INTERSECTION OF SOCIAL IDENTITY COMPLEXITY, ETHNO-RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE, AND HUMAN FLOURISHING IN NORTHERN NIGERIA1

Abstract

The persistence of violent conflicts in Northern Nigeria, despite several academic and non-academic efforts to find their causes and remedies, is an indication of the complexity of the issues. The present study, therefore, heuristically appropriates the insights of social identity complexity theory to analyze and describe the intersection of social identity complexity, ethno-religious violence, and human flourishing in Northern Nigeria. Through an analysis of written literature and emic (insider’s) observation of the researcher, social identity complexity, ethno-religious violence, and human flourishing intersect in the following ways: first, the prevalence of low social identity complexity among people in Northern Nigeria promotes intolerance, which in turn promotes ethno religious violent conflicts, which in turn hinders human flourishing at multiple levels. As a solution to the problem of low social identity complexity and resultant ethno-religious violence, the study proposes promoting high social identity complexity through equal and simultaneous emphasis on both convergence and non-convergence of the multiple social identities in Northern Nigeria, thereby promoting tolerance and peaceful co-existence. Moreover, the study proposes a social virtue identity as an additional, alternative, and corrective social identity that can promote peaceful co-existence in Northern Nigeria beyond the bounds of religious, ethnic, and regional social identities.