In America, we are dealing with racial tensions. It’s never over really, but sometimes, it dies down a little bit, and temporarily, people sleep with both eyes closed. And then cases like Walter Scott unfortunately happen, and we have to wonder yet again why another Black man has been murdered, and will we be next?
In Nigeria, we deal with tribal tensions and discord. I might be wrong, but I tend to think that our tribal discord is worse than the racial discord in America because in America, certain forms of blatant racism are unacceptable – at least on paper anyway – and in America the major tension is between the Black and White people, and we can justify that well, their skin colors are different and they just don’t understand each other. But what about Nigeria? We’re all Black and there is division everywhere possible. Between tribes, between States, between local governments, between towns, between villages, and between dialects, of course.
People say that we are one Nigeria, but you’d have to be living under a rock in Mars to not know that there is nothing one about Nigeria. Nigeria is a young country, so I’m hopeful that some day, there will be much less tensions. I am not naive to think that it will be over and we will all live happily ever after, but at the very least, there will be more acceptance – hopefully.
But there are bigots and hypocrites and tribalists who hide behind the curtain of “One Nigeria” to incite hatred and tension. They say “We are One Nigeria” from one corner of their mouth, and from the other corner, they say the opposite and their actions are not indicative of one Nigeria. People like the Oba of Lagos and Kunle Afolayan, the movie producer/director who said that movie piracy is only done by Igbo people, they don’t help anyone. When you make a hateful and derogatory statement in which you judge an entire people, there is nothing peaceful about it. It’s just dumb and stupid and ignorant and unfortunate.
It’s never been as obvious to me as now that I am married to a person of a different tribe and Nigeria just had an election. I was not a GEJ supporter, but I still do not understand why only the Igbos are being dragged through the mud for voting for an alleged Igbo man. And GEJ is not even Igbo. The Hausas voted for Buhari, no? Why aren’t they being dragged through the mud? And if there was a Yoruba man on the ballot, would the Yorubas not have voted for him instead? I think it’s unfortunate that we still vote for people based on tribe and religion, but if we must criticize people for doing so, then we have to be equal opportunity criticizers.
In the case of the Oba of Lagos, when I saw the video, I actually wasn’t worried about him. I thought him to be an old, senile man whose best days are behind him, but I wondered about the Igbo buffoons who stood there and listened and clapped. What is wrong with you people? On Kunle Afolayan, all he did was offer a piss poor apology, which I am convinced was not to anyone but himself. The good news is that we know how he truly feels now. Shame.
How can anyone say that we are one Nigeria when at any time, if any one group is promised victory and no repercussion, they would gladly annihilate the other tribes? Is that One Nigeria?
We are not one Nigeria and it has nothing to do with different tribes or different cultures. We have people from the same region, the same tribe fighting and killing themselves all in the name of politics.
The divide cuts across all tribes within the nation
We definitely are not one Nigeria. We are too polarized and we inadvertently sell ideas that border on discrimination to our children. Frankly, I do not see this coming to an end in the nearest future…so sad. The Igbo man is usually at the receiving end. What is it about the Igbo that everyone wants to annihilate us, loves to hate us.
There’s a whole lot to be said regarding the tribal tensions. Truth is unlike Anerica where the difference is just in the color of skin, Nigerians are very different. Two tribes differ in every single thing. They can be as diverse as two countries. However, there’s beauty in diversity and we should find a way to work around this. Not by pretending that we are and the same, when we really aren’t, but by looking past those differences and committing to loving and tolerating each other regardless.
@Ife, we’re not even half as diverse as america. the diversity in america is beyond skin colour, there’s race, ethnicity, religion etc. Judaism for example is huge there, we only have to battle with 2. america is like the whole world in 1 country. we’re diverse alright, just not that diverse. there’s a lot of similarities in many nigerian cultures. and the truth is the tribal tensions are not due to the diversities, it’s more of every tribe wanting to be superior. we need to realise that with all our uniqueness & peculiarities, there’s no special tribe/race/nation. the same vices & values can be found in people anywhere.
I agree with you though, that there’s beauty in diversity and we should embrace it.
I don’t know if I agree with the statement that we are not half as diverse as America. Actually, I don’t. Nigeria is very diverse traditionally, and even as a result of immigration, ethnicity is the same as tribe. I even hate the word, tribe, sef. There are 3 main ethnicities: Yoruba, Hause and Igbo, but many minor ethnicities. Nigeria has over 500 ethnic groups, counting major, minor, sub-ethnic groupings. What about languages spoken indigenously? What of the foreigners from neigbouring African countries, or from the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and so on. In places like Kano, there are established foreign communites, who have been there for 3 generations or more. We are diverse.
you’re so right, we’re not one. during this election is that both parties managed to stir up so much ethnic division, that wouldn’t die off in a hurry. nigerians are supposed to be very intelligent people, yet I watched with shock as nigerians spewed out so much hate at one another for a group of politicians who really don’t care about the populace. the truth is we’re all in the same shit, pdp/apc supporters. if the government works, it works for us all. if it sucks, it sucks for us all. yet, people are acting like it was a competition. the competition was ONLY among the politicians (and people close enough to benefit), the rest of us were at best cheerleaders. 2 weeks after presidential elections, and people are still taunting SE/SS indigenes as losers. It’s ridiculous, considering one person had to win. Yorubas are accusing igbos of voting by ethnicity, yet hausas did just the same and that’s alright. People are complaining about igbos wanting to take over lagos, yet we expect americans to be cool with nigerian immigrants. It’s pretentious. igbos hate hausas/yorubas, hausas hate igbos/yorubas, yorubas hate igbos and we’re all from the same country. Yet, we get angry when a white person discriminates against a black. who are we deceiving?
No, we’re not one nigeria and all my illusions about that have been shattered by this election. there has been a lot of underlying hatred that was brought to the fore, it would be good to deal with it once and for all. but all tribes are holding on tightly to their grudges, so we might as well split if we are not willing to tolerate each other. we better do something before this verbal hatred/violence becomes physical.
I see where you’re coming from, but can we as Nigerians not just touch the surface of the issue. Nigerian government and Nigerians act as if by not addressing history, we can smooth over the potholes in the road to progress. But that’s dangerous. How many Nigerian students know of the Civil War and its consequences?
Or lets address the issue of major ethnicities (Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo) leaving out minorities in decision making, leadership and the likes? Can we talk about our own ignorance of ourselves? One does not need to be versed in history, but simple knowledge of history does not hurt. If we don’t know where we came from, how do we know where we are going to?
i couldn’t understand the igbo people who ‘accepted’ the threat of the Oba and even went on to describe such a threat as a ‘joke’, i was and still am baffled. I cannot imagine another tribe being so forgiving.
As long as there is life there is hope, so lets hope for a day when tribe will not be an issue.
Let us be one because we can be one united and happy nation.
starting with you and me.
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Look! Do not blame the Igbo chiefs who stood there and clapped for the following reasons:
When you become a chief and have sworn oaths with a traditional ruler, you dare not oppose his speech in his presence because it is never done in Yoruba land.
The chiefs were intimidated. Would you risk your house been later marked with sign X for demolition as per power show. As Igbo people say, he who runs away can fight another day. Biko! Only chiefs would understand better!!!