THE ATTAINMENT OF POLITICAL INDEPENDENCE GAVE THE NIGERIAN PEOPLE TOGETHERNESS BUT NOT UNITY: AN INTERROGATION

Abstract

The lack of enduring unity among Nigerians has lay to waste the noble dreams of the founding fathers of the country. It has led Nigeria into an unfortunate civil war and stunted every concerted effort at national reconstruction and nation-building. The paper is an indepth analysis and interrogation of the lack of unity among the Nigerian people. The paper relied on secondary source of data collection and adopted Traditional Theory as its analytical framework. The paper found that the two major causes of disunity among the peoples of Nigeria are ethnicity and religion. These two fault lines have undermine every genuine effort at forging unity among Nigerians of diverse ethnic origin. It is therefore, suggested in the paper that government must as a matter of deliberate policy diffuse ethnicity and religion by laying much emphasis on citizenship and the secular nature of the Nigerian state. This is with a view to achieving sustainable unity among the diverse peoples of the country as a prelude to meaningful national progress and development.