Real Birthday, no today my mama born me.

the ansa is simple,
we are tribes and not a country,na oyinbo force us to be together,unfortunately the super glue wey dem use to hold us together on october 1 don dry since october 2 1960

That was a good way to put it @Iya aje


Deep down we are not really a WORLD United,  we are made up of human beings who belong to one creed or another, family or another, tribe or another,  I believe the issue here remains that this dude called Adeniyi has yet to provide us with substantial evidence that tribalism is at fault in this case. From his post, the woman made her choice and he did not even get more information for us. so again ,  Tribalism is not the issue here,  and please learn to respect people's choices no matter what you would prefer instead in cases like this ,  simple!!


She no won talk to you, would it have been better if she had said something like " Because your teeth crooked" or some other reason there ?? I mean I would expect you as an adult to conduct more research to get to the bottom of the issue. Not jump to conclude what you heard is 100%

Kobojunkie:


Did you get all that from reading my posts or trying to READ INTO MY POSTS @RichyBlack Please can we stick to the topic here The Fact stands, I do not agree with his take on TRIBALISM being the problem. I believe She has a right to Decide if He is good enough for her or not and she picked tribal factors to push it on, simple. And Do I hate her for that, NO cause I believe she has a right to choose as she wants to. Now about the whole some of us have at one time or another thought of bashing another's head in but have practised restraint instead, that has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with freedom of choice as I chose to address it and you know it. Fact remains that she had a choice to make and she made it and he heard tribe was the issue. I am not Boohooing the dude, I am simply giving my take on it. TO call me Racist?? Well, that would matter if I believe there is any such thing as race when it comes to humans so in my world, that word does not apply cause I see all persons as being same and we are all raised differently and look different. I do respect being who are tribalistic and I helped above, I posted the very dictionary meaning of the word itself. If an indian girl told us that she would not matter her friend cause he is american, I am sure many would understand her, why not understand the case here of this girl refusing this boy cause he is not of the same tribe??


HERE is my take on Racism , since you bring it up yourself. We are all racist to some level, whether we want to accept it or not. Those who focus so much on the topic end up doing their own selves in as I see it as I do Jealousy, both sides Loose. I mean you used the black americans for example vs the whites. I will use it this way. The majority of the blacks I have met who go on and on about how racist whites are do not see the monster eating up at them at all. They are more like bitter people who are consumed by this monster and most everything they think of is under the control of the monster. The racist on the other hand has the same issues, he is seriously limited in his thinking and majority of the time can not see far ahead of where his racist side can. I choose not to even bother myself with thoughts of the monster and so racism, may exist but I instead choose to take situations as they present themselves.

I know we can play the HERO and UNDERDOG game in here but fact remains, She did not want him and Tribe was her reason. Should he blame TRIBALISM? I would think not but if he wants to do that, that is fine by me but I do not have to Agree with him cause I do not see the world as he does. Do I think the girl did the right thing ?? ABSOLUTELY, why?? cause it is her life and she exercised her right as a human to choice to get involved with someone she did not want to based on whatever standard she so chose to apply in the case and I greatly respect her for that. Simple!!

Kobojunkie:

Well, if you read what he said, he OVERHEARD the conversation she was having with someone else on the issue. It is not that he actually got first hand details from her as to why. I mean the short we get is that according to what he heard, that is all to it. Even to me that short does not make complete sense, or even enough sense for him to claim tribalism is the issue. For one, he did not even mention where he happens to be.

If she is in Lagos, then I believe she can not be deemed tribalistic at all cause she is among yorubas and at one time or another she WILL HAVE TO converse with other yorubas. If he happened to be in an Igbo area where the only Yoruba's she has been exposed to have not really given her something good to go with, she has a right to decide to completely stay away from yorubas. It could also be that she discovered something about him that she found appalling and decided instead of telling the other employee the truth, to just make him go away by telling him it was just tribe. I don't believe we know enough of the story to actually say TRIBALISM is the issue.

It's hard to decipher where you stand and why you are standing there, but from the post above it seems you're struggling to find a position. I have tried to condense your view on tribalism to a few statements:
1. Tribalism should be encouraged as a form of loyalty to one's tribe (or ethnic group)
2. He should not blame tribalism for her refusing to talk to him.
3. Tribalism is not common in Lagos because Lagos serves as some kind of melting pot of various ethnic groups.
4. Tribalism may not be the cause of her not talking to the guy because we don't have the full story.

