Nigerian Nation Research Articles

The Role of Agricultural Libraries in Literacy Education as a Prelude to Capacity Building among Rural Farmers in Nigeria

Illiteracy among Nigerians, with its social and economic implications, has become a growing concern in recent years. National awareness of problems associated with limited literacy skills has led to legislation, beginning at the federal level, to fund new literacy programmes and expand existing programmes. Libraries and information centers are viewed as an important component of this massive educational effort, especially in the light of the fact that 75 percent of farmers in Nigeria are illiterate rural dwellers. A descriptive survey method was adopted for the study. Data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics and presented in forms of tables and charts. The findings revealed that agricultural libraries have major roles to play in literacy education to rural farmers in order to build their capacity to produce technology based agricultural goods that will reverse the negative impact of agriculture on the Nigerian economy. Results also showed that rural farmers had farm related information needs, peculiar information sources, and the agricultural information gathered by farmers were used to meet production related needs. The role agricultural libraries can play in literacy education of rural farmers in Nigeria were enunciated to include providing information to the extension workers and repackaging agricultural information for the rural farmers in local languages and dialects where necessary. Information Communication Technology developments within the library that can impact on the generation and dissemination of agricultural information to farmers included dissemination of information on posters, use of digital white boards for interactive extension workshops and dissemination of current digital agricultural information from the internet among others. In conclusion, the agricultural libraries have the human and material resources to join the extension team to conduct research and give rural farmer necessary information needed to provide to achieve technology based agriculture that will help the Nigerian nation achieve food sufficiency and security. It was recommended that Agricultural librarians should consider joining the agricultural extension team. The repackaging of agricultural information accessible to the library via online as well as the offline sources should be considered by the librarians in liaison with the agricultural experts. The agricultural librarians should spearhead the advocacy that will ensure the establishment of public libraries in all the local government areas in Abia state as this will ease the access to information to these rural farmers.

Maliki Jurisprudence and <i>Boko Haram</i> ideology <i>versus</i> Nigerian nation building: need for pluralism in Islamic praxis

There seems to be an area of intersection between Boko Haram ideology and Maliki jurisprudence. Both are radical and fundamentalist oriented Islamic convictions. Boko Haram seeks to hatch a pure hard core Islam devoid of any outside, especially, Western influence, a project which resembles, to say the least, those of ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), Al-Shabab, and on a global level, Al-Qaeda. In the same vein, Maliki School of Islamic law is a strict jurisprudence desiring to resuscitate Medinan practices that are deemed uncorrupted and seen as remaining as they were in Muhammad’s days. The Maliki regime governing the whole of North Africa and West Africa is the underlying Islamic legal framework operative in Nigeria even if not fully. Yet full implementation of its tenets remains a goal to be achieved and which Boko Haram appears to be assiduously working towards. No doubt this aspiration is consistent with the sect’s recent rechristening of itself with the term ‘Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP)’. This paper aims at exploring the common thread connecting Boko Haram philosophy to Maliki thought in the light of the multifarious ways of practicing Islam as exemplified in Pakistan,Indonesia and Malaysia. The study finally examines the effects of the discussed ideological mindsets on Nigerian nation building.Keywords: Maliki Jurisprudence, Boko Haram, National Development, Islamic Law, Nigeria

Maliki Jurisprudence and Boko Haram ideology versus Nigerian nation building: need for pluralism in Islamic praxis

There seems to be an area of intersection between Boko Haram ideology and Maliki jurisprudence. Both are radical and fundamentalist oriented Islamic convictions. Boko Haram seeks to hatch a pure hard core Islam devoid of any outside, especially, Western influence, a project which resembles, to say the least, those of ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), Al-Shabab , and on a global level, Al-Qaeda . In the same vein, Maliki School of Islamic law is a strict jurisprudence desiring to resuscitate Medinan practices that are deemed uncorrupted and seen as remaining as they were in Muhammad’s days. The Maliki regime governing the whole of North Africa and West Africa is the underlying Islamic legal framework operative in Nigeria even if not fully. Yet full implementation of its tenets remains a goal to be achieved and which Boko Haram appears to be assiduously working towards. No doubt this aspiration is consistent with the sect’s recent rechristening of itself with the term ‘Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP)’. This paper aims at exploring the common thread connecting Boko Haram philosophy to Maliki thought in the light of the multifarious ways of practicing Islam as exemplified in Pakistan,Indonesia and Malaysia. The study finally examines the effects of the discussed ideological mindsets on Nigerian nation building. Keywords: Maliki Jurisprudence, Boko Haram , National Development, Islamic Law, Nigeria

