Ethnic Diversity in Nigeria
The inherent differences in Language, religion, and politics of the various nations found within Nigeria have contributed heavily to failed attempts in democracy and political turmoil in general. The ammount of ethnic variety found within the borders of Nigeria is both "dazzling and confusing." Depending on the report, 250 to 400 or more different ethnic groups can be identified, however, three main ethnic groups dominate the political sphere. The Hausa, Yoruba, and Ibo constitute 68% of the population, and are located in the North, South, and East respectively. These actually happen to be three of the most populous ethnic groups in the whole of Africa. The differences between these regional cultural groupings will now be highlighted to facilitate a better understanding of the difficulties involved in trapping three vastly dissimilar nations under the guise of one smoothly operating democratic state.Located in the Northern half of Nigeria are the Hausa with the core 30% actually more toward the Northwesternly quarter. Traditionally and historically, the Hausa are moslim and live under Sharia or Islamic Law. Hausaland can be split up into Islamic Emirates that originally comprised a series of centralized governements a
To the right of the Yoruba, on the eastern side of the Southern part of Nigeria are the Ibo (Igbo). This is a densely forested region which the Ibo from outsiders and even inhibited contact between other Ibo clan groups. In fact, the Ibo did not begin to associate themselves as one people until relatively recent contact became regular with the Europeans, Yorubas, and Hausa. For this reason, political power was uncentralized and the clan groups were autonimously seperate bodies, usually the political leaders being a council of village elders. The unheirarchical Ibo were quite unnaturally joined with the stratified societies of the North and Southeast. In the western half of southern Nigeria live the Yoruba. The Yoruba were divided into seperate kindoms with their respective subject towns. The traditional social structure was hierarchical with the head of a family unit reporting to the Oba of the town who, in turn, reported to the Oba of the kingdom to which that town belonged. The Oba operated within and was chosen from a traditional council of cheifs, made up of the elders of a ruling class. There were checks and balances on the Oba to avoid oppression, and in extreme cases the Oba could be removed. Unlike the Hausa, the Yoruba are not Islamic, tending instead toward christianity, animism, or a combination of the two. Linguistically, religiously, and politically (the Ob
Some common words found in the essay are:
Peoples' Congress, Yoruba Yoruba, Hausa Fulani, Islamic Emirates, , Civil War, South East, Third Republic, North Southeast, Yorubas Hausa, political leaders, civil war, ethnicity result, ruling class, main ethnic, southern nigeria, third republic, hausa yoruba, party leaders, political parties,
Approximate Word count = 936
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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