Of the four statements above, three of them cast tribalism in a negative light. For someone who advocates tribalism, a place like Lagos which guarantees that she "WILL HAVE TO converse with other yorubas", cannot be a good place because its inhabitants "can not be deemed tribalistic at all".

On racism, only because your credibility will be seriously at stake (racists loose all credibility - once they are exposed) that you've refused to outrightly say "I support racism!". But why can't you clearly state that you support racism (please don't go on that balderdash of "we are all racist to some extent" - of course we are all animals to some extent; are we trying to advance or retrogress?).

The girl has a right to be with whomsoever she wishes to be with, however, using race or ethnicity as the sole basis for choosing a mate is pathetic. And please note that if someone overhears someone else make a statement, it is not "hearsay", that is a first-hand testimony - he is a witness to the statement. She said it was because he was Yoruba.

Further summary of your opinion in my opinion (no pun intended):
1. The girl has the right to discriminate based on race/ethnicity
2. The guy is assuming wrongly that she based her refusal to continue the relationship solely based on ethnicity (and race?).

Assuming (1), makes (2) moot. This brings us back to your advocacy for tribalism and ethnocentrism, and your still yet-to-be-confirmed support for racism.

I am sorry if you can not understand my post there. I mean exactly what I stated earlier. STOP BRINGING racism and other issues into it ,  this is not about it for me and I do not care what you think I think of those. I would however like to focus on the topic here and that is the issue of tribalism being at fault here which I still believe is not the case,  Simple!!! if you want to continue to attack my person ,  you are free to continue but excuse me while I get back to getting more information on the main topic the thread is really about !! In all my posts ,  I have yet to mention what tribe I belong to and I really do not care what class you would like to shove me so you can feel better,  .The fact remains,  I do not see what you see as per what Adeniyi posted. Until the man can provide me more than he has, I am sorry I will never see what you seem to see or how you bring racism and the other issues into this. I am sorry !!! I can not help you there !!@Richblack

The way this debate is going, the insults and personal attacks reminds me of the ongoing battle for everyone to be PC. If you are not for us, if you do not AGREE WITH US , you are not FIT TO LIVE/YOU ARE STUPID/ YOU ARE EVIL/ YOU ARE WICKED ,  yet this is coming from people who are trying to claim they are more tolerant than those they are against LOL 

Kobojunkie:

That was a good way to put it @Iya aje


Deep down we are not really a WORLD United, we are made up of human beings who belong to one creed or another, family or another, tribe or another, I believe the issue here remains that this dude called Adeniyi has yet to provide us with substantial evidence that tribalism is at fault in this case. From his post, the woman made her choice and he did not even get more information for us. so again , Tribalism is not the issue here, and please learn to respect people's choices no matter what you would prefer instead in cases like this , simple!!


She no won talk to you, would it have been better if she had said something like " Because your teeth crooked" or some other reason there ?? I mean I would expect you as an adult to conduct more research to get to the bottom of the issue. Not jump to conclude what you heard is 100%

What is your point? Assuming the girl is an advocate of tribalism, can you tell me how things would have played differently?

Anyway, I'm encouraged that you're trying to move away from the tribalism-is-good camp. But your new adeniyi83-is-not-telling-the-truth camp is only less worse.

Kobojunkie:

That was a good way to put it @Iya aje


Deep down we are not really a WORLD United, we are made up of human beings who belong to one creed or another, family or another, tribe or another, I believe the issue here remains that this dude called Adeniyi has yet to provide us with substantial evidence that tribalism is at fault in this case. From his post, the woman made her choice and he did not even get more information for us. so again , Tribalism is not the issue here, and please learn to respect people's choices no matter what you would prefer instead in cases like this , simple!!


She no won talk to you, would it have been better if she had said something like " Because your teeth crooked" or some other reason there ?? I mean I would expect you as an adult to conduct more research to get to the bottom of the issue. Not jump to conclude what you heard is 100%

ttHAT AGAIN IS MY POINT!!

RichyBlacK:

What is your point? Assuming the girl is an advocate of tribalism, can you tell me how things would have played differently?

Anyway, I'm encouraged that you're trying to move away from the tribalism-is-good camp. But your new adeniyi83-is-not-telling-the-truth camp is only less worse.

