Title the Minority Question in Ife Politics, 1946‒2014 Author
Title The Minority Question in Ife Politics, 1946‒2014 ADESOJI, Abimbola O.; HASSAN, Taofeek O.; Author(s) AROGUNDADE, Nurudeen O. Citation African Study Monographs (2017), 38(3): 147-171 Issue Date 2017-09 URL https://doi.org/10.14989/227071 Right Type Departmental Bulletin Paper Textversion publisher Kyoto University African Study Monographs, 38 (3): 147–171, September 2017 147 THE MINORITY QUESTION IN IFE POLITICS, 1946–2014 Abimbola O. ADESOJI, Taofeek O. HASSAN, Nurudeen O. AROGUNDADE Department of History, Obafemi Awolowo University ABSTRACT The minority problem has been a major issue of interest at both the micro and national levels. Aside from the acclaimed Yoruba homogeneity and the notion of Ile-Ife as the cradle of Yoruba civilization, relationships between Ife indigenes and other communities in Ife Division (now in Osun State, Nigeria) have generated issues due to, and influenced by, politi- cal representation. Where allegations of marginalization have not been leveled, accommoda- tion has been based on extraneous considerations, similar to the ways in which outright exclu- sion and/or extermination have been put forward. Not only have suspicion, feelings of outright rejection, and subtle antagonism characterized majority–minority relations in Ife Division/ Administrative Zone, they have also produced political-cum-administrative and territorial ad- justments. As a microcosm of the Nigerian state, whose major challenge since attaining politi- cal independence has been the harmonization of interests among the various ethnic groups in the country, the Ife situation presents a peculiar example of the myths and realities of majority domination and minority resistance/response, or even a supposed minority attempt at domina- tion.
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