After forty years of independence. African countries are still battling with the problem of nation building. This thesis examines the possibility of the military playing a direct role in ethnic integration. The variables, which may determine the military's ability to affect national integration, are the political elite, the state and society. It is found that at lower levels of development, these variables do not support the military in the direction of national integration but they do so at higher levels of development. The issue that arises from this finding is whether African countries should wait for development to occur in the hope that it will bring national integration with it. On the other hand, lack of integration causes mistrust. tensions and conflicts, which weaken the thrust to development. African countries should therefore find methods of political organization that reduce such tensions and conflicts in order to facilitate development and consequently national integration. It is this need for stability that the culturally adaptive mode of political organization is recommended for African countries.

This paper examines how temporary migration to a different ethnic region affects national integration. It uses original survey data from individuals who were randomly exposed to different ethnic regions of Nigeria during their mandatory national service, the largest program of its kind in Africa. Comparing participants who served in a state where they are the ethnic majority to those who served in a state where they are not indicates two concurrent effects. First, interethnic exposure creates a stronger connection to the country as a whole: exposed participants have greater national pride and more positive attitudes about Nigeria, they are more knowledgeable about other parts of the country, and they are four times as likely to be living outside their ethnic region seven years later. Second, consistent with social identity theory, immersion in a different ethnic region highlights distinctions between groups and reinforces participants' connection to their ethnic group: exposed participants have more positive attitudes toward their own ethnic group, but not others, and are more likely to have all their closest friends from their ethnic group.

Professor Toyin Falola, a distinguished Africanist and a leading historian of Nigeria, has established an enduring academic legacy.

Religion and National Integration in Africa is a collection of five papers presented at the one-day seminar on religion and politics convened at Northwestern University in May 1988. They have been revised by their authors in this publication that includes transcripts of the invited commentaries.

​This book engages literature and opinions of politicians, opinion leaders, religious leaders, lawyers and researchers on national integration in Nigeria. In addition to rotational presidency, participants interviewed by the author also express views on other national integration measures in Nigeria. The monograph represents a critical work in the field, making a significant contribution to the so-far-lacking literature of fieldwork and scholarship on rotational presidency in Nigeria. The monograph will benefit scholars, researchers, peace and conflict experts, politicians, students and other stakeholders on how national integration can be cultivated and consolidated. Its focus on the Fourth Republic ensures its relevance to the management of political tussles inherent to rotating power in a developing and federal country such as Nigeria.