Kobojunkie:

I am sorry if you can not understand my post there. I mean exactly what I stated earlier. STOP BRINGING racism and other issues into it , this is not about it for me and I do not care what you think I think of those. I would however like to focus on the topic here and that is the issue of tribalism being at fault here which I still believe is not the case, Simple!!! if you want to continue to attack my person , you are free to continue but excuse me while I get back to getting more information on the main topic the thread is really about !! In all my posts , I have yet to mention what tribe I belong to and I really do not care what class you would like to shove me so you can feel better, .The fact remains, I do not see what you see as per what Adeniyi posted. Until the man can provide me more than he has, I am sorry I will never see what you seem to see or how you bring racism and the other issues into this. I am sorry !!! I can not help you there !!@Richblack

The way this debate is going, the insults and personal attacks reminds me of the ongoing battle for everyone to be PC. If you are not for us, if you do not AGREE WITH US , you are not FIT TO LIVE/YOU ARE STUPID/ YOU ARE EVIL/ YOU ARE WICKED , yet this is coming from people who are trying to claim they are more tolerant than those they are against LOL

@Kobojunkie, I have not attacked you personally! Common, why should I do that? I'm only trying to understand your point. This is a forum where our views and ideas should speak for us. I don't know you personally, but I'm trying to understand your position on this issue on this thread. I believe everyone should be confident enough to say what their opinion or view-point is on an issue. I just want to know if you are also a racist. I mean, you've already expressed your strong support for tribalism. If you advocate racism then say so clearly. For example, I am actively against racism. I just made my position clear. You can too. However, you also reserve the right not to declare your position. That would only lead me (and the many reading this thread) to conclude for ourselves what your position is. Why is it difficult to categorically state whether you support racism or not?

Kobojunkie:
If she is in Lagos, then I believe she can not be deemed tribalistic at all cause she is among yorubas and at one time or another she WILL HAVE TO converse with other yorubas. If he happened to be in an Igbo area where the only Yoruba's she has been exposed to have not really given her something good to go with, she has a right to decide to completely stay away from yorubas. It could also be that she discovered something about him that she found appalling and decided instead of telling the other employee the truth, to just make him go away by telling him it was just tribe. I don't believe we know enough of the story to actually say TRIBALISM is the issue.

Hahaha. . . . .make una no stop me, I beg I must laugh well, well because this one na another line of reasoning entirely.

So because a person lives in Lagos, he or she cannot be deemed to be tribalistic? Is that what you are saying?? Chei!! I have seen, heard and even met tribalistic people of all shades from various ethnic groups, who live and trade freely in Lagos. In fact, my first encounter with tribalism was in Lagos o! Kai!

RichyBlacK:

What is your point? Assuming the girl is an advocate of tribalism, can you tell me how things would have played differently?

Anyway, I'm encouraged that you're trying to move away from the tribalism-is-good camp. But your new adeniyi83-is-not-telling-the-truth camp is only less worse.

Richyblack, just save your breath. This is known as the 'beating-around-the-bush' tactic. We can all read between the lines!

iya aje:

the ansa is simple,
we are tribes and not a country,na oyinbo force us to be together,unfortunately the super glue wey them use to hold us together on october 1 don dry since october 2 1960

A clear misunderstanding of the relationship between tribalism and nationalism. Are you trying to say that if we were separate nations then tribalism won't exist?

Kobojunkie:

Deep down we are not really a WORLD United, we are made up of human beings who belong to one creed or another, family or another, tribe or another,

Obvious!

I believe the issue here remains that this dude called Adeniyi has yet to provide us with substantial evidence that tribalism is at fault in this case. From his post, the woman made her choice and he did not even get more information for us. so again , Tribalism is not the issue here,

Blaming the victim.

and please learn to respect people's choices no matter what you would prefer instead in cases like this , simple!!

People make stupid choices everyday. Are we to respect them too? Some of the choices people make are illegal and immoral, should they also command our respect?

She no won talk to you, would it have been better if she had said something like " Because your teeth crooked" or some other reason there ?? I mean I would expect you as an adult to conduct more research to get to the bottom of the issue. Not jump to conclude what you heard is 100%

So, he should leave his work and go do research on why she is a tribalist?

laudate:

Richyblack, just save your breath. This is known as the 'beating-around-the-bush' tactic. We can all read between the lines!

