Why Is There So Much Ethnic Violence In The South-West?

herders
Ethnic Violence… Religion and ethnic-cultural beliefs are both to some extent the opium of the people. These two things go a long way to determine who you are and where you come from, nothing more in life leads to wars than these two things. The sheer number of wars and death the world has witnessed due to these things is legendary. Religion is an essential part of any society’s culture and beliefs which in turns determines such a society’s political structure and economical growth. Nigeria is a country of diverse culture, religion and ethnical believes which is lost of historical background.
Ethnic Violence in Lagos
Ethnic Violence in Lagos, at Fagba between Hausas and and Yoruba traders, October 2020

Nigeria has got to be the only country in the world that has lost all sense of its historical background. An average Nigerian youth be it Gen z or a millennial when asked what they know of their country’s political history, its best believed that the best they know and understand is the country’s colonial history and are completely lost of the economic strata they are placed in the global economic stratosphere.

What are the causes of this distorted lines of knowing who they’re truly? With proven facts the most educated part of the country is the South-Western region. With facts also the most economically developed part of the country is also the South-Western region.
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But then why does it begin to look like a conscious strategic attack on this region seems to be on, with ethnic crises in Oyo state, the EndSARS protest crises in Lagos state, the ethnic crises in Ogun state, same ethno-religious crises in Ondo state the question is why now what is going on is all of these patches of crises everywhere in the South-Western region connected.

Or is the country just in complete disarray, the North-East of the country is the theatre of the Insurgency War, bandits and kidnappers are ravaging the North-western region and the South-West is facing an outburst of an ethnic war?

Can the government see the connecting dots across the different lines of the country? Or is it just an attack by some selfish political gladiators against their enemies without considering its effect on the ordinary Nigerians?

So many questions to be asked, who are those that stand to gain the most in the face of all of these crises.

Well after throwing up all of these questions these are the answers and resolution i have come to at the moment as some of the causes of these problems?

  1. More and more Hausa/Fulanis have migrated south in search of security and greener pastures over the last 15-16years since the Insurgency war started up north. It is no longer visible for them to just stay in the forest and bushes and roam with their herds, there’s the need to integrate them with the Southern population so far we still want to stay together as one Nigeria
  2. There’s the need to re-educate people on what truly defines a person as an indigene of a region, is it just because you call yourself a Yoruba man, that makes you the owner of the lands in such regions.
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  3. Nigerian youths need to be smarter than they are now and not get used by some politicians in the North or south to perpetrate evil to destroy the most economically developed region of the country. And not create room for some no-good persons to take advantage of their anger to destroy our collective heritage and legacy.
  4. The Government also has to stop the favouritism given to Northern Youths over other parts of the country especially in face of accessing government loans, grants and education. It still baffles me how a person in the South would score 180 and isn’t fit to pass nor be in Polytechnic but would gain admission into a university in the North double standards.
  5. The North wants to retain power in the North come 2023 and there are schemes going on to destroy the credibility of some persons in the South. What i would say here is that the Nigerian youths should wake-up and become so much more politically aware and know to ask questions of what they want for their own future and decide with who in power would they able to achieve those dreams.
  6. Finally, to achieve a lot of the things that will help this country grow, 3 things need to change in the Nigerian political sphere, a} A new constitution that reflects the realities of this country b} Return to the two political party system with well defined political and economical ideologies/principles enough of the covetous jumping ship of these thieves called politicians in the country c} Complete political Restructuring, each hub should have its own hub of for all the important sectors of the country. 

To achieve true growth, development and change it takes a while, but it will happen with conscious efforts to remove and change old archaic ways that were created by foreign powers to leave our economy and people in perpetual misery

Photo Credit: Getty

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