Addressing the Issues and Challenges of Ethnic Pluralism on Nation-Building and Insecurity in Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria as a multi-ethnic state has been bedeviled with an alarming rate of internal crises that bother on insecurity due to the ethnic pluralistic composition of the country which is tremendously affecting the development of a vibrant nation-building in the country as the various ethnic groups are at one-another neck over national issues like power-sharing, revenue allocation, state creation, among others. It is based on this disunity that this paper examined the issues and challenges of ethnic pluralism as it affects nation-building and insecurity in Nigeria. The study adopts descriptive survey design and selected one hundred and twenty (120) students through random sampling technique and a self-designed questionnaire that contained fifteen items was used as the instrument and the data collected was analyzed using simple percentage, mean and standard deviation methods. The findings indicate that ethnic pluralism significantly contributes to socio-political conflicts which in turn escalate insecurity and hinder nation-building. It is recommended that government should implement policies that will encourage inter-ethnic dialogue and cooperation at all levels of governance, and government should involve local communities in security efforts through community policing and grassroots security initiatives to enhance peace and security in the country.