MINORITY AND MAJORITY INTEREST

Welcome to class!

In today’s class, we will be talking about minority and majority interest. Enjoy the class!

Minority and Majority Interest

While the majority interest refers to the right of the major dominant ethnic groups in a given society or country, the minority interest refers the right of several small ethnic groups scattered all over the state of the federation. Numerically and politically, the major ethnic groups in Nigeria are the composite Hausa-Fulani, the Yoruba, and the Igbo. These three ‘hegemonic’ ethnic groups are popularly referred to by the generic term ‘wazobia’. All the rest constitute different degrees of ‘minority’ status.

Under colonial rule, however, but particularly under the ethnicized electoral politics associated with decolonization, minority status became associated with the smallness of population size and the related question of limited electoral clout. Nigeria’s ‘majority’ and ‘minority’ ethnic groups developed in this political hothouse from the early 1950s.

There are ‘large minorities’ with millions of members, such as the Ijaw, Kanuri, Fulani, Edo, Ibibio, Nupe and the Tiv. However, since minority status is both a numerical and a political category, often underlined by administrative and economic factors, the bulk of the minority groups shade into different degrees of ‘minorities’. It is on this basis the struggles for the recognition of the right of the minority ensued.

Reasons for protecting minority interest

To avoid war
To promote the stability of the country
To enhance mutual relation and trust among the otherwise diverse society
To ensure rapid socio-economic development
To promote the promote equal treatment and enhance democratic principles in a country
To ensure equal distribution of national resources