogun State, among others.

GOOD GOVERNANCE

Good governance has been defined as the exercise of power or

authority politically, economically, administratively ,or

otherwise to manage a country’s resources and affairs. 16 Good

governance from this perspective means efficient , effective and

efficient management of a country’s resources and affairs in a

manner that is open, transparent, accountable, equitable and

responsive to people’s need at the appropriate time.

There are some basic elements which are regarded as

essential to good governance. These include: Establishment of a

representative and accountable form of government, a strong and

pluralistic society, a good institution- with sets of rules

governing the actions of individuals and organizations within an

effective legal system. It also requires high degree of

transparency, accountability in corporate processes and

fair ,free and competitive election.

Economically, good governance call for a broad based

economic growth through a dynamic private sector and social

policies that will lead to poverty reduction, economic growth

achievable in an open market based economy.17 It also calls for

an effective institutions and good corporate governance to

support the development of competitive private sector and careful

management of national economy.

According to Gana, good governance is expected to provide

people with certain basic necessities of life like clean water,

good roads, transform agriculture, cultivate industrial

development and sanitized the society. democracy will become

meaningless and loose its credibility without these economic and

social rights.18 Their absence may leads to frustration and

discontentment which sometimes result to ethnic conflict.

CAUSES OF ETHNO-COMMUNAL CONFLICTS

Ethnic conflict in Nigeria can be attributed to so many

factors, as the conflicts come in different guise and

dimensions. Some of the factors are:- colonial legacy, boundary

disputes, struggle for power and resources, struggle for citing

of local government headquarters or government institutions,

failure of the traditional model of conflict resolution, poverty,

perceived lack of sincerity and fair play on the part of

government, manipulation of the elites in the society, ethnic

intolerance and religious intolerance. The last point becomes

germane as it is common in Nigeria to find even minor religious

misunderstanding resorting into ethnic crisis.

ANALYSIS OF ETHNO-COMMUNAL CONFLICT IN NIGERIA

Over the past couple of decades, Nigeria has witnessed

series of ethnic conflicts which have left in their trail blood-

bath and wanton destruction of properties.

Some of these conflicts are tabulated below.

Year Crisis

May 30 – June 9,

1999

Warri Communal Clash in Delta

State.

July 18, 1999 OPC and Hausa traders in Sagamu.

Nov. 25, 1999 OPC and Hausa traders in Lagos.

Jan 25, 2000 Communal Clash in Brass LGA, of

Bayelsa

Feb. 2, 2000 Boundaries dispute between

communities in Akwa Ibom and

Cross River States.

March16, 2000 Clash between people of Eleme and

Okrika in River State.

May 18, 2000 Clash between local farmers and

Fulani cattle rearers in Shaki,

Oyo State.

June 23, 2000 Communal Clash between the people

of Offiong and Oku-Iboku of Cross

River State.

July 21, 2000 Ijaw and Urhobo in Delta State.

Oct 16, 2000 Igbo and Hausa traders at Alaba

Rago, Lagos.

Dec 11, 2000 Ife Modakeke Clash renewed.

May 12, 2001 Ijaw and Itshekiri. In Delta

state

July 12, 2001 Ethnic violence in Nassarawa.

Feb. 2, 2002 Oodua and Hausa at Idi- Araba

Lagos.

Feb. 26, 2002 Communal Clash between Apprapum

and Osatira in Cross River.

Feb. 2004 Yelwa and Shendam in Plateasu

State

May, 2005 Ethnic –Religious crisis in

Plateau and Kano States

2006 Ethno-Religious conflict in Kano,

Bauchi and Maiduguri

2006 Reprisal violence in Onisha,

Owerri, Enugu, Aba, Umuahia and

Okigwe

2008 Ethno-Religious crisis in Jos,

Plateau State

2009 Kala Kato ethnic crisis

2010 Jos crisis in Plateau State

2011 Zango-Kataf in Kaduna State

Jos crisis in Plateau State

Source- Adapted from Adeyemi, Ethno-religious conflict (2006)

and compilation

By Popoola and Alao (2012)

Suffice it to say however that the successive governments in

Nigeria have identified ethnic division as a serious problem

hindering national development and have instituted various

programmes aimed at fostering national integration. Some of these

programmes are highlighted below.

Regime and year Programme instituted

Gowon, 1966- 1975 Programme for Reconciliation

Reconstruction and Rehabilitation

Establishment of Unity Schools,

Establishment of N.Y.S.C.

State Creation

Gen. Ibrahim Babangida 1985-1993 Mass Mobilization Programme (MAMSER)

National Directorate for Employment (NDE)

Better Life for Rural Women.

Directorate of Food Road and Rural

Infrastructure

Gen. Sanni Abacha 1993-1998 National Reconciliation Committee

National Orientation Agency

Family Support Programme Vision 2010.

Gen. Abdusalam Abubakar 1998-1999 National Reconciliation

President Olusegun Obasanjo, 1999-

2007

National Rebirth Programme

Human Right Abuse Investigation

Committee.

Constitutional Review Committee etc.

