ABSTRACT
We have recently received news of the outbreak of violence among various ethnic and national groups in Nigeria. For those who are familiar with Nigeria’s history, the current incidents are only the latest. It is not an exaggeration to say that since 1914 when the Colony of Lagos, the Southern Protectorate, and the Northern Protectorate were amalgamated to form the country now known as Nigeria, the relationship among its diverse units has been marked by tensions of different degrees of severity, culminating in a bloody civil war that raged in the eastern part of the country between 1967 and 1970. Simultaneously, one must not discount the fact that in the aftermath of the civil war, various factions of the ruling groups in the country discovered that there was strength in unity. As a result, successive regimes set about abridging the multiple identities to be found within Nigeria, with a view to creating a common supranational identity even while the several national identities persist. Towards this end, a new national anthem was introduced in the late seventies, as well as a pledge, the recitation of which has become mandatory for all primary and secondary school students throughout Nigeria. Additionally, national heroes were chosen and their faces imprinted on the national currency, the naira. Public service announcements extolling the virtues of a common Nigerian identity and exhorting Nigerians to do their part in making this hope a reality proliferated on the airwaves. Finally, from 1979 onward, various constitutional provisions have been formulated to ensure that (1) the distribution of public offices, goods, and services reflects the federal character of the country; and (2) no section of the country feels left out of the scheme of things, especially where it concerns the distribution of benefits.
