Systemic Oppression and Rights of the Minorities: Discourse of the Reflections on Nigerian Society

Nigerian society is bedevilled by myriads of problems. Some of these problems are political, economic, and cultural and leadership failures in nature, while others have to do with the various relationships in the society and other societal processes, and the by-products of such dynamism of the modern society. This paper focuses on the problems and impact of systemic and institutional oppression in Nigerian society. The paper x-rays the nature, structure, dimension and spread of the various forms of oppressive forces and manifestations in Nigeria. The paper examines the overt and covert practices, policies and other sociocultural heritage of Nigerian people that enhances the domination and exploitations of some members of the Nigerian society by other privileged groups. These overt and covert practices are maximised by the three major ethnic nationalities and religious bigots amongst others who dominates other groups in all facets of human endeavours. The paper concludes by analysing the impact of systemic oppression on the people especially oppressed groups like the women, the aged, physically impaired and minorities and the implication of this unfortunate but avoidable social phenomenon on social policy development and Social Work practice in Nigeria. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n4p516