Horizontal Inequalities and Communal Conflicts: The Case of Aguleri and Umuleri Communities of South-Eastern Nigeria

Abstract

Intra-state conflicts in Africa have been attributed to various factors such as the end of the Cold War, globalization, sustained population growth, environmental scarcity and violent youth culture. Extracts from these dominant global perspectives, collocated and mixed with the economic crisis thesis at the national level, constitute the mainstream analytical scheme for understanding the proliferation of communal conflicts in Nigeria. However, the relevance of horizontal inequality in accounting for the multitude of communal conflicts in Nigeria has been glossed over by scholars. This article highlights local narratives of inequalities and how they provide impetus for communal conflicts in Aguleri and Umuleri communities of south-eastern Nigeria.

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