Political Parties and Ethnicity in Nigerian Politics: A historical appraisal Amanchukwu, Ikenna Nnamdi
[email protected] Renaissance University Ugbawka, Enugu State, Nigeria Ezedinachi, Ifeoma
[email protected] Renaissance University Ugbawka, Enugu State, Nigeria Dr. Ogbuka, Ikenna Renaissance University Ugbawka, Enugu State, Nigeria Odey, Emmanuel
[email protected] Renaissance University Ugbawka, Enugu State, Nigeria Abstract Beginning from the colonial period the Nigerian state has been strewn with ethnic conflicts; majorly, between the Hausa-Fulani in the north against the Yoruba in the west, and the Ibo (the third arm of the dominant ethnic triumvirate). Unfortunately, the bulk of the conflicts were held through the agency of the political parties. These developments would inevitably lead to the creation of political parties that were devoted solely to an ethnic group. The escalation of ethnic conflicts in the post-colonial period led to the breakdown of the First Republic and the subsequent entry of the military into politics. The military in order to subdue the pathology of ethnicity rife within the party structure implemented a series of regimentative party reforms. Nonetheless despite these reforms by the military the germ of ethnicity within the body politic continues to escalate. It is thus in the light of the foregoing that this paper appraises the rise of ethnic politics in Nigeria and its implication for national political and economic safety. Keywords: Ethnicity, Ethnic Conflicts, political parties Introduction Edmund Burke in what is today commonly ascribed to as one of the oldest definitions of political parties saw a political party as a ‘body of men, united, for promoting by their joint endeavours the national interest upon some particular principles (or ideology) in which they are all agreed’ (Ojo, 2006: 65).