Ethnic Conflicts in Nigeria

Nigeria was having an internal war that the Muslims started with the Ibos. It started when they gained independence in 1960. They adopted the feudal systems and had to share power with Lagos, and three state governments in the north, east, and west. In 1964, the Ibos seized power and declared a central dictatorship. The Muslims of the north didn’t like the Ibos because they weren’t Muslim. So they sparked a war in 1967. The Ibos, after a group of northern officers obtained the government positions, created their own

Ikechi Mgbeoji’s book, Collective Insecurity examines the hidden causes of West Africa’s civil wars and addresses an important question: “Why has the U.N. system not worked to protect people and to enhance their welfare, as intended, in Africa and elsewhere?” In his book, Mgbeoji proposes, “the solution to African political instability lies in a structural rearrangement of the African polity for the purpose of legitimate governance of African peoples.”

While analyzing the North Africa conflict, a combination of service capabilities would be required to achieve the desired end state of deterring and if necessary, the defeat of Algerian guerilla aggression to prevent regional and global destabilization. Taking into account the current military landscape that exists today, a joint task force (JTF) would be the ideal military response of the United States and collation partner’s while utilizing the regional military assets. Intelligence suggests guerilla forces are capable of a full scale offensive into Morocco in less than 36 hour notice, bringing the factors of time, force and space into consideration.

Nigeria would soon become a prime example of the issues with arbitrary borders and the long term effects they can create. Nigeria would gain its independence in 1960 and would become a Federal Republic with three regions. This federalist republic would bring out regional rivalries and fears amongst the people. Violence against Igbo would erupt around the North and soon after `the Southeast secedes as Biafra. (Reno, pg. 2) A three year war would follow and illness and hunger within Biafra would prevail. Britain got involved in the issue and would aid Nigeria in pulling Biafra back in as a way to avoid a chain reaction. Eventually, the Southeast region would give in, and return to Nigeria. However, regional distrust remained an issue, and would take on ethnic and religious dimensions for years to come. In addition, there was a deep disregard to many of the institutions and practices that had already been set in place by the people.

40% of sub-Saharan countries have experienced civil war largely because of differences in cultural and political beliefs. On prominent African civil war existed in Nigeria where after gaining their independence, cultural differences led the Ibo people to rebel against the government and declare independence as the Republic of Biafra. “A 3 year war ensued that left hundreds of thousands dead” (Ellis and Esler 1030). Similar wars existed in countries throughout the continent, greatly hurting Africa’s economic

     Nigeria has been a country in political turmoil for a long time. The country was created in 1914 under British colonial rule and at that time it was considered a protectorate. It was not until 1960 that Nigeria received independence from the United Kingdom. One of Nigeria's problems politically is that it has over three hundred different ethnic groups. The three largest of these are the Hausa-Fulani, Igbo, and Yoruba. At the time of the independence of Nigeria it was split up into three states with each state being under the control of one of the major ethnic groups. The natural resources of the other 297 ethnic groups were exploited for the major three groups,

The Republic of Niger, a poor, landlocked country, located in the heart of Sub-Saharan West Africa. Niger has seen its fair share of change throughout the decades; moving away from the control of the French Parliament in 1960, Niger formally declared its independence. Despite this bold act of independence, Niger would not see its first steps towards democracy until the early 1990’s, when they held their first open election as a free state. However, even with the empowerment of the people in a democratic government, Niger has seen itself nearly torn apart as a result constant coups, that have occurred as recently as 2010. Such instability has led to incredulous amounts of corruption and poverty, within the Niger government. This lack of stability and constant turnover in government, has been a driving factor behind the lack of resources available for education in Niger.

