Nigeria and the Challenge of National Integration: Lessons from Pre-colonial Diplomacy

Abstract

One of the major challenges facing Nigeria is that of national integration. Although political instability, generally, is prevalent in every human society, the Nigerian scenario is such that generates tremendous concern. The heterogeneous nature of the Nigerian society, consisting of about 450 ethnic groups results in relations among competing ethnic nationalities being punctuated with suspicion, fear and crisis. The peculiarity of scenario lies in the fact that, while it may be easy to acknowledge the ethnological visibilities and boundaries of the majority ethnic groups like the Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba and Igbo, it is not easy to demarcate the boundaries of the numerous minority ethnic nationalities that spread across the various geographical zones. This presents a unique challenge of how best to achieve social cohesion and integration or the much publicized “unity in
diversity”. Coupled with the underlying issues is the assertion that the geopolitical entity known as Nigeria is an artificial creation of the British. However, even though the British imperialists played a significant role in the evolution of Nigeria, irrefutable, evidence abounds to confirm that the people that merged to form the modern day Nigeria were never too strange with one another. Rather, intense diplomatic intercourse existed between them. The work which adopted an analytical historical methodology, therefore, sought to dismantle the destructive myths and assertions arising from gross ignorance of the practice of pre-colonial diplomacy in Nigeria. It examined the pre-colonial contacts and the variables that propelled them. It was concluded that these historical factors should be adapted for national integration process.