MARGINALIZATION OF SOME ETHNIC NATIONALITIES IN THE NIGERIAN STATE: THE IGBO EXPERIENCE

Abstract

The Igbo people are found mainly in the South Eastern parts of Nigeria and also in some parts of present Delta and Rivers States. It is an established fact that Igbo people have been marginalized for a very long time in Nigeria but the marginalization actually got to a real climax immediately after the Nigerian civil war in 1970 with the abandoned properties policy which was deliberately formulated by the powers that be to dispossess the Igbo people of their legitimate properties mainly in Port Harcourt and other major cities. This paper chronicles some of these orchestrated cases of marginalization against the Igbo people, including the celebrated case of the „Abandoned Property‟ saga that was perpetrated against them immediately the civil war ended in 1970. It suggests that Igbo people should not chicken out of the Nigerian federation as a result of the orchestrated marginalization against them. It also suggests that Igbo people should stand up for their rights in Nigeria in order not to be relegated to the background entirely in the nation‟s social, political and economic spheres