Pages: 45-51

Abstract

This study probes the elite theoretical nexus in the Nigerian national question. It questions the dubious nationalism of the country’s elite and highlights the indices of perfidies in the worldviews of these elites, particularly the political class. The theoretical framework of the study is of course the elite theory. The study found that the character of the national political elite in Nigeria is tainted by a tripartite notoriety. These elites advocate the indivisibility of the Nigerian union at the central level (because of the petrodollar that is statutorily pooled at the center which they crassly dismember as a class). At their home regional levels, they furtively patronize the agitations for autonomy that even border on insurgency. They finally go to the den of the dreaded agitators (and other societal infidels) to recruit their personal guards because they (the elite) have completely stolen the funds appropriated for state security purposes. The study concludes that for the Nigerian state to continue to survive as one nation, the political elite in Nigeria must commit to resolving the national question or at least bringing the inherent vexing issues to the barest minimum. It is recommended in the study that more concerted efforts be made by civil society organizations in calling the nation’s degraded elite to order.