Religion and tribe are powerful opium that blinds our eyes and becloud our minds from making rational decisions based on facts. We have been a disservice to our country because of decisions and choices we have made out of these two horrors. Why are we made weak wherever and whenever these two horrors are flaunted? These have kept us as a country from making reasonable and rational decisions that would have lifted our country out of the woods. Decades have passed us by as a country and we couldn’t get the country on its feet rather we retrogress in most areas of our national life. The country is still crawling basically because of the injuries inflicted on her by our being intoxicated by religion and tribe.

You claim you are of a particular religion and from a particular tribe, therefore, you are glad to inflict the country with problems by the decisions and choices you made that only satisfy your emotions and sentiment. While the country bleeds, you failed to realize that hunger, underdevelopment, insecurity, and poverty have no religion or tribe they belong to. They only reside in households found in countries that refuse to put the best hands in the right places; crowning mediocrities over champions.

Question: Why running to developed countries that have purged themselves of these two horrors of tribe and religion in their decisions and choices that guaranteed their development to buy houses and make our home there? Why not make our homes anywhere here in Nigeria?

No average person from a country that is easily influenced by religion and tribe can be able to provide good leadership unless he/she is among the few that have purged themselves from the intoxication of tribe and religion in favor of development, growth, welfare, merits, and security for the citizens.

We need to rouse ourselves toward narrowing these fault lines. Firstly, you and I need to decide not to continue on this path and exorcise ourselves from these two demons (tribe and religion) from influencing our actions and decisions. Secondly, we need to resist pressure, temptation or being browbeaten into reclining back to the hands of these demons. Thirdly, we need to teach others to renounce the influence of tribe and religion in their decisions and actions by letting them know the dangers of such a lifestyle in our march to nationhood. Fourthly, we need to reject any politician or leader that tries to divide us by weeping these sentiments. Lastly, we should start agitating for the replacement of state of origin with state of residence.

Life is full of varieties and varieties are the spices of life. Our heterogeneous nature as a country supposed to make us strong, impenetrable and solid. African problems supposed have found solutions under our feet and impossibilities melting away in our presence. Only if we had continued building on the laid foundation of nationhood: which have now been destroyed by no least person but US.

Let’s rise and say yes to NATIONHOOD and discard the distractions of TRIBE and RELIGION: God help us.

Michael Odor @auspiciousodor
michaelpowa@yahoo.com

https://youthquakenigeria.com/2018/06/03/our-distraction-to-nationhood/

Nigeria can never be a real nation, stop wasting your time and wait for your own country when oil finishes.

Too late. The hate and bigotry which has transferred to our generation is more intense. This isn't the country Awolowo and Zik dreamed of.
Truly, there was a country!

Presidential rule is 8 yrs but an Igbo man will never get 8 days.

_{Somebody had to play the devils advocate.}