Politics: Regionalism, ethnocentrism and the issues of electioneering

Since the formation of Nigeria, the role of ethnicity, regionalism and religionism has been at the crossroads of our electioneering process. Apart from the horrible civil war that wrecked our nation’s peace and growth, ethnocentrism, regionalism and religionism have been the most harmful forces tearing apart our national unity. They were the latent causes of the civil war, and they have not relented in their mission to destroy our country as a nation. If we are to ensure the common good of all Nigerians, we must establish a new culture of issue-oriented politics now more than ever. While all politics is local, political decisions are national in scope and impact everyone. And any politics that does not aim to improve the lives of its population is a form of national failure.

In many countries around the world, the resurrection of ancient ethnic and religious barriers has become a major concern. The situation in Africa is extremely concerning, as it is threatening several countries’ internal stability, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. The magnitude of Nigeria’s ethnic and religious crises in this stage of democratisation is the result of the elite’s manipulation of ethnic and religious identity. Ethnic and religious conflicts have resulted in adversarial social and political connections between diverse ethnocultural groups in Nigeria, which have turned violent in recent years. Political analysts have linked the ethnic and religious issues in Nigeria to the country’s historical structure, the composition of the political class, and how they struggle. It is also linked to the exclusionary nature of ethnic and religious identity politics among various factions in the country.

People’s desires for a better level of living were revived when Nigeria returned to democratic rule, but those dreams were quickly crushed by ethnocultural and religious identities. There are no suitable words to effectively define and demonstrate the ethnocultural problems of Nigerian democracy today. Currently, the country is confronted with political difficulties exacerbated by institutional decay and horizontal inequalities among ethnocultural groups in various states. For so long, the country’s political affairs have been under the control of a few individuals, each representing large and opposing factions of the population. Ethnicity has always been a ready source of their political identification and mobilization for electoral campaigns. When we focus on our differences rather than what makes us the same people, we are all removed and disenfranchised from reaching our sense of national community. Therefore, we need to abandon the ethnocentric attitude that pits us against one another. We need to replace the ethnic and regional divisions of the last four decades with 21st-century politics of ideas that promote national prosperity and togetherness.

Nigeria remains, really, a weak nation unable to provide fundamental public goods and services to its population because of its political topography. It has not yet created an environment in which the poor can sustain and build their livelihoods, nor has it developed a private sector growth and foreign direct investment that will generate jobs. Many patriotic Nigerians are still concerned about access to justice and the culture of corruption in the law enforcement sector and public institutions. Even among the most powerful politicians, there is a lack of political will to promote widespread, long-term wealth development and battle the rising trend of poverty. Many politicians nowadays are more concerned with benefiting themselves than with developing the nation’s social and economic capability.

Past ethnocentric politics have only served to perpetuate a negative energy cycle in our political communities. Self-defeatism like this has put us on a collision course where we perceive each other as enemies rather than as one nation and one people. It has served us no useful purpose and continues to erode the moral core of our nation’s togetherness. As a result, we must quickly demolish the old tribal alienation system and replace it with a politics of ideas and effective administration. Our political judgments and allegiances should be based on who we are as a people, not on where we came from or whose group we were born into. Instead of debating whether the North, the East or the South has the upper hand, let us concentrate on giving our population better education and health care. Let’s look into innovative market-based ideas for breaking the cycle of poverty, restoring and upgrading utility services, and providing work possibilities for the youth. Let us work together to create a future in which every Nigerian lives in peace, free to care for their families and pursue their aspirations.