HISTORY AND THE ART OF NATION BUILDING IN AFRICA: THE NIGERIA EXPERIENCE SINCE 1960

Abstract

This work focuses on history and the art of nation building in Africa, the Nigeria experience since independence in 1960. One of the biggest challenges African countries have faced since independence is that of nation building. After independence in 1960, the desire to build a just, peaceful, orderly and progressive society has been uppermost in the minds of Nigerian leaders. Unfortunately, over six decades after independence, the spate of crises and acrimony among the peoples have been provoking scholarly debates about the creation of the Nigerian entity. Nation building is viewed as a complex and open-ended process, but that does not mean that people should shy away from embracing the challenge. The paper finds out that, the discipline of history by its very nature and content emerges as the societal repertoire which undeniably preserves the trajectory of how any nation has developed and how nation building has taken place. The paper, thus argues that the story of the development of the nation is well captured through its history. Relying on rich secondary sources, this study further argues that the challenges of living together, of seeking solutions to the multifarious problems and challenges of nation building are not dealt with by denying the historical facts. This paper is historical; hence, it adopts a qualitative method of analysis. Useful piece of information were obtained from important relevant documents, reports and array of secondary sources.