Nigerian Tribalists Are Their Own Worst Enemy!

Over the past several years I involved myself with Nigerian Internet groups. From reading what Nigerians post it is clear to me that most Nigerians are tribalists. Each tribe has flippant stereotypes of other tribes.
Igbos, for example, see Hausas as backward and as cattle who follow their leaders and do what they are told to do, including killing people; they see Yorubas as cowards who do not have the courage to stand up and fight for what is true; they believe that if you trust a Yoruba person that when push comes to shove he would betray you, get some money and use it to have his owanbe parties and at those parties pretend to be a big man.

Yorubas see Igbos as uncivilized, intemperate and not worthy of political leadership in Nigeria; Yorubas see Hausas as some kind of dummies for them to manipulate and rule Nigeria, if not overtly but covertly from behind the scenes.

Hausas believe that they are born to rule Nigeria; they see Igbos as potential thieves who must be watched lest they steal; they see Yoruba’s as good bureaucrats but not to be trusted to rule Nigeria.

They also have stereotypes of the smaller tribes, such as see Ijaw as drunkards (the boy in Aso Rock is routinely dismissed as a drunkard); they see Edos as the suppliers of the black prostitutes we see in Europe.
On these Internet pages one read Nigerians projecting their stereotypes of each other in their writings. Each group tries to outdo others in the race to put down other groups.

However, you, sooner or later, notice that despite all their ignormous efforts to paint each other in the most negative light none of them succeeds in getting others to change their minds.

Igbos make valiant efforts to present themselves as special and superior people and put Yoruba’s down but Yoruba’s are not biting; they still see Igbos as savages.

Yoruba’s present themselves as civilized but Igbos still see them as cowards who stand for nothing and fight for nothing.

Hausas are seen as underdeveloped and generally not taken seriously by Southern Nigerians.



The salient point is that despite each ethnic group’s humongous efforts to present others in the worst possible light they are not persuading others to see themselves as they are seen by them.

Igbos are still seen as primitive; Yorubas are still seen as cowards and Hausas are still seen as underdeveloped. If none of these ethnic groups has succeeded in getting others to see themselves as they are seen why persist in trying to portray other ethnic groups negatively?

I know why. It is because of stupidity.

They say that insanity is doing the same thing, over and over, again, obtaining the same results while expecting different results.

You keep trying to present other ethnic groups in negative light and they keep not seeing themselves as bad so why keep doing so, don’t you see that there are no takers for your childish effort to stereotype others.
If you hope to persuade others to see themselves negatively and see you positively and allow themselves to be ruled by you and they still see you as savages and want to rule you, why keep on trying? Why not give up the infantile effort to present ethnic groups in a negative light? Why not accept that each group has good and bad people in it, for such is the human condition.

The fact of the matter is that the more you try to portray other ethnic groups negatively the more they hate you. The more they hate you the more they would not, in a democracy, vote for you.

For example, Igbos have so insulted other Nigerian ethnic groups that I doubt that they would vote for an Igbo to be the President of Nigeria. The only way an Igbo can rule Nigeria is through rigged elections, not by winning elections.

Since there are qualified Igbos who could rule Nigeria it seems to me that Igbos are best served if they did not insult other people so that other people would see them as friends and vote for them. People vote for their friends not for their enemies.

People vote for leaders they believe love and respect them, not those they believe insult them. Would you vote for a man who insults you right, left and center?

Since Nigerians want folks from different ethnic groups to vote for them and yet desecrate them are they stupid or what? Why do they persist in doing what does not work out well for them?
If you keep doing something and getting negative results why not stop doing it?
Since insulting other ethnic groups alienates them and makes them your enemies why not try loving and respecting all Nigerian ethnic groups for a change, and see if they would not reciprocate and love and respect you.

Love generates love, respect generates respect, and insults generate insults. What do you want, love and respect or hate? I want love from every person so I must love and respect every person.

What did Jesus Christ say? Do unto other persons as you want them to do to you. Clearly, healthy human beings want to be loved and respected by other human beings (there are masochists who ask other people to inflict pain on them and there are sadists who gladly do so to them).

If you want other persons to love and respect you then love and respect them; if you want other people to hate you then hate them.

Giving is receiving; what we give to other people is what they give to us in return and is what we receive.
To put it another way: what goes around comes around. We really sleep on beds we made; if we made beds of thorns we sleep on them and are hurt and bleed.

There are no victims in this world, for people experience what they made possible for them to experience, which is what they want to experience, good or bad. However, when it is bad they deny responsibility for it and give responsibility to other people and see themselves as innocent victims but when it is good they proudly take ownership of it.

Love you and all people and the rest is details.
I ask: wouldn't it be nice to visit Nigerian Internet forums for a day and not see folks insulting other folks? That would be a day, I tell you.
In western lands, we do not see white folks insulting each other. Despite our bravado and denials, the fact is that white folks are, at least, five hundred years ahead of black folks in scientific and technological culture, yet they do not come to the public square to call Africans uncivilized; they respect Africans.

Imagine what would have happened if Africans were where white folks are and white folks are where Africans are: we would see Africans calling them uncivilized! Africans have penchant for disrespecting folks but not loving them!

The few Nigerian ethnic groups who seem ahead of others, thanks to the gift of European Christian missionaries who endured mosquito bites and death from malaria to give them education (they are not where they are because of what their ancestors did) every day insult those who seem backwards.
It would really be nice for us to read what Nigerians write and not see them degrade other Nigerians. I keep my fingers crossed.

Regarding stereotypes, yes all human beings stereotype people from other groups; it is the brain’s shorthand way of dealing with complex reality. For example, we do what is called word association. If I said German, most people would say disciplined and hardworking; if I said English most people would say cunning; if I said white American, most people would say enterprising; if I said Italian, most people would say artistic and carefree of time; if I said Frenchman, most people would say the most sophisticated Europeans; if I said Russians, most people would say the most backward Europeans.

These are all stereotypes, generalizations made about a people due to certain traits perceived to be dominant in them but those traits do not exist in all of the people. There are lazy Germans and naïve French men etc.
The point is that the human mind is prone to seeing members of other groups in stereotypical manner. It is for us to be aware of this tendency found in all human beings and work against its existence in us. We must resist seeing people from out groups in a certain manner.

People are the same all over the world; there are lazy and there are hardworking folks and there are good and bad folks everywhere.

There are many Igbos who would give you their last penny, not all of them are money mad; there are amazingly loving Hausas, not all of them would pick up the machete and slaughter every southerner in sight; there are Yorubas who really, really care for the good of all Nigerians.

We are one people and must love and respect all our people regardless of their ethnic group.

PS: I am totally detribalized; I see me as a human being; I do not identify with any particular African tribe. I work for the good of all mankind. We are all part of one family, God’s family. Nobody is excluded from my love.