Internal population displacement and its aftermath on Nigerian political economy: an enduring colonial template

Abstract

The paper interrogated the corporate existence of Nigeria and raised some fundamental questions regarding reasons for discontent, violent conflicts and internal population displacement in Nigeria given her enormous resources, both human and material. The paper through intensive content analysis provided answers to these questions. Some of the findings include that the issue of discontent is because the political class refused to delink from the exploitative orientation of the colonial past. They siphon public fund for private use, the same way the colonial lords exploited Africa’s resources for their home industrialization. Consequently, quality infrastructure and economic empowerment elude Nigerians. As a result of the discontentment and people’s urge to fend for themselves, violent conflicts often erupt which always result to mass displacement of people. The paper suggested among others that, government should prioritize and provide to the citizenry public consumption goods such as roads, health facilities, education, shelter, pipe borne water, occupational inputs, etc.