₦airaland Forum

THE DEMONIZATION OF THE YORUBAS
By Olawale Lekan.

Most people will say online life is different from offline life. That is, what you see, read or do on the net do not even remotely approximate what obtains in the real world. It is with this assumption that I left the West to the North on a national assignment, if I may add. However, the similarity of what I saw on the cyberspace and in real life has forced my hand to write.

When a pattern, such as systemic hatred, transcends these spatial boundaries, then it can no longer be ignored; for it is something big — something very ominously big.

The vilification and demonization of the Yorubas, which has become a mainstream hobby — to put it mildly — for many E-tribalists, came to me as a great shock when I saw, away from the cyberspace, the same, equal and undiluted quantity of such malignant and dangerous hate, vilification and demonization of the Yorubas.

The Yorubas are usually said to be lazy, lousy, dirty, malicious, promiscuous, lily-livered and "Judatic". On these grounds, the Yorubas are being vilified and demonized. It is on these grounds that the Yorubas have been deemed perfectly fit for the role of the villain in the farcical story of the Nigerian Union. Enough of this abstraction!

Why do the Igbos feel so much hate for the Yorubas? Why does the physiognomy of the average Hausa man reveal absolute indifference about the Yorubas? Why do the Niger-Deltans and other South-Southerners, despite their profession of neutrality — tacitly expressed at least — still cherish the schadenfreude from an ill-luck to the Yorubas? In short, why the ill-will? Why the indifference? Why the hate? Why the demonization of the Yorubas? I want to understand!

Is it the events of 1967-1970? Do the Igbos still hold grudges — understandably so if they still do — because the Yorubas pitched their tent with the North? Were they under oath to do otherwise? Is forty years not enough to move on? Do the Hausas feel indifferent because they are the most populous tribe? Or, is it because they have always been the heavyweight political force in Nigeria? Save your answers!

Instinctively, I know all these are the wedge that has impeded the interlocking of the Nigerian Union. All these have made the Nigerian Marriage sour. The Nigerian dream has become a feverish nightmare because of these events that tainted our past.

MY DEFENCE
Why are the Yorubas demonized? Are they indeed lazy, dirty, lousy and promiscuous, like the other tribes say? Are they indeed cowards, ironically malicious, as it were? Are they genetically, innately and inevitably Judases? No! No! I insist it is not so!

All these are stereotypes! They are stereotypes perpetuated by unfair and baleful prejudices. The prejudice is that the typical Yoruba is a no-do-good. The prejudice is that all Yorubas are naturally bad. And this is where the demonizing starts from.

When a person harbours these prejudices, and goes around with this in his/her heart, nothing then will stop the conclusion. He/she only needs a life specimen of these prejudices to become a more willing witness against the demons that are Yorubas. And when his/her prejudices are confirmed, he/she will say, "indeed, they are the demons they were said to be."

Those whose hearts have been preset to see the Yorubas as bad will always see them as bad. They cannot possibly and positively see them as good. Whenever and wherever they look, they only see the bad ones because that is what they are looking for; and the number of the good ones they see would not matter. For they have seen the bad ones; thus, the erroneous overgeneralization that "they are all bad".

Are Yorubas truly bad? I will not give the Yorubas a clean bill. It must be understood that the Yoruba tribe has its flaws; flaws that are sometimes all too conspicuous. One such inherent flaw of the Yorubas is the irresistible urge to speak Yoruba to one another in a multi-ethnic gathering, sometimes even against the rules of formality. In such cases, this superfluous show of linguistic solidarity, though usually unconsciously done, irritates the non-Yorubas in that gathering, and they consequently feel isolated; and that is besides the possible pent-up anger that would be engendered from the thought that they could well be the object of their seeming gossip.

However, I dare say that the flaws the Yorubas have are the same flaws that the other tribes have too. They are no more demonic than the other tribes, neither are they more saintly. No tribe in Nigeria is saintly. Therefore, none can and should demonize the other.

It is very easy for a man to see the specks in the eyes of his friend or enemy, but it is difficult for him to see same in his, unless he uses a mirror. It is that mirror I implore all to look at today!

MY PLEA
The building blocks of a tribe are the people of that tribe. Each single block is an individual in that tribe. An individual of a tribe is first and foremost an individual. For emphasis, the Yoruba tribe is made up of men and women that are Yoruba. And they are first and foremost humans. We should never forget this! Those Yoruba men or women behave the way they do because they are humans, first — humans are flawed from birth — and not because they are Yoruba. At least, first consider the former before the latter.

Secondly, a prejudicial man needs only an instance to confirm his prejudice; then nothing will forever change his view. It is similar to a disaster waiting to happen, as when petrol, carelessly kept, need only a used stick of cigarette, still barely glowing, for everything to go up in flames. Indeed, a disaster waiting to happen needs only a trigger and all will go kaboom.

This is a plea to all Yorubas: know that anywhere you find yourself, you hold the Yoruba banner. Do not be the bad specimen that that prejudicial man needs. Do not be that trigger of Yoruba demonization. Again, this is a plea on a personal level, that, as a human first, the Yoruba should refine his/her character to an irreproachable state.

MY VERDICT
The demonization of the Yorubas is not a mere conjecture. It has been substantiated by evidence both from the cyberspace and in the real world.

To be fair, tribal demonization is pervasive in Nigeria; it is pandemic rather than endemic. The demonization of other tribes has seen people agree on some stereotypes about the different tribes. People say the Hausas are naturally violent, but the recent Ile-Ife incident says otherwise: the Yorubas were at the heart of an inglorious role-reversal. People say the average Igbo loves money, but who doesn't? The symptoms of demonization are clinically slow to appear, but it is malignant still, so much so that it is eating away the last fibre that holds this country together faster than we imagine.

Therefore, if tribal demonization in general, and the demonization of the Yorubas in particular, continues unchecked, there will be no future for Nigeria. This is not a threat. The Nigerian story cannot simply play out in any other way.

For one wonders how long the hatred among the ethnic groups will continue. Is it until it reaches its tipping point, so that the actors in this Nigerian story stab one another to death in a mad frenzy, thereby leading to an apocalyptic end? Again, one wonders for how long will the Yorubas continue to be demonized. Is it until they eventually turn to that demon?

Where there is suspicion, malignant prejudice, paranoia, distrust and hatred, there can never be love, and where there is no love, there can never be a marriage. So, will the Nigerian Marriage crash, and the rubbles from this once great edifice be gleefully used by groits for moral chastening of generations to come?

Is this a project work or what... why this long

Well written, sadly it's the reality




. Yoruba people are good people, so are ibos and hausas


I was listening to an interview with a retired army General today he said in every gathering there must be a Judas, in every tribe there are bad elements doesn't mean the totality of that tribe is bad


Unfortunately ewar and tribalism reigns Supreme on nland

As an Igbo man, I will say this much. I would rather cut my own neck than put my trust in a Yoruba man.

Does Yorubas love other tribes?
The answer is NO.

Ojiofor:
Does Yorubas love other tribes? The answer is NO.

You have no idea.

Ladrang:
You have no idea.

Tell me something.

Some of the so called demonization is nothing but gospel truth.

Have you not also observed that your Yoruba brothers online also take delight in insulting other tribes. They were particularly vocal during the last elections in 2015 when they thought the political kingdom was now theirs. This has nothing to do with 1967-1970 civil war. You have no idea how deeply Nigeria was divided during the 2015 elections due to the kind of politics of bitterness, tribalism and religious intolerance that was exhibited by the political actors and many of us cheered them on.When the elections were over, some tribes including the yoruba saw and celebrated it as a victory and supremacy over other tribes. Did we not know that we were sowing the seed of discord in our nation because people wanted power at all cost? I don't see any demonization of Yoruba here,all I see is a country that is dancing the unpleasant music it decided to play for itself and this same mutual hatred is been passed on to the next generation. Your post is even indicative of this hollow kind of thinking. You have quickly concluded that it is other tribes that hate the Yoruba for no justifiable reason. Everybody are the haters except the Yoruba who are full of love for everybody abi ?

Nigeria as a country is just a forced marriage there are lots of distrust amongst the tribes that made up Nigeria, Buhari administration further divided it wider through his appointment and distribution of resources no thanks to his 95 and 5% comments


Nigeria as a black nation is too big to be a country, population of Benin Republic is not even up to what you have in Lagos state
.

Cc:lalaclastical, Seun. Please move this to FP.

so when you guys pitched your tent with the north instead of being neutral during the war you don't know their will be bad blood?

for your information their is nothing binding Nigeria together. the marriage has already crashed we are just waiting for the divorce certificate from the court!

and yes, the Yoruba's are in positivity with their stereo type

Mr, just know that these days, Yorubas dont have monopoly of media propaganda......AGAIN.
That is how u used ur media power to demonize Biafrans and esp Igbos.


We dey here.

OP,you don't just call things stereotypes without evidence or with watery evidence like the ones you provided. All you can say is not ALL Yorubas are lazy,cowards,dirty, backstabbers and untrustworthy,but the majority of them are. Infact,an average Yoruba displays all these attributes.
It is something that has to do with DNA or environment, I think.

mexxmoney:
Have you not also observed that your Yoruba brothers online also take delight in insulting other tribes. They were particularly vocal during the last elections in 2015 when they thought the political kingdom was now theirs. This has nothing to do with 1967-1970 civil war. You have no idea how deeply Nigeria was divided during the 2015 elections due to the kind of politics of bitterness, tribalism and religious intolerance that was exhibited by the political actors and many of us cheered them on.When the elections were over, some tribes including the yoruba saw and celebrated it as a victory and supremacy over other tribes. Did we not know that we were sowing the seed of discord in our nation because people wanted power at all cost? I don't see any demonization of Yoruba here,all I see is a country that is dancing the unpleasant music it decided to play for itself and this same mutual hatred is been passed on to the next generation. Your post is even indicative of this hollow kind of thinking. You have quickly concluded that it is other tribes that hate the Yoruba for no justifiable reason. Everybody are the haters except the Yoruba who are full of love for everybody abi ?

