The Quest for National Integration : A Reflection on Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa

The search for peaceful coexistence among states in Africa has been a turbulence issue among academia and policy makers. Much time has been devoted to the field of policy science towards finding a lasting solution to the problem of national integration in the continent of Africa. Studies have traced this issue from the perspective of colonisation and its impacts on the African people while little attention has been dedicated to the quest towards national integrations by Africans. However, this paper will interrogate these lapses and proffer solutions vis-à-vis Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa. The methodology used in gathering data in this investigation was secondary sources and the technique of content analysis was applied. The results showed that African leaders have devoted much time in sustaining their personal empires, self-aggrandizement against national interest, and these among others have led to crises of different types ranging from communal clashes to civil war, farmer and herdsmen clashes, and so on. The investigation has revealed that political or ethnic intolerance is an issue that has challenge the African people. This has been situated due to artificial creation of political entity against natural evolution of state in most African states. Hence, policies of national integration should be cognisance of the beliefs and history of developing nations.