SELF-DETERMINATION AND SECESSION AMONG THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF SOUTH-EAST, NIGERIA

Self-Determination and Secession movements have become a recurrent clamour in recent years. States in Africa and beyond have all had their fair share of agitations and Nigeria is not exempted. What is responsible for this new trend? And how have such movements impacted on peace and stability of the parent states? In carrying out this investigation, the study focused on the South-East region of Nigeria as the region has been at the forefront of the clamour for secession in recent years under the umbrella of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). The study purposively selected Abia, Anambra, and the Imo States as study areas because there appears to be a high prevalence of Biafran agitations in these three states. The Human Needs Theory (HNT) by John Burton in 1990 was adopted in this study and an annexe-post-factor research design and descriptive survey design were utilized. A sample size of five hundred (500) respondents was drawn from the study population with the aid of Taro Yamane Formula. Questionnaire, Interviews and Observation were also used as an instrument for Data Collection. Tables, simple percentages and charts were used to present and analyse data emanating from the research questions. The hypotheses were tested with Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA).