Canadian Social Science
ETHNIC NATIONALISM AND REGIONAL INSECURITY IN NIGERIA: A STUDY OF SOUTHEAST GEOPOLITICAL ZONE
Abstract
Nigeria’s heterogeneous composition, encompassing numerous ethnicities, cultures, and languages, has since independence in 1960 been characterized by centrifugal tensions stemming from claims of social inequality and the exclusion of various groups by different ethnic communities. Despite the volume of scholarly studies on ethnic nationalism, much has yet to be done on investigating the impact of ethnic nationalism on regional insecurity in the Southeast, Nigeria. This study therefore investigated the nexus between ethnic nationalism and regional insecurity in southeast geopolitical zone of Nigeria with a view of evaluating the driving forces of ethnic nationalism and their extent on regional security in the South-East, Nigeria. The study employed Relative Deprivation theory and adopted survey research design, utilizing both primary and secondary sources of data along with systematic random and purposive sampling techniques. The data collected were analysed with descriptive (mean as X̄ and standard deviations as SD) and inferential statistics (Simple regression). The simple regression analysis indicated a strong positive relationship between ethnic nationalism and regional insecurity (R = 0.85, R2 = 0.72, p < 0.001), with ethnic nationalism explaining approximately 72% of the variation in regional insecurity, and the model being statistically significant. The study concluded that ethnic nationalism in Nigeria is inevitable; and is promoted by ethnic competition for resources, struggles for political power within the federal system, and perceptions of socioeconomic marginalization; and recommend that appropriate democratic institutions and structures, which will address all the driving forces of ethnic nationalism and regional insecurity, should be in place for political accommodation and management of social diversities and ethnic differences in Nigeria.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/13839
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