TOWARDS OVERCOMING ETHNICITY IN NIGERIA FOR NATIONAL INTEGRATION: LESSONS FROM KARL POPPER'S THOUGHTS ON TRIBALISM

Résumé

There is a seeming consensus that ethnicity or tribalism constitutes a very formidable factor among others militating against the emergence of needed national cohesion for peace and development in most Nation-States of post-colonial Africa. In Nigeria particularly, almost all facets of life have the imprint of ethnicity. This work is aimed at articulating Popperian thoughts on tribalism which he considers as a nostalgic feeling of those who are daily wishing the return to that era of unreflective normativity thereby constituting themselves as the enemies of the Open Society or the forces of globalisation. The paper seeks to highlight the implications of Karl Popper's thought pattern on the rise of ethnic chauvinism, regional activism and religious bigotry in a pluralistic Nigerian society and to critically evaluate the challenges it poses in Nigeria's quest for national integration in view of advancing the way forward. This work is methodically critical, evaluative and historical. The data for analysis are sourced chiefly from existing literature such as books, journals, encyclopedias, periodicals, monographs and Internet sources.