Does exposure to other ethnic regions promote national integration?
Read "Does Exposure to Other Ethnic Regions Promote National Integration? Evidence from Nigeria" by Oyebola Okunogbe here.
How can policymakers promote national integration? In this VoxDevTalks episode, Tim Phillips speaks to Oyebola Okunogbe about her research examining the effects of the Nigerian government's National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
Understanding the challenge of national integration
Globally, people often gravitate toward those who share similar characteristics or backgrounds. This tendency arises from factors such as the ease of interpreting social cues and a sense of safety, especially in contexts marked by intergroup conflict. In Nigeria, the legacy of the civil war exacerbated ethnic divisions, as ethnic identity became intertwined with political processes, leaving lasting scars
Promoting integration through personal experiences
One effective way to counter such divides is by creating opportunities for direct interaction between people from different ethnic groups or regions. Personal experiences gained through these interactions provide individuals with a more nuanced and humanised perspective, reducing reliance on stereotypes or divisive narratives propagated by leaders.
The National Youth Service Corps as a model for integration
Nigeria's National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is a notable example of such an initiative. It is the largest programme of its kind in Africa and mandates that all university graduates participate in a year of national service. During this time, participants are assigned to regions of the country generally which are different from their own, fostering exposure to other ethnicities. One of the programme's objective is to strengthen national unity by encouraging young people to engage with communities outside of their own ethnicity.
How did exposure to other ethnicities change affect national integration?
Oyebola Okunogbe uses national survey data to isolate the effects of temporary exposure to a different ethnicity region. She finds that participants randomly assigned to serve in a state with a different ethnic majority are five times more likely to live all across the country compared to those who served in their ethnic region. Those who were exposed to a different ethnic region were also more likely to know more about their country and to have greater national pride.
Her research demonstrates that ethnic pride and national pride can coexist, offering valuable insights for policymakers globally.