WESTERN RACIST IDEOLOGIES AND THE NIGERIAN PREDICAMENT Cover Image

WESTERN RACIST IDEOLOGIES AND THE NIGERIAN PREDICAMENT
WESTERN RACIST IDEOLOGIES AND THE NIGERIAN PREDICAMENT

Author(s): Maraizu Elechi
Subject(s): Philosophy
Published by: Instytut Filozofii i Socjologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk i Fundacja Filozofia na Rzecz Dialogu
Keywords: Racism; ethnocentrism; slave trade; colonialism; neo-colonialism; gynism

Summary/Abstract: Racism is responsible for discrimination against some citizens in Nigeria. It influences government’s policies and actions and militates against equity and equal opportunity for all. It has effaced indigenous values and ebbed the country into groaning predicaments of shattered destiny and derailed national development. Racism hinges on superciliousness and the assumed superiority of one tribe and religion over the others. These bring to the fore two forms of racism in Nigeria: institutional and interpersonal racisms. The Western selfish motive to dominate, marginalize, and sustain economic gains, political expansion, psycho-mental control, and socio-cultural devaluations escalated racism in Nigeria. Racist ideologies were entrenched through the selfish ventures of slave trade, colonialism and neo-colonialism, which enforced an unprecedented unjust harvest of impugnable systemic practices. Neo-colonial forces continue to promote ethnocentrism, cultural imperialism, and the dehumanization, exploitation, oppression, and suppression of Africans. Adopting a methodical approach of critical analysis, this article spotlights the negative effects of racism on Nigeria’s development. However, the bristling challenges of racist ideologies can be resolved within the epistemological compass of gynist deconstruction approach to human thought and action for a better universe of one human race.

  • Issue Year: 2021
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 87-104
  • Page Count: 18
  • Language: English