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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Ethnic identity and the problem of national integration in Nigeria |
Author: | Okita, S.I.O. |
Year: | 1987 |
Periodical: | Nigeria Magazine |
Volume: | 55 |
Issue: | 3 |
Pages: | 61-65 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Nigeria |
Subjects: | ethnicity nation building |
Abstract: | After exploring the concept of ethnic identity as a social phenomenon, the author examines the problem of national integration - 'unity in diversity' - and nation-building in Nigeria. Ethnicity, because it can be used as a unifying ideology, is capable of being used to define, advance, and protect group interests and ensure its own survival. It thus has a great destabilizing potential in a multiethnic State such as Nigeria. Nevertheless, a State that has the will to promote the material and social welfare of the society in general and to ensure a minimum level of material wellbeing for its citizens will create both a stable basis for its own survival and the minimum psychological condition to enable a sense of identity, loyalty and belonging. Note, ref. |