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             \author[1]{Inwang Benson  Utin}

             \affil[1]{  AKWA IBOM STATE UNIVERSITY}

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\date{\small \em Received: 6 December 2019 Accepted: 4 January 2020 Published: 15 January 2020}

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\begin{abstract}
        


The area later named Nigeria had long existed with diverse and autonomous ethnic Nationalities. These ethnic groups had its unique culture and political systems. The scramble for Africa by the European powers resulted in the British carving out the area later named Nigeria as its area of influence or territory. With over two hundred and fifty ethnic groups, the area was divided into two parts: the protectorate of Northern Nigeria and the protectorate of southern Nigeria, this was for the purpose of easy administration of the area. Each of the protectorates was made up of diverse ethnic groups. The decision to bring together the two protectorates and its diverse ethnic groups was purely that of the British without the consent of the people that constituted the area. People still gave their loyalty to their ethnic nationalities instead of loyalty to the federation of Nigeria after the amalgamation. The outcome of the amalgamation according to the research has been the agitation by minority ethnic groups and the rise and proliferation of ethnic militias which resulted in some sections attempting to secede. This article attempted to analyze the root causes of the proliferation of ethnic militias and insurgency in Nigeria. Relying on secondary sources and the historical and descriptive research method the paper examined the amalgamation of Nigeria as the reason for the rise of ethnic militias which has threatened the unity of the country. However, the paper maintained that the amalgamation can be sustained to enhance development which will take Nigeria to international limelight.

\end{abstract}


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\let\tabcellsep& 	 	 		 
\section[{Introduction}]{Introduction}\par
igeria is the only country in Africa that the term amalgamation was used to describe the unification of all the sections of the country into one nation. Before the unification, the entire area later named Nigeria was made up of many ethnic groups. Each ethnic group had its own bureaucratic principles which described their various administrations. Such City States included kanem Bornu, the Igbo City State, Idoma City State, Nupe City State and others, with distinct mode of political administration. Trading and relationship was carried out in the form of international relations. 1 Lord Lugard who came to Northern Nigeria in 1895 from Uganda was the architect of Nigeria's amalgamation. He came to Northern Nigeria at the instance of the military campaigns of George Goldie authorized Royal Niger Company (RNC). He contributed immensely to the conquering of Northern Nigeria for the Royal Niger Company. Sokoto, the seat of the Caliphate was the last Northern territory he captured for the British in 1903. He was appointed the first British high commissioner of Northern Nigeria. He later created the protectorate of Northern Nigeria. In 1862 Lagos Island became a colony of Britain and Mr. H.S. Freeman was appointed the Governor. Thirty two years after the formation of Lagos colony, in 1893; oil Rivers Protectorate was established and later renamed the Niger coast protectorate with Calabar as the capital. In 1890, British Reporter Flora Shaw later Flora Lugard suggested that the area occupied by the British be named Nigeria after the Niger River. In 1900 the Niger coast protectorate was merged with the Colony of Lagos and renamed the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria. Lord Lugard proposed the merging of the two protectorates for easy administration.\par
The idea of administrative convenience as the aim of the unification has been debated by Scholars over the years. Richard Akinjide noted the reason behind Lugard's amalgamation bid: "He said that the north is poor and they have no resources to run the protectorate of the North. That the South has resources and that they have educated people".  {\ref 2} This imply that the amalgamation was done so that the resources from the South could be used to run the entire administration of the country including the north with limited resources.\par
The amalgamation bid was deliberated for a long period before implementation, therefore; it was not a spontaneous thing. He had the idea of merging the different part of the country ten years before his appointment as Governor General of Nigeria. He noted the tribal acrimony that existed between the different part of the country and how enactment and execution of National policies were delayed. Lord Lugard was not alone in the advocacy for amalgamation. For instance, Sir William Macgregor (Governor of Lagos) and Sir Raph Moore (High Commissioner of Southern Nigeria) agreed with him and strongly advocated for the amalgamation even though the Queen of England never saw the need for it 3 . Lord Lugard submitted his amalgamation proposal to the secretary of State for the colonies, Mr Lewis Vernon Harcourt who was unanimous with him that the merger was of utmost importance for effective administration of