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Nigeria Ethnic Relations
Relations between ethnic groups remained a major
problem for
such a large and pluralistic society in 1990. In
precolonial
times, interethnic relations were often mistrustful, or
discriminatory, and sometimes violent. At the same time,
there
were relationships, such as trade, that required peaceful
communications. The most widespread communication was in
the
north between pastoral and agricultural peoples who traded
cattle
for farm products, and pasturage rights for manuring.
Farmers
might also buy a few cattle and have them cared for by
pastoralists. Emirate rulers who normally raided and
pillaged
among non-Muslim village groups often established peaceful
"trust" relations with residents of one or two villages;
those
residents then acted as hosts and guides for the raiders,
in
exchange for immunity for themselves. More subtle and
peaceful
exchanges involved smaller ethnic groups in the middle
belt, each
of which specialized in one or more commodities. In towns
and
along trade routes, occupations such as smithing,
producing
cotton, selling cattle, weaving, house building, and beer
making
were often confined to, or correlated with, ethnically
defined
units. Thus, ecological and economic specializations
promoted
peaceful interethnic relations. Conversely, promulgating
conflict, mistrust, and stereotypes in ethnic relations
were
droughts; competition for control over trade routes or
allies;
resistance to, or the creation and maintenance of,
exploitative
relations; and other factors.
The civil war taught Nigerians that ethnic conflicts
were
among the most destructive forces in the life of the
nation. By
1990 ethnic conflict was suppressed and carefully
controlled so
that any outbreak or seriously publicized discrimination
on
ethnic grounds was considered a matter of national
security. In
the few outbreaks that occurred since the war, the federal
government acted swiftly to gain control and stop the
conflict.
Nevertheless, the way in which ethnic relations might
threaten
the security of individuals and groups was among the most
serious
issues in national life, especially for the millions of
Nigerians
who had to live and work in interethnic contexts.
Even in the more cosmopolitan cities, more than 90
percent of
marriages were within rather than between ethnic units, or
at
least within identical regions and language groups.
Marriages
between subgroups of Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Fulani, or
Kanuri
occurred without stigma and had done so for many decades.
But in
the south, Yoruba-Igbo unions were uncommon, and
north-south
marriages were even rarer, especially between Hausa-Fulani
or
Kanuri and any person from southern Nigeria. Northern
Muslim
intermarriage was not uncommon, nor was intermarriage
among
peoples of the middle belt. But unions between middle
belters and
Muslims from emirates farther north remained rare.
Migrants who
could not find a spouse from their own ethnic group within
the
local enclave obtained a mate from the home community.
Social
pressure for ethnic endogamy was intense and persisted
even among
elites in business, universities, the military, religion,
and
politics. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, however, it
appeared
that marriages within the Christian and Muslim communities
were
increasingly transethnic.
The conjunction of location, language, religion, and
common
and differentiating customs created a strong sense of
shared fate
among coethnics and formed a constant basis for organizing
ethnically related groupings into political
constituencies. Thus,
when political parties emerged, they represented the
northern
Muslim peoples, the Yoruba, and the Igbo; middle belters
and
others in between were courted from several directions
(see The Second Republic
, ch. 4). Given the shortage of government
jobs
and the expanding numbers of qualified applicants coming
out of
the education system, ethnic rivalry for government posts
exacerbated ethnic competition. It was also a driving
force in
the establishment of more states, with more state capitals
and
more locally controlled jobs. Such jobs were likely to be
less
competitive ethnically because the boundaries of local
governments tended to correlate with ethnic units. Under
such
conditions, would-be leaders stimulated the fears of their
ethnic
constituents. Ethnic organizations and university students
wrote
letters to newspapers pressuring for greater
representation, more
development resources, and separate states or districts
for their
particular group. Countering this practice, after the
civil war
the new constitution of 1979 provided that no political
party
could be legalized unless it obtained support in all parts
of the
country. This attempt to crosscut ethnicity with rules of
political party competition has gone far toward
alleviating the
problem.
People first looked for relatives when migrating into
one of
the country's many large cities, as an increasing number
of
Nigerians were doing. If they found none, they looked for
coethnics from their own rural area who shared a network
of
friends, neighbors, and relations. They spoke the same
language,
went to the same church or mosque and helped one another
to find
a job and housing and to join ethnic associations. In the
textile
mills of Kaduna in the north, studies of "class formation"
among
workers indicated that ethnic groupings were far stronger
and
used more frequently by workers than were trade unions,
unless
working conditions became extremely bad. It was only then
that
union membership, interaction, strength, and unity rose.
Otherwise, ethnicity was the primary dimension for worker
relations and mutual aid. Studies elsewhere in the country
produced similar results. The trade union movement in
Nigeria was
well established and strong, especially at times of severe
economic downturn, such as the late 1980s and early 1990s,
when
the structural adjustment program (SAP) severely decreased
real
wages
(see Labor Unions;
Structural Adjustment
, ch. 3).
Rivalry
within unions, however, and worker associations for mutual
aid,
as well as normal social life at work and afterward, were
strongly influenced by formal and informal ethnic
affiliations.
Ethnic stereotypes remained strong. Each of the main
groups
had disparaging stories and sayings about the others that
were
discussed openly when a foreigner was alone with members
of a
single ethnic group. Such prejudices died slowly,
especially when
ethnic groups lived in enclaves, knew little of each
other's
customs, and often attended different schools. It was
official
policy, however, to protect the rights of minorities, and
in
several instances the will to do so was ably demonstrated.
Thus,
Igbo property abandoned in the north at the time of the
civil war
was maintained by local governments and later returned.
Although
there were problems, this property restitution, the
attempt to
ensure that Igbo were accepted at all major universities,
and the
placement of Igbo in civil service posts helped create a
sense of
nationhood and trust in the rule of law and in the good
intentions of the federal government.
Data as of June 1991
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