A dominant feature of Nigeria’s pluralistic setting has been the subordination of national identity to primordial sentiments that are rooted in a sub or micro-nationalism.

Although the Nigerian state represents the legal basis for sovereignty, authority, and legitimacy, loyalty to sub-national identities continues to threaten the legitimacy and existence of the state.

The growing influence of centrifugal forces — religion, ethnicity, and regionalism — continue to weaken the nation and state building project of the country, which accounts for the rising spate of discontents and acts of insurgency in the country.

In a significant way, these identities systematically define and frames the question of cooperation and competition in Nigeria’s pluralistic setting.

Government attempts to aggregate common social demands have only contributed to deepening identity-based divisions, which has, in turn, fueled violent confrontations. This is largely due to the erosion of confidence as it relates to the ability and capacity of the state to be a neutral arbiter in the prevailing federal system.

While there are constitutional safeguards against the marginalization on the basis of ethnicity and religion, the reality has been that the question of citizenship and power among the contending groups in the country constitute key drivers of tensions and violence.

This has made the management of diversity and inclusiveness a huge challenge, in a system that has not been able to proactively protect minority rights, against the tyranny of the majority ethnic groups – Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba.

In fact, the emergence of President Goodluck Jonathan is seen to represent a dream come true on the part of the minority ethnic groups, in the face of historically constructed political and economic marginalization of minority ethnic groups. The setting up of the Committee for National Dialogue by President Goodluck Jonathan on October 1, 2013, is a reminder of the huge challenge that confronts the country and its people on the management of diversity and the future of the country.

Without political will, Nigeria’s frail government institutions and framework for the management of diversity will be handicapped in providing a regime of unity among the diverse ethnic, religious and regional entities.

In the final analysis, strengthening the capacity of government institutions remains an imperative in addressing the challenges posed by deep feelings of exclusion and marginalization in the country’s body polity.

Chris Kwaja is a lecturer and researcher at the Centre for Conflict Management and Peace Studies, University of Jos, Jos, Nigeria. He is a Doctoral candidate of International Relations and Strategic Studies at the Department of Political Science, University of Jos, Jos Nigeria. His research focuses on the politics of identity in Africa, the privatization of security, democratization, conflict and peace studies, and security sector reform. Read other articles by Chris.