ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how ethnic and centrifugal nationalism have militated against Nigeria’s development. Ethnicity has promoted a pervasive spirit of centrifugal nationalism that has weakened and eroded both the national cohesion and the solidarity needed for development in Nigeria. Therefore, the multi-ethnic composition of Nigeria has been a weakness in its development aspirations. The most debilitating manifestation of the above is probably in the political realm where ethnicity has played a role in critical national issues, especially in the electoral process. The high point of the above manifestation is perhaps captured in the annulment of the June 1993 presidential elections in spite of being hailed as one of the fairest and freest in Nigeria. In spite of its diminishing influence nowadays, ethnicity still exerts significant influence in both politics and development initiatives in the country. There is a need for the Nigerian state to rid itself of colonial vestiges of identifying citizens as ethnic group members rather than as nationals, to institutionalize de-ethnicization policies at the subnational level of governance and to strengthen tools of national integration and equity principles in order to curtail the divisive role of ethnicity and its adverse consequences on development.