An appraisal of the state fund and empowerment programme in Nigeria

This paper presents an appraisal of the Goodluck Jonathan’s policy on Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P). Distributive politics is one of the most important and controversial aspects of the policy chain. In the Nigerian nation, more than anything else, the greatest obstacle to the nascent democracy is the pervasive insecurity of lives and property as evidenced by the spate of armed robbery attacks, political assassinations, and poor power distribution coupled with the seeming helplessness of security agencies to handle criminal acts. The situation is worsened by the increasing number of unemployed Nigerians some of whom are ready recruits for criminal activities. The above statement from an editorial comment by a national daily in Nigeria indeed epitomizes the central focus of this paper, the aim of which is to analyze the nexus between democratic nurturing, sustenance and eventually consolidation via-a-vis the battles with one of the major ills of the Nigerian nation. Fifty-two years after independence, Nigeria still battles with one of the major fall-outs of democratic dispensation: the politics of trying to appease all sectors of the polity. This paper highlights and assesses the nature, quality and value of particular issues and matters that have dominated the Nigerian federal polity and which have created untold unpleasant experiences and pains at one point or the other since independence. The SURE-P programme is aimed at alleviating the suffering of the teaming youths in Nigeria, especially those that was affected by the oil-spillage and jobless youths. However, the research employed as a focal point, a unique data to explain the implementation of the SURE-P programme. The paper painstakingly appraises many of these issues and concludes that all stakeholders in the federal polity should thread softly, be objective, rational, altruistic and magnanimous in order not to make the existence of true federalism (social, political and economic cohesive existence of the people, peace and tranquility) a fleeting illusion and a mirage. It also focuses on critical analysis of the SURE-P programme of the immediate past President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.Keywords: Political, Democracy, Corruption, Society, Nigeria, State

The [African] Novelist and the Nation: A Postcolonial Reading of Chukwuemeka Ike’s Our Children Are Coming

Even though the nation is an accepted “imagined community”, the process of nation formation and nation becoming in Africa has not guaranteed rights of its citizens. It is this failure to guarantee rights of citizens irrespective of age, gender, class, race, religion and ethnicity that incites the creative imagination of African novelists. This study is an examination of how Chukwuemeka Vincent Ike has appropriated the form of the novel in order to interrogate the abuse of the rights of the child and youth in his Nigerian nation. This is illuminated under postcolonial theoretical paradigm, as well as the qualitative research methodology. This study has investigated the relationship between form and content in Ike’s Our Children Are Coming. We have established that through the elements of narrative fiction, the novelist has not only created the space of the nation as an imagined community, but has equally represented the unfortunate bleak future of his Nigerian nation occasioned by the continued neglect of the average Nigerian child and youth. He has in addition, dramatized through his characters’ voices, and actions, the failure of the adult society, the disappointment of self-rule and its resultant disillusionment on the part of the youth…. the leaders of his nation’s hazy future.Keywords: The Novel, Novelist, Nation, Postcolonial, Ike, children, youth, adult society, self-rule, and elements of narrative fiction

Corruption and Economic Transformation in Nigeria: An Agency Theoretic Perspective

The Nigerian nation is no stranger to economic reforms. Yet, in spite of more than half a century of reforms, the debilitating effects of an economy in distress are still very much with us. The manufacturing sector that is supposed to be the engine room of the nation’s economy has been characterized by low capacity utilization and declining contribution to national output. The resultant effect of all these is poor standard of living and ravaging poverty. Adopting the “Principal – Agent Model” as a theoretical basis, the paper argued that due to the privileged position of the agents (elected public officials) to public resources and information, they tend to abuse these privileges by acting contrary to the interest of their principal (the electorates). The paper therefore among others recommends that the principals should be more alive to their responsibility by seeking for information and regular monitoring of the activities of the agents in order to ensure Public Sector Accountability.