@Laudate, I just want her to make a clear stand. Everyone has a right to advocate tribalism or racism. However, the most harmful to society are those that disguise their true identity. I once had a chat with some skinhead dude at a rally (they were having a rally with full police protection). The guy's stand was clear - "I don't consider blacks, Jews, Asians, Mexicans, and all those other kind of people as equal to Whites. We are the superior race!". The guy made his point. If I meet him tomorrow on the bus, at the mall, in the parking lot, come across his article somewhere, meet him at a party, in the club, anywhere, I'll know what to expect from him. But the ones that don't come out straight, and try to jump from one convenient camp to another, but remaining fixed to a racist world view - deep down in their minds, are the hardest to deal with. People should be proud to express their views or beliefs without being equivocal. But that's just a first-level look, we still reserve the right to judge them by their words and actions, yes we still reserve that right!

We humans are biased and potentially evil at heart, however, it's one thing to admit this human flaw, and it's another thing to decide what direction to move from there - advance, retrogress or remain fixed to that primeval state.

Anyways, No need for the personals. Whenever you want to tell us more of what REALLY happened and how you arrived at your claim that she is TRIBALISTIC. Please Let me know , I know so far you have done nothing but call me names but I am sorry dude, Me and my guys have had this sort of thing happen to us and I for one know that I have my reservations when it comes to who I will go out with and who I will not even bother with but like I have said all along, your story no straight at all @Adeniyi for me to conclude that you are right and so I can not side with you at all based on the limited information you have produced on this. Now you may not like that another dude is telling you this but I have to be honest, I do not believe in taking sides just so I can make you feel good. I don't !!!

quote author=RichyBlacK link=topic=83196.msg1561502#msg1561502 date=1191609232]
@Kobojunkie, I have not attacked you personally! Common, why should I do that? I'm only trying to understand your point. This is a forum where our views and ideas should speak for us. I don't know you personally, but I'm trying to understand your position on this issue on this thread. I believe everyone should be confident enough to say what their opinion or view-point is on an issue. I just want to know if you are also a racist. I mean, you've already expressed your strong support for tribalism. If you advocate racism then say so clearly. For example, I am actively against racism. I just made my position clear. You can too. However, you also reserve the right not to declare your position. That would only lead me (and the many reading this thread) to conclude for ourselves what your position is. Why is it difficult to categorically state whether you support racism or not?
[quote][/quote]


Actually , I will take it that when you try to JUMP on me and my personal life, leaving the topic aside, you do not see how that could be seen as personal attack I do not understand what BUSINESS of yours what my personal views on these issues are in the first place when the THREAD has Nothing to do with what KOBOJUNKIE feels about RACISM or no RACISM , but more to do with how people see and understand what the initial poster posted up there, Which is what I have been answering for a while now but you seem to have digressed and are more into personal attacks on me than on the main subject at hand. Let me explain myself again, If you DO NOT lIKE that I DO NOT SEE THE WORLD through your eyes, once again, I am sorry I can not help you. I stand firm on my view of what the guy posted and You can look up my History and whatever you want to, I would rather focus on topic than go off on these games with you. If you CANNOT stick to the topic, I would suggest that you please ignore my posts and let me deal directly with those that I wish to. I prefer to talk to people who can stick to topic and argue their points without the many personal attacks which I consider really crude and immature. Trust me, I really do not care what you want to believe of me, I am here to chat with people who are able to do same in a civilized manner and with respect for those who do not share the same views as they do.

Kobojunkie:

Anyways, No need for the personals. Whenever you want to tell us more of what REALLY happened and how you arrived at your claim that she is TRIBALISTIC. Please Let me know , I know so far you have done nothing but call me names but I am sorry dude, Me and my guys have had this sort of thing happen to us and I for one know that I have my reservations when it comes to who I will go out with and who I will not even bother with but like I have said all along, your story no straight at all @Adeniyi for me to conclude that you are right and so I can not side with you at all based on the limited information you have produced on this. Now you may not like that another dude is telling you this but I have to be honest, I do not believe in taking sides just so I can make you feel good. I don't !!!

I'm sorry but you don't sound like a dude.

AGAIN,  If  I am a dude or dudette,  please ,  it is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!!! Focus on the topic or accept that I am not here to please so and so I am allowed to have a view different from yours, What has my being a dude or not a dude to do with the topic or my discussing the topic?? Is you not thinking me a dude some thing for you to say that would be a reason for my argument not being as valid as yours?? Why in the world would you even raise that as an issue??

