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Ethnic Militias in Nigeria and Their Impact on Democratic Consolidation

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Ethnic Militias in Nigeria and Their Impact on Democratic Consolidation Ethnic Militias in Nigeria and Their Impact on Democratic Consolidation by Ǿyvind Sandve Thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of International Studies (e.g. Arts) at Stellenbosch University Faculty of Arts Supervisor: Prof Pierre du Toit March 2009 Declaration By submitting this thesis electronically, I declare that the entirety of the work contained therein is my own, original work, that I am the owner of the copyright thereof (unless to the extent explicitly otherwise stated) and that I have not previously in its entirety or in part submitted it for obtaining any qualification. Date: February 2009 Copyright © 2009 Stellenbosch University All rights reserved 2 Table of contents Title page ..............................................................................................................................1 Declaration........................................................................................................................2 Table of contents .............................................................................................................3 Abstract .............................................................................................................................6 Opsomming ......................................................................................................................8 Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................... 10 Abbreviations .................................................................................................................. 11 List of Tables and Figures ............................................................................................. 12 List of Appendices.......................................................................................................... 12 Chapter 1: Introduction ...................................................................................................... 13 1.1 Background .............................................................................................................. 13 1.2 Problem statement .................................................................................................. 13 1.3 Research questions ................................................................................................. 14 1.4 Methodology............................................................................................................. 15 1.5 Scope and limitations of study ............................................................................... 16 1.6 Delimitations............................................................................................................. 16 1.8 concepts ................................................................................................................... 17 1.8.1 Ethnicity ............................................................................................................. 17 1.8.2 Nationalism ....................................................................................................... 19 1.8.3 Democracy ........................................................................................................ 21 1.8.4 Democratic Consolidation ................................................................................ 22 1.8.5 Decentralisation ................................................................................................ 25 1.8.6 Corruption .......................................................................................................... 25 1.7 Outline of the study ................................................................................................. 26 Chapter 2: Theoretical framework .................................................................................... 28 2.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 28 2.2 Brief overview of the Nigerian historical and political development .................... 28 2.2.1 Colonial rule ...................................................................................................... 28 2.2.2 Military rule ........................................................................................................ 29 2.2.3 Return to democracy ........................................................................................ 29 2.3 Literature review ...................................................................................................... 30 2.3.1 The role of ethnic militias ................................................................................. 30 2.3.2 Ethnic militias in Nigerian politics .................................................................... 32 2.3.3 Levels of identity and conflict .......................................................................... 33 2.3.4 Root causes for Nigerian conflicts after 1960 ................................................ 34 2.3.5 The influence of SAP on the Nigerian society ............................................... 35 2.3.6 Fear of domination ........................................................................................... 37 2.3.7 Nigerian democracy ......................................................................................... 38 Chapter 3: The Origins of Ethnic Militias ......................................................................... 40 3.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 40 3.2 The origins of the militias ........................................................................................ 40 3.3 Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) .......................................................................... 41 3.3.1 The emergence of OPC ................................................................................... 41 3.3.2 The Fasehun/Adams split ................................................................................ 42 3.3.3 The turn to violence .......................................................................................... 43 3 3.3.4 Who joins the OPC? ......................................................................................... 44 3.3.5 Reinventing culture: From ‘merry’ to ‘violent’ ................................................. 46 3.4 The Arewa People’s Congress (APC) ................................................................... 46 3.4.1 The emergence of the APC ............................................................................. 46 3.4.2 The struggle for hegemony and fear of retaliation ........................................ 47 3.4.3 Introduction of Sharia Law ............................................................................... 48 3.5 The Bakassi Boys .................................................................................................... 48 3.5.1 Cleaning up crime in the eastern states ......................................................... 49 3.5.2 Vigilantes spiralling out of control ................................................................... 50 3.5.3 Bakassi Boys as Igbo’s Sharia ........................................................................ 51 3.6 The Niger Delta ethnic militias................................................................................ 51 3.6.1 The emergence of the Niger Delta militias ..................................................... 51 3.6.2 The Ijaw struggle .............................................................................................. 52 3.6.3 Fighting for their rights- MOSOP ..................................................................... 53 3.6.4 Egbesu Boys: Fighting for Ijaw pride .............................................................. 54 3.6.5 Who joins the Egbesu Boys? .......................................................................... 55 3.6.6 The state response ........................................................................................... 56 3.6.7 Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities (FNDIC) and Movement for Emancipation for the Niger Delta (MEND) ............................................................... 56 3.7 The link between the ethnic militias ....................................................................... 58 3.7.1 Grievance .......................................................................................................... 59 3.7.2 Mistrust and fear ............................................................................................... 59 Chapter 4: The ethnic militias’ effect on democratic consolidation ............................... 62 4.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 62 4.2 The state of Nigeria’s democracy .......................................................................... 63 4.2.1 The 2007 elections ............................................................................................... 63 4.2.2 Nigeria’s electoral system.................................................................................... 65 4.2.3 The 1999 constitution ........................................................................................... 66 4.2.4.1 The battle against corruption ........................................................................... 69 4.2.4.2 Can the institutionalisation
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