Drivers Dexterity: George Osodi’s Oeuvre on Safety on the Nigerian Road

This paper attempted a reading of the Nigerian condition using the censure of images culled from an exhibition by the Nigerian photographer George Osodi. Drawing attention to the shapes of the images and imageries that constitute the profile of the condition of a major infrastructure, the road and transportation, I have employed these as vestigial to a narrative that embodies diverse contexts. These inflect the identity and history of the Nigerian nation in general. Using the photographic image as the censure on which the fleeting memoriam of the discourse of the day to day lives of the real people of Nigeria an essay ensues: “Art makes the experiences of time spatially perceptible by forcing what is ever fleeting into the calm framework of a symbol” (Beat Wyss, 1998) Reflecting, therefore, on the consequent rhetoric’s inherent in the linguistic/pictorial/cultural turn and the techniques deployed by the photographer to affect presence , I have engaged a reading of the existentialist world view that has shaped the mentality of the real people, hence their conditions of life in contrast to that of the privileged few; in the utilisation of a derelict infrastructure. The image is, therefore, utilised as the symbolic scaffolding that holds the story. The symbols inflect an identity and history. In furtherance of the employment of symbols, I have drawn attention to the place of the photo and the phono-centric images as invaluable synergy in the actualisation of a synchronic analysis. Drawing attention to the ‘pains of others’ this essay explores what is to be done.Keywords: G.O’s oeuvre, driver’s dexterity, shapes/images, “the real people”

Religious education and nation-building in Nigeria

After the Nigerian Civil War in 1970, the federal government took over schools founded by religious groups because education was thought to be a huge government venture and no longer a private enterprise. Prior to this time, Nigerian leaders benefitted from the free education offered by missionaries, which became the bedrock for Nigerian nationalism and independence. Most people argue that the sudden takeover of the schools by the government brought about the collapse of education that was hitherto reputed for high standards in learning and morality. Hence, the call for return of mission schools by pressure groups became rife. Conversely, in the wake of the return of mission schools by some states in the federation, stakeholders have expressed divergent views, citing denominational sentiments, tribal prejudices and unhealthy rivalry among citizens as problems that could militate against national integration and development. This article aims at examining the divergent views in the light of the role of religious education (RE) in nation building and integration.

Address Causes not Symptoms: Engaging the Festering Culture of Impunity from the Dimension of Fragility in Nigeria

ABSTRACTThe complexity of the problems plaguing the Nigerian nation is beyond what is imagined. Contrary to the claims of the Nigerian government, these issues are not exaggerated. The vices discussed in this article are deep-rooted and traverse all segments of society. Laws are disregarded to the extent that they seem a mere fulfilment of the requirement for statehood. Every basis of identity, political, communal, ethnic, and religious is also a unit of conflict. Virtually all institutions – educational, legislative, judicial, executive, and security – of government are entrapped in the race for the ‘balkanization of the country's “national cake”’. The nature of functions determines the character of corruption in government agencies. The pervasiveness of these issues is owed to an environment that has created a culture of impunity. The weakness of state structures, along authority and capacity dimensions of fragility, explains the sustenance of a culture of impunity despite huge resources devoted to the campaign against it.

ADULT EDUCATION FOR CONSCIOUSNESS RAISING, GOOD NEIGHBORLINESS AND SUSTAINABLE DEMOCRACY AND LIVELIHOOD IN NIGERIA

Friendly neighborliness is an instrument for peaceful co-existence and harmonious relationship. It is also very vital to the sustenance of democracy and livelihood in every society. Unfriendly neighborliness is mostly caused by conflicts, especially when they escalate to violence. The Nigerian nation has witnessed several conflicts stemming from religious, ethnic, political and economic reasons. The effects of such conflicts are enormous; apart the loss of lives and property, resulting into many people deserting their homes, jobs and other sources of livelihood. The major repercussion of those conflicts is the intendments of hatred, fear, suspicion and unfriendly neighborliness among people living in such communities. Adult Education has numerous programmes that raise consciousness as well as solve the problems of ignorance, poverty, frustration among adults and youths in Nigeria. Peace education which is also an integral part of adult education can be used to raise the consciousness of the Nigerian adults and youths against violence. This type of education inculcates the virtues of tolerance and forgiveness; it also highlights the dangers of conflicts and the need for peaceful co-existence needed for the sustenance of democracy and livelihood in Nigeria.

