SUMMARY
The issue of political control of certain towns, districts, or states is volatile in the Nigerian society. The political system in Nigeria is young and is still not fully developed in terms of judiciary capacities. This has had a profound impact on issues of land ownership and subsequent taxations matters. The pattern is in some aspects related to the question of which group was the original inhabitants of the area, this has however been hard to verify, and in some cases the period under British rule drastically altered the power-relationships between different ethnicities. It is hence an infected matter without any clear solution. This situation has led to several recorded conflicts regarding taxation and access to local markets.
The other dyads that belong to the same Political/Land taxation cluster of non-state conflicts are; Izzi – Ukele, Efik – Ibibio, Ife – Modakeke, Ijaw – Urhobo, Ogoni – Okrika and Urhobo – Bini.
According to some analysts animosities between Hausa and Yoruba people have historical roots, dating back to the years following Nigerian independence. These animosities did however not take on a violent form until after the end of military rule in Nigeria in 1999.
In terms of Hausa and Yoruba animosities these are not based on religious differences, perhaps primarily since the Yoruba community is composed of both Muslims and Christians (the two faiths that dominate Nigeria). The picture of the conflict is instead painted as being one of the ethnic rivalries with the dividing lines being political and economic. Some analysts point to deep-rooted Yoruba grievances concerning being dominated by the North, were Hausa - Fulani are the majority during military rule and a subsequent loss of economic opportunities. Many Yoruba feel that they are still being sidelined for government offices (both nationally and locally) by the traditionally dominant north. In terms of land scarcity, there also exists a conflict between the traditions of the rural components of the two groups, with many Yoruba being farmers and many Hausa being cattle herders.
The Hausa versus Yoruba conflict must also be viewed in the broader spectrum of the ethnic and religious non-state conflicts that began to ravage Nigeria primarily from 1999 and onwards. The conflicts throughout Nigeria have ethnic, political, economic, and religious components, which have become inextricably linked over time, pitting various groups and alliances of groups against each other along different dividing lines.
In this atmosphere of latent conflict clashes between Hausa and Yoruba have often been sparked by rather minor incidents that are followed by a violent escalation. Clashes have also been known to spread from one locality to another through word of mouth, with reprisals being taken many hundred miles away from the original scene of fighting. Whilst most of the fighting has been carried out by relatively loosely organized bands of militants, the Yoruba militant organization OPC (Oodua Peoples Congress) is thought to also have been involved. Geographically, clashes have mostly been recorded in south-western Nigeria, where the Yoruba are numerous, and in Lagos and Kano.
The non-state conflict between Hausa and Yoruba is first included in UCDP data in 1998. In July of that year clashes in the slums of Lagos (capita of Nigeria) resulted in somewhere between 55 and 95 battle-related deaths.
