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The Making of the Ogoni Ethnic Group

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2011

V. Adefemi Isumonah
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Abstract

The existence of the Ogoni ethnic group is taken for granted in the literature that has grown out of the minority rights and environmentalist campaigns of the 1990s. This article departs from this tradition by engaging the historical development of the Ogoni ethnic group, taking as its point of departure elite politics in the context of colonial categories and post-colonial politics. With comparative data on the development of ethnic groups in Nigeria, it shows how elite politics and state structures and administrative decisions influenced the development of the Ogoni ethnic group and the identity it purveys. It also shows that differing interests in oil with unequal power bases spurred rigid positions that served to facilitate or constrain the execution of the Ogoni identity-building project.

Résumé

L'existence du groupe ethnique Ogoni se pose comme une évidence dans la littérature issue des campagnes menées dans les années 90 pour la défense des droits des minorités et de l'environnement. Cet article rompt avec cette tradition en s'intéressant au développement historique du groupe ethnique Ogoni, en prenant comme son point de départ la politique d'élites dans le contexte des catégories coloniales et de la politique post-coloniale. Au moyen de données comparées sur le développement de groupes ethniques au Nigeria, il montre la manière dont les structures étatiques et politiques d'élites et les décisions administratives ont influencé le développement du groupe ethnique Ogoni et l'identité qu'il fournit. Il montre également que des intérêts divergents vis-à-vis du pétrole, avec des bases de pouvoir inégales, ont encouragé des positions rigides qui ont servi à faciliter ou à freiner l'exécution du projet de construction identitaire ogoni.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 74 , Issue 3 , August 2004 , pp. 433 - 453
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2004

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