Tribal Proclivity and its Effects on the Cooperate Existence of Nigeria in the Centenary Era: An Islamic Perspective

The word tribal is an adjective describing the noun tribe. Tribal is synonymous to the word, ethnic, family ancestral etc. Proclivity on the other hand is also synonymous to tendency inclination, or penchant. entails the natural tendency to behave in a particular way. Tribal proclivity from the above entails the act of being inclined to tribal feelings or exhibition of the act of tribalism. In one of the Prophetic traditions, Prophets s.a.w provides an insight as to the concept of tribalism: It was narrated from the daughter of Wathilah bin Al-Asqa' that she heard her father say: I said: 'O Messenger of Allah what is tribalism? He said. When you help your people in wrongdoing (Abu Dawud 2007). The expression tribal proclivity and its effects on the cooperate existence of Nigeria in the centenary era therefore symbolises how the concept of tribalism affects the continuous existence of Nigeria as it attains a hundred years of emergence. The topic is equally viewed from the Islamic point of view. A cursory look at the early history of the territory of the Federal Republic of Nigeria especially from the nineteenth century reveals that this region encompasses a number of independent empires and kingdoms. In addition, each of these enclaves has its own peculiar traditions, customs and institutions. Prominent among the enclaves are the Sokoto caliphate in the North, the Oyo Empire in the South Western region, the Igbo people in the eastern part and the Benin Empire. Borno Empire also existed and is situated in the North eastern part of the present day Nigeria.Furthermore, with passage of time, the British in their bid to secure more colonies, embarked on penetration of these areas of land. Oke (2007) holds that in furtherance of their influence on the present day Nigeria, on the 1st January, 1914, the Northern and Southern part of Nigeria were amalgamated together to form a colony and protectorate called Nigeria. This protectorate was then governed by Fredick Lugard as the first governor of the country. This was also done purposely to ease the act of governance of the two areas in the interest of the British government. Inferentially, the year (2014) marks a centenary in the history of formation of the country Nigeria. Having traverse through a number of distance, it is quite apt to flash back memory with the intent of appraising the past so as to redress the wrongs in the nearest future. Among the pertinent issue that needs to be addressed is the effect of tribalism on the cooperate existence of the Nigerian nation as it attains a hundred years of unification. Bambose (1971), in his submission avows that the country has over 400 to 420 ethnic groups. This however could not be viewed as a factor that could hinder the continual existence of the Country as a Nation. Moreover, there are about 645 distinctive ethnic groups in India and all of them exist under only a country called India.A Flash on the Prevalence of Tribal Proclivity in NigerianOne open truth is that, since the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorate together in 1914, there had been series of exhibition of tribal inclination by Nigerians in their relations among themselves. Coleman (1958) testifies to the prevalence of ethnic prejudice among the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria in the 1940s. Popoola (2014), affirms that the need to foster unity among the various ethnic groups of the nation was one of the conceived idea behind the amalgamation of the country in 1914. The attainment of this he upholds remains a mirage due to a number of tribal conflicts witnessed in the country from time to time. According to Robin (1971), the 1966 coup and counter coup for example, insinuated in the hearth of the people some tribal feelings and ethnic predilection. The coup plotters were mostly from a particular ethnic group of the country (Igbo). In addition, the coup claimed twenty seven lives of which the casualties were mostly from the other ethnic groups of the nation. …

Democracy, leadership and nation building in Nigeria

Anchored on socio-political principles like freedom, human rights and rule of law, democracy is deemed the best form of government. Given its appealing prospects, democracy has become evidently prevalent in the contemporary world’s governance. Thus, nations operating other forms of government have over time either strongly sought democracy or are compelled to do so by external forces. Dissatisfied with a long-term period of military rule, Nigerians clamored for democratic rule and the nation has since 1999 witnessed civilian transitions of power within democracy. For Nigerians, the beauty of their hard earned democracy lies in its proclivity towards integral and sustainable national development. The thrust of democracy anywhere is determined hugely by the manner and style of leadership by which the system of government is run. Any democracy driven by bad leadership not only stunts nation building but engenders expedition for political alternatives. From a philosophical stance, this paper critically examines Nigerian democracy and identifies corruption as a major leadership problem bedeviling Nigerian nation building. It proposes attitudinal- changebased orientation of leadership for service as more dignifying and rewarding which in turn enhances progressive and sustainable development of Nigeria and indeed Africa.

