Politics of Marginalisation of Igbo Nation in Nigerian Public Administration and Insecurity

A Blessing or a Curse?

Abstract

The Igbo nation is an important constituent part in the Nigerian political constituency. Yet they remain politically marginalized and enslaved and consequently treated as a second class citizen in the Nigerian project. According to the nature of this research, a desk research with great reliance on the secondary method of data collection and observation was used in: assessing the extent of the marginalisation of Igbo nation; establishing the relationship between marginalisation and insecurity in Nigeria; and examining whether the marginalisation is a blessing or curse. The paper discovered that the current tide of marginalisation is a blessing to the marginalised and a curse to the unity and sustainable development of Nigeria as a sovereign state. It is herein recommended that the principle of inclusivism should be manifestly practiced. In this regard, the Igbo man should not be merely tolerated in his own home. He must be allowed to be a stakeholder in matters that concern him as a part of the general system. It concluded that, for public administration to serve the need of the people, it must be devoid of marginalisation and allied factors such as: divide and rule, corruption, nepotism, tribal sentiments and other associated ills that make public administration unworkable. The implication of the study for practice is that if we continue to approach marginalisation separately from the issue of insecurity in which indices like human right abuses, inequality, unemployment and social exclusion on the basis of tribal and religious classifications are not tackled with utmost seriousness, insecurity will remain a nagging challenge in Nigeria. Therefore, there is a correlation between marginalisation and insecurity.