Democratisation, Sub-Ethnic Identities and Intra-Group Relations Among The Okun of Kogi State, Nigeria

The study of identity politics and transformation in Nigeria has continued to gain increasing prominence particularly since the early 1990's when the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) began to have a profound impact on its form and character.l Efforts have been made to capture the effects of this on inter-group relations and conflicts. In these approaches, much emphasis has been placed on the ethnic and religious dimensions of identity politics and particularly the minority question.3 Despite these advances, however, there seems to be a glaring neglect of an equally significant component of identity politics in Nigeria. This relates to the question of sub-ethnic minorities, that is, minorities within a minority.