PLURALITY OF ETNHIC NATIONS

Indeed, tribe and tongue differ a great deal as witnessed by the considerable plurality of ethnic nations in the country. As used here, ethnic nations refer to groups of communities of people occupying a well-defined territory and who share and practise common ways of life. It has often been asserted that there are approximately two hundred and fifty ethnic nations within the country. Exact figures of ethnic nations are difficult to come by, if not impossible simply because differing definitions are often attached to the term ethnic nations (tribes). Many of the ethnic nations are closely related and could be regarded as sub-groups of the large ethnic nations which are shown on the map.
The ethnic nations of Nigeria vary a great deal one from the other, in the extent of the land area occupied by the inhabitants, the population, economies and a host of other expressions of ways of life. Prior to intense contact with Western culture, Nigerian ethnic nations, both small and large were really distinct from one another. Contact among peoples who inhabited different culture areas was limited at a time when transportation was little developed. There was the impregnable barrier created by language variations within relatively short distances. Many of the ethnic nations were then mutually excluded from one another; and they existed in re1ative isolation, which brought their distinctiveness into focus. In recent years, diffusion of cultural traits and ideas has taken place. Moreover many Nigerians have become more mobile. Consequently considerable admixture has taken place and the ethnic groups are no longer as sharply distinct as before.