Xenophobia in Nigeria and Ghana

Abstract

Xenophobia—the fear or hatred of that which is perceived to be foreign or strange—is a phenomenon found in varying degrees in many parts of the world. This chapter examines manifestations of xenophobia in the ‘indigene-settler dichotomy' in some communities in Nigeria and in the expulsion of Nigerians from Ghana in the 1960s and Nigeria's expulsions of Ghanaians in the 1980s. Relying on secondary sources of data collection and content analyses, the chapter interrogates the implications of xenophobia for both inter-ethnic relations in Nigeria and the relations between Nigeria and Ghana.