ABSTRACT

West African countries include countries such as Cameroon, Central African Republic, Burundi, Congo, Chad, Rwanda, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Angola, South Sudan, and Sao Tome and Principe. Since most of these countries have experienced very little cross-national migration of the culturally dissimilar compared with most Western countries, people tend to ignore or lose sight of how intercultural most of these countries are within themselves. The ethnic diversity within these countries and the distinctiveness of their respective cultural identities and practices, and the intercultural experiences among them, warrant more attention and research in the field of intercultural communication. In Nigeria for instance, the most populated country in Africa, there are over 250 ethnic groups with the most populous and politically influential being Hausa and Fulani 29%, Yoruba 21%, Igbo 18%, Ijaw 10%, Kanuri 4%, Ibibio 3.5%, and Tiv 2.5% in descending order.