IGBOPHOBIA: A DIALECTICAL DECONSTRUCTION OF ETHNIC PREJUDICE AND PROFILING IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The Igbo constitute one of the three largest ethnic groups in Nigeria, the other two being the Hausa-Fulani and the Yoruba. Over the years, the Igbo, unlike the other majority ethnic groups, have had to contend with ethnic prejudice and profiling within and outside Nigeria. This study interrogated the origin, basis, and impact of the fear of and hatred for the Igbo by other Nigerians. In order to achieve the set objectives, the historical descriptive research method of content analysis was adopted. The sequence of events followed a chronological order. Among other things, the study revealed that there are certain aspects of the Igbo personality which some non-Igbo find disconcerting and opprobrious. These attitudes were manipulated by the colonial regime to inspire anti-Igbo feelings in Nigeria. Since independence in 1960, subsequent Nigerian governments have sustained this negative stereotyping, encouraging, in the course of time, ethnic biases and discrimination against the Igbo. The implications include a lingering clamour for separation from Nigeria by the Igbo, and the federal government’s high-handed clampdown of Igbo protests.