15 - Ethnicity & the Politics of Democratization in Nigeria

Summary

Introduction

As Obasanjo was being sworn in as President of Nigeria on 29 May 1999, Ijaw and Itsekiri ethnic nationalists were engaged in an orgy of inter-ethnic warfare resulting in the death of 50 people. Between May 1999 and February 2002, over 10,000 people are estimated to have lost their lives in 33 reported ethnic, religious and regional conflicts across Nigeria. Clearly, the politics of identity has become a central feature of Nigerian democratization. Analytically, we can isolate three strands in this interaction between ethnicity and democratization in Nigeria. First we can examine the complex relationship between ethnicity, the military institution, and the authoritarian regime. A second strand focuses on the actual processes of democratization between 1986 and 1999, including the various reversals therein. A third strand concentrates on the impact of ethnicity on the consolidation, or destabilization, of the democratic experiment initiated on 29 May 1999. This chapter concentrates on the third strand, while drawing on aspects of the first two.

It is obvious that the escalating level of sectarian violence since May 1999 poses a serious threat to democratic rule and national unity in Nigeria. On the face of it, it is puzzling that there should be such a resurgence of sectarian animosity under the democratic dispensation. Some suggest that democracy creates a Vent’ for the pent-up frustrations accumulated under 15 years of military authoritarianism. While there is some merit in this argument, it obscures, however, the fact that many of these violent conflicts predate the democratization process. What we need to explain in these cases, is why democracy has failed to provide non-violent avenues for conflict resolution. Other conflicts, such as those involving the Yoruba militia, the O'odua Peoples Congress (OPC), and the ethno-religious conflict over the extension of the Islamic Sharia legal system, are directly traceable to the process of democratization. Here, we are faced with the possibility that democratic openings may give rise to the emergence of anti-democratic forces.

Ethnic sectarianism is a real threat, not only to Nigerian democracy, but also to the territorial integrity of the country. But this threat is little understood and all too often sensationalized. In this analysis, I argue that it is one-sided to emphasize the inter-ethnic sectarian processes that threaten Nigerian democracy and unity.