Page 1 of 18

17

Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol.7, No.8

Publication Date: August 25, 2020

DOI:10.14738/assrj.77.8695.

Udeagha, N., & Nwamah, G. (2020). Ethno-Religious Sentiments and the Need for Restructuring in Nigeriat. Advances in Social Sciences

Research Journal, 7(8) 17-34.

Ethno-Religious Sentiments and the Need for Restructuring in

Nigeria

Nduka Udeagha

Department of Religion and Cultural Studies,

University of Nigeria Nsukka, Nigeria.

Grace Nwamah

Department of Religious Studies,

Imo State University Owerri, Nigeria.

ABSTRACT

Ethno-religious sentiments in Nigeria have remained incapacitating

threats to peace, security and the avowed resolve of the state to exist as

one indissoluble nation. Nigeria as a heterogeneous and pluralistic state

is divided along ethnic and religious lines. Some people who champion

conservative elements adopt ethno-religious considerations as

persuasive socio-political opium. They vigorously embrace and endorse

nepotistic proclivities which tend to polarize the Nigerian state and

make governance, development, and unity of purpose appallingly

problematic. Recurring mistrusts and prejudices between ethnic

nationalities and faiths have stunted growth and stifled development in

theFederal Republic of Nigeria. As its methodology to investigating

ethno-religious sentiments in Nigeria and the need for restructuring,

the study relies on content analysis. What is basically and structurally

affecting the entity is the incongruousness of her diverse ethno- religious constituents. There is need for structural and mindset

adjustments that will result inhealthy competitiveness and expectedly,

harness the diverse potentials and usher a new era of socio-economic

development. The paper surmises that restructuring is imperativein

Nigeria because itwill help to cushion the palpable effects of ethno- religious sentiments that have remained the bane of a corporate Nigeria

and national development.

Keywords: Ethno-religious, Sentiment, Restructuring, National development.

INTRODUCTION

Prior to the amalgamation of northern and southern protectorates of the peoples, which facilitated

the incorporation of heterogeneousethno-religious groups under one nation known as Nigeria, the

pre-Nigerian society had been existing as tribal entities with their diverse religious, cultural and

political structures.Thus, as a nation, Nigeria came into existence by British fiat in 1914, following

the amalgamation of different autonomous political entities by Sir Fredrick Lord Lugard. Since that

historic merger event, the existence of Nigeria as a corporate and indissoluble nation has remained

a teething concern. The constituent members especially, the nationalists felt that the long overdue

Page 2 of 18

18

Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol.7, Issue 8, August-2020

colonial rule has impeded the expected growth and development of the nation. The wave of change

seriously moved to the direction of a sovereign state of Nigeria. After some time, Nigeria agitated

for self-rule, which culminated in the independence event.

When Nigeria gained her independence in 1960, it was thought that as a sovereign state, they would

be able to harness their wealth of plurality and heterogeneous bequests into a multihued of

sustainable development and a nation bound in peaceful coexistence and unity of purpose.Rather,

it turned out to be the novel genesis of the cauldron that has boiled over the years. Year after year,

it appears to be an ill-fated marriage of strange bed fellows, as Nigerians exhibit undiluted parochial

leanings and interests that are often indicative of the wide gulflines of ethno-religious sentiments.

The self-rule instead of taking the nation to enviable developmental heights, glaringly brought to

the fore, the nadir of ethno-religious sentiments among the constituent members.

About six year into the era of self-rule, the military came into the fray and ferociously seized

poweron 15th January1966 [1].They promised to make Nigeria a better society. But military

interregnum, which was marked with coup d'état and counter coup, distorted the established

federalism that tacitly underlineddecentralization of power.More than ever before, this generated

disparity in the federalism structure of Nigeria and widened the lines of ethno-religious differences.

In fact, the military incursion became so unbearable that it birthed the agitation for separation along

ethno-religious lines.

Agitation for separation first became a disturbing issuein 1966 through the Niger Delta Volunteer

Force (NDVF), formed and led by Isaac Adaka Boro. On February 23, 1966 the NDVF attempted

secession from Nigeria through the declaration of the Niger Delta Republic. However, the secession

could only last for 12days as the 160 men including their leader Adaka Boro, fought against the

Nigerian forces but were roundly overpowered by the federal armed forces. The secession bid was

scuttled [2]. Not quite long the Niger Delta bid for secession was scuttled; Nigeria was again plunged

into a calamitous bloody pool of magnitude proportions, when Odumegwu Ojukwu, declared the

Republic of Biafra in an attempt to allow the easterners to go their own separate way. This resulted

in the Nigerian/Biafran civil war that claimed the lives of over three million Nigerians and the nation

has not fully recovered from the war. They were also stopped with a “no victor no vanquished”

assuasive declaration by the federal military government headed by Yakubu Gowon.

