Deliver Nigerians from ethnic supremacy!

One disturbing issue that has refused to disappear in Nigeria is ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism is the attitude or belief that one’s group, ethnicity, or nationality is superior to others. And because of this presumption, people who are steeped in ethnocentrism use their own culture or ethnicity as the standard of measurement to judge other cultures and groups. They will go to any length to defend their ethnic group and its members, no matter what they do.

Therefore, whenever an issue arises—be it between the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, or between the Lagos State Speaker, Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, and former Speaker, Hon. Mojisola Meranda—they quickly reduce it to an ethnic contest, even when such does not exist. The perennial ethnic chest-thumping and supremacy contest in Nigeria is difficult to understand. It rears its head always, even without provocation.

Naturally, all the ethnic groups excel in certain areas of life. Yes, some may appear to have achieved more milestones than others, but how does that warrant any chest-thumping? My people say: If a person is super big, it is only within the person’s house.

Now, imagine you had N1bn, and your neighbour (Joyce) had N1m. You ran your life with your N1bn, and she ran her life with her N1m. She did not complain to you; she did not beg you for money. You did not feed her. You used your wealth to take care of yourself and your family. Yet you regularly taunted her that you were richer than she was; you beat your chest about all you had and all the awards that had been conferred on you.

Why should an Igbo tell the Yoruba or the Hausa that the Igbo are better than everybody? Why should the Yoruba tell others that they are better than everybody? Why should the Hausa or Fulani tell others that they are better than everybody?

You are the best in money, education, entrepreneurship, technology, culture, religion, diplomacy, political sagacity, courage, integrity, population, land mass, natural resources, beauty, and whatnot. Congratulations. But how does your achievement or endowment concern other people? Do they breathe through your nose or see through your eyes? Why not allow them to acknowledge by themselves, if they choose to, that you are better at this or that?

It is unwise and petty to tell people that you or your people are better. It points to low self-esteem, insecurity, and an inferiority complex. You may get your momentary kick from it, but in reality, you achieve nothing except making a fool of yourself.

You can tell others about your people. You can explain why your people do certain things. You can enlighten them on what makes your people unique. That is subtle marketing. Some cities and countries spend a lot of money on advertising. Many people want to learn things about others. It helps people to know about places they have not visited. It even helps people to visit certain places.

Ridiculing a person or people achieves nothing except creating anger, hatred and quarrels. Every people have something that makes them unique that can be celebrated and even emulated.

Then comes the question: Should people’s bad sides never be raised? Should the truth about a people be hidden because it is deemed offensive? No. But ask yourself: Why is it that any time you want to tell your so-called truth about other people, it is always a negative truth that pours forth from your mouth or pen? Why is your brand of truth about other people never pointing out their good sides? Can you vow that you have never seen or heard anything good about those people? It simply shows that, in reality, you are not concerned about the truth; you merely enjoy denigrating and stereotyping others.

One thing about praise and ridicule is that the people who have been praised may not ask you to prove it, but the people who have been ridiculed will definitely ask you to prove it. And once it is a group, it is usually extremely difficult to prove. How do you prove that 10 million people, for example, are rapists, murderers, robbers, kidnappers or dupers? The argument that many members of that ethnic group have been caught in such a crime does not hold water. For the argument to stand, all the 10 million members of that ethnic group must have been caught and found guilty by a court of law. That is impossible.

It is the same thing with court cases. People do not institute legal action against those who have praised them, even when the praise is undeserved. But when people are maligned through spoken words (slander) or written words (libel), they seek redress in court. The courts are not existing to settle cases of praise, good neighbourliness, peace and harmony. Those are no cases. Cases arise when people feel that their rights have been breached.

That is why using the argument that a spade should be called a spade to engage in stereotyping or ethnic supremacy is like hiding behind a finger. Your truth is your truth. It is not a fact. Facts can easily be proved, but truths are usually relative according to perspectives. If you were to swap places with those you malign, that so-called truth of yours would change. That is proof that what you have is no truth but a problem of how your mind is wired about others. The moment you change your mindset about others and choose to see the best in others, you have emancipated yourself from bigotry, ethnocentrism, tribalism and racism.

Some researchers have argued that racism (as well as its localised versions like tribalism or ethnocentrism) is a psychiatric illness. Some have argued that it should not be termed a psychiatric illness to avoid giving murderous culprits leeway to escape punishment. Whatever the way it is looked at, it is dangerous for the health of any society.

Ironically, once you raise the issue of ethnic supremacy and bigotry, the guilty ones immediately point their fingers at the other ethnic group. You will hear things like: “It is the Igbo that always starts it,” “It is the Yoruba that always starts it,” and “It is the Northerners that always start it.” To many Nigerians, there is always something wrong or bad about the other ethnic group.

One way to fight this is to ensure the ethnic supremacists and bigots within our group. When an issue is raised and some people sidestep the issue to attack, denigrate or stereotype another ethnic group or make comments that suggest that their ethnic group is superior to another, members of that ethnic group should call them to order. When those who thrive on this notice that even members of their ethnic groups are strongly against them, they will think twice before crawling out of their shells in public.

Nigeria has been bogged down by ethnic cleavages and loyalties. If Nigerians had given half of the loyalty they give to their ethnic groups to Nigeria, the country would have done exceedingly well. If, after six decades of independence and over a century of nationhood, Nigerians still don’t place the country above their respective ethnic groups and religions, it shows that there is a deeper problem. It is not enough for Nigerians to hope that the country will one day become transformed and great. There should be a conscious effort towards that, and building a country where the citizens place the country above every other interest is a fundamental part of that.

X: @BrandAzuka