Ethnic Groups in Africa: Nigeria as a Case Study

Introduction

Ethnic group can be defined as a group of people of the same race who share a distinct culture, such as values and customs, norms, language, religion, behaviors, etc. According to Alex Thompson in his book, “African Politics”, he defined ethnicity as a community of people who have a common identity and a common fate based on issues of origin, kinship ties, traditions, cultural uniqueness, a shared history and possibly a shared language. People of the same ethnic group identify each other through a belief of common heritage. Ethnicity has brought together people of the same descendant, culture and tradition. And has also caused a number of conflicts in Africa, which has led to deaths of millions of people all over Africa. Nevertheless, this thesis statement is based on the fact that ethnicity is one of the major causes of conflict in Africa, and Nigeria being a case study.

All over the world, ethnic mobilization can be as a result of political struggle or competition. Taking a closer look at the Soviet Union of the former eastern bloc was no other thing than the ethnic struggles and conflicts. The issues of Czechoslovakia, transferring of power by the central government to regional government in Britain, the battles between the Tamils and Sinhalese in Sri Lanka, as well as the struggle for rights in Zapatistas, Mexico and many others, all revolve around ethnicity.

Nevertheless, African people consist of thousands of different ethnic groups. Each of them having its own clear history, culture, tradition, linguistics, religion as well as norms among other identifiable traits. These different ethnic groups had over the centuries influenced each other both positively and negatively. And political activities to a great extent are determined by ethnicity and this is simply because, when political leaders in Africa make decisions, they do not only take cognizance of the national interest but will also consider the interest of different ethnic groups.

 The inhabitants of most of the countries in Africa are people who are originally Africans. Some of the ethnic groups in Africa experienced migrations of other people of different origin, such as the Europeans whose families had a geographical migration into Africa during the colonial era, and have continued to live on. All in all, ethnic conflicts seem quite severe in Africa. This simply leads to say that ethnicity issues in Africa cannot be discussed with a particular reference to the colonial powers, who to a great extent contributed to the existence of ethnicity and the problems that are associated with it today in Africa. According to an African writer Okwudiba Nnoli, “the divide and rule policy of the colonial administrators assured the docility of different ethnic groups and shielded them from the menace of insurrection.” This is to say that the colonialists understood the danger inherent in ethnicity before administering it. So that the different ethnic groups instead of revolting against the colonial rule, will always disagree with other ethnic groups for the interests of their own particular ethnic group. Thus, the following are some of the generally known ethnic groups in Africa. They include; The Arabs, Ashanti, Egyptians, Bantu, Bushmen, Berber, Dinka, Ganda, Hamites, Hottentot, Hausa, Kikuyu, Luba, Lunda, Malinke, Moors, Nuer, Pygmies,  Semites, Swahili, Yoruba, Oromo, Igbo, Amhara, Somali, Ijaw, Fulani, Zulu, Shona, and Xhosa.