Ethnicity, Religion and the Task of Democracy-Building in the South-West Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria

Abstract

The paper took a historical approach to the Nigerian democratic project, and attempted to locate ethnicity and religion as central to the task of democracy building in Nigeria via the South-West geopolitical zone of the country by virtue of its peculiar position in the country's political history. The paper also tried to trace the link between ethnicity and religion, and established the nexus between ethnicity and democratization and its influence on democracy building, and how it can be extended to entrenching enduring democracy in Nigeria. We adopted the constructivist approach as a theoretical standpoint in the explanation of ethnicity and democratization. Relying mainly on secondary sources and archival materials, we argue that the experience of the South-West geopolitical zone of Nigeria places it on a better pedestal to champion democracy building in Nigeria. We conclude that this task is also enamoured with responsibilities, and therefore, appropriate recommendations are suggested as ways to ameliorate it.