Beneli: Can somebody be "proud" of their ethnic group, while NOT being a tribalist?

Well, I don't know exactly what 'tribalist' means. Does it refer to someone who believes that his ethnic group should progress at the expense of other groups? Someone who believes that it is not enough for his group to do well, other groups must do badly? If so, then yes - it is possible to be proud of your ethnic group without being a 'tribalist'.

In other words, if i am proud to be a Gwari man, would somebody who doesn't like the GWARI's then assume that I am a tribalist for being proud of my heritage?

They might - but what do you care? You're proud of your group - you feel good about belonging to a group that has given you a language to speak, a set of customs to practice and a culture to be part of. As long as your pride in your group does not cause you to act unfairly or unprofessionally, as long as it does not cause you to feel malevolence towards someone not from your group, what's the problem?

Do I, because I am NIGERIAN, stop being GWARI or is it alright for me to be proudly GWARI, but also passionately de-tribalised?

I don't know if you can be Gwari and detribalised. You can certainly be Nigerian and Gwari, though.

Keep in mind that there is really no such thing as Nigeria. There is Yoruba land, Igbo Land, Hausa Land, etc. Nigeria is a creation of British imperialists who deserted the country after rampaging it, stealing it's resources (both natural and human), and imposing their nonsense religion on it's people,. What do you expect when arbitrary boundaries are drawn up irrespective of the fact that the people living within the boundaries may have different cultures languages and customs. We will one day overcome it all, and learn to respect each other.

because we are very parochial in our thots

dtw_sola:

Keep in mind that there is really no such thing as Nigeria. There is Yoruba land, Igbo Land, Hausa Land, etc. Nigeria is a creation of British imperialists who deserted the country after rampaging it, stealing it's resources (both natural and human), and imposing their nonsense religion on it's people,. What do you expect when arbitrary boundaries are drawn up irrespective of the fact that the people living within the boundaries may have different cultures languages and customs. We will one day overcome it all, and learn to respect each other.

but @dtw_sola , does respecting each other mean I do not consider my tribal roots when making decisions at all is that what you are speaking of here?? I do not believe that to respect another's ideology, I have to drop my tribal loyalty/beliefs in other to do so. I happen to be one who respects whatever belief's people choose to ascribe to but have never found my respecting them to conflict in anyway with my tribal beliefs ( if I have any that I cling to, can't think of any at the moment).

Ka:

I don't know if you can be Gwari and detribalised. You can certainly be Nigerian and Gwari, though.

Of course you can be Gwari and detribalised. Same way you can be Gwari and tribalistic.

It seems that some folks here have a different understanding of what tribalism means, and what it is to be tribalistic, while others have a different perspective of what tribalism means or what it is to be tribalistic. Tribalism within the context in which it is practised in Nigeria, is totally different from the textbook definition someone was trying to advocate earlier. Tribalism is practised in Nigeria, with a singular motive - to discredit other ethnic groups and scorn their members.

In my own view, being 'tribalistic' has the same meaning as 'discrimination', based on ethnicity. Being tribalistic means holding the myopic, ethnocentric view, that individuals from a particular ethnic group would all behave in a certain way based on sterotypes that one has heard about such an ethnic group, without taking into account each individual's personal characteristics, beliefs, attitudes, character and personality traits in order to make a fair judgement.

Being tribalistic also means viewing your own ethnic group as superior to others, while putting down other ethnic groups due to some misguided belief that more saints exist within your own group, while more sinners exist in other groups. Being tribalistic also means being parochial and prejudiced against an individual solely on the basis of the fact that he comes from an ethnic group, that is different from your own.

Being tribalistic also means promoting members of your own ethnic group, and advancing their own prospects at the expense of those from other ethnic groups.

Being tribalistic has nothing to do with being nationalistic, as nationalism includes being proud of your own nation, ethnic group or linguistic heritage, without denigrating or putting down other ethnic groups, and it allows you to exhibit a sense of patriotism and offer equal esteem/respect to other ethnic groups. With nationalism, you do not see other ethnic groups from the perspective of stereotypes. Neither do you think they have to be bad, for your own nation or ethnic group to be better.

Tribalism is closely linked to racism and homophobia. And I see nothing good in all these three!

