Trends in historical evolution indicate that the nation-state of Nigeria came into existence since 1914. Her territorial boundaries were fixed with prejudicial colonial interests without considering the interests and aspirations of the traditional ethnic groups involved. Since then, the nation has been governed and exploited by the feudal-bourgeosie, privileged to inherit the nation from the colonial masters. Worst still, the various machineries at different periods and republics charged with the responsibility of ruling the nation has proved anti-social, adopting in their distribution of values, formulas detrimental to the general welfare of the citizenry. Thus, we are left with a fragile nation, drifting apart and her people resorting to communal and individual self-definition. The persistent call for national conference among the various ethnic groups to resolve the national question gives credence to the deduction that the nation was founded upon vested colonial interest, without consulting the component ethnic groups. The issue of national integration has become a re-assessment of the pre-requisite for Federalism towards the continued existence of the sovereign nation state in Nigeria. Thus, the focus of this paper is how to adopt a paradigm shift from the previous abortive methods that have been employed so far, to the pragmatic resolve of using language and culture in attaining the long elusive national integration in Nigeria.
Keywords: Culture, Diversity, Integration, Language, Nigeria
