Term: Second Term / Term 2
Week: Week 5
Class : Primary 4 / Basic 4 / Grade 4
Subject : Civic Education
Topic : Ethnicity ( Meaning and causes of ethnicity in Nigeria)
Duration: 40 minutes
Previous Knowledge : Learners have been taught meaning of nation, characteristics of a nation, and reasons for building a nation.
Reference Materials : Civic Education for Nigerian Primary Schools, Book 5.
Scheme of work for Primary and Online Resources
Instructional Materials : Charts showing different ethnic group.
Behavioural Objectives : By the end of the lesson, learners will be able to :
i. explain the meaning of ethnicity
ii. Identify the causes of ethnicity in Nigeria.
Content:
Meaning of Ethnicity
Ethnicity can be defined as the feelings and beliefs shared by a group of people who come from a common heritage. It can also be defined as an ethnic identity between people from the same ethnic group identify with each other on the basis of their culture, that is, language, food, dress, music, customs, etc.
Ethnicity means ethnic or group consciousness which influences social, economic and political decisions. It can also be seen as a situation where people fall back to their ethnic group in order to achieve an aim. In Nigeria, there are organisations that awaken ethnic consciousness. For example, we have:
i. The Odua People’s Congress (OPC), among the Yoruba people.
ii. Ohane-eze Ndi Igbo (ONI), among the Igbo people.
iii. Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), among the Hausa/ Fulani, etc.
Causes of Ethnicity in Nigeria
The concept of each group is to achieve their aim. This is not good for nation building. The following are the causes of ethnicity in Nigeria.
i.) Lack of access to resources: People resort to ethnicity when they feel cheated in the allocation of resources. When people cannot get access to state resources, they turn back and mobilise their ethnic group.
ii.) Poverty : Due to uneven distribution of resources i Nigeria, only few have access to them. Thus, this causes those who do not have such access to form groups to fight for them with hope that things will get better.
iii.) Illiteracy: The inability to read and write by Nigerians in any local languages causes ethnicity. This is because people who are literate can easily mobilise the illiterates for their own selfish interests.
iv.) Numerical inferiority: This is a situation whereby people feel that they are not as much in number as another ethnic group or groups. They therefore, form a group in order to get their own share of the national resources.
v.) Political strategy to win election: politicians fall back to their ethnic group to arouse ethnic consciousness when they see that they cannot win in competitive elections.
Presentation Steps:
Step I: The teacher revises the previous lesson with the learners by asking questions to arouse their interest.
Step II: He /She introduces the new topic by asking, ‘ what is ethnicity?’
Step III: The teacher explains the meaning of ethnicity and gives examples.
Step IV: He / She then identify the causes of ethnicity in Nigeria and explains.
Evaluation: The teacher reviews the lesson by asking the questions as follows:
1.) What is ethnicity? ____________________________________________________________________________________________
2.) State three causes of ethnicity:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3.) List three examples of that awaken ethnic consciousness in Nigeria.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Conclusion: At the end of the lesson, learners were able to answer the questions correctly while, the teacher makes some necessary corrections.
Assignment:
Match the following groups to their ethnicity:
i. The Yoruba – Ohane-eze Ndi Igbo
ii. The Hausa – Odua People’s Congress
iii. The Igbo – Arewa Consultative Forum