Yet Webster defines those words differently , interesting , I smell a Nigerian dictionary of English words coming soon !!!

Kobojunkie:

Yet Webster defines those words differently , interesting , I smell a Nigerian dictionary of English words coming soon !!!

If you feel Webster's Dictionary is the sole authority on the definition of tribalism, you are free to hold on to your views.

New words find their way into various dictionaries all the time. Even existing words have their meanings revised and expanded from time to time. A few years ago the word "bootylicious" did not exist in the English lexicon. But today, thanks to Beyonce and some American stars, the word has found its way into many dictionaries, and is now a synonym for sexual attractiveness, especially around the rear end of the feminine gender.

A large number of researchers are still trying to grapple with the definition of the word "tribalism." Many of them do not merely rely on the simplistic definition that dictionaries like Webster, have given. They have recognised that its' effects permeate the daily lives of several people, and it goes far beyond that simplistic definition.

Let me give you a few examples:

In its' reference to tribalism Wikipedia states that:

wikipedia: While ethnocentrism is one of only a very small handful of human cultural universals, the term "tribalism" has become nearly synonymous with it. This is largely due to the Eurocentrism of early anthropologists who forced tribal societies into a simplistic model of cultural evolution. Many tribes refer to themselves with their language's word for "people," while referring to other, neighboring tribes with various epithets. For example, the term "Inuit" translates as "people," but they were known to the Ojibwe by a name translating roughly as "eaters of raw meat." This fact is often cited as evidence that tribal peoples saw only the members of their own tribe as "people," and denigrated all others as something less. In fact, this is a tenuous conclusion to draw from the evidence. Many languages refined their identification as "the true people," or "the real people," suggesting that there were other people, who were simply inferior .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribalism

Other researchers have described tribalism in other ways. In an article on the Tegloma tribe of Sierra-Leone, a writer J.L Musa - in a critique of the assesment given by a scholar Prof. Kamara - had this to say:

J.L Musa:
"The key feature of tribalism is this instinctive tendency to recognize, judge and reward people according to their group identity, rather than their characteristics as individuals. We are all familiar with it. The group in question can be based on any number of things, the most familiar, however, being ethnicity; that is, a supposed common ancestry."

http://www.sulima.com/afvision/newsroom/newsroom.shtml

Another scholar yet again describes it like this:

Hutcheon:
Pat Duffy Hutcheon writing in Humanist in Canada (Spring 2001), in the article, "‘Can Humanism Stem the Rising Tide of Tribalism?"draws our attention to a popular definition of tribalism:

"Tribalism is simply the deeply ingrained human habit of identifying oneself in terms of the group; of viewing one's own in-group as somehow ‘‘special'' and superior to others; and of discouraging social intercourse (or any other type of intercourse) with members of the ‘‘out-group''."

Hutcheone elaborates:
"In many ways we are all prone to tribalism. It is deeply rooted in our evolutionary history and biological heritage. It stems from the ‘‘kin selection'' that evolved in response to the ever-present dangers to self and family in primitive times: a process resulting in the encouragement of adult members of the clan to sacrifice themselves, if necessary, for the survival of their own offspring and those of their siblings. Because of the way evolution works, this pattern of behaviour had the consequence of preserving the genes of those individuals who behaved in a tribalistic way, while eliminating the others. Accompanying this propensity to kin selection——and being transmitted along with it––––was an evolutionarily effective ‘‘us-them'' response to surrounding clans. The Other (or Stranger) was recognized as dangerous and threatening——to be either avoided or destroyed——and one''s own clan had to be ever-ready to attack and repel any such strangers in their territory."

Let me stop here. You can see that the definition of tribalism should not be restricted to just what Websters dictionary has to say.

Oh, one last word:

Lindeke:
“Tribalism is tough in terms of definition,” says Professor William Lindeke from the University of Namibia’s Political Science Department. The reason for this, Lindeke says, is because tribalism deals with identity.

“How do you define people?” he asks.
“Some might define themselves through their ethnic group, while others might identify themselves through the language they speak, or where they live. So it’s difficult, especially from a research point of view.”

“Nepotism,” he says, “refers to favouritism on the basis of family, acquaintances, regionalism and such-like. You can practice nepotism based on your country of origin, regardless of tribal relationships.”

