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Ethnicity And Voting Pattern In Nigeria
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CHAPTER ONE
1.1 Background of the Study:
Nigeria as a nation
is an aggregation of several nationalities. In real terms, it is a
pluralistic and multi-faceted society, both in terms of religion,
culture and composition. It has about 450 different ethnic groupings
(Uduma, 2005). According to 2006 officially certified census by Nigeria
Population Commission, it has a population of 140 million with a growth
rate of 6.3% per annum. This makes it the most populous country in
Africa and the largest concentration of black race in the world. An
estimated 37.7% of the population are urban dwellers while 62.3% are
rural based. The life expectancy rate is 52 years, literacy rate is 45%
and the fertility rate is 5.7% while infant and maternal mortality
remain high (National Population Census 2006).
Despite the fact that
Nigeria is composed of over 450 ethnic groupings, the three dominating
ethnic groups are Hausa-fulani dominating the north, Igbo in the east,
and Yoruba in the
western part of the country. The 1996 state
creation and reorganization of the state structure in Nigeria saw these
ethnic groupings being reorganized into six geo-political zones with the
Hausa-Fulani comprising the north east, north west and north central;
the Igbo concentrated in the south-east and south-south while the
yorubas taking the south west. The 1996 re-organisation was the last
effort by the Abacha regime in ensuring relative distribution of power
and resources within the country. However, agitation for state creation
has not ceased. The resultant effect of this ineffectual reorganization
has continued to have negative effect on the politics of the land.
Every ethnic group has continued to vie for political office in order to
enrich both individual and group interest. Political party formation is
not left out in this ethnic chauvinism and configuration, hence party
campaign also follows ethnic sentiments (Nnoli 1978). However, scholars
have come up with various explanations on the determinants of voting
pattern in many developed countries of the world. Generally, they have
emphasized the role played by factors such as social class, race,
religion and party ideology. Close examinations of their findings
suggest that the democracies they investigated have developed overtime
and therefore parties have had distinct image and philosophies. Though,
the Nigerian democracy is still at its infancy and therefore could not
be said to follow a pattern as in the case of the developed countries of
the world. It is however regarded as one of the emerging democracies of
the world with features that are likely to be different from the
developed democracies as motivators of voters (Mafeja 1971). Therefore,
the 2015 general elections in Nigeria was no exception in terms of
ethnic colouration. Through the 2015 presidential elections, Nigerians
had the opportunity either to choose ‘continuity’, as represented by the
incumbent President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and his ruling People’s
Democratic Party (PDP), or to embrace ‘change’, as symbolized by the
opposition candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives
Congress (APC). These two leading candidates in the 2015 challenge had
also encountered each other at the ballot in the 2011 presidential
contest, although at that time General Buhari was running on the ticket
of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]This research work was conducted to determine the influence of ethnicity on voting pattern in Nigeria with particular emphasis to the 2015 presidential election. To actualize the above, the researcher formulated three (3) research questions, and three (3) research hypotheses. An open ended structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Tables and simple percentages were used in answering of research questions while chi-square was used in testing of hypothesis. Based on data analyzed, the ... Continue reading---
