The Challenges of Individualism and Nation-Building in Nigeria – An Analysis from Social History
The question of which comes first, – the society or the individual has been quixotic to scholars. Whether we view it from historical perspective, or from the perspective of studies in logic or even in governance, it has always been argumentative. We may liken the argument to the question of which comes first, the ‘hen or the egg’? As soon as we come into the world our society gets to work to mould and socialize us from a mere biological being into the culture of our society, thereby we become, social beings. Anthropologists (commonly) believe that primitive man is more completely moulded by his society than the civilized man. He is thus less individualistic than the civilized man. There is an element of truth in this assertion. This is because nonsophisticated traditional communities are more homogenous and they provide for more opportunities for a far smaller diversity of individual occupations and skills than the advanced modern societies (Carr E.A. 1985 : 33).
