Cultural Renaissance and the Quest for Peace and Development in Nigeria

The phenomenon of elusive peace and its implications for socioeconomic development and political stability have remained a subject of scholarly interest in Nigeria’s post-colonial discourse. There have been diverging and converging opinions over the variables responsible for this, and the prospects for recovery. This paper seeks to contribute to the scholarly process of filling the subsisting gap in the extant body of literature by re-interrogating the role of culture in Nigeria’s quest for sustainable peace and development. Employing qualitative method of data collection, and adopting thematic approach for content analysis, findings reveal that peace and development have remained elusive in the country, despite available human and material resource endowments, because the valued components of its cultural heritage have not been systematically articulated and integrated into the mainstream of political ideology and socioeconomic philosophy. This paper argues that launching a renaissance of Nigeria’s cultural heritage is indispensable to maximizing its socioeconomic and political potential for peace and development within the context of its heterogeneous composition. Drawing lessons from plural societies elsewhere, the paper argues that the prospects for sustainable peace and development could remain a mirage at the expense of the valuable insights inherent in its cultural diversity. Therefore, the paper recommends a synergy between indigenous cultural values and external influences as the basis of policy framework for sustainable peace and development in Nigeria in the 21st century