From time to time, various ethnic nationalities have threatened to go their separate ways. That there

are separatist agitations from every bloc of the nation underlines the fact that the structure of

Nigeria is fundamentally defective and needs restructuring. Different ethnic nationalities are yet to

admit the long-unfolded veracity of one nation as the member constituents are still heavy with

spleen of a false nation. Accordingly, Adibe [3] observes that there has been increasing agitations

for the independence of the Republic of Biafra, mostly by Igbo groups from the eastern part of the

country. Among the Yoruba, echoes of separatism come from the call for Oduduwa Republic and to

those of them who still want to decide the continuity of the federating units, they call for Sovereign

National Conference. In the North are intermittent demands for Arewa Republic. In the Niger Delta

is the demand for Niger Delta Republic, this also manifests in the form of call for “resource control”.

What all these agitations point to is that there is a fundamental problem in the foundational and/or

governmental structure of the nation. To that effect, the whole constituent members have a sense

Page 3 of 18

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.78.8695 19

Udeagha, N., & Nwamah, G. (2020). Ethno-Religious Sentiments and the Need for Restructuring in Nigeriat. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal,

7(8) 17-34.

of being marginalized. This has therefore, formed a bulk of national question which answers have

been sought from different quarters and sources.

The scourge of ethno-religious sentiments has continued to pose ominous challenges to the Nigerian

state. For so many years, Nigeria has been seeking for answers to the national question. It is in this

light that Kukah [4] observes that there have been scores of conferences, experimentation with

different concepts, political classes and civil society often touting them as the solutions to the

unending problems, including; Power-shift, Sovereign National Conference, Rotation, and the

current change mantra of the present All Progressive Congress (APC) government. Nigeria has

adopted numerous policies and employed several strategies to solve her social, economic and

political problems. Obviously, Nigeria has come a long way, but appears to be nowhere near finding

the magic wand for the perennial national issue.This has therefore, given rise to many thoughts on

how to manage Nigeria. One of thesmolderingsubjects in Nigerian polity is the theme of

restructuring. Hence every part of the nation always resorts to threats of separation as a bargaining

chip or means of registering their frustration in the one Nigerian project. It is therefore, needful to

take another look at the current structural components of the nation and have some adjustments. It

is against this background that the study examines elements of religious-sentiments and the need

for structural adjustments that will culminate in healthy competitiveness and expectedly, harness

the diverse potentials and usher a new era of socio-economic development.

CONCEPTUAL PERSPECTIVES

Ethno

Ethno in English language usually appearsin a combining form. Ethno is always combined with

another area of study, hence the combination of ethno-religious in this study. Ethno-religious is a

compound word that embodiesand emphasizesethnic and religious elements. Ethno here stands for

ethnic or ethnicity. According to Clements [5] ethnic is derived ultimately from the Greek ethnos,

meaning nation or people. Ethnicity is the quality of an ethnic. It has to do with an individual’s racial,

cultural, linguistic, or religious background. Ethnicity in Nigeria is the ancestral race or tribal origin

a person belongs to. It is also the state of belonging to a socio-tribal group marked by common

traditional and cultural heritage. Nigeria as a heterogeneous society is home to multiethnic groups,

from the Hausa/Fulani, Igbo and Yoruba, which are the major ethnic groups, to the very small

indigenous groups, like the Bambuko in Taraba, Ekajuk in Cross River, Kantana in Plateau or

Manchok in Kaduna.

However, four major common identities of these ethnic groups in the contemporary Nigerian

society are that they are defined by a shared history, language, cultural heritage and virtually the

same religion. These common features are deeply rooted in the distinctive experiences of different

ethnic groups. In this study therefore, ethno, ethnic and ethnicity are used interchangeably.

Religious

As an adjective, religious has to do with religion. It is of pertaining to or concerned with religion.

Religion itself is a concept with many variables and meanings.This means that it has no fixed

exclusive meaning. Like other primordial identities, religion as a term is difficult to define

satisfactorily. There are so many religions in the worldwith different origins, tenets andmode of

practices, and as such there is hardly any single definition that can stand as authoritative. The form

of a religion can also change from time to time. But that will not deter individuals from attempting