Military Incursion, Tribalism and Poor Governance: The Consequences for Development in Nigeria

Nigeria continues to face difficult challenges as a country comprising many ethnic groups with different socio-cultural, religious and economic backgrounds. This paper critically reviewed literature and found that these challenges have shaped Nigeria’s leadership and created unhealthy rivalry including, in particular, a deep sense of exploitation, marginalisation and oppression among certain ethnic groups. Despite Nigeria’s abundant natural resources, the early politicians became self-centred and failed to make good use of these resources to improve the well-being of poor Nigerians, especially those in the rural areas. Instead, it was found that the politicians were engaged in economic vandalism and political opportunism, which precipitated a premature military takeover of government.