OUR ENEMY CALLED THEM
Those who have gone house hunting in Nigeria would understand this
scenario – Have you ever gone house hunting, and you see things like “No Pets”,
“No Bachelor/Spinster”, “No Huasa/No Igbo/No Yoruba”? Does seeing “No certain
ethnicity” make you feel somehow? Cos you’re damn right if you guess it makes
me feel somehow.
You know, I’m sometimes like "What the heck is this?!" I can’t even get total
freedom to make certain choices in my own country again?
Now, I’ve heard cases of university admissions being given first to
undeserving natives of a region, before merited candidates from other regions
are considered. I’ve heard where the owner of a company decides to employ a less
qualified applicant from the same ethnic group, and drop a more qualified
candidate from a different ethnicity.
I’ve had the opportunity to listen to one or two well-educated older
citizens, who strongly believe that we were not supposed to be a country. I’ve
heard them discuss how we would be better off if we took the bold step as a country
and just went our separate ways. To this set of experienced intelligentsia,
Nigeria is simply too diverse to be unified.
According to them, a country that is home to two hundred and fifty different
ethnic groups, joined together by "Oga Lugard" who was probably hyped by the
uncanny intelligence of his babe – Flora Shaw, just can’t work. You know, she
probably just downed a cup of coffee, looked over the whole region, and Boom!
Eureka! – “The area shall be called Nigeria!” she exclaimed.
But have we taken a look at other countries all around the world and
realize that there are almost no country without diversity in ethnicities? Have
we taken a thorough look at other countries and seen that we are not the
country with the highest number of diverse ethnic groups who refer to one
region as Home? Do we know that breaking another country out of this present
one wouldn’t solve any problem?
See, I believe the problem we have isn’t the fact that we were forced
into coming together as one nation (probably against our will). I believe the
problem we have is simply the refusal to rise above our ethnic differences and
work together as one unit; one country. The refusal to see that house hunter,
that job seeker, that neighbour as first of all, a fellow human, then a fellow
Nigerian.
To all those vehemently preaching division, fighting tooth and nail to
break out, here is my simple logic why it’s a silly idea.
If for instance we split into our ethnic groups and we went our separate
ways, soon the “Them Mentality” which we have now would set in again. Then the Yoruba
stops seeing a fellow Yoruba and starts segregating “Ijesha” from “Ekiti”, “Egun”
from “Ijebu”. The Igbo starts segregating the “Ohuhu” from “Nsukka”, “Middle
Belt” from “Mbaise”. The Hausa start segregating the “Arewa” from “Zazzangaci”,
“Daura” from “Bausanchi”… and so on. Trust me, that’s what would happen.
So next time, when you want to support those crying for a split or those
who see their tribes as “We” and others as “Them” understand that the problem is
simply with our mentality as a country, and it’s time we stop that sh!t and see
ourselves for who we truly are – fellow humans, and fellow patriotic Nigerians.
Pause and think.
Mature Minds Talk.
0 comments: