2025-08-12https://repository.covenantuniversity.edu.ng/handle/123456789/50088The Nigerian state had experienced a devastating civil war that accounted for the loss of over a million lives between 1967 and 70; yet the issues that led to that war still resonate and stare the nation in the face some decades after. Efforts by successive Nigerian leaders to create a national identity and foster unity among the diverse groups in the country have remained a mirage. The occasional frictions among the groups, which were largely repressed by military dictatorship, found expression following the return to democracy in 1999. The reason being that, it is unlikely that government will succeed in deliberately manipulating identities unless the new identity offers some reward, either material or psychological. The surge in ethnic conflicts, both of old and new forms, fundamentally question the approach of the government of nation building. The paper looks at these new conflicts and the fierce ethnonationalist assertiveness that challenges the legitimacy of the Nigerian state. We attempt to answer the question, whether this new ethno-nationalist assertive struggle is progressive or retardative to nation-building in the Nigerian context. There is no question that ethnicity is a potential that can be used or exploited for various causes, some positive, some negativeapplication/pdfH Social Sciences (General)Article