Tribalism The menace

​​​TRIBALISM THE MENACE   by Yusuf Nasir Zahradeen

            Nigeria is the largest country in Africa and one of the largest countries in the world. It is a country that has so many tribes and cultures from the north to the south upto the far east there are so many different tribes in Nigeria, with the three(3) major tribes being the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.

​Nigeria has seen so many leaders from various tribes come to power, all have come and gone but none seem to have left anything good to be remembered with. It is either their administrations are associated with corruption, incompetence and negligence, or even to some extent abuse of power. One of the leading catalyst in the digression of Nigeria is Tribalism. 

Tribalism is the classification or division of people into different tribes or their way of life. Tribes are group of people that share beliefs habits or even to some extent values and interests.

​Tribalism has always played a major role not only in the political structure in Nigeria but it has a major role in our societies. The issue of tribalism in Nigeria has become the leading threat to the progression and stability of the country.

Tribalism separates people from different tribes from one another. In tribalism people are only attached to others from only their tribes. There are usually cliché-ridden tags about other tribes. Sometimes people from different tribes misunderstand one another because they have different beliefs and cultures and values.

Tribalism In Nigeria has brought about more damage than good. It divides the nation instead  of a unified Nigeria it brings about a divided country. We are meant to face our problems together support each other but that’s not the case in this tribal Nigeria. For instance lets say the head of a ministry in Nigeria is a hausa man, if you walk into that ministry you will find out that the majority of workers there are people from the north leaving just a tiny percentage of the igbos or Yoruba and vice versa. This is a very common habit in Nigeria, you find it everywhere like this.

​To become a really progressive country we have to accept each other and try to work out our differences even if it means making a compromise. One of the strongest examples of being stronger as one is the area of sports, when the super eagles are playing you find out that the country stands still when we score a goal we celebrate as one and when we lose we grief as one that’s why Nigeria has excelled greatly in sporting events around the world.

​We all as the so called future leaders have to stand up to fight this issue of tribalism in Nigeria. We have to learn to love and accept each other despite all our differences, so next time when you are going to vote in the next election don’t vote for Musa because he is hausa and you are or Bolaji because he is Yoruba and and you are or Ngozi because she is igbo and you are vote for the most qualified even if it means voting for tanko of kano even if you are igbo. With only this progressive ideology would Nigeria be able to succeed. We have to put all our differences aside we have to forget all this hatred, letsleave it to our forefathers. Lets start afresh. Let us make Nigeria a better place for everyone. lets teach our children tolerance and acceptance, it is our duty .