The Political Economy of Ethnic Politics in Nigeria

Abstract

Ethnicity is not evil; neither is ethnic politics generally bad, but it possesses elements that can hinder development in states with low national integration and political bias. This paper examined the impact of ethnic politics on the Nigerian political economy, considering the practices of ethnic interest that have tended to relegate the national interest to sub-ethnic interest, thus hindering the Nigerian state's growth and development. The Marxian political economy theory was adopted to understand the political economy of the ethnic political game playing out as a class of the politicians and the masses. The qualitative research method was used, and data were analysed using the content analysis method based on secondary data. The finding showed that what gave rise to and fueled ethnic bias politics in Nigeria are imbalanced structure and absence of good governance. This further created polarisation and problems of trust among ethnic groups. The paper recommended inclusiveness and fairness in formulating policies and allocating political cum economic values/resources among ethnic groups in Nigeria.