How to incur the wrath of a 'certain tribe'.
1- Your name. Chinonso Uchenna Ike?
They process it as "this na confirm Igbo".
They become hostile to such one. Do you care if he was birthed by a Yoruba or Kataf or Fulani woman?

2- You flip through a list,say of admission to the Nigerian Army or UTME-list:
Samaila Sani Toro
And they process it as "Hian! All these awusa mozlem people. Look at him"

That is where the beef starts, poor perception, bigotry,inherited obstructive clannishness. This is how they begin to hate on people they do not even know.

A little travelling and a little exposure and association with people does plenty to your thought process. Samaila Sani Toro is Christian with Christian Mother an animist/atheist Father and his grand parents are neither Muslims nor Christians.

He is from Toro Local government of Bauchi State and speaks Danshe(one of the zeem languages). What's the beef for?

There are more like that across the North.I'm sure many never knew Chibok had many indigent Christians living there before the kidnap.Some still never bothered or are unaware there has been more kidnap of women before and after Chibok because "Well na Mozlem pipu dey do demselves". Right? Crass Ignorance!

Chinonso Uchenna Ike was adopted by an Igbo single mother from a motherless home in Ondo. She has christened him that to reflect her wishes/hope for him. He bears her family name but he was sired by Yoruba parents. He speaks Igbo and Yoruba. So when you called for recruiting staff into your company and you find a resume with all you ever wanted, then you checked his name and you go, "this na confirm Igbo", how does that justify your denying him the job?

So before/during/after the Presidential election,I tried to assess especially from rants and postings in groups/closed groups. Some people even co-opted me into prayer-groups for GEJ and various anti-APC groups. I didn't leave. I just read and digested the import and slant of their arguments. Sometimes I weep inside for their blemished humanity.

I wasn't therefore when one of my Ndi-igbo brothers who has never left the east inboxed me after the polls "Your people are just too wicked and full of ethnic bigotry". I swallowed a little and tears almost started building up in my eyes. For him, for many who 'reason' albeit unreasonably like him. And or either side of the divide,we have them aplenty.

Enter Ben Akabueze.Lagos state commissioner for economic planning/budgeting. Ex MD of NAL Merchant Bank and a pastor at the RCCG.
First appointed by Governor Tinubu and then re-appointed for two terms now by Governor Fashola. Same Fashola and Tinubu who have Christian spouses. Not politics, not accident. That is our upbringing. People are people first before all the labels.

Question: Will you appoint an Imam from Sokoto or a Yoruba man from Osogbo if he had better qualifications than Akabueze in the East?
Where is the Bigotry? Perception or unshed victim-complex?

Enter Pastor Tunde Bakare who led the SNG to ensure GEJ got his mandate after the death of Yaradua. Was it out of love for Igbos or kick-backs or appointments? No. That is Omoluabi-ness that we pride in as Yoruba.

Be on the side of the truth and we'll queue behind and support you. If in 2011 SW did support GEJ,what changed in 4 years is not bigotry/ethnic but colossal irredeemable failure. Obasanjo's Yoruba-ness did not guarantee him support/protection from the acerbic tongue of the Yorubas, for the were his most acerbic critics

Enter the recent polls into House of Representatives in Lagos where 3-non indegenes[Tony Nwoolu (Oshodi/Isolo), Rita Orji (Ajeromi/Ifelodun) & Oghene Egboh (Amuwo Odofin) won seats even though on the platform of the PDP. Will you give a Hausa man APGA/APC party ticket to represent Federal constituencies in your region?

Enter Kano state governor, Engr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso who appointed a Christian woman, Justice Patricia Mahmoud as Acting Chief Judge of the state. She is Idoma, from Benue State. And it is purely on merit.No politics. No favouratism. Will you do same to people from other States outside your locale?

Will you rather stand and defend the truth or skulk under ethno-regional banners to vent your spleen? Sometimes looks/name may not say it all,because you may think,sound practical judgement, mother-wit, "common sense" should be commonplace,instantly 'available thingy', but we all know, it is the uncommonest item especially among the least developed persons across the world.

As we move into another phase of nation building, we should be mindful of the fault lines, especially the ones forced on us by the ruling class. We are safer in a country where what matters first and foremost is our common-humanity,other labels are just skin/robes. Strip all that and we are left with same skeletons/same fears/same aspirations/same sapience.
May we find peace in Nigeria(amen).

© Shittu Fowora
1.4.2015