Photography has come a long way to where we are today, especially with digital cameras, and with manipulation that can create almost anything we want to see. Since Leonardo da Vinci’s time, the camera obscura was available, however, the problem was to find a way for the images to be printed. The commercial use of photography came later as in the earlier times artists, such as David Octavius Hill, used these merely as a tool to create the frescoes he painted – that is, of “the first general synod of the Church of Scotland in 1843.” Yet, the photographer’s art evolved to the point of where there was now an art to be seen in the photograph. This prompted more and more people to request the original of the painting – that is, the photograph (Benjamin

War was inevitable: ‘This simple and seemingly innocuous action broke the last thread and split the last institution symbolizing Nigeria's nationhood and cohesion which had been regularly tampered with by the politicians since 1962. The rift between the Eastern Region and the rest of the country was total’ (ibid). In a meeting convened in Aburi, Ghana, by Ghanaian general Gen. Ankrah, leader of the eastern region military Lt. Col. Ojukwu understood the real issues at hand and convinced attendees that the only way for Nigeria to stay together is that it has to break apart, effectively implying secession. After a breakdown in communication, a frustrated federal government passes Decree no. 8 of 17th March 1967, which split Nigeria’s regions into twelve states. This was seen by Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon as a pre-emptive, non-violence weapon against the east. The eastern region was split into 3 states. Lt. Col. Ojukwu unsurprisingly rejected Decree no. 8 and states that the Enugu, (capital of Nigeria’s eastern region) is headed for secession. On the 30th of May 1967, the eastern region of Nigeria declares itself as the independent sovereign state of Biafra. The Federal military fired the first bullet on the 6th of July 1967. Now this essay will turn to providing a background to the development of Realism as an analytical theory of International Relations.

Nigeria is an Agricultural and oil rich nation but characterised by Political instability, corruption, poor

The history of Nigeria has been reshaped and affected by the presence of external sources interfering with Nigerian culture and tradition. Europeans often colonized Nigeria for its central role in the slave trade, as well as for land and valuable resources. In particular, British occupation and Imperialization has had a significant impact on the country’s history. Colonization benefited the Nigerian people considerably, allowing the British to then likewise benefit. The British did manage to create for themselves a hefty profit, and the Nigerian people did also reap the benefits of British colonization. However, the British did not always rule justly and fairly, eventually leading to the collapse of British influence in Nigeria.

“Politics, plays a very vital role in an intense and violent struggle like the one in Jos. This precipitates inter and intra communal/ethnic conflict”. In order to adequately understand the nature of any, there is the need to understand the possible causes of such crises. From the analysis of scholars in the field of conflict resolution, causes of conflict can range from historical, mythological and political perspectives to mention a few. Dawan (2004) traces the root of the crisis in Plateau State to people. He opines that, “the settlers” feel they were being labeled as such in order to be further marginalized”. This feeling among the people instigated the debate on the ownership of Jos. Also, the creation of Local Governments and Federal Constituencies by the Babangida administration in a lopsided manner gave “the minority Muslim Hausa/Fulani economic and political advantages over the indigenes; this further fueled the crisis” (the International Conflict Group 2012). Any political machination of this nature can and will always trigger conflict now or in future.

Babies do have a unique language developing system than other animals. Basically, animals don 't have as many ways of communication as human babies do. However, animals do have ways to communicate. Instead of language, animals use symbols and signs. Some specific animals like dolphins even have the ability to use sonar when they communicate. That is something even people could not do. People now might have the sonar technology with facilities, but that is not something that was born inside us. So animals communicate in the similar way as human using their unique “language.” They just are not in the same way cause their ways are far simpler than that of human. Like babies, animals also have ways to express emotion and communicate through

As previously mentioned, luck was not the only basis for survival; instinct, too, played a role. The thread of logic following this concept is quite simple. Jews who instinctively knew that it was in their best interest to leave the area of conflict might have escaped the holocaust, and would, therefore, have a greater chance of survival.

The first was the weak sense of nationalism caused by all the ethnic groups where religion played a major part of the division. The main three ethnicities in Nigeria are Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo; the former is Muslim while the two latter are Christians. The second cause mentioned was the “divide and rule” which was a British tactic to employ ethnic groups against one another, and thus “helped ensure that ethnicity would be the main line of political cleavage after Nigeria became an independent country.” The third cause is the personal rule system based on “big men” and what this means is that Nigerian’s who worked for the British used their personal relationships to gain power and wealth, and in a certain way it is still used today in the Nigerian government. The fourth devastating cause was the “creation of an increasingly active and interventionist state during WWII and after until its independence in 1960, but that opened the doors to patronage, which would be used to gain political power and wealth. The past reveals the problems Nigeria has had for several decades, some of which have not disappeared but seem to get progressively worse. (CITATION)