“Nothing in Nigeria’s political history captures her problem of national integration more graphically than the chequered fortune of the word tribe in her vocabulary”- Chinua Achebe
This article is born out of concern, caused by the incurable obsession with tribal identity. On Thursday 27th November 2014, three Hausa men were arrested by the Special Anti-Crime Squad (SARS) in Sabo, Ibadan. Sabo in Yoruba land is a small geographical area reserved for Hausa migrants to foster their economic interest. This arrest caused uproar as the Hausas thought a great injustice had been done because “Hausa men” and not Nigerians were arrested. Some people, who witnessed this uproar, described their unity as an absolute good and then it dawned on me that tribalism is a national culture.
Nigerians are a cacophony of tribal singers, the only thing we have in common is the name of our country. Tribalism controls how we think, how we talk, it determines our political ideologies, who we support or oppose, what is right or wrong and it dominates our national discourses. It is supported by the educated and powerful and has crept into our constitution. Tribe has been accepted one time as a friend, rejected as an enemy at another and smuggled through the back door as an accomplice. The land mass known today as Nigeria existed as a number of independent and sometimes hostile national states with linguistic and cultural differences until 1900. Before Independence, the ugly embers of tribalism and sectionalism had been fanned into a deadly flame by our political leaders. According to Gen.Obasanjo “the only point on which Nigerian leaders spoke with one voice was the granting by the British of political independence- and even then they didn’t agree on the timing”.
At Independence, Nigeria’s politics was clearly divided along ethnic lines, this put a strain on Nigeria’s unity. Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, crafted the Northernization policy to ensure all important positions in the Northern Nigerian Public Service were held by Northerners. Sir Ahamdu Bello explained to a British reporter that the Igbos wanted to dominate and monopolize all the government jobs. In his words “it is a Northerner first; when we can’t get a Northerner, we take an expatriate on contract, and if we can’t, then we can employ another Nigerian but on contract too”. Sir Ahmadu Bello was aware that this might damage the idea of all people in all regions being fair citizens of one country, but it was a Nigeria in which an Easterner could not be the premier of the West and a Northerner could not become the Mayor of Enugu.
The declaration of secession was inevitable and by 6th July 1967, “to keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done” became a popular slogan. Tribalism became the enemy that needed to be expunged. This effort to banish tribe was a futile one, for there is plenty work for tribe to do. Tribalism has been an effective tool for the elites struggling to gain power. A Nigerian who is contesting for power would say “my tribe has been marginalized”. After he gets the appointment, criticisms of him is dismissed as envy from the other tribes and finally any attempt to bring him into justice is seen as the selective persecution of his tribe. Tribalism has encouraged mediocrity. Let us take a hypothetical case where A and B apply for an important position in government. A has the right qualification of competence and character but is of the “wrong tribe” and B, less qualified and incompetent but is of the “right tribe” and so gets the job. B then abuses the office and enriches himself; the greatest sufferer is the nation itself. Politicians have mastered the art of using tribalism for their personal ends and Nigerians have been very gullible to buy into such arguments because we are first, Yorubas, Igbos or Hausas before we are Nigerians. In a way, we are all Tribal junkies!
With love,
Poison Ivy
