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Week Eight Notes: Ethnicity
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Reading Notes
Reading One: Politics of Identity and the Crisis of Nation-Building in Africa
SOURCE: Alumona and Nnaemeka Azomn, “Politics of Identity and the Crisis of Nation-Building in
Africa”, in Oloruntoba and Falola, The Palgrave Handbook of African Politics, Governance and
Development (Palgrave, 2018), chapter 17.
SUMMARY: 12 pages to 5 pages
Introduction
Historically, Africa as a continent has been characterized by various crises that are principally
responsible for it’s underdevelopment. The identity crisis and its attendant impact on the process of
nation-building appears the most lasting and challenging.
Why Identity Matters in the African Context
● Identity is defined as “the way individuals and groups define themselves and are defined by
others on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, language, and culture.”
● Identity politics is derived from the activities of individuals or groups who try to whip up
identity sentiments in the struggle for the authoritative allocation and distribution of the scarce
resources of the state.
● In the opinion of Nwanegbo, identity politics as a political phenomenon is closely tied to the
freedom associated with liberal democratic politics and it has to do with the political activities of
various ethnic, religious, and cultural groupings that make demands for greater economic, social,
and political rights in the political system.
● It is common knowledge that the African people who are divided largely along different identity
lines attach so much importance to these identities.
● It has, however, been observed that the problem in Africa is not identity per se but that these
identities, which for so long have come to dominate interpersonal and group relations, have
transcended to affect not only state – society relations but the entire process of development.
● Hence, in different parts of Africa the fallout of identity politics has led to ugly developments
such as genocide in Rwanda, civil war in Nigeria, Liberia, and Somalia, apartheid in South
Africa, and frequent ethnic violence in Kenya.
● It has also been responsible for several secessionist attempts as found in the following cases:
Belgian Congo 1960, Uganda 1966, Nigeria 1967, Djibouti 1991, and Senegal 1991. Presently,
the resurgence of separatist movements in Nigeria has to do with identity politics.
Identity matters in Africa are due to the following reasons:
1. The Ascriptive Nature of African Culture
● There is so much attachment to pre-determined factors such as age, sex, kinship, or
birth which largely determine status and in the process create a discriminatory notion of
“us” and “them.”
● A shared sense of in-group adhesion based on trust, custom, familiarity, and belonging,
and an assumption of collective identity derived from common descent, territorial
affiliation, or both.
2. Colonial Legacy
● The pre-colonial African communities appreciated and respected their different identities
but it was through the instruments of colonialism that the foundation of the crisis of
identity was laid.
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● With the imposition of arbitrary boundaries, the colonial forces did not only separate
kith and kin and unite strangers, but also highlighted their different identities through
their obnoxious, discriminatory, and divide and rule policies.
● In Nigeria, for instance, the colonial authorities had different educational policies for the
northern and southern parts of the country. This has affected educational development in
the country until today.
● In Rwanda, the story was the same: the Belgians classified the population into Batutsi,
Bahutu, and Batwa and removed the relative flexibility in political distinction that existed
among the people in the pre-colonial times
3. Communal Nature of Africa
● Communalism in Africa is a system that is both very sensible and material in its terms of
reference
● Africans emphasize community life and communalism as a living principle, of which the
basic ideology is community identity.
4. Socio-Economic Inequality
● Socio-economic equality reduces ethnic rivalries in the long run because it eliminates
class and its antagonistic nature.
● Unequal access to resources of the state has been a primary basis for ethnic
mobilization in states such as Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, and Somalia.
● This explains why Katanga, for instance, tried to break away from the Congo (which
became Zaire, and is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Biafra from
Nigeria. Southern Sudan struggled protractedly to break away from the North. It was
issues bordering on socio-economic inequality that led to the fighting that resumed in
Sudan in 1983, and today Southern Sudan is a separate country
5. Bad Leadership
● Following the plural nature of most African countries, the desired leadership that is
needed to foster peace, unity, and development appears to have eluded the continent
● Wangari believes the reason to be a threat to a more open political system and a strong
civil society. He argues that this has disquieted enough African leaders and has forced
them to encourage the brewing of tribal tensions, the worst of which was the violence
which ravaged Rwanda and Somalia.
● It it is not the tribes who want to fight; rather, it is the threatened elitist leaders who are
using tribes to arouse ethnic nationalism as the only way they can continue to cling to
political and economic power and the privileges which come with that power.
The Nature and Character of Identity Politics in Africa
● The nature and character of identity politics in Africa can be situated for clarity in three
historical epochs, namely pre-colonialism, the colonial era, and post-colonialism.
● Before the advent of colonialism, African people recognized their different identities. But even
then relations among the different nations were often characterized by intergroup and tribal wars.
● The nature of identity politics during the colonial era was Africans against the colonialists
and the motive was the achievement of selfrule.
● The fact that no serious attempt was made to make these people see themselves as one, especially
in British colonies where the indirect and “divide and rule” policy held sway, exacerbated the
identity problem in Africa
● The nature and character of identity politics took a different dimension in the post-colonial era as
ethnic bigotry stalled the anticipated socio-political development.
The nature and character of identity politics in Africa is denoted by the factors listed below:
