Management of ethnic diversities as a panacea for nation building : The Nigerian example, 1960-2017

This study examines nation-building and the management of ethnic diversities in Nigeria, 1960-2017. In attempting to evaluate and understudy political development in Nigeria, there is a need for a consideration of the impact of ethnicity on nation-building in the country. Without mincing words, historical facts have demonstrated that ethnicity had and will continue to influence political developments in Nigeria as several events and activities such as the federal character principles, the civil war, states creation and the formation of political parties can best be explained from the ethnic milieu. The questions in which this study intends to address include; How have the Nigerian political leadership managed the different diversities in the country since 1960 to enhance nation building? What are the effects of ethnicity in Nigeria’s nation-building? How can the issues associated with ethnicity be best contained to enhance nation-building in Nigeria? The theoretical framework of analysis adopted by this study is the group theory which holds that in the society there is no effective individual interests, that every group has her interests, and that these interests always result in group actions and that, there is no one group interest that includes everyone in the society. This study adopts the primary and secondary methods of data collection with a multidisciplinary approach