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Politics of Identity and the Crisis of Nation-Building in Africa

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The Palgrave Handbook of African Politics, Governance and Development

Abstract

Historically, Africa as a continent has been characterized by various crises that are principally responsible for her underdevelopment. Among the problems that have attracted attention, the identity crisis and its attendant impact on the process of nation-building appears the most protracted and challenging. The primary concern of this chapter is to interrogate the nexus between the nature and character of identity politics and the crisis of nation-building in Africa. The basic argument is that colonialism in Africa intruded into the integration process of nation formation in Africa, and in the process created a kind of identity politics that has remained the bane of nation-building on the continent.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Dalgliesh, Bregham. “Problematising the Political Theory of Identity Politics: Towards an Agonistic Freedom.” KRITIKE: An Online Journal of Philosophy 7, no. 1 (2013).

  2. 2.

    James Clifford, The Predicament of Culture (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1988).

  3. 3.

    Francis Deng, War of Visions: Conflict of Identities in the Sudan (Washington, DC: Brookings, 1995).

  4. 4.

    Jaja Nwanegbo, “The State and Identity Politics in Nigeria,” in The State in Contemporary Nigeria: Issues, Perspectives and Challenges, ed. Shola Omotola and Ikenna Alumona (Ibadan: John Archers Publishers, 2016).

  5. 5.

    Ben Nwabueze, Colonialism in Africa: Ancient and Modern. Volume 2. (Ibadan: Gold Press Ltd, 2010).

  6. 6.

    Mahmood Mamdani, “From Conquest to Consent as the Basis of State Formation: Reflections after a Visit to Rwanda” Paper Presented to the Conference on the “Crisis in the Great Lakes Region” CODESRIA. Arusha Tanzania. September 4–7, 1995.

  7. 7.

    Ibid.

  8. 8.

    Kenneth Onwubiko, History of West Africa (Onitsha: Africana-FEP, 1986).

  9. 9.

    Maathai Wangari, “Bottlenecks to Development in Africa” An Address Presented to the 4th UN World Women’s Conference. Beijing China, 1995.

  10. 10.

    Okwudiba Nnoli, Ethnic politics in Nigeria (Enugu: PARCREP, 2008).

  11. 11.

    Nnoli, Ethnic Politics in Nigeria; Okwudiba Nnoli, Ethnic Politics in Africa. Africa Association of Political Science; 1989; Nwabueze, Colonialism in Africa: Ancient and Modern.

  12. 12.

    Nwachukwu Nnabuihe, Austin Aghemalo, and Nwosu Okebugwu, “Ethnicity and Electoral Behaviour in Nigeria.” European Scientific Journal 2 (2014).

  13. 13.

    Emile Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (New York: Free Press, 1915), 37.

  14. 14.

    Jeffery Seul, “Ours is the Way of God: Religion, Identity, and Intergroup Conflict.” Journal of Peace Research 36, (1999).

  15. 15.

    Ibid.

  16. 16.

    Mike Omilusi, “Diagnosing the Interplay of Religious Identity, Elite Hypocrisy and Political Leadership Ascendancy in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic,” International Journal of Politics and Good Governance VI, no. 6, (2015).

  17. 17.

    O.O. Familusi, Religious Factors in the Electoral Process and the Quest for an Enduring Democracy in Nigeria,” Humanity and Social Sciences Journal 7, no.1, (2012).

  18. 18.

    Mike Omilusi, “Diagnosing the Interplay of Religious Identity,” 8.

  19. 19.

    Hassan Kukah, Religion, Politics and Power in Northern Nigeria Ibadan: Spectrum Books Limited, 1994.

  20. 20.

    Mathew Aluko, “The Ethnic Problem in Africa” Anthropologist 5, 2: 93–99, 2003.

  21. 21.

    Jeremy Sarkin, “Identity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Designing a constitutional framework for peaceful cooperation.” A paper presented at a two-day conference on ‘Politics of Identity and Exclusion in Africa: From Violent Confrontation to Peaceful Cooperation’ held at the University of Pretoria, 25–26 July 2001.

  22. 22.

    Celestine Udogwu and Onwuanabile, Kingsley, “Political Normadism: A beautiful graveyard for Nigeria’s democratic consolidation.” A paper presented at the 1st annual conference of the Nigerian Political Science Association, North Central Chapter, held at the Benue state University Markurdi on Post Election Peace Building and Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria. 2nd–4th March 2016.

  23. 23.

    Lea Robinson Amanda, “National versus Ethnic Identity in Africa: State, Group, and Individual Level Correlates of National Identification” Prepared for Working Group in Africa Political Economy (University of California, Berkeley, 2009).

  24. 24.

    Wale Ademoyega, The Federation of Nigeria: From Earliest Times to Independence (London: George G. Harrap and Co. Ltd, 1962).

