Religion, ethnicity and citizenship: demands for territorial self-determination in southern Kaduna, Nigeria

Abstract

This article analyses the ?politics of scale? of how identity is linked to territory in the quest for self-determination by actors on the Christian side of the ethno-religious conflict in Kaduna State, Nigeria. Ethnic and political relations are framed with reference to scale, such as ?the local? and ?the regional?, in ways that support claims for territorial control on an ethnic and religious basis. The experience of lack of access to the state is seen to be grounded in community identities. Furthermore, the state relates to citizens through religious and neo-customary authorities as a way to localise authority. This is connected to an idea that neo-customary institutions represent ?the local?. It is argued in this article that these institutions are just as entangled in various constructions of scale as the state.