The end of empire and the problem of neocolonialism - Africa's hope and misfortune - Ethnicity and the nation-state
3 important questions on The end of empire and the problem of neocolonialism - Africa's hope and misfortune - Ethnicity and the nation-state
Where did Africans turn to when political disorder became the norm?
- Whenever political disorder became the norm at the national level, many Africans turned to local sources of authority and protection - the lineage group, clan, ethnic alliance, or tribe.
- And at the core of many of these relationships was a disheartening history of rivalry, suspicion, and conflict.
- This pattern of provincialism was deeply rooted in African culture, and its deleterious side was magnified in the absence of effective civic identity.
What happened in Nigeria?
- In Nigeria, Britain's most heavily populated African colony, three powerful ethnic groups (in a land of some 200 distinct ethnic groups) competed for ascendancy at the time of independence in 1962.
- The adoption of a federal system of government under the 1964 constitution recognized these divisions by creating a three-province country.
How did the central government of Nigeria do?
- Despite its success in quashing this secession movement, and Nigeria's potential as major oil-exporting country, the central government has been plagued by instability, with military takeovers, and government by military surrogates, becoming the disturbing routine in recent decades.
- Declining oil revenues during the 1980s and 1990s, combined with political uncertainty, led the government to default on most of its foreign debt, becoming yet another African state of great potential losing its way in the postcolonial quest for peace and prosperity.
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