the area. In his response, Harcourt advise Lugard to carry out an in-depth field work of the country and therefore determine if the different regions should be unified. The colonial Secretary further urged him to get acquainted with the local condition of the two protectorates before finally submitting the amalgamation proposal to the Queen of England. This was carried out by Lord Lugard before finally submitting the detached proposal in may 1913 to the Queen of England. Lord Lugard was appointed Governor of both the Northern and Southern protectorates during the transition period of amalgamation to enable him conduct the task of amalgamation effectively. There was intense correspondence and negotiations between Lugard and Harcourt almost on every issue, from boundary adjustment to taxation policy and even down to individual appointments to various positions in the new unified civil service.  {\ref 3 Between 1912} {\ref 3 Between -1913}, the processes leading to amalgamation were formalized in formal document which included the formal unification of the geographical entities into one, the formal unification of the administrative structures and institutions such as the civil service, army, Police, railway and others, the appointment instrument of Lugard as Governor General of the unified territories, enactment of legal instrument for the territory, appointment of key political officers such as L. C. Temple as Lieutenant Governor of Southern Nigeria, the appointment of Sir Edwin Speed as the first Chief Justice of Nigeria and other ancillary provisions. On first January 1914, the Northern and Southern protectorates were finally unified in a historic amalgamation ceremony held in both Lagos and Zungeru. The ceremonies were conducted in the Supreme Court building at Tinubu Square, Lagos -Island on 1 st January 1914 and Zungeru on 3 rd January 1914. Zungeru was the then capital of Northern Protectorate 5 .\par
Nigerian Scholars have critically faulted the unification of over two hundred and fifty ethnic nationalities into one entity called Nigeria. Akinjide attribute the root causes of Nigeria's problem to 1914 amalgamation 6 . The British amalgamated the administration of the territory under their controlled and not the people of different ethnic nationalities. The objective was that with a unified administration of the country, it would be possible to construct a railway line from the North to the South for easy convergence of raw materials and other goods from all sections of the territory before finally shipping to their industries overseas. Lord Lugard through his field work and under study of the entire territories under British jurisdiction realized that the South was very rich in natural resources with access to the sea. The North was not very lucky with these natural endowments apart from agricultural resources whose revenue was quite low. Therefore, it was their well thought out plan to unify the entire territories together so that the huge revenue of the south could be used to run the entire administration of the country including the North 7 . Also Joseph Garba argues that Lugard had no intention of revolutionizing the social, political and economic institutions of the territory where he reigned. But he was determined primarily to conserve and tightened British hold on the area known as Nigeria. Lugard had similarly no desire to forge unity between the diverse peoples of Nigeria and wield them into a common people 8 .\par
Similarly, Akinola Aguda posits that the British wanted a large and expansive market for their developing manufacturing concerns 9 .\par
The amalgamation of the country still left some sections of the country to the Nationalism of their ethnic groups. Most of the things done especially in the 1950's were carried out on ethnic lines. In the field of politics, when the Northerners formed a political party, they named it The Northern People's Congress instead of Nigerian People's Congress. Aminu Kano formed The Northern Element Progressive Union. There was no political party in the North that had a nationalistic outlook. Obafemi Awolowo and Nnamdi Azikiwe were patriots the Nigerian amalgamation. They formed the Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM), and the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroun (NCNC) respectively. The political parties of both Awolowo and Azikiwe were true Nigerian political parties considering the names of the parties. But even with these, the political parties were formed on ethnic nationality basis. The National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) formed by Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe was to promote the political interest of the people of the South East, the Northern People's Congress (NPC) by virtue of its name was an exclusive political party of the people of Northern Nigeria while the Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM) was formed and led by Obafemi Awolowo for the political interest of the people of the South West 10 . The emergence of ethnic based political parties as mentioned above later led to the formation of ethnic based militia groups to protect and propagate the interest of their ethnic groups. Some of the ethnic militias were formed as militia wings of the political parties, to protect the party's interest during election. 
