Ethnicity and Development of Political Parties in Nigeria

Abstract

The colonization of what is now known as Nigeria had created lot of developmental and leadership challenges in the administration of the modern Nigerian state today. One particular event worthy of note in the history of colonial Nigeria era was   the forceful amalgamation of over three hundred and fifty different ethnic nationalities as one political unit, which now constitutes the Nigerian state. This exercise deplored by the British colonial master was solely done for administrative and commercial interest. By this singular exercise they had created a nation polarized by ethnic divide and increasingly in the quest to outdo and outplay each other in politics, commerce and relevancy. These different ethnic nationalities in the  nation was now  dominated by  the consciousness of  fear, suspicion, domination and the acts of scheming, manipulating for juice positions and recognitions, so as to take leadership role and control of resources  through political power in the nation, hence, ethnicity was noted in the formation and subsequent development of  political parties in the Nation, particularly in colonial Nigeria and beyond  This has been the crux and the genesis of Nigerian ethicized society, hence relationship was now foster on the bases of ethnic divide with  fear, suspicion and domination   in the minds of all the ethnic groupings in the nation, this has encroached into the fabric of the Nigerian society including politics. Therefore, this paper seek to among other things, explored the ethnicity and the development of political parties in Nigeria. The methodology deployed in this paper is explanatory and exploratory, and textual approach was adopted to analyze and compare texts gotten from secondary sources (journals, articles, internet, books and magazines).The paper concludes that, the evolution and subsequent development of political parties in Nigeria along ethnic divide is responsible   for the stalled  growth and full  integration  of all ethnic nationalities   in Nigeria.  Hence, eliminating trust, confidence and full political integration as a nation among the different ethnic nationalities. The paper  recommend further studies in this direction, and also  a systematic  change in altitude, behavior and conduct toward these ethnic groupings,   to a more inclusive, open, transparent and credible political process to accommodate all  in the Nigerian political space for peace, progress, tranquility and a  sustainable democratic culture  in the nation.

Keywords: Ethnicity, Political Parties, Nigerian Politics, and Political Power