Arresting Separatists Agitations for Nationhood through Legal and Communication Paradigms: The New Perspectives

The predatory character of post-colonial states and African’s way of providing plausible solutions to national questions has remained a nightmare. This is evident on the manner regions or better still, ethnic groups that found themselves lost in the scheme of things. Thus, calling for self-belonging and inclusion by groups and cleavages is a direct link to restructuring, accommodating the excluded minority and forging ahead for peace and stability. In Nigeria, the scenario is very crystal clear on how successive political regimes had failed to come up with lasting solutions to national questions. It is in the light of this that this paper examines the legal and communication paradigms of arresting separatists’ agitations in Nigeria. Two objectives guided this paper and based on these objectives, two research questions were formulated to serve as a guide for this study. This paper was anchored on the framing theory and the frustration aggression theory. Data were collated using the secondary method of data collection. Findings show that there are international laws and charters that support self-determination and the media also have a huge role to play. This study recommends that instead of using force, the Nigerian government should engage in diplomatic dialogue and other means. The administration should stop making threats to “crush” the unrest in the near future and release unconditionally the hundreds of protesters who are currently detained.

Keywords: Separatists, Secession, IPOB, Self-Determination, Biafra.