ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to provide a theoretical foundation or basis on which to explore, explains some of the political intricacies in sub-Saharan Africa. It focuses on ethnic politics in the post-independence era with occasional allusion, where necessary, to the pre-independence period. The chapter explores the impact and character of ethnicity on the democratization enterprise in South Africa and Nigeria, two regional powers in sub-Saharan Africa. It suggests that some possible ways for assuaging its dysfunctional attributes in the area. Ethnicity in the politics of Nigeria is not novel because it has since its inception as a sovereign nation-state remained an important variable in that country’s politics. Ethnicity paradox suggests that an ethnic group may be both an expression of primordialism and an interest group’. The ensuing represents a review and synthesis of the robust analyses on theories of ethnicity propounded by a number of scholars in sociology.
