Ethnicity and the Federal Character Policy in Nigeria

Abstract

One of the questions that have continued to confront policy makers in Nigeria since the colonial days has been the issue of how to ensure fair play in a plural society characterized, as it were, by diversities and inequalities of various magnitudes and dimensions. Nigerian policy makers saddled with the responsibility of fashioning the best socio-political structure to take care of the problem of inter-ethnic rivalry and the dominance of government by one ethnic group or a combination of ethnic groups to the exclusion of others, decided to introduce the federal character principle. It is to address the perceived predominance of persons from few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in the composition of government or the appointment or election of persons to high offices in the state. This paper examines the issue of ethnicity in Nigeria, the federal character principles, how it has affected the Nigerian polity and makes some recommendations on the way forward.

LWATI: A Journal of Contemporary Research, 8(1), 214-222, 2011