to be and how not to be: nation building challenges in nigeria.pdf (original) (raw)

To Be and How Not To Be: The Challenges Of Nation-Building in Nigeria

ARISTO, 2019

The work is the analysis of both the various nation-building challenges that have confronted Nigeria since independence and the possible ways the country can overcome them. The dream of Nigeria since independence in 1960 is to turn itself into a viable and cohesive nation. This has become an impossible dream however due to a myriad of challenges. Nigeria is a multi-ethnic society with over 250 ethnic groups. Each of these ethnic groups also have religious and economic issues that separates them from one another. Nigeria’s diversity has been a major obstacle in its drive to become a global and responsible player in the international community. By using the qualitative research methodology, the work identified various challenges, such as corruption, autarky, governance and distribution that have been the major barriers to the creation of a viable polity. The style used in the study is also historical, descriptive and analytical. Crucially, the study also used the concept of nation-bu...

Nation Building and the Impediments of Building the Nigerian Nation.

The nation-State called the Nigerian nation is far from the semblance of a nation. Although, the pretext of her adopting the nomenclature of a 'nation' remains a dim reality; regional, religious and ethnic acrimony have all eaten deep into the so called Nigerian nation and this has rubbished the ideal part of what the connotation of a nation is to the country. Colonialism has been blamed for the harsh realities of the country to forge common unity and peace amongst its people but beyond colonialism, the country has refused to rise above what obviously negates her corporate existence as a political entity. Right from when the country gained political independence in 1960, myriads of political uncertainties continue to plague her. From the civil war in 1967-1970 to serious religious and ethnic cum regional unrest and in recent time, Boko Haram insurgency and Fulani herdsmen proclivity for religious and ethnic cleansing especially in the northern part of the country and some selected states across the country, the corporate existence of the Nigerian nation is under threat and the fact remains that, it is very difficult for the country to witness genuine quest towards nation building. This paper examines the challenges being faced by the Nigerian nation towards nation building. The paper analyses nation building and the impediments of building the Nigerian nation by looking at Professor Ibrahim Gambari's thoughts on nation building in Nigeria.

CHALLENGES OF NATION-BUILDING IN A MULTI-NATION STATE: THE NIGERIAN EXPERIENCE

JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCE REVIEW (JASSR), 2022

The entity called Nigeria having a minimum of 250 nationalities is a colonial creation of Britain which emerged through the amalgamation of the southern and northern protectorates in January 1 st 1914 by Lord Lugard. Thus, people of different nationalities, with varying culture, language and religion were joined together without their consent as a country. However, since the attainment of independence in 1960, the different Nigerian governments have tried to turn the heterogeneous and multi-ethnic Nigerian state into a functional and integrated polity. These efforts have not yielded the desired results as centrifugal tensions, self-determination agitations, ethnic based identity politics and religious cleavages have enveloped national consciousness. Thus this paper examines the challenges of nation-building in Nigeria. It explores the successes that have been achieved and the challenges confronting nation-building endeavours in Nigeria. The paper is descriptive in nature and it relied on secondary source of data. The paper identified various challenges such as lack of effective leadership, corruption, bad governance, ethnicity and insecurity among others as major barriers to nation-building in Nigeria. This paper therefore concludes that unless Nigeria have leaders with ability, integrity, commitment, sense of fairplay and vision, she cannot succeed in her nation-building efforts.

One Hundred Years of Nationhood and the Challenges of Nation Building in Nigeria

This paper seeks to examine one hundred years of Nigerian existence and the challenges of nation-building. Some literatures on the subject were reviewed while data analyses are from secondary sources. The elite theory was used to explain the issues therein. The paper reveals that since the amalgamation of Northern and southern protectorate in 1914 into a single entity by Lord Lugard, the country has been struggling on how to effectively build the nation with series of problems spanning from bad governance, socioeconomic inequality, federal character dilemma, ethno-religious crises, corruptions, leadership, etc. These obstacles have over the years threatened our national integration principle which is based on building a strong and prosperous nation irrespective of our differences. The paper concludes that no task at genuine nationhood, integration and development is more urgent than rebuilding the bonds of intergroup spirit and cohesion that has been cruelly sundered in the past hundred years of amalgamation and nationhood. We must not continue to allow peoples lacking a sense of national purpose to champion our existence as a nation. The paper however, recommends that for us to live in harmony as one nation we must work tirelessly towards producing a nationalistic and a patriotic leader devoid of ethnic or religious affiliation. Efforts should be channel to foster intercultural dialogue and understanding so as to avoid conflict among intergroup which are ingredients of conflict prevention.

Socio Cultural and Political Implications of Nation-Building Policies in Nigeria

Perspective of Nigerian People and Culture

This chapter started by defining what Nation Building is. It went on to the approaches to Nation Building in post-colonial Nigeria, it maps out the approaches to nation building that have been pursued in post-colonial Nigeria and evaluates their relative success. The Authoritarian Approach, the Inclusionary Approach, the Exclusionary Approach, and the Democratic Approach. problems of nation building in Nigeria, socio-economic development in Nigeria, early concept of development, Nigerian national development policies, failure in achieving development, the social base of Nigeria nationalism and the problem of nation building, the perpetuation of one party rule in Nigeria and the problem of nation building, the organization of post-colonial Nigerian society and the problem of nation building.

