TRIBALISM KILLS. By Shuaib Awaisu Wana People who think with their epidermis or their genitalia or their clan are the problem to begin with. One does not banish this spectre by invoking it. If I would not vote against someone on the grounds of race or gender alone, then by the exact same token I would not cast a vote in his or her favour for the identical reason. Yet see how this obvious question makes fairly intelligent people say the most alarmingly stupid things. Christopher Hitchens As the political stormy weather of 2015 General Elections gathers momentum, the issue of where a candidate held from not what he or she has in stock for the people has saturated the polity. Tribalism is a feeling of solidarity towards ones tribesman or tribeswoman which most often than not led to irrational discrimination against anyone from another tribe in obvious violation of principle of competence, justice, equity and fairness. A tribalist has the irrational notion that the human quality of his or her tribe is superior to that of another tribe. As such tend to discriminate when choosing friends, employees, leaders and even life partners amongst others. Though there are certain security, economic and social merits for people of the same tribe at the communal level, but the dangers tribalism posses at the national level can not be overstretched. Nigerian history is replete with many crises that can be trace to the menace of tribalism. To understand why such a diverse group of people are part of one country, we have to look at the history. Nigeria as we know it, is relatively new and it was the British who drew the borders of the country during their colonial rule in the early 20th century. Tribalism in contemporary Nigeria can be trace to the hurriedly creation of the country by the British imperialists in 1914 for administrative convenience. Without regard to the feelings of sentiment and the heterogeneous nature of the people, the imperialists brought the country into a single entity. This was done without any prior plan to give the a common political orientation to the members of the various diverse people in order to unite them. To worsen the situation, the imperialists maintained different administrative policies for the South and Northern parts of the amalgamated entity. Since then Nigeria inter-ethnic relations have been turbulent to say the least. In the pre-independence and post-independence, political parties were formed along ethnic and tribal lines which led to clashes, lost of lives and properties - coup and counter coup which unfortunately culminated into a civil war whose effect is better imagine that experienced according to the veterans and those that were lucky to made it out alive. That war claimed the maternal grandfather of yours truly. It was also power struggles between ethnic groups that caused violence and frustration among the people as a result of Babangidas regimes annulment of the June 12, 1993 National Election which was widely believed to have been won by Chief M.K.O Abiola. This unfortunate development augmented the inter-ethnic tension that has already gripped the socio-political atmosphere of the country and fermented crises that led to lost of precious lives and valuable properties. Today, stereotypes about different tribes persist and are handed down through generations. The case of Jos and Kaduna is still fresh in our memories. And as we speak there is a tribalistic time bomb waiting to explode in Nasarawa. While the three Major Tribes are seen scrambling for political power with little or no regard for competence or credibility at the centre because of the common egocentric belief that all other privileges are mere undertone of the Oga At The Top, the Minor Tribes are at the State levels slogging it out among one another for what they often term socio-economic injustice among themselves. Even in my State Niger, tribalism has impacted negatively in the politics of the State which has exacerbates suspicion among the tribes in the State, particularly Niger East Senatorial District dominated by Gbagyi, Kadara, kamuku, Hausa, Koro, Bassa etc etc. Tribalism is wearing its ugly face again as we match towards the 2015 General Election. The case in point is the senatorial ambition of the Chief Servant Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu CON Talban Minna. There seems to be a raging debate between the rational elites. On one side are those that are of the view that the CS is a leading promoter of development in the Zone, pointing his footprints in Minna Emirate Education Foundation (MEEFO) and most recently his contribution to the Zone as the NO1 citizen of the State, one the other side are those that believe his voyage thus far does not worth him being rewarded with a senatorial seat. This is the beauty of democracy, freedom of expression! But the irrational ones are of the view that the seat is the birth right of the Gbagyis, hence, the minor tribes should and must not smell it no matter how competent or credible any candidate from them may be. This savage and archaic view is not only held by the ignorants, but unfortunately this bigotry is championed by the educated elites who have been exposed to the repercussions of tribalism. The seat does not belong to a particular tribe—it belongs to all tribes there of; those who think so should think coherently. The truth is, in addition to breeding, insecurity, hate, corruption and mismanagement, tribalism kills and destroys. To eradicate Tribalism, education is a tool and all traces of tribal colonialism must be abolish. There must also be equal and fair distribution of the common wealth. Tribal vilification must be outlawed. A close glance at Euro-American nation penal code, one would see that those issues that are considered to be the most threatening to the stability of the society (for example racism) are the areas where the law is most severe and uncompromising. Similarly, in our own case here in Nigeria, tribalism is the most dangerous because of the discontent and potentially devastating conflict among us. Therefore, tribalism should be an area in which the law is most severe and uncompromising if really we want to promote inter-tribal tolerance and cohabitation. I believe no tribe exist as an island. I would say that tribalism should be treated as gravely as racism. But of course that would be naive to expect that just yet, in a country like Nigeria. What we can do, however, is to stop spreading lies and venom about fellow countrymen based on their ethnicity. We need to remember that we are all human, and all have the same wants and needs. Lets preach competence and credibility because what binds us together is greater than what drag us apart. Remember, what will be will be! And as the stylistic Kimba Kakanda is wont to say, May God save us from us! Shuaib Awaisu, a public affairs analyst, is the COORDINATOR of Consolidated Youths for Participatory Democracy (CYPD). He wrote from Minna. Email: Mailshuaib_24@yahoo
Posted on: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 04:09:41 +0000
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