ECHOES OF DIVISION: TRANSGENERATIONAL TRAUMA AND ETHNIC MOBILIZATION IN NIGERIAN DEMOCRACY

Abstract

This paper examines the persistent role of ethnicity in
shaping Nigerias electoral behavior, with a focus on the
2023 presidential election. It contends that the
historical amalgamation of over 249 ethnically distinct
groups into a single political entity in 1914 laid the
groundwork for a deeply fragmented national
consciousness. Drawing upon theories of social
identity, unconscious affect, fascist authoritarianism,
and transgenerational transmission, the study explores
how ethnic affiliations—rather than civic
nationalism—continue to influence voter behaviour,
elite mobilization, and intergroup dynamics. Using
empirical evidence from electoral outcomes and
psychological interpretations of ethnic sentiment, it
demonstrates that ethnicity functions not merely as a
cultural identity but as an emotionally charged
mechanism that fuels political polarization and
undermines national integration. The paper argues that
this ethnicization of political life erodes the prospects
for democratic consolidation by reinforcing in-group
favoritism, exclusionary practices, and a zero-sum
struggle for power among Nigerias three dominant ethnic blocs. By integrating psychoanalytic and
sociopolitical frameworks, the study offers a
multidimensional understanding of how affective
memory, symbolic displacement, and ethnic pride
inform Nigerias electoral psychology and socio
political discourse.