ETHNIC POLITICS AND THE NIGERIAN CIVIL WAR: RE-EXAMINING THE YORUBA-IGBO INTERGROUP RELATIONS IN IBADAN, 1945 -1970

Abstract

The Igbo and Yoruba are part of the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria. Both ethnic groups are noted for their achievements in different human endeavours in Africa and across the globe. Historically, the Igbo and Yoruba have been interacting even before the colonial rule in Nigeria. Through intergroup relations, both groups have had ‘considerable robust’ relationships in Ibadan, yet scholars are yet to examine this reality but rather largely focus on the aspect both group failed in their relationship. Over the years, due to the nature and pattern of Nigeria’s politics rooted in ethnicity, the Igbo and Yoruba are portrayed as ‘imaginary enemies’. The objective of the paper is, therefore, to examine the ‘Ibadan Igbo-Yoruba interaction’ from 1945 up to 1970 with a view to analyzing the broad Igbo-Yoruba inter-group relation in Nigeria. Unlike Lagos State, Ibadan has not recorded any major fracas between Ibadan people and the Igbo people since the beginning of their interaction. Historical-analytical method is adopted. Both primary and secondary sources were utilized. The perceived acrimony between the Igbo and Yoruba is a mere creation of the political class and product of insecurity in some instances as the case may be. The Nigerian civil war was not a war waged against the Igbo by Yoruba people. The Yoruba in Ibadan shielded a good number of Igbo from their attackers in those troubling days of 1966 up to the end of the Nigerian civil war in 1970 as examined in this paper. In another hand, it is pertinent to assert that the interactions between both groups have enhanced the socio-economic development of Ibadan to a large extent, thereby providing sources of livelihood for both groups: Igbo and Yoruba.