Issue

Vol. 18 No. 1 (2014): African Sociological Review

1 - The Politics of ‘Hope’ and ‘Despair’: Generational Dimensions to Igbo Nationalism in Post-Civil War Nigeria

https://doi.org/10.57054/asr.v18i1.3645
Godwin Onuoha
Princeton Institute for International and Religious Studies (PIIRS) Princeton University

Corresponding Author(s) : Godwin Onuoha

godwin.onuoha@gmail.com

African Sociological Review, Vol. 18 No. 1 (2014): African Sociological Review

Abstract

This paper examines the concept of “generations” as one of the key features of contemporary Igbo nationalism, and as one that has received relatively less or no attention in the literature on post-civil war Igbo nationalism in Nigeria. Drawing on the activities of Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo- the apex socio-political group in Igboland- and the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) - a second-generation Igbo nationalist movement this article examines the dynamics of generational tensions between youth-led and elite-led Igbo groups in Igboland. On the one hand, the political agency of Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo is traced genealogically to the imperatives of the patrimonial politics of the Nigerian state, the need to play the “politics of the centre” and re-integrate the Igbo into mainstream politics in the postcivil war era. On the other hand, the MASSOB project is rooted in the aborted secessionist war for Igbo self-determination between 1967 and 1970. It rejects a state-led process, seeks the realignment of the generational balance of power, and ultimately, an exit of the Igbo ethnic group into an alternative political and administrative arrangement. These generational differences and tensions offer insights into the transformation of local politics and the changing configurations of power and authority in present day Igboland, one that pits an emergent youth movement against an enduring Igbo establishment within the broader context of ethnic identity politics in Nigeria.

Keywords

Nationalism Igbo War patrimonial politics Biafra Nigeria Generational differences
Godwin Onuoha. (2015). 1 - The Politics of ‘Hope’ and ‘Despair’: Generational Dimensions to Igbo Nationalism in Post-Civil War Nigeria. African Sociological Review, 18(1), 2–26. https://doi.org/10.57054/asr.v18i1.3645
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Author Biography

Godwin Onuoha, Princeton Institute for International and Religious Studies (PIIRS) Princeton University

Godwin Onuoha is an African Research Fellow in the Democracy, Governance and Service Delivery (DGSD) programme of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), Pretoria, South Africa. He holds a BA in History and MSc in Political Science both from the University of Lagos, Nigeria; and also obtained an MA in Political Science at the Central European University, Hungary and a PhD in Anthropology from the Martin Luther University, Halle-Wittenberg, Germany. Dr. Onuoha is a Political Anthropologist with research interests in nationalism, identity politics and the interface between state, resources and development. Drawing on a multi-disciplinary framework, his research opens up new vistas that engage perspectives from other disciplines, modes of inquiry and subject areas in the study of contemporary development and political issues. His articles have appeared in Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, African Studies and Ethnic and Racial Studies, and his most recent work is titled, Challenging the State in Africa: Contemporary Igbo Nationalism and the Crisis of Self-Determination in Nigeria.

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