Two Nigerian Ethnonationalist Movements: A Comparison of the OPC and MASSOB

The proliferation of ethnic militia organisations in Nigeria raises questions about the factors responsible for the development. Although reasons adduced from the rhetoric of these organisations point to the politics of exclusion and marginalisation in Nigeria, this form of ethnicity is a new phenomenon. The growth of these militant formations pervading the length and breadth of the country is attributable to the nature and character of the Nigerian state. Perceptions of marginalisation in the distribution of power and resources, and the repressive tactics of the state to sub-national dissent, have encouraged their growth. The Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) are prominent ethnic militia groups that draw membership from major ethnic groups in southern Nigeria. Rivalry and hegemonic competition for the control of the state among the major ethnic groups led to a civil war in the late 1960s, but wartime experiences were not harnessed for a nation-building project. The result was the systematic perversion of the state, which has resulted in throwing up new forms of ethnicity in Nigeria as reflected in the emergence of these organisation

Ethnic Militia as a Social Pressure in Nigeria's Fourth Republic Politics

The character of the Nigerian state which is anchored on rent and the centralization of power have combined to make quest for power in the country contentious. The entrenchment of differences and rivalry among the ethnic groups to control the soul of the Nigerian state led to several violent confrontations prior to the country's independence. The successive post independent regimes failed to initiate far-reaching policy measures to coalesce ethnic differences into positive ventures that could create a pan Nigerian identity. Instead, most of the policies undertaken were rather aimed at suppressing ethnic consciousness and minimize the challenge it poses to the legitimacy of the state or the authority of the incumbent regime. The result of this is the heightened hegemonic contest for power at the centre by the ethnic groups. This competition for ethnic domination has, over the years, assumed varying forms in the politics of Nigeria. However, the phenomenon of ethnic militia as a strategy for political contention seems to have become an instrument for achieving political ends. This tactics is paying off as legitimate way of attaining power. Therefore, this paper examines ethnic militias as a social pressure group in the Fourth Republic for political contention