Abstract

This paper examines the politics of ethnic mobilization. It uses as a case study, the political mobilization activities of one of the major ethnic groups in Nigeria, the Yoruba of the Southwest, to chart the sequence of relations between the ethnic group and the Nigerian State between 1999 - 2003. The paper argues that ethnic mobilization is not an anomic response to the disequilibria generated by modernization and definitely not an expression of deep-rooted animosities or difference but a quest for group security and development within a chaotic and often inegalitarian state structure. The weakness of civil society structures and absence of viable democratic structures for societal “voice” has encouraged the rise of ethnic politics, an amalgam of traditional and modernist principles, values and structures, as a means for articulating the demands of society and taking the lead in actualizing such in the face of an unresponsive state.

Key words: Ethnic, politics, Nigeria, identity, security, development, opposition.