Essay On Ethnicity In Nigeria

3273 Words7 Pages

NIGERIA
SOCIETY
To truly understand and grasp Nigeria’s society, you have to understand its ethnic make-up and the dominant role it plays in Nigerian culture. Nigeria has over 250 different ethnic groups and 500 additional indigenous languages. Over 50% of the population are Muslim, 40% practice Christianity, and 10% practice some form of indigenous beliefs. (Ref: www.cia.gov )The many different ethnic groups results from its long colonial history and numerous cultural and physical boundaries that were created during this time. Historically, Nigeria has distinguished its groups based on location and other cultural indicators. Some of these indicators include, but are not limited to, language and religion.
Nigeria’s ethnic groups can be easily broken down by geographic region. During the earliest stages of colonialism, Nigeria was separated into two main regions, the north side and the south side. The north side and portions of the middle belt mainly consisted of the majority Muslim population and the south side shaded culturally on the Christian side. (Ref. www.mongabay.com ) Of course there were sub-regions that developed from these two main regions, but the general makeup of the two regions stayed relatively consistent. After Nigeria gained its independence in 1960, there was a push to end the classification of people based on religion or different tribal groups and to promote ethnic diversity. Conflict between the different ethnic groups was not uncommon and the complications it caused in the past, has lead to social unrest that still exists today. The official language of Nigeria is English, which is taught early in primary schools throughout most developed regions. English as a common language was taught to help a...

... middle of paper ...

...h aims to reduce violent conflict in Nigeria. The program provides support to Nigerian stakeholders to better manage conflict resulting in wealth creation, service delivery and poverty reduction. The program is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and implemented by the British Council in partnership with International Alert and Social Development Direct. Program implementation will be over a period of five years (2013 to 2017). At the same time, with the support of NSRP, the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development has just launched the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security.
It is also important to mention that internal security and human rights conditions are evaluated annually in the Amnesty International Report and in the United States Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.

Open Document