UN report says Nigeria is deeply divided

The United Nations (UN) has released a report on Nigeria’s Common Country Analysis (CCA) – The UN described Nigeria as deeply divided in the report –.

The report was read during a consultative meeting on the formulation of the UN Development Assistance Framework IV (UNDAF IV)

The UN has described Nigeria as a “divided society on the basis of the plurality of ethnic, religious and regional identities that had tended to define the country’s political existence.”

It said, ‘’Separatist groups like the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra have always led protests calling for the break-up of Nigeria Separatist groups like the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra have always led protests calling for the break-up of Nigeria.

This was made known to the public during a consultative meeting on the formulation of the UN Development Assistance Framework IV (UNDAF IV) for the South-East geo-political zone in Awka.

The report noted that for decades, different segments of Nigeria’s population had, at different times, expressed feelings of marginalisation, of being short-changed, dominated, oppressed, threatened, or even targeted for elimination.

The report also painted a gloomy picture for the country as most of the development and social indices in Nigeria recorded much below acceptable standards.

It noted that the major challenges facing Nigeria were constraints of economic growth and social development and lack of good governance.

The report also revealed widespread cases of violence against women and girls, including physical and sexual assault, even as it noted that 42 per cent of Nigerian youths were unemployed. “Nigeria faces humanitarian and emergency crises of considerable proportions fueled by a combination of factors including climate change, inter-communal conflicts and violence, insurgency, recurring floods, heavy handed tactics of security forces in combating crime and insurgency.

“The overall consequence is the situation of systematic and chronic internal displacement that has given rise to different humanitarian crises that include the most egregious and dehumanising human rights abuses,” the report stated.

The report however noted that transforming and diversifying Nigeria’s development paths needed a radical and new approach. It recommended investing in people and in a strong more dynamic and inclusive productive informal sector.

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