Source: J.I. Elaigwu, adapted from Rotgek (2009) and Guardian, Feb. 15,2011

Unfortunately however, as lofty as these programmes were,

none of them has succeeded in fostering any serious unity in the

country. The reasons for their failure are not farfetched. It has

been discovered that in most cases, the government’s commitment

to the programme may be mere rhetoric. Hence, most of the

programmes were poorly implemented or ended up being a kind of

conduit pipes through which billions of naira were siphoned by

the governing elites. Also, lack of proper orientation or

education of the people the programmes were meant for account for

the failure of many of them.

In addition, Nigerian ethnic problem has been worsened by

the people’s loss of confidence in the ability of the government

to ensure fair and equitable distribution of government benefits.

Whenever the people perceive that the government, either at the

state or federal level is serving the interest of a particular

section of the society, parochialism and community identity may

become an important mobilizing factor in expressing

marginalization. Little wonder then why ethnic militia like the

Oodua’s peoples’ congress (OPC) Bakassi Boys, Egbesu Boys, Arewa

peoples’ Congress, Ohaneze Ndigbo and the likes have sprung up in

Nigeria to fight for the interest of their individual ethnic

groups. This have often aggravated communal tensions which in

some cases have snow balled into ethnic crisis. Hence ethnic

jingoists have always capitalized on the high rate of

unemployment, high rate of illiteracy and unequal distribution

of wealth to drag the people of the country into ethnic

battles, for their own (elites) selfish reasons.

THE EFFECTS OF ETHNIC CONFLICT ON GOOD GOVERNANCE

There is no gain-saying the fact that ethnic crises in

Nigeria have seriously affected governance. They have made it

impossible for Nigerian government to consolidate its rule and

they have resulted in serious political and economic instability.

They have weakened patriotism, commitment to national ideals and

true nationhood. Moreover ethnic crises have often bred

suspicion, lack of trust and relationship problem between members

of different ethnic groups, a situation which further deepens

parochialism. This becomes worsened when the government cannot

protect the citizens from, and guard against injustice, or

perform its role effectively as an impartial judge. The lack of

trust in government and government institutions which this has

generated has often made people to recourse more to ethnic

cleavages and throw them on the laps of religious and ethnic

jingoists who are always ready to use them to foment further

trouble for their selfish interests.19

Similarly, the wanton destruction of lives and property

caused by ethnic violence is deepening animosity and removing

sense of friendship, solidarity and good neighborliness’ among

people of various ethnic divide. For instance, a Human Right

Watch report gave figures of 700 and 1000 as the death recorded

in Jos crises of 2008 and 2010 respectively.20 Also, the Amnesty

International reported that about 10,000 people were killed on

account of ethnic conflicts in Nigeria since 1999 21. Moreover,

incessant ethno-communal conflicts have lead to massive

displacement of people in the conflict zones thereby making them

internal refugees and burden to the government. For instance, the

Amnesty International report in 2004 put the number of people

displaced on the account of sectarian conflicts at 800,000.22 The

psychological effects of the memories of the killings, arsons,

lootings and the attendant discomfort may be long lasting and

produce spirit of vengeance, thereby making crisis to be a

vicious circle. This may account for the difficulty the

governments at state and federal levels encounter in curtailing

the incessant violent ethnic crises in Jos, Plateau State, Zango-

Kataf in Kaduna state and Tiv-Junkun in Taraba State where an

attack by a group always, lead to reprisal attacks.

In addition, crisis encourages the inflow and use of illegal

weapons. The frequent crises in Nigeria have lead to arms

proliferation in the country. Several sophisticated weapons,

including bombs and explosives have been used by the aggrieved

parties in ethnic conflicts. Jekada has rightly observed that

there is a linkage between proliferation of small arms and light

weapons and the upsurge of ethnic conflict in Nigeria.23

Similarly, Adeoye opines that people procure arms and ammunition

because they believe that failure to do that will make them

vulnerable to attacks by the other ethnic groups.24 In some

cases, community members take delight in contributing money for

the purchase of arms during communal clashes. A UNDP report

revealed that there are about 8 million illegal small arms and

light weapons in West Africa, while a senior Nigerian official

claimed that Nigeria alone account for 1million illegal weapons

out of the total number claimed by UNDP.25 Although, this study

opines that this figure may be over bloated, yet the fact remains

that hundreds of thousands of illegal arms are in Nigeria. There

is no gain-saying the fact that this puts a serious question

mark on the security of the country. The attendant security

threat may have serious implication on the country.

Furthermore, ethnic crises make the government to embark on

diversion of fund to maintain peace in conflict areas at the

expense of the demanding developmental programmes Both the

Federal and State governments spend huge amount of money to

maintain peace, keep security personnel, build the ruins of the

crises, provide relief materials and pay compensation to the

victims of the crises. For example, the government of Kwara state

paid a total sum of #20 099,606 to compensate the victims of

Share-Tsaraji crisis in 2009, apart from other financial

expenses incurred by the government to maintain peace in the two

communities.26 This amount could have been spent to provide

basic necessities of life which would have been of benefit to

the members of the two communities.