The Contributions of the Christian Missionaries in Building the Nigerian Nation, 1840-1960

Much of the existing works on the history of the evolution of modern Nigeria seem to be concentrated on the activities of three principal bodies from Britain: the British explorers, the British traders and the British colonial administrators. Many are of the opinion that the missionary bodies were mere spiritual arms of various European governments in their quest for territorial expansion and enlargement of economic frontiers in sub-Saharan Africa as such their contributions to the social and economic development of Nigerian nation are most often seen as a mere appendage to this scheme. Nevertheless, the galvanizing of the diverse people of Nigeria may not have been achieved by the mere order of British royalty. Even the tools of military, economic and political impositions were not enough to nurture a national consciousness. There was the wrestling down of traditional cultural/tribal consciousness, educational re-tooling of the mind and the personnel training in preparation for nationhood. This is the gap that this paper has filled. The missionary activities in Nigeria, especially their educational programs helped to whip-up the consciousness of a shared identity and helped to train a new set of elite that championed the course of nationalism and constituted a virile leadership for the young nation at independence. The paper made copious use of recorded history of missionary involvement in shaping the society and training its first generation of leaders and of observable evidences of continued impact of the emergent churches on the social, cultural, political and economic life of present-day Nigeria. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2015.v4n2p159

Determinants of Agro-inputs redemption under the electronic wallet initiative in Nigeria

The study assessed the spread of farmers and participation in terms of input redemption and the determinants of farmers redeemed with agro-inputs under the electronic-wallet initiative of the Growth Enhancement Support Scheme of the On-going Agricultural Transformation Agenda. Secondary data covering the Nigerian nation, with states and zonal breakdowns were used for the study. Analytical tools included the use of descriptive analysis such as mean, percentages coefficient of variation and graphical analysis. Other non-parametric and parametric tools employed included the analysis of variance and multiple regression analysis. The study revealed that the northern parts of the country accounted for about 90% of the total number of farmers redeemed with agro-inputs under the scheme, with the north-west accounting for about 50% of this figure. The performance of local government participation was generally above par given the average performance of 81.47% across zones, with over 90% active LGA participation recorded in the south-south and south-west. The analysis of variance test showed that the zonal achievements in terms of agro-inputs redeemed were significantly different across the 6 zones within the country. Ironically, the coefficient of variation index revealed a higher stability in farmers redeemed in the south west zone with an index of 1.15, in-spite of the placement of the zone relative to the northern zones. Farmers turn-out and number of active local government areas were also observed to be significant determinants of farmers redeemed with agro-inputs at 1% and 10% respectively. The study recommended the need for enhanced political support for the scheme at the state and local government levels, effective farmer education and mobilization, enhanced supervision of agro-input dealers and redemption centers, effective alignment of all on-going food security projects with the scheme, while prioritizing the scheme for targeted budgetary allocation.Keywords: Agro-input redemption, Electronic-wallet, Growth Enhancement Support Scheme, Agricultural Transformation Agenda

The Contributions Of Nigeria Women Towards National Development

This paper examine the contributions of Nigeria Women towards National Development. It gives the detrimental effects which the colonialism have had on the status of Nigerian women. The challenges of women contributions to the development of the Nigerian nation are highlighted. And ameliorating these challenges recommendations are made which among others include the proper education of women, formation of more women, business cooperatives, enlightment campaigns in secondary and tertiary institutions as well as granting women their constitutional rights to effective participation in the affairs of the country.

Retrenchment Exercise on Educational Institutions and Government Parastaltas in Ogun-State, Nigeria

In this paper, attempts have been made to examine the effects of retrenchment on implementing state as well as the Nigerian nation at large. We have examined the colossal impact mass retrenchment would have on the states` economic growth and national development. A descriptive research design was used to collect data while information were gathered from interview corroborated the findings. The sample consists of 1000 participants who were randomly selected from list of educational institutions in Ogun-State. 10 schools were selected each from primary, secondary and tertiary institutions totalling 30 schools while 20 other organizations ranging from Power Holding Corporation, Aviation, LG, and Ministry of Environment. 10 men and 10 women were chosen each from the 50 units. A questionnaire with 25 different performance indicators that reflected individual and institutional level performance was used. Data collected were analyzed using frequency counts. From the findings, it was revealed that rather than being a corrective measure, retrenchment has had negative impact on the affected individual, implementing state and the nations` development in general. Therefore, we concluded on a note that, for the nation to progress socially and economically to better the lots and wellbeing of the entire Nigerian citizenry, concerted efforts have to be made towards the nations` policy, implementation of various government reforms, training and re-training of personnel in work places and basic information communication technology needed in search for jobs.