Tribalism, on the other hand, is exercised in such a way that someone, for example in an influential position, directs “all benefits, such as employment opportunities or promotions, to the people of his or her tribe”.
In Africa especially, he says, tribalism has been found to be more[i] “dangerously devastating” [/i] than nepotism, citing massacres in Rwanda and Burundi as extreme examples of the effects of tribalism.

A second opinion
Lindeke, on the other hand, has a different take on these two terms.
“Tribalism is about the idea of 'us' versus 'them',” he says. “But there are many ways people practice these things.”

He defines tribalism as a feeling of belonging to one group as opposed to another, while nepotism is when someone only gives jobs or contracts to people from their own group, however they choose to define this group.

Lindeke says that some people understand the term tribalism in a positive sense, such as when there is a cohesiveness between people who feel they are part of a lineage, either because they have been through the same experiences or come from the same background.

In its worse form, Lindeke says, tribalism or “identity politics” can be used by demagogues or ‘ethnic brokers’ to “manipulate the passions and emotions of other people in order to promote their own power.”

http://www.polytechnic.edu.na/echoes/story1.htm

This is just to show another definition or description of tribalism. You can take your pick. Just remember that "a little learning is a dangerous thing."

Tribalism just like racism is due to stack ignorance,limited horizon,people dread what they don't understand and fail to inquire.It's like africans calling oyibo man racist,while in africa people live like cats and dogs,yoruba man calling ibo man OKORO,genocide in rwanda, in that small vicinity they still can't understand one another.By and by,tribalism and racism are part of man's primitive instint and territorial nature that refuse let go even with the so-called advancement,still living like hunter gatherers worldwide.Imagine,John Lennon.

Redsun, you are spot on. I have tried to say something like this before but men you put it exactly the way it is.

If tribalism AKA "us-versus-them thinking" is a primordial instinct, and if my understanding from the discourse so far is correct; then identifying with ones own cultural group and taking pride in it, may not be that bad after all. Along the lines of the Nationalism thing that laudate mentions.

In other words one can still be proudly Gwari and still be passionately Nigerian.

But if it is, then this is were educating ourselves becomes vey important. But unfortunately, nothing much is being done in that sphere.

Once upon a time the government had promoted that students learn at least one other Nigerian language other than there own. I don't know how that's worked out so far. But I think it was a laudable thing.

Even the NYSC as originally concieved was supposed to have also helped, as the objective had been, in my understanding, to get people to live in communities other than their own,  to try to understand a bit more about these communities and perhaps learn that underneath all those -isms, that we are, after all, all the same.  This was again another laudable idea. But one wonders if it has been living up to those objectives.

I know that Nigeria is at a crossroad. But i still  believe that one day we will be able to learn to live together in a new Nigeria, a Nigeria in which we have internalised the fact that the "others" are not always wrong or bad and in which we have come to appreciate that those who are not of our "culture" are actually a lot more like us than we had once wanted to believe.

please shut up, we are stil dealin with racism ok, tribalistic whatever, am sure u got hometownism 2 coming up, ".CANT WE ALL JUST GET ALONG"(QUOTE FROM THE MOVIE COLOR PURPLE)

It sad but what can we do, even we the so called literate are tribalistic

This is it,its simple and precise.

Tribalism,racism,hate and whatever you want to call it are all rooted from "Hell" these are simply mechnisms of the devil to cause human hate !!

The greatest commandment is LOVE,and love in totality,I don't understand all this grammar here and there,if you are Igbo,Yoruba,Hausa or whatever,you need to get born again,bacos any one with a tribalistic heart has no place in the body of christ.

That's one of the reason alot of Nigeria Christains will miss heaven,"not my prayer"

Our diverse groups and nature came about through man's sin remember the old testament "Nimroid" it's a cause upon man that people hold so close to their hearts.

I just don't understand how a lot of parents who are supposedly elders in churches encourage their children to hate vis a vi "Tribalism" it's crazy,you miss heaven,seriously.

You have no place in God's family being tribalistic,its a one way ticket to everlasting damation"Period"

God help us all !!!!

I rest my case.

Triablism, racism, nepotism, Discrimination is an integral part of most humans, only a few of us have been able to overcome suppress our discriminatory feelings to some extent.

We must strive to overcome tribalism so as to work together for the betterment of our country, Naija. 

this is common among the yorubas . they feel superior to other tribe.especially on education they only want them to be in the university. so that is nature