Go to AfricaBib home

Go to AfricaBib home AfricaBib Go to database home

bibliographic database
Line
Previous page New search

The free AfricaBib App for Android is available here

Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The National Question in Africa: Internal Imperatives
Author:Soyinka, Wole
Year:1996
Periodical:Development and Change
Volume:27
Issue:2
Period:April
Pages:279-300
Language:English
Geographic terms:Africa
Nigeria
Subjects:dictatorship
democracy
political repression
Politics and Government
Ethnic and Race Relations
External link:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7660.1996.tb00590.x
Abstract:In a plea for political reform in Africa, this essay questions whether the concept of 'nation-being' is really applicable to territories ruled by dictatorial regimes. Without democracy, many African 'nations' are little more than a gambling space for the opportunism and adventurism of power. Furthermore, as in the concrete case of Nigeria, repression strengthens ethnic identity and encourages separatism. The risks of virulent ethnic conflict in Africa - and elsewhere - might be lessened if regional conferences were called to debate the national question openly, and to redefine (where necessary) both the external boundaries and the internal political realities of conflict-ridden societies. Sum.
Views
Cover