Thesis Abstract

Nigeria is a plural society. By thus it means that the country is a melting pot of ethnic nationalities, class, regions, religious and other sociology-cultural markers. Its pluralism has shaped and continued to manifest in its politics. The political class in collaboration with their religious counterparts has exploited ethnicity and religion as symbols of mobilization and instrument of negotiation for patronages and sharing of national resources. Thus, most conflicts which ordinarily could have been seen as distribution based had assumed ethnic and religious character. These conflicts are virulent and had caused destruction of lives and properties of innocent Nigerians. The conflicts have also undermined the peaceful co-existence among the Nigerian peoples, thus scuttling the integrative and analytical. It is interrogative to the extent that it searches for the cause of ethnology-religious conflicts in the country. The study concludes that the failure of the Nigeria political elites to establish good governance for national unity and promote economic development is at the base of communal ethnic and religious conflicts in the country.

Thesis Overview