Ethnic ‘nationalities’, God & the state: Whither the federal republic of Nigeria?

Abstract

There is a continuing contradiction between the state as the corporate representation of Nigerian society and sectional (ethno‐religious) interests struggling to counter perceived margin‐alisation by revenue ‘sharing’ among patrons and clients (Joseph, 1987). Power elites in command of the centre identify with the state and proclaim its indivisible ‘unitary’ character; poly‐ethnic labour activists believe in the Federal Republic but criticise their exclusion from state power by a mege‐rich elite (Ojewale, 2000). Other (southern) leaders are so dissatisfied with the unitary Nigerian state that they are campaigning for a confederation of ethnic ‘nationalities’ or secession into independent republics. As well, certain northern leaders are emphasising the Islamic identity of the Hausa‐Fulani ‘nationality’ by substituting Shari'a law for the criminal code so some people believe core northern states are engaging in covert religio‐legal secession (Soyinka, 2000). The state and ethno‐religious sectionalism thus continue to interact, power elite networking and patronage ensuring that each party to the contradiction reproduces politically unitary and divisive forces in changing constellations, rendering uncertain indeed the outcome of present empowerment struggles. In this Briefing Caroline Ifeka explores current conflicts. She identifies historical constants in political relations between the state and ethno‐religious ‘nationalities’ and highlights those that are crumbling. As conflicts intensify the (unitary) viewpoints of certain power elites, reported daily in the print and visual media, become more strident. Ifeka compares these with the sectional perspectives of the struggling masses she encounters in tropical high forest villages, in vigilante meetings, and in guest houses in downtown city quarters. She asks: do current crises and discourses of ‘marginalisation’ constitute a penultimate phase in the history of a state born and governed through violence, and nurtured in mystifying discourses of ‘faith and unity'?