\section[{II. Ethnic Consciousness and The Rise of Ethnic Militias in Nigeria}]{II. Ethnic Consciousness and The Rise of Ethnic Militias in Nigeria}\par
The unification of all the ethnic groups of the Northern and Southern protectorates of Nigeria in 1914 did not alter people's loyalty and commitment to their ethnic nationalities. It is always contended that Lord Lugard unified the administrative structures of the country and not the over two hundred and fifty ethnic groups in the country. The people were still conscious and owe allegiance to their ethnic groups. After the amalgamation of the country, three major ethnic groups were prominent among all the ethnic groups that make up the country. These were the Hausa/Fulani, Igbo and Yoruba. The Hausa/Fulani people occupied a greater part of the North, Yoruba people occupied the West while the Igbo dominated the Eastern part of the country. There was unity of purpose among members of Volume XX Issue I Version I 
\section[{( D )}]{( D )}\par
each of the major ethnic groups even after the amalgamation of the country. For instance in 1947, Alhaji Abubakar Tafewa Balewa in support of the Hausa/ Fulani stated that "he decided to make it clear to all, that if the British quitted Nigeria now at this stage, the Northern people would continue their conquest to the sea". Similarly and in response to Balewa's statement, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe made a shocking statement that perverted his national outlook and undermine his nationalistic feelings and reputation; a very dangerous ethnic remark:\par
It would appear that God of Africa has specially created the Igbo nation to lead the children of Africa from the bondage of the ages? the martial prowess of the Igbo nation at all stages of human history has enable them not only to conquer others, but also to adapt themselves to the role of preserver? the Igbo nation cannot shirk its responsibility 11 .\par
The statement by Azikiwe has prompted scholars to analyze his intention leading to the conclusion that Nigerian elites right from the period of colonialism were tied to their ethnic groups instead of commitment to Nigeria as a nation. The false amalgamation of Nigeria and the consciousness of ethnic groups reflected in the establishment of media organizations such as newspapers during the colonial period. The three major ethnic groups had Newsprints in which they used as a mouth piece to propagate their activities. The West African Pilot was an Igbo organ used in presenting the interest and aspirations of the Igbo people and the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroon (NCNC). Also, the Daily Service was the weapon of war of words for the Yoruba and the Action Group (AG).  {\ref 12} The confrontation assumed a greater magnitude almost degenerating into ethnic conflict between the Igbo and Yoruba. Onigu Otite captured it thus: between July and September 1948, the Igbo-Yoruba hostility assumed such high proportions that extremist on both sides bought up all available machetes in the Lagos markets in anticipation of ethnic violence. Although violence did not erupt, growth in ethnic prejudices, identification and sentiments had increased beyond a tolerable threshold.  {\ref 13} The statement above affirms ethnicity and ethnic loyalty in Nigeria. Political parties during the colonial period were formed based on ethnicity. Each of the parties promoted and protected the interest of the ethnic group they represented. The political parties of the period emerged from the cultural associations of the ethnic group. The Northern People's Congress (NPC) represented the interest of the Hausa/Fulani ethnic group. The National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroon (NCNC) represented and protected the interest of the Igbo ethnic group. While, The Action Group (AG) was the dominant political party of the Yoruba ethnic group in Nigeria, concerning these ethnic cultural based political parties, Onigu Otite notes: ? It has been noted that political parties were strengthened by the respective ethnic cultural associations of the Hausa/Fulani in the North, the Igbo State Union and the Egbe Omo Ododuwa of the Yoruba? pre independence politics in Nigeria represented this political triangle.  {\ref 14} The people of the Middle Belt dominated mainly by the Tiv in the Benue and Plateau regions exonerated themselves from the main stream Northern group -the Hausa/Fulani. They were described by the Moslem Hausa Fulani as pagan people with pagan culture. Their indigenous interest were put forward when they formed a political party known as the United Middle Belt Congress (UMBC) led by J.S. Tarka. On the whole, indigenes of certain sections of the country formed political parties to articulate the interest of such areas. Alhaji Aminu Kano mobilized for the exclusiveness of the Kano area and therefore formed the Northern Element Progressive Union (NEPU). It is noted that these ethnic affiliations of political parties were done to enhance the national interest of the entire ethnic group or component unit concerned and to preserve the identity of such ethnic group.\par
Ethnic based politics also reflected in 1979 during the second Republic where the five political parties that contested the 1979 election were formed based on ethnic enclave. Party officials and supporters of these political parties were also from ethnic domain. Some of the parties were reincarnate of the defunct parties of the 1950's. The National party of Nigeria (NPN) was a replacement of the Northern People's Congress (NPC) and majority of the party's members and supporters were from the Hausa /Fulani of the Northern section of the country. Unity party of Nigeria (UPN) was a Yoruba ethnic based political party. Membership and supporters spread from Ondo, Oyo, Kwara, Lagos and Ogun. Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) was led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo. The party replaced the defunct Action Group (AG) of the 1950's. Also, the defunct National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) was replaced by the Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP) led by Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, party's officials, members and supporters were from and among the Igbo people of the South East. Northern Element Progressive Union (NEPU), formerly led by Aminu Kano was replaced by the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and its based was in Kano area among the Hausa/ Fulani and some other minority ethnic groups in the area. In 1976, following the creation of Borno State, the Kanuri people of the State broke away from the NPC/NPN and gave full support to Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim who formed the Great Nigerian people's Party (GNPP).  {\ref 15} The analysis on ethno nationalism and the formation of political parties has shown that people pay more attention to ethnic groups than the unity of the country as an entity. Nigeria is a plural society with over two hundred and fifty ethnic groups. Three major ethnic groups, Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba and Igbo are more prominent. Within each of these major ethnic groups are smaller ethnic groups usually referred to as minority. The minority groups are still subjected to domination by the major ethnic groups leading to fear on their part on what are their stakes in the polity. The fears of the minority have been the bane of the operation of Federalism in Nigeria since the colonial period. The Richard constitution of 1946 divided the country into three major regions taking into consideration the conspicuous cultural, linguistic, territorial and historical dissimilarities within these regions. This Colonial decision laid the foundation for the crisis that engulfed Nigeria immediately after independence. Sir Richard also failed to give consideration to the smaller ethnic groups within the three major regions. For instance in the Northern region of Nigeria the minority ethnic groups include the Kanuri, Tivs, Angas, Idoma, Nupe and others apart from the Hausa Fulani, the largest and majority in the region. In the Eastern region, apart from the Igbo being the majority, there are the Ogoni, Ijaw, Ibibio, Efik and others. In the western region, the Yoruba are the majority while the minorities include Urhobo, Edo, and Bini.  {\ref 16} The minority ethnic groups towards independence became agitated and conscious of their position and place in the scheme of things in the Federation. This was due to the procedure and the modus operandi of the Colonial Government especially its working relationship with the major ethnic groups. This created the consciousness on some groups as belonging to the minority. These ethnic minorities had earlier before 1946 constitution formed ethno cultural associations to propagate its interest. The Ibibio Union was the first cultural organization in Nigeria even though without a clear and explicit political agenda because the issue of Federalism and marginalization were not evident in its agenda or program. Later, other ethnic minority unions such as Edo National Union, Calabar Improvement League and the Ijaw Progressive Union emerged with a clear cut political character. The minority unions wanted representation in the political process of the federation. They also agitated for the creation of exclusive region independent of the majority ethnic group. 17 Increased agitation of the minority attracted the attention of the colonial Government. To address the issue, the colonial secretary of Nigeria Alan Lennox Boyd set up the minority commission headed by Sir Henry Willink on September 25 th 1957 to examine the grievances and demands of the ethnic minorities and proffer solution. The Willink commission was the first and the most comprehensive attempt at resolving multi ethnicity in Nigeria. It generated a rich collection of document, legal draft, reports and opinions from its sitting held in different parts of the country. The memorandum submitted, have become a valuable data for understanding minority agitation in Nigeria. The commission created awareness and a resurgent of minority agitation in Nigeria. The commission realized two major fears of the minority: the division of the country into three regions and each region with a major ethnic group with large population, second, with the then approaching independence; the minority feared that they may not be quite significant. The report of the commission was a major gateway to the long debate and agitation for ethnic balancing in Nigeria federal system. The minority ethnic group expected that the commission would recommend for the creation of a separate State for them in each region. The colonial government quite agreed with the findings of the commission but opted for the massive infrastructural development of the area as the best way to end the agitation and fears of the minority 18 . The commission was unable to resolve the fears of the minority during the late 1950's, hence the emergence and proliferation of political instability in Nigeria from the eve of independence to the outbreak of the civil war. Lack of implementation of the recommendation of the Willink Commission by post independent Government has resulted in the formation of ethnic militias in both the majority and minority areas due to marginalization.\par
Post independent ethnic militias started in 1966 when Isaac Adaka Boro formed an armed militia consisting mainly of his fellow Ijaw ethnic group in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Isaac Boro observed the exploitation of his people where the oil revenue derived from petroleum resources of the Niger Delta was used by the Federal Government of Nigeria to provide infrastructures in other part of the country. The people of the area were marginalized and subjected to various environmental hazards as a result of oil spillage. Boro's contention was that the people of the region deserved to be given a fair share of the proceeds of the oil wealth. He formed the Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDVF). Boro and his group declared the Niger Delta Republic on February 23 1966, attacked police stations in Yenegoa, raided the armory and kidnapped some security officers including police officers who were in charge of the command station. The militia group also blew up oil pipelines and gallantly fought the Federal forces for twelve days but finally they were subdued and arrested by the superior and well trained Federal forces. Isaac Boro and his associates were tried on a nine count charge of treason felony at Port Harcourt before Justice Phil Ebosie and condemned to death by the Aguiji Ironsi's regime. Isaac Boro and his associates were however granted amnesty by Gen. Yakubu Gowon on the eve of the civil war in May 1967.  {\ref 19} Loyalty to ethnic nationalities reflected again during the first republic in Nigeria. This resulted in a military coup, cooked and executed by officers from the Eastern region on 15 th January 1966. Majority of the victims of the coup were Nigerian leaders from the Northern part of the country. This resulted in discord and hatred between the North and people of the Eastern region. The discord heightened when the first republic was truncated bringing the military into power under the leadership of General Aguiji Ironsi of the Eastern region. This created suspicion that the coup was targeted at the people of the north resulting in a counter and revenge coup of July 1966. The coup was planned and executed by officers of northern region against officers and the people of Eastern region. The Head of States Gen. Ironsi and other officers of Igbo origin were murdered in cold blood. This resulted in anti Igbo pogrom in the North. This provided a basis for the secession of the Eastern region from Nigeria and naming the area Republic of Biafra. This plunged the country into a civil war that lasted up to January 1970 when Biafra surrendered to the Nigerian forces  {\ref 20} .\par
Renewed militia activities and ethnicity erupted in the late 1980's and early 1990's during the regime of former military president Gen. Ibrahim Babangida. The annulment of the June 12 1993 presidential election by the Military President, open up ethnic militias in an unprecedented scale. The presidential election was internationally acclaimed to be the freest and fairest election in the political history of Nigeria. It was won by late Chief M.K.O Abiola of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP), a Yoruba of the South West. President Babangida who annulled the election with no justifiable reason was of the Hausa Fulani of the North. This threw the two ethnic groups into untold acrimony. Tension in the country grew to the magnitude that President Babangida stepped aside in August 1993 leaving the country in the hands of Interim National Government (ING) headed by Ernest Shonekan. The ING maintained the same structure of Government put in place by Gen. Babangida. In a palace coup, Ernest Shonekan and his interim government was toppled on 17 th November 1993. General Sanni Abacha became the Head of states and refused to restore the electoral mandate of Chief Abiola, the winner of June 12 th presidential election. In an attempt to sit tight in office, he used state security apparatus to launched mayhem on the Yoruba. The Yoruba people responded and formed a militia group known as Oodua People's Congress (OPC) to promote the interest and the course of the Yoruba ethnic group in Nigeria. The OPC inspired the formation of militia groups in the country. They include the Bakassi Boys, Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) in the east among the Igbo ethnic group, Arewa people's Congress (APC) for the Hausa/Fulani, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Egbesu Boys of Africa (EBA) and others in the Niger Delta 21 . Today there is the dreaded Boko Haram insurgent group in the North East that have engaged in kidnapping, hostage taking and bombing of targeted areas in the North East. There is also, the Ombatse Ethnic militia among the Eggon people of Nasarawa State.\par
The O'odua People's Congress (OPC) was formed in reaction to the marginalization of the Yoruba ethnic group due to the annulment of June 12 th 1993 presidential election won by one of their own, late Chief Moshood Abiola. The OPC captured the resentment of the Yoruba ethnic nationality to their perceived marginalization. It formation had the endorsement of some prominent Yoruba indigenes as an organized reaction to the injustice as well as iniquity being visited on the Yoruba by the Nigerian federation  {\ref 22} . Frederick Fasheun posits that the aim of OPC was to protect and promote their socio-cultural aspect, and also fight for justice for all  {\ref 23} . Right from may 29 th 1999, the OPC has slowed down in militia activities and operate as a vigilante group. This is because President Olusegun Obasanjo who became the President of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007 was of the Yoruba ethnic group.\par
The Arewa People's Congress (APC) is a Hausa/Fulani ethnic militia formed to monitor and checkmate the activities of the OPC and defend the Northern interest. The movement for the actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra MASSOB led by Raph Uwazurike, was formed to revived the struggle for the realization of the secession bid of the people of the South East of Nigeria, the Igbo ethnic group. In a bid to launched itself into limelight and achieve its objectives, MASSOB have engaged in widespread confrontation with the Nigerian police several times. Concerning the 'MASSOB' confrontation with the Nigerian Police, Badmus states:\par
The attempt by this militia movement to launch the Biafran State in Aba, a township in South Eastern Nigeria resulted in a bloody clash between the Police and the MASSOB, leading to the arrest of the militia leaders. Frequent clashes between the group and law enforcement agencies always resulted in death of it members and destruction of properties in most Igbo urban areas  {\ref 24} . In spite of the frequent arrest and dead of its members, the militia group has continued with its separatist struggle undeterred.\par
The return of Nigeria to a democratic Government in 1999 has resulted in increase in militia groups in the Niger Delta. This arose due to the neglect of the people of the region by both the federal government and the multi-national oil companies. Even with the huge oil deposits in the region and billions of Dollars derived from oil sales, the region still remain underdeveloped with lack of basic amenities especially during the military regimes. The Niger Delta militia groups included Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Ijaw people's Movement (IPM), Ijaw youth Council (IYC), Itsekiri Nationality Patriot (INP), Movement for the Survival of Ogoni people (MOSOP), Niger Delta Vigilante (NDV), Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Niger Delta Freedom Fighters (NDFF), and the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA). These militia groups first engaged in peaceful protest over marginalization of the area, later, it degenerated into stronger measures which include insurgency, vandalization of oil pipelines, kidnapping and hostage taking of oil workers and government officials and illegal oil bunkering.  {\ref 25} III. 
