Reductionism and the national question: restructuring or grievance? (I), by Usman Sarki

“The co-existence of several nations under the same State is a test, as well as the best security, of its freedom. ” — Lord Acton
Nigeria’s convoluted debate on restructuring has endured for decades because it supposedly speaks to questions of power, identity, representation, resource distribution, security, federalism and belonging. Precisely because the debate has been driven largely by sectional advocates and habitual agitators, however, it has also become increasingly burdened and polarised by a tendency towards reductionism, or the habit of explaining the country’s many and complex difficulties through a single grievance, a single historical narrative, a single ethnic experience or...