Suggestible Consequences of Militarizing Self-Determination Movements in Nigeria: A Case Study of Yoruba Separatist Movement

Abstract

Nigeria, as one of the ethnically heterogeneous African states, has been historically confronted with ethnic conflicts and movements for self-determination, which are often followed by the state’s deployment of military armed forces to suppress them. This article uses a deductive thematic analysis of qualitative data obtained from a created Google form, a free online survey link with self-constructed questions to find out the prospect of the Nigerian government deploying military armed forces to suppress the ongoing Yoruba separatist movements as well as suggestible consequences of such militarization. The result unveils a higher prospect of the government militarizing the movement with the outbreak of mass violence as a suggestible outcome. With the theoretical review of the Remedial Theory of self-determination and the exploration of cases of self-determination in post-colonial African states, the article concludes that the possible eruption of mass violence leading to human rights violations and international interventions might result in the dissolution of Nigeria.