The Igbo Question and Political Configuration in Nigeria: Establishing the marginalization nexus

Abstract

This study examined what has seemingly become a deliberate strategy of denial against Igbo people in the Nigerian state. The  marginalization debate has attracted serious tension in Nigeria to the extent that it has dominated national and international discourse  in the political and scholarly domain. Both content analysis and descriptive statistical techniques were utilized for the analysis, while data  presentation and interpretation were done using simple percentages and tables. The study identified salient issues for a better  understanding of how the Igbo in Nigeria’s political space are relegated to the background deliberately. To address these challenges, this study outlined policy alternatives concerning how the Igbo could be accommodated and reintegrated into the mainstream of Nigeria’s  politics, where the safety, happiness and joy of the Igbo would be complete while living with other ethnic nationalities. It then suggested  a different approach that would guarantee equality in the allocation of power and resources among the geopolitical zones. These would  eliminate the existing marginalization of the Igbo race in Nigeria