Nigeria: Ethnic Conflict

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Ethnicity is how individuals perceive themselves, and unlike race it can be changed. There are countries in which there are several different types of ethnic groups, and in some cases that could lead to conflict within a country, but as research will show it is not the only cause, and in some cases the conflict was purposely organized. In such cases it is usually in a developing country, which is “defined according to their Gross National Income (GNI) per capita per year. Countries with GNI of US$ 11,905 and less and less are defined as developing (specified by the World Bank, 2012).” (CITATION) Developing countries that have established themselves as democracies tend to have weak institutions, where elections are more about connections and winning, rather than trying to establish and follow formal rules. Nigeria is both, a developing country and one with a weak democracy, there are many causes to this, such as problems with natural resources, and unable to maintain a strong formal government, but mainly it all could be traced back to the fact that it has a divided society where there is no sense of nationality. Divergence in a country does not mean violence, in the contrary in most cases places with a lot of different ethnicities tend to be peaceful, but Nigeria is exempt from this because it was, in a sense, programmed for all the different ethnicities and religions to have conflict amongst each other by the British.
Nigeria became an area of slave trade for the British Empire in about 1807, but they did not officially make it a colony until the 20th century. The British created Nigeria for the sole purpose of revenue; it is an “artificial country…the colonial borders enclosed more than 250 ethnic groups that has never been ru...

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...ional Agreements, Population, Social Statistics, Political System." Nigeria The 1966 Coups, Civil War, and Gowon's Government - Flags, Maps, Economy, History, Climate, Natural Resources, Current Issues, International Agreements, Population, Social Statistics, Political System. N.p., 27 Mar. 2005. Web. 09 Apr. 2014.
"Democracy and Governance in Nigeria: Reflecting on 51 Years of Independence." Democracy and Governance in Nigeria: Reflecting on 51 Years of Independence. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2014.
Draper, Alan, and Ansil Ramsey. The Good Society: An Introduction to Comparative Politics. 2nd ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2008. Print.
Jensen, N. "Resource Wealth and Political Regimes in Africa." Comparative Political Studies 37.7 (2004): 816-41. Print.
Lijphart, Arend. "Constitutional Design for Divided Societies." Journal of Democracy 15.2 (2004): 96-109. Print.

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