  25. 25.

    Fred Ekpe Ayokhai, “Natural Resource, Identity Politics and Violent Conflict in Post-Independence Nigeria,” African Journal of History and Culture 5, no.2 (2013); Albert Chukwuma Okoli and Philip Iortyer, “Identity Politics and Dialectics of Inter-Group Relations in Nasarawa State,” International Journal of Social Science and Economic Research 1, no.1 (2016).

  26. 26.

    Okwudiba Nnoli, Ethnic Conflicts in Africa (Nottingham: Council for the Development of Social Science in Africa (CODESRIA), 1998); Sam Egwu, Ethnic and Religious Relations in Nigeria (Jos: St. Stephen Inc. Book House, 2001).

  27. 27.

    Onwubiko, History of West Africa, 377.

  28. 28.

    Terhemba Nom Ambe-Uva, “Identity Politics and the Jos Crisis: Evidence, Lessons and Challenges of Good Government,” African Journal of History and Culture (AJHC) 2, no.3 (2010).

  29. 29.

    Albert Chukwuma Okoli and Fred Ekpe Ayokhai, “Insecurity and Identity Conflicts: A Study of Fulani Militancy in North Central Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria in the Fourth Republic,” Studies in Politics and Society 3, no.1 (2015).

  30. 30.

    Onwubiko, History of West Africa, 378.

  31. 31.

    Emmy Irobi, Ethnicity and Nation Building in Contemporary Africa: A Perspective for Nonkilling (Global Nonkilling Working Papers. Center for Global Nonkilling, 2015).

  32. 32.

    Okwudiba Nnoli, “Ethnic Violence in Nigeria: A Historical Perspective,” in Communal Conflict and Population Displacement in Nigeria, ed. Okwudiba Nnoli (Enugu: Snaap Press Ltd, 2003).

  33. 33.

    Matthew Egharevba and Charles Iruonagbe, “Ethnic/Religious Insurgencies and Nation-Building in Nigeria,” International Affairs and Global Strategy 29, (2015).

  34. 34.

    Chukwuka Celestine Okeke, “Thoughts in African Conflicts (Unpublished Paper. Okeke’s Library, Awka, Nigeria, 1999).

  35. 35.

    Jude Cocodia, “Exhuming Trends in Ethnic Conflict and Co-Operation in Africa: Some Selected Cases,” The African Journal on Conflict Resolution” 8, no. 3 (2008).

  36. 36.

    Eghosa Osaghae and Rotimi Suberu, “A History of Identities, Violence and Stability in Nigeria” CRISE Working Paper No. 6 (Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity, University of Oxford, 2005).

  37. 37.

    Uchechukwu Jonhson Agbo, “Elitism and Politics of Clientelism in Anambra State (1999–2009)” Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis (Department of Political Science, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, 2010).

  38. 38.

    Onwuka Njoku, “From Ethnic Consciousness to Ethnic Nationalism: The Nigerian Example,” in Ethnic Nationalism & Democratic Consolidation: Perspectives from Nigeria and the United States of America, ed. Jonah Onuoha and Pat Uche Okpoko (Nsukka: Great AP Express Publishers, 2004).

  39. 39.

    Osita Agbu, “Ethnicity and Democratisation in Africa: Challenges for Politics and Development” Discussion Paper 62 (Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala, 2011).

  40. 40.

    Nnoli, “Ethnic Violence in Nigeria”.

  41. 41.

    Egharevba and Iruonagbe, “Ethnic/Religious Insurgencies and Nation-Building in Nigeria,” 44.

  42. 42.

    Billy Joseph Dudley, Parties and Politics in Northern Nigeria (London: Frank Cass, 1968), 220.

  43. 43.

    Nnoli, “Ethnic Violence in Nigeria”.

  44. 44.

    Osita Agbu, “Ethnicity and Democratisation in Africa”, 22.

  45. 45.

    Damian Ugwukikiri Opata, “Ethnics, Homelands, and Different Types of National Narrative.” in Ethnic Nationalism & Democratic Consolidation, ed. Onuoha and Okpoko, 53.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam, Anambra, Nigeria

    Ikenna Mike Alumona

  2. Department of Political Science, Federal University, Lafia, Nasarawa, Nigeria

    Stephen Nnaemeka Azom

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  1. Ikenna Mike Alumona
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  2. Stephen Nnaemeka Azom
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute, University of South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Samuel Ojo Oloruntoba

  2. Department of History, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA

    Toyin Falola

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Alumona, I.M., Azom, S.N. (2018). Politics of Identity and the Crisis of Nation-Building in Africa. In: Oloruntoba, S., Falola, T. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of African Politics, Governance and Development. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95232-8_17

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