Political Leadership and Challenges of National Integration and Development in Nigeria: The Way Forward

Concrete and genuine national integration and development have been elusive in Nigeria, which has been a thing of serious concern to scholars. The study interrogates why true integration and meaningful development have been elusive in the country? This constitutes the key problem of the study. The historical method of research and analysis was employed in the study as the paper under discussion covers the past, the present and likely implications on the future of the country. The major findings in the paper revealed various factors or challenges as been responsible for this abysmal state of affairsand which Nigerian political leaders have been battling with. The paper examines some of these challenges which among others include: the elusiveness of a national leader, corruption and mismanagement of material and human resources, lack of proper accountability on the part of Nigerian political leaders, the crushing economic depression which manifested in high cost of living, poverty, mass unemployment and dissatisfaction among the citizenry, problems of democratic consolidation, the Niger Delta environmental crisis, religious crisis and the recent Boko Haram scourge which had proved intractable for Nigerian government. The implication of the totality of all these factors has the effect of partly contributing to Nigeria perambulating at the same spot or even dancing backward rather than progressing, thereby making stability, true nation building, national integration and development elusive to the Nigerian nation. Recommendations proffered towards curbing the problems in the paper include: the need to learn from history, the need for improved electioneering culture, declaration of assets by political leaders to enhance accountability, respect for the secularity of Nigeria, creation of jobs and putting in place of people oriented programmes and the need for re-orientation of both leaders and followers in Nigeria.

Boko Haram and Insecurity in Nigeria: The Quest for a Permanent Solution

Of late, Nigeria has been gripped with threats of terrorism and general insecurity, which many believed are direct consequences of bad leadership, poverty, unemployment, widespread illiteracy and extreme deprivation. These ills provided the impetus for the anger that breeds religious extremism and terrorism. The emergence of Boko Haram and its attendant security challenges are therefore, the direct product of state failure in its responsibility to be sensitive to the plight and predicaments of the citizenry. The paper examined Boko Haram insurgency and its debilitating consequences for socio-economic and political development of the Nigerian state. The paper recommended that to achieve a lasting solution to the security challenges thrown up by the nefarious activities of the Boko Haram sect, government must revitalize and consolidate the socio-economic and political structures of the Nigerian state and the north in particular. More fundamentally, government should make conscious efforts towards building a genuine integration of the various ethnic nationalities within the Nigerian nation through instituting the cultures of true democracy and good governance anchored on fairness, equity, accountability, and transparency in the polity. Key words : Boko Haram, poverty, terrorism, extremism, democracy, governance, insurgency, integration, fairness, equity, accountability, transparency.

The Politics of State Creation and National Integration in Nigeria

Agitations for state creation are almost as old as the Nigerian nation. The more states that are created, the more the problem they are intended to solve persists. Just as the exercises enfeeble the constituent units vis-a-vis the federal government so do they detach the units one from the other. The state creation exercises have heightened the indigene-non-indigene phenomenon (statism) which is antithetical to a sense of common nationhood. The federal character principle which is intended to moderate competitions among states over national ‘cake’ has exacerbated ethnic – rivalries and the indigene-settler syndrome in most of the states. The principle should be replicated in the states to accommodate Nigerians there rather than being discriminated against on the basis of their states of origin. What a contradiction! The thrust of this paper is to investigate how far the state creation in Nigeria has helped in knitting the citizens to achieve a common nationhood. The paper posits that state creation exercises are a bag of mixed grills: although they are supposed to ensure even development, they have remained a source of crisis, alienation and distrust in some states which defeat the national integration project.

Collective memory, coloniality and resource ownership questions: the conflict of identities in postcolonial Nigeria

The indigenous concepts of ‘public’, ‘identity’ and ‘ownership’ of natural resources in precolonial Nigeria were redefined with the evolution of the Nigerian nation state. In Eastern Nigeria, for example, the ‘public’ and ‘national identity’ revolved around small independent communities. These communities, within the ethnic space, owned the resources within their borders. However, the creation of the Nigerian state by British colonialism reconstituted ‘national identity’ and shifted ‘ownership’ from the community to the nation state. Using the framework of collective memory, the article examines identity constructions and ownership of natural resources. The article argues that while the nation state has become the dominant geospatial basis for individual and collective identity, the dynamics of power relations embedded in the Nigerian state since its creation often rehabilitates primordial identities, where communities find expression in resource control agitation. The article utilises both primary and secondary sources in its analysis. It focuses on perceptions of resource ownership among communities of South-eastern Nigeria.