Unmitigated Pugnacity.pgn [HOT]

The case studies of this presentation namely Nigeria and South Sudan offers salient examples of how ethnicity coalesces with inequality to spell unmitigated tragedy on the African continent. Both countries belong to some of the highly polarized countries in Africa, which mobilized ethnicity to gain independence. Nigeria and South Sudan are both stratified societies. However, South Sudan is a relatively new country and less populous. Both countries were shaped by assumptions and definitions imposed by the British rulers. British imperial rule in both countries provided identities, languages and symbols for ethnic and racial groups. Colonial racism was responsible for creating ethnic divisions and encouraging regionalism and separatism, which further separated the races and ethnic groups.

Unmitigated Pugnacity.pgn

Political independence of these countries under study has uncovered buried ethnic sentiments among federating elements. The long decades of the national liberation struggle prevented South Sudan from looking into its soul to discover its own societal ills. The task of self-reflection and criticism had not been accomplished prior to the declaration of political independence. Instead of moving away from the illusion of tribalism and ethnicity, the political elites reshaped the basis of government. Ethnicity, which encouraged majority - minority dichotomy has also created a situation in which many minority groups in Africa have been denied their basic rights of equal access to socioeconomic, political and cultural resources resulting in a security dilemma. Differences of educational attainment, occupational level and land holdings across ethnic groups lead to a security dilemma which causes separatist or ethnic conflict. Generally, this paper concludes that both variables namely ethnicity and inequality have generated unmitigated tragedy that has continually stunt the overall development of Africa. 041b061a72