From accommodation to self‐determination: Minority nationalism and the restructuring of the Nigerian state

Nigeria has a long history of struggle by minority groups to redress the structural disadvantages and disempowerment suffered as a result of big group hegemony and domination. This article examines how and why the tempo of minority nationalism moved from simply demanding separate states (accommodation) to demanding greater political autonomy, control over economic resources, and a greater share of political power and revenue at the centre (self‐determination). Based on a case study of the uprising and revolts of the minorities of the oil‐rich Niger Delta region, this shift is attributed to the precipitate loss of legitimacy by the state, which became increasingly insolvent and repressive in the 1980s and 1990s, as well as to economic crisis, democratization and globalization. One of the important conclusions of the article is that without some form of state restructuring as demanded by the minorities and other aggrieved groups, Nigeria faces the danger of self‐determination nationalism becoming uncompromisingly separatist.