"It is pertinent here to point out what our field work has revealed about the pejorative terms associated with the various ethnic groups. Owing to the limitations of time and space, it is restricted to the Igbo, Hausa, Fulani, Yoruba, Kalabari, Ogoni, Urhobo, Ibibio, Bini and Kanuri. The Igbo are chosen first because as the title of Amali’s booklet emphasizes – Ibos and their fellow Nigerians – they are the common targets of the other groups in this exercise of mass vilification. In the echo-chamber of the sensory perceptions of the Nigerian peoples, it is firmly believed that the Igbo man is greedy, aggressive, selfish, dishonest, clannish, arrogant and crudely materialistic – it is even said that he so likes money that a simple way of determining whether an Igbo corpse is really a corpse is to put money by its side; if it does not turn to pick it up, it can safely be concluded that it is, in fact, a corpse; the Hausa man is lazy, servile,. Beggarly, credulous, simple-minded, conservative and happy-go-lucky, although he is gradually being associated with arrogance, selfishness and hypocrisy; the Fulani is haughty, overbearing, egoistic, intolerant, feudalistic and aristocratic; the Yoruba is crafty, noisy, cowardly, clannish, extravagant, untrustworthy, reliable and mendacious – it is believed that being very wily he is a knife that cuts both ways; the Kalabari is lazy, self-centred, domineering, chauvinistic, easy-going, hedonistic and lascivious – it is said that the Kalabari man so likes women that one does not need the services of a doctor to declare a person dead: the simplest thing to do is to put a woman by his side; if he does not turn to caress her, it can safely be said that he is really dead; the Ogoni, who is often associated with the term pio pio, is simple-minded, violent, bellicose and quick- tempered; the Urhobo- generally called Urhobo wayo – is petty, devilish, dishonest, unreliable, materialistic, inhospitable and quarrelsome; the Ibibio is wicked, mean, peevish, narrow-minded and vindictive; the Bini is selfish, malevolent, diabolical, temperamental and war-like; and the Kanuri is avaricious, abrasive unaccommodating, belligerent and untrustworthy. It is well-known that there is no ethnic group that has no penchant for fetishism, yet it is tenaciously held that the Yoruba, the Bini, the Urhobo, the Ibibio and the Ogoni are the adept manipulators of metaphysical powers in Nigerian society; similarly, playing the 419 is a cross-cultural phenomenon, yet is widely believed that the Urhobo, the Kanuri and especially the Igbo are the exclusive practitioners of the vice. Thus each ethnic group perceives others as having despicable qualities while seeing itself as the repository of virtues – any person from its fold is quickly qualified as kind, generous, hospitable, tolerant, benevolent, trustworthy, open- minded, etc. nothing good thrives on the pan-ethnic land, Nigeria – a no – man’s land, it is morally, spiritually and psychologically barren to sustain values that make for nationhood. That is why public officers who have served it discreditably are unbelievably welcomed back to their ethnic homelands as heroes/heroines. Nigeria is a potpourri of peoples with divergent and conflicting interests. It is a nation without nationals, a country without patriots. It is yet to be created."

Title of Article - "Across Frontiers: Comparative Literature and National Integration". You can read the full work, which does quite a good job in its depiction of ethnic literature in Nigeria, by searching for it online.

Negative Stereotypes
Nigerians are into Advance Fee Fraud
This stereotype is mainly a product of the many Nigerian prince 419 scams which were popular. Many people believe that a large percent of Nigerians are into internet scam and fraud. While it is true that some youths take to it, the stereotype is essentially misplaced as the number of youths partaking in this is very minimal. Most internet scammers simply prefer to use Nigeria and Nigerian identities in their schemes.

Nigerians are poor
This stereotype stems from the general perception that Africans are poor and in need of charity. It is important to note that Nigerians have some of the richest people in the world. Aliko Dangote, a Nigerian, is the richest black man alive. The percentage of poor Nigerians is not as high as this stereotype portrays it.

Nigerians are uneducated
This is one of the negative stereotypes about Nigerians. It is generally believed by most non-Nigerians that Nigerians are not well educated and cannot speak English. This is a myth as Nigerians have one of the highest literacy rates in Africa and English is the official language in Nigeria due to its multi-ethnic status.

TheLogicalMind:

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There's usually an element of truth in most stereotypes.

Amoto94:
There is no genetic link with behavioural patterns of an ethnic group some of the behaviors are influenced by environments and circumstances found therein. It is often said that Ebira people are aggressive but each time I tell people I'm an Ebira they'd be stunned because I do not exhibit such traits my people are stereotyped with.

Nigeria is a potpourri of peoples with divergent and conflicting interests. It is a nation without nationals, a country without patriots. It is yet to be created.

biafraone:
stereotype which "we have helped" to nurture as portrayed by the author is simply due to our diversity.
we can not with all sincerity be collectively called a people when in actual fact we hold varied views on very regular issues.
this is the very reason intolerance amongst the various ethnic groups in the country is high. in fact, I am tempted to say that our quality of being different in this context is stereotype itself.

we can partly blame this on the failure of the founding fathers of this country.
their experiment at trying to align people with diverse culture to a single idea of a country simply failed and woefully too.

Evestar200:
Many people have lost good opportunities (and will continue to lose)because of these negatives stereotype

Zetra:

Our parents are also at fault, and they knowingly / unknowingly want to input it into us...
I recently had a bid misunderstanding with mine over my girlfriend of choice...
I never new that "negative stereotype thinking" will come from them

Evestar200:
yea, my mom do have some stereotypes about some tribes, town and region. but have make her to understand why she should stop having those stereotypes.

Zetra:


I feel you sis,
maybe if we still together as a nation our next generation would less stereotype (that is we don't pass down the same idea to our kids)