What can social surveys tell us about perceptions of ethnicity, religion and the state in Ghana and Nigeria? This working paper from the Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity (CRISE) analyses survey data on how people see their own identities and their perceptions of the domination of state institutions by particular ethnic or religious groups. The data show quite marked differences in comparative perceptions of identities and of perceptions of the state in both countries. These differences may help explain why Nigeria has been more prone to violent conflict than Ghana.
Objectively speaking, both Ghana and Nigeria are characterised by severe socioeconomic inequalities among their regions, ethnic groups and religions. Yet, since ultimately collective action depends on how social groups perceive the world in which they live and act, unravelling such perceptions must be a critical element in any investigation of group behaviour, including violent group mobilisation.
Both Ghana and Nigeria are ethnically diverse. The most marked socioeconomic inequalities in both Ghana and Nigeria relate to the sharp developmental divide between their northern and southern regions, and consequently, due to both countries’ ethno-religious demographies, between their northern and southern ethnic groups as well as between Muslims and Christians.
While caution must be exercised in making generalisations based on the limited sample and different selection strategies, the following findings emerge.
- More Nigerian than Ghanaian respondents perceived religious and ethno-regional/linguistic identities among their three most important identities. The reverse was the case with regard to occupation and nationality.
- Ghanaian respondents tended to value their national and occupational identities more than Nigerian respondents.
- More respondents in Nigeria than in Ghana believed that ethnicity affected access to public goods and that the government shows favouritism and discrimination.
- Interestingly, contrary to the modernisation perspective on ethnicity and national integration, attainment of higher levels of education did not diminish the tendency for people to think in ethnic terms. It is those with higher educational attainments who compete for the most lucrative jobs and business opportunities.
Ghana has avoided the serious inter-ethnic and religious violence of Nigeria, and the differences in the comparative perceptions of identities and perceptions of the state may help to explain this. The causality could also go the other way, however, from a more violent environment to greater perceptions of ethnic salience and discrimination. There are also other reasons for the prominence of ethnicity in Nigeria, including the adoption of quotas for jobs according to regional origin.
- Respondents’ perceptions of the impact of ethnic or religious background on educational opportunities are based on experiences within the region or locality in which they live, while the recorded educational differences were between regions.
- In Ghana, the politically dominant ethnic groups in objective terms were much less likely to perceive this political reality than the objectively under-represented ethnic group(s) were to perceive themselves as underrepresented.
- In Nigeria, the major ethnic groups in terms of objective political representation, tended to perceive the other group as dominant.