\section[{Conclusion}]{Conclusion}\par
This article has analyze the event leading to the amalgamation or unification of Nigeria by the British colonialists. The unification of Nigeria was purely for the interest of the British colonialist without considering the future of the over two hundred and fifty ethnic groups in the area. Therefore the amalgamation was imposed on the diverse people of the area. Some of these ethnic groups were outstanding kingdoms and Empires with powerful rulers. The opinion of these ones should have been sought for before the final decision on the amalgamation. May be some of the ethnic groups would have rejected it or opt out of the negotiation. It is my opinion that if there was proper negotiation and agreement reached, a concrete rationale or philosophy would have been devised as the tripod stand for the take off of the new nation. That philosophy based on truth, integrity and loyalty would have held all the ethnic groups together. They would have look on to that guiding principle as the foundation of the nation. With no general philosophy of amalgamation, people became loyal to their ethnic groups even before independence in 1960. All the political parties during the period were formed based on ethnic considerations, examples included Northern People's Congress (NPC), Northern Element Progressive Union (NEPU) and others. National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroon (NCNC) was Igbo political party while the Action Group (AG) was Yoruba based political party. Political crisis during the first republic revolved around the supremacy of these ethnic based political parties leading to the first military coup and subsequently an attempt at secession by the Igbo, leading to a bloody civil war which took the lives of over one million people. In the early 1960's after independence, agitations and fears of the minority resulted in resentment and attempt at secession. This took place when Isaac Boro formed the Niger Delta volunteer force (NDVF), a militia group in the Niger Delta region. The group declared the Niger Delta republic and attacked police stations in the area. Although the attempt was truncated, it was a gateway to the emergence of ethnic militias in Nigeria. Ethnic militias emerged in an unprecedented scale in the early 1990's, first as a result of military rule and its attendant misrule, misappropriation of funds and neglect of the people of the Niger Delta. Second, the annulment of the June 12 1993 election was won by Chief MKO Abiola, a Yoruba while the military President, Ibrahim Babangida who annulled the election was Hausa/Fulani. This resulted in acrimony between the Yoruba and the Hausa/Fulani. This led to the formation of the O'odua people's Congress (OPC), a militia group of the Yoruba to actualized the mandate of June 12 th 1993 election. The formation of the OPC inspired the formation of other ethnic based militia groups all over the country. They include Arewa People's Congress (APC), Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Egbesu Boys of Africa (EBA), Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Boko Haram and many others. They have all engaged in insurgent activities in their respective areas leading to destruction of lives and properties.\par
It is hundred and five years (105) after the amalgamation of Nigeria. The country has come a long way on the journey to nationhood. Nigerians cannot still fold their arms and bemoan the ills of the amalgamation of 1914. Nigeria is a great nation, with over two hundred and fifty ethnic groups, massive land mass, over two hundred million people and huge deposits of natural resources and agricultural produce. If these assets are utilized properly without corruption, first, the standard of living of Nigerians will improve, second, proceeds from the natural resources can be used for industrialization. No nation can developed in an atmosphere of insecurity and insurgency caused by ethnic militias. If ethnic militias can lay down their arms, cooperate with the Government and contributes their quota, the nation will be secured for people to engage in pragmatic ventures. Also, the country will be secured for good governance and infrastructural development. It is when this is done that the amalgamation of all the diverse ethnic groups will turn out to be a blessing instead of a cause for the division in the country. \begin{figure}[htbp]
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