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AN OVERVIEW OF IDENTITY-BASED CONFLICTS IN NIGERIA 
Since the 1980s, identity conflicts have become a recurring decimal in Nigeria, especially 
in the country's Northern region (Abdu, 2002:2). This identity crisis is not peculiar to a particular 
state. It has caused similar problems in Modakeke/Ife, Sabongari/Kano, Sabo/Ibadan, 
Zango/Kataf, Urhobo/Itsekiri, Jukun/Tiv, Kuteb/Jukun-Chamba and Hausa/Shagamu (Danfulani, 
2006). Others include the Chamba vs Kuteb, the Ogoni vs Andom in Rivers State, the Sharia crisis 
in Kaduna State, the Tiv vs other ethnic groups in Azara of Nassarawa state in 2001, the Tarok vs 
Hausa/Fulani in Plateau State in 2004, the Geomai vs the Hausa/Fulani in Shandan local 
government of Plateau State in 2002, the Quan vs Pan in Quan'pan local government of Plateau 
State in 2006, the Hausa/Fulani and the Herom, Anaguta and Afizare in Jos North Local 
Government in 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008, and 2010 and the Boko Haram violence that has engulfed 
Borno, Y obe, Bauchi and Kano states since July 2009 (Kwaja, 2009). 
 
 
 

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31 
CHAPTER SEVEN
GENDER CONFLICT 
 
Gender refers to social construct referring to both male and female in a particular society. 
Masculinities 
A gendered classification of women and men is into femininity and masculinity. The 
images of the archetypal man promoted in the media and through socialization are those of 
ruthlessness, aggressiveness, adventure and strength. 'Masculinities', writes Connell (2005), 
concern the position of men in a gender order. In this order, those with the masculine attributes 
occupy a superior position. This is because to conquer, to overcome - if need be, through the use 
of violence - is seen as an" attribute of a 'real man'. 
Masculinity is not just a male stuff. According to Taylor and Voss it requires conformity 
to masculine norms by all those participating, whether male or female. The male or female body 
does not confer masculinity or femininity on an individual; rather it takes on meaning through 
social practices (Steans, 2006). Moreover, like gender, masculinity is a social construct, it is 
discursive, and is shaped by culture and epoch.
What this implies is that there is not a single masculinity but rather-masculinities. The 
idea of what makes
 
a real man 200 years ago is different from today's idea; and even today the 
idea varies across cultures. Thus, the normative conception of masculinity in Victorian England, 
for example, is not the same in the 21
st
century; and even in the 21
st
century the conception of 
masculinity in England is different from that in Nigeria. According to Connell (2005: 68), in 
speaking of masculinity at all, then, we are 'doing gender' in a culturally specific way. Different 
cultures, and different periods in history, construct gender differently (News Peace).