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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Education and ethnic politics in Nigeria |
Author: | Nnoli, Okwudiba |
Year: | 1977 |
Periodical: | The Conch: A Biafran Journal of Literary and Cultural Analysis |
Volume: | 9 |
Issue: | 1-2 |
Pages: | 63-81 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Nigeria |
Subjects: | schooling ethnicity |
Abstract: | Education is a significant factor in the emergence and persistence of ethnic politics in Nigeria because the colonial and post-colonial ruling class defined it essentially as a scarce commodity. More specifically, given the nature of the socioeconomic organisation of Nigeria, education is a vital but scarce commodity, competition for it creates personal socioeconomic insecurity which is ameliorated by ethnic identification and solidarity, and as the intensity of this competition increases inter-ethnic hostility is exacerbated. For education to contribute to inter-ethnic harmony, it must cease to be a scarce commodity; and this may be achieved through a successful program of free education up to the university level. Notes, ref. A comment on this paper by Ronald Cohen is included on p. 82-86. |