Nigerian Universities and the Problem of Cultural Diversity: Policy Responses and Consequences

It is useful to provide a context for the elaboration of this argument by referring to the historical and intellectual roots of Nigerian federalism, the nature of Nigeria's ethnic mosaic, and the influence or impact of ethnicity on the architecture of Nigerian federalism. The foundational or theoretical building block of Nigerian federalism was and continues to be ethnic, as opposed to geographical, diversity. The artisanal design and construction of this ethnicized federalism was informed by the imperative of elite accommodation initially between the departing British colonial administration and the emergent leadership of the inheritance elite and thereafter, at various times between 1960 and the present time, among the political leadership of the various fractions of the politically significant and mobilized ethnic groups (Jinadu, 1985, 2002).