A Critical Approach to the Problem of Nigeria and the Struggle for Nation Building

Sociology Study, 2020

Man abounds to have problems. Nigerians have problems but these problems become worse when Nigerians refuse to accept them, and in doing this, resort to self-deception and "Blame Games". Many have seen, tried to interpret and also proffer solutions to these problems. However, this paper argues that the Nigerian and indeed African problems at the final analysis lie with the people who have the absolute power-the electorates/masses/ruled. But the question is: why have these problems persisted? Is it that the real and fundamental problems have not yet been discovered or that wrong solutions are proffered to them or that the people have refused to heed to the tenets of the solutions? Nonetheless, the paper will however go further to criticize these conceptualized problems or troubles with Nigeria, together with the proffered solutions and then proffer new ways to overcome the persistency.

Restructuring the Nigerian Nation: A Pathway for Building Nigeria as a Nation

international research journal, online publication, 2023

Nigeria is a heterogeneous society of over 250 ethnic nationalities with diverse history, culture and religion. These plural nations were brought together by Lord Lugard amalgamation of 1914 as one nation. Nigeria as a plural state has faced the challenges of nation building which includes lack of trust among the various nationalities, leadership crisis, religious problems, slow development, insecurity, bad image abroad, low foreign investment and low standard of living among others. This has led to agitations for restructuring of Nigerian nation. This paper therefore examines restructuring the Nigerian nation as a pathway to nation building. It is a qualitative work that relied on secondary source of data and anchored on pluralism theory which helps to explain the heterogeneous nature of Nigeria. The paper argued that restructuring Nigeria will create an enabling environment to achieve the goal of nation building in Nigeria. The paper believes that if the agitation for restructuring Nigeria is not attended to, the corporate existence of Nigeria as a nation remains under serious threat. It is the opinion of the paper that restructuring the Nigerian political and economic sector will bring the needed trust and the spirit of nationalism for nation building. The paper therefore recommends among others the restructuring of the political, economic and social structures of Nigeria backed with quality legislation from the parliament, good leadership and strong political will that will bring good results for nation building.

An Inquiry into the Impact of Socio-Economic Development on Nation-Building: A Nigerian Perspective

International Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research (IJAMR), 2022

This conceptual analysis shows a connection between socioeconomic development and nation-building in Nigeria. Based on political ecology, it contends that the national leadership's propensity towards meritocratic and particularistic values is the cause of the state's apparent weakness in putting an end to the lies purported during election periods where we frequently read about a variety of socioeconomic development issues in newspaper articles, journals, and other periodicals, including poverty, unemployment, building roads and bridges, and the growth of amenities like health facilities and educational institutions as promised by lawmakers, political and groups. The goal of development is to raise the population's standard of living while protecting the environment's resources and creating or expanding employment opportunities locally and regionally. Lessons learned from the past are invaluable as they give a sense of bearing. The implication is that people can look into the future by drawing on their experiences in the past. Similar to this, efforts must be made to address the nation-building problems in Nigeria within the framework of human history in general and Nigerian history in particular. In this review article, some of the obstacles to Nigerian nation-building have been discussed. Nigeria's lack of effective leadership, religious and ethnic divisions, mono-commodity economy, and colonial legacies have all impeded nation-building and socioeconomic development. Leaders today are defined and praised as good if they treat the members of their ethnic group much more favorably while in office; their followers also adore this. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that political leadership refocus, reemphasize, and vigorously pursue the vision and mission of democratic governance, which originally aligns with Nigerians' aspirations and struggles for democracy in the nation.

Good Governance and the Challenges of Nation-Building in Nigeria: A Discourse

2021

This paper interrogates the nexus between good governance and building-nation particularly the challenges that have hindered sustainable building-nation since 1999. It argues that good governance is all about transparency and accountability in allocating authoritative resources. And as such, internalizing the culture of good governance is the recipe for quality leadership aim at building-nation in every levels of government in the country. The paper argues that when good governance is entrenched, the recurrent pathological problems of corruption, primordial sentiment, patron-client politics, the unholy marriage of Nigeria and ethno-religious loyalty that many scholars have identified as the challenges of nation-building in the country would be resolved. In other words, this paper sees the challenges of Nigeria’s nation-building with a monolithic perspective by attributing it to the absence of good governance in Nigerian political culture differently from the multiplicity perspective...

Good Governance and the Challenges of Nation-Building in Nigeria: A Historical Experience Since 1999

GLOBAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED, MANAGEMENT AND SOCIAL SCIENCES, 2019

The paper examined the link between good governance and building-nation particularly the challenges that have hindered sustainable building-nation since 1999. It was established that good governance is all about transparency and accountability in allocating authoritative resources. And as such internalizing the culture of good governance is the recipe for quality leadership aim at building-nation in every levels of government in the country. When good governance is be entrenched, the recurrent pathological problems of corruption, primordial sentiment, patron-client politics, the unholy marriage of Nigeria and ethno-religious loyalty that many scholars and analyst have identified as the challenges of nation-building in the country would be resolved. For the reason that the principles of transparence and accountability are all about using instrumentalities of government to formulate policies and programmes that would be people-oriented. For the way forward, Nigerians are what they ar...