Fri May 18, 2012
Cheta Nwanze
Moving to a Nation
By Cheta Nwanze, Nigeria – March 2010
A few weeks ago I moved house. Anyone who has ever tried to do this in Lagos (Africa) knows it is backbreaking work. There are all sorts of con artists masquerading as agents, and that is just the start.
Before the search begins you have to fill out agency forms that have an entire section devoted to tribe even before you are asked about your nationality. I never filled that section in because I do not consider myself to be from any tribe, per se.
One of the agents took exception to my not filling out that section of the form. When I asked his reason, he said that the landlord does not want Igbo tenants. I had heard about that a lot, but it shocked me nevertheless. For me, this is a problem. I am Igbo…
This question of nation versus tribe is one of the thorny issues we face in Nigeria. Far too many people have failed to take the leap from identifying themselves as members of their ethnic groups to seeing themselves as Nigerians. The common argument you hear is that Nigeria is an artificial creation and if it disintegrates tomorrow, the tribes would still be there. I think that view is an historical anachronism.
Personally I think that any man who would judge another solely based on where that person’s ancestors first came down from trees is a genuine idiot. However, the whole conversation with the agent got me thinking about the issue of nationality versus ethnicity.
It is an over-stated point that change is the only constant thing in life. But apparently the people who still hold onto their tribal identity have either forgotten, or are not aware of this. That’s why there is still so much political conflict in Nigeria.
The current crisis in Jos (shorthand for Jesus our Savior) between the natives (mostly Christians) and the settlers (mostly Muslims) is just one example of the kind of the tribal warfare that has erupted in Nigeria. In the case of Jos, the settlers are avenging the violence against the natives’ attacks that occurred last January.
Hundreds of innocent men, women and children have been killed, villages burned down mostly because people have not learned to live together – to share the land and the resources. Bear in mind that the settlers have been in Jos for close to 200 years.
Nigeria grew out of nation states that were governed by tribes. The Edo people (from Southern Nigeria) developed a sophisticated nation by any of today’s definitions. They had a capital in Benin City, provinces, and these different provinces paid tribute to the Oba in Benin.
The Igbo people, on the other hand, lived mainly in a collection of individual cities and villages without any common relationship with another – other than the languages that they spoke which, all things considered, were remarkably similar.
The Igbo paid a price for this lack of unity. When the British colonists came in the late nineteenth century, they did not stand as one nation to fight imperial rule. Ultimately, the British integrated all of these peoples into one nation and called it Nigeria.
Yet unlike most other countries around the world Nigerians are yet to learn to live with each other. We have also not accepted that a national identity takes time, a lot of intermarriage, a lot of resettlement, and a lot of infighting.
Believe it or not, there’s a break-up-Nigeria-brigade that is trying to further the idea of creating tribally homogeneous nation states. This would be terrible.
The most successful country on the planet at the moment is undoubtedly the United States of America, and that country is in no way ethnically homogeneous.
Further, if you look at the five biggest economies in the world right now (after the US), Germany, Japan, China and the UK, only Japan can lay some claim to being an ethnically homogeneous country.
At the same time, the best example of a failed state is Somalia, a largely ethnically (and religiously) homogeneous nation.
Breaking Nigeria apart into nations of single tribes is not the answer to Nigeria’s problems – doing so would only prolong the country’s conflicts and problems.
Nigerians need to stop trying to rewrite history by going backwards. There are so many areas in Nigeria where people from the diverse ethnic groups have come together with great success to work towards common goals.
Politically, the best example in my mind remains the June 1993 elections when all Nigerians regardless of their ethnic group or religion voted for one man, Chief Moshood Kasimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola for President because everyone thought he was the best person for the job. These are the kinds of successes we should be focusing on.
Progress can be made. In fact, my search for an apartment can be classified as a step forward. I was able to secure an apartment, convincing the landlord to look beyond prejudice and more at what I was bringing to the table – a stable job and a willingness to take care of his property. Why can we not all learn to be reasonable and focus on what will bring peace and progress?
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