Indigenous Knowledge, Human and Natural Endowment as Instruments of National Integration in a Multi-cultural society: A study of Chanchaga Local Government in Niger State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study highlighted the indispensability of indigenous knowledge, human and natural endowment to national integration in a multi-cultural society; a study of Chanchaga Local Government (CLG) in Niger State, Nigeria. The research questions raised for the study were; what constituted the indigenous knowledge in CLG? What are the human and national endowments available? To what extent could indigenous knowledge, human and natural endowment be used as instruments of national integration? The null hypothesis that guided the study is; there is no significant relationship among indigenous knowledge, human and natural endowment, and national integration in CLG and was tested at P < 0.05. survey design was utilized. The population of the study is 284,000 ethnic groups in CLG in Niger State. The sample size of the study was 500 ethnic groups. Quota and simple random techniques were used. The data obtained were analyzed, using frequency counts, mean, standard deviation and Analysis of variance (ANOVA). Combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was used to elicit responses from sampled population. Findings revealed that the elements that constituted indigenous knowledge in CLG were fairly high (weighted mean score= 2.84); the extent to which indigenous knowledge; human and natural endowment were used as instruments of national integration was highly adequate (weighted mean score= 3.54). The study concluded that, the CLG is bequeathed with both human and natural endowment which if positively used in conjunction with indigenous knowledge would yield the much needed development in the area. Based on the findings, it was recommended amongst others that the elements of indigenous knowledge such as: agriculture, education, health care, natural resource management, transmission of culture, food preparation etcetera should be developed to the maximum and harnessed for the growth and integration of CLG; the natural and human potentials that were found should be utilized fully for the overall benefits and development of CLG.