Ethnic crises leads to loss of revenue to both private

individuals and the government. Apart from the fact that violent

conflict leads to the destruction of the economic mainstay of

some people like land and economic crops. it may also lead to

imposition of curfew which will grind all economic activities in

the affected areas to a halt. This will certainly result in loss

of revenue to the government and produce its adverse effects on

the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Finally, ethnic crisis can give the country a bad image in

the international community and discourage foreign investment.27

It has been observed that foreign capital inflow in terms of

foreign investment is a function of the prevalence of friendly

business environment and consistent and predictable government

policies which could be guaranteed in a situation of peace and

tranquility. But a battered international image on the account

of incessant ethnic conflicts will definitely discourages inflow

of foreign investment. This might partly account for the

relocation of some multinational companies from Nigeria to Ghana

28

RECOMMENDATIONS

The study recommends that government should pay more

attention to human capital development because it is ‘very

central to curbing ethnic violence. According to Wilson Churchill

“the empires of the future are the empires of the mind”29 Human

capital development generates knowledge, understanding, informal

rules, norms and long relationships that facilitate co-

coordinated action and enable people to undertake cooperative

ventures for mutual advantage. This is expected to re direct

citizens attention to joint action instead of dissipating energy

on divisive issues. Central to the above is the creation of

enabling environment for stable academic calendar and job

creation, such as guarantying of regular power supply.

Moreover, Nigerian government needs to ensure equality,

fair play and justice. When the people perceive that the state

institutions can no longer protect them from or guard against

injustice, there is every likelihood that they will recourse to

ethnic loyalty where they hope to get succor. Moreover,

equitable distribution of the nation’s wealth will go a long way

to restore public confidence in the citizens. According to

potgak, if access to socio-economic and political resources in

the society is universally guaranteed, based on inherent equal

worth of citizens, ethnic heterogeneity may not trigger any

serious conflicts.30 But as long as life chances and access to

important socio-economic opportunities are dependent on

membership of a particular ethnic group, ethnic pluralism will

continue to be a problem.. Hence Nigeria government needs the

institutionalization of constitutional and policy regime that

will ensure efficacious citizenship.

Furthermore, true federalism should be allowed to exist.

This will enable ethnic groups within the federation to exercise

some control over their economic resources. It will also enable

the people to have some measure of self determination within the

country. A denial of this may lead to frustration and aggression.

If true federalism is operative a lot of issues such as creation

of local government and competition over citing of development

projects, which attract national attention could be effectively

addressed locally.

In addition the government needs to develop strong political

will to tackle security challenges and address the issues of

conflict than pacifying the parties or victims of conflict. It

has almost become a norm in Nigeria that the constitution of

panel of inquiry into any crisis is always a window dressing.

Usually, the reports of the panels are not implemented nor

culprits punished.31 Implementing such reports will create

confidence in the conflicting parties and serve as deterrence to

future perpetrators of crisis. The nation needs to come off its

weakness or rhetoric commitment to security issues

Moreover the study observed that there is a very thin line

between religious crisis and ethnic conflict, especially in the

Northern part of Nigeria. A minor religious disagreement may lead

to ethnic conflict of great magnitude. Hence, the study

recommends religious education for adherence of Islam and

Christianity. Since both religions preach peace, the true

knowledge of God and the religions by adherents will moderate

individuals reaction to issues that can generate conflict. The

study also recommends that government needs to be fair, just and

equitable in handling religious matters and avoid unnecessary

meddlesomeness in religious matters 32

CONCLUSION

This study observed that ethno-communal conflict is one of

the most important sources of conflict in Nigeria. It has led to

excessive loss of lives, destruction of property and displacement

of people thereby causing traumatic experiences on the victims,

and making some of the crisis intractable. This undoubtedly,

divert the attention of the government to conflict maintain ace

at the expense of business of governance. The study observed that

the presence of ethnic groups, co-habiting in the same

environment, is not a sufficient factor for outbreak of ethnic

conflict if not for the manipulation of some elites in the

society and the fact that policies developed to manage these

challenges are poor conceived and sometimes designed to fail as

some political big wigs benefit politically and economically from

such conflicts. This explains the persistence of ethno communal

conflicts in Nigeria

Finally, the study concludes on a note of agreement with

Ukiwo opinion that the unbridled competition for power and the

failure of government to deliver democratic dividends have

resulted in violent conflicts, especially between ethnic groups

in Nigeria, thereby endangering the country’s nascent

democracy.33 However, it is believed that good governance,

especially accountability, transparency and equity would restore

confidence among the citizenry and minimizes restiveness between

ethnic groups in Nigeria.

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4. Ibid

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17 Ibid

18 Ibid

19 Ibid

20. Human Right Watch, 2010

21. Amnesty International Report, 2004.

22. Ibid.

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Two Decades. 1980-2000”. Kaduna Human Right Monitor.(2004)

31 Bogoro, S. “Indigeneship Based on Residency will Stem Religious Crises”

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33. Ukiwo, U. The Journal of modern African Studies, 41

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