Governance, Ethnicity, and Response to Conflicts: Deficit to Sustainable Development in Nigeria

Nigeria has never been more divided in its history along ethnic and religious lines than it is today. Not even in the period preceding the Nigeria-Biafra war was Nigeria faced with the level of internal dysfunction, disorder, fear and real challenge to the continued existence of the country as it is presently constituted. Internal conflicts have spread to areas hitherto believed to be insulated, the Nigeria Middle Belt or the North Central Nigeria. The current situation has raised ethnic and religious tensions, and internal security concerns to an unprecedented and unpredictable level. There seems to be a general feeling that anything can happen any time to the Nigeria project. For over a decade, the menace of the Islamist terrorism has crippled economic and social activities in the North Eastern part of Nigeria. Currently, the activities of the Fulani Herders, especially in the North Central Nigeria or the Middle Belt, pose grave danger to the future of Nigeria. Most of the states of the North Central Nigeria form the food basket of the country. The Fulani Herders have killed thousands of farmers and sacked many farming towns and communities. These activities have shown to pose serious danger to sustainable development and indeed the corporate existence of Nigeria. But the government weak response to these recent coordinated attacks by the Fulani herders against the Tivs and other ethnic groups in the Middle Belt states who are mostly Christians tends to accentuate an ethno-religious perceptions of government bias in favour of the Fulani Herders who incidentally are Muslims. The conflicts, the government lack-lustre responses, and the perceptions of the various ethno-religious groups at the receiving end of these conflicts, constitute sure setbacks to national development. This paper, therefore, interrogates the Nigerian Government’s response to conflicts in some parts of the country and concludes that these responses tend to justify the perception that the government is pursuing an ethno-religious agenda. The paper goes on to further hold that current situation is a deficit to sustainable development in the short run, and the continued existence of Nigeria in the long run. It finally tries to make recommendations on actions that may reinvigorate the Nigeria project and enhance sustainable development.