Thank you for this. You gave another plausible reason/explanation for the inter-tribal hate bedevilling Nigeria.

Trust me, the Yoruba land was greatly divided too during the 2015 elections. I would rather say the divide was majorly along religious line. The Muslims favoured Buhari, the Christians favoured Jonathan, while many had other reasons for their preference.

It's not as if the Yorubas don't hate. They are no saint. The country is one big hell-hole of hatred. But to have a better grabs of what I'm saying, just see Kingzizzy's comment above. Trust me, he's not alone in this sentiment. I for one can't say that to any tribe, and I dare say many (not all) Yorubas too.

michelz:
OP,you don't just call things stereotypes without evidence or with watery evidence like the ones you provided. All you can say is not ALL Yorubas are lazy,cowards,dirty, backstabbers and untrustworthy,but the majority of them are. Infact,an average Yoruba displays all these attributes.
It is something that has to do with DNA or environment, I think.

Here we go again. Isn't this over-generalisation? Can you provide counter-evidence for. For every one you give, I promise to give two to counter it.

The yourbas are the ones that call themselves demons not other tribes.

Wonderful read.


If the mods know any better, this should make front page to educate some people...a change needs to be made.

ibedun:
To hell with the basta'd Igbos, I hate them all.

the article was written by a Yoruba to other Yorubas mehn..it's too early for this

mexxmoney:
Have you not also observed that your Yoruba brothers online also take delight in insulting other tribes. They were particularly vocal during the last elections in 2015 when they thought the political kingdom was now theirs. This has nothing to do with 1967-1970 civil war. You have no idea how deeply Nigeria was divided during the 2015 elections due to the kind of politics of bitterness, tribalism and religious intolerance that was exhibited by the political actors and many of us cheered them on.When the elections were over, some tribes including the yoruba saw and celebrated it as a victory and supremacy over other tribes. Did we not know that we were sowing the seed of discord in our nation because people wanted power at all cost? I don't see any demonization of Yoruba here,all I see is a country that is dancing the unpleasant music it decided to play for itself and this same mutual hatred is been passed on to the next generation. Your post is even indicative of this hollow kind of thinking. You have quickly concluded that it is other tribes that hate the Yoruba for no justifiable reason. Everybody are the haters except the Yoruba who are full of love for everybody abi ?

nice.

The move that broke the camel's back was:

1: deporting of igbos and dumping them at head bridge (something we saw during the pogrom days that led to the biafran war)

2: protesting against igbos to leave Lagos

3: calling on genocide of the igbos from an Oba and other Yorubas (doctor in the USA, some folks on the internet too)

Their claim of supremacy has been swatted by the envy of the Hausa/Fulani in their claim to dominance and the niger deltans wake up call from Biafrans

Where was this writer when Yorubas were celebrating the killing of youth copers in the north after the 2011 election? The only reason they stopped celebrating is that the list of the names of the dead youth copers came out and Yoruba children made the list in huge numbers.


Where was this writer when recently an Igbo woman was beheaded in Kanu and Yorubas taunted igbos online but few months later, a Yoruba female preacher was mutilated in Abuja.


In fact there is a thread in nairaland that gives so many examples of this phenomenon and has exposed Yorubas two faced nature. I can go on and on with examples.

Online afonjeezys vs online ipob bastards season 12 loading soon on this thread!

This match will be duly watched by the silent online northern muslim herdsmen and women and the rest of the silent majority tribes of NL!

Welcome to a new age....gone are the days a certain tribe used the power of media to peddle their propaganda against other tribes.

The game is changing and is changing very fast...!!!!!

Funlordmaniac:
Online afonjeezys vs online ipob bastards season 12 loading soon on this thread!

This match will be duly watched by the silent online northern muslim herdsmen and women and the rest of the silent majority tribes of NL!

the article is talking about other tribe's hate on the Yorubas not just the igbos...keep up!!

Why bother us. So because 20something Yorubas were arrested for unneccesarily slaughtering Hausas, every Yoruba who has a hand now resorts to writing essays.

Yorubas are On-Their-Own. Yorubas elected to refer to every non-yoruba southerner as Omo-igbo(recklessly disregarding the feelings of the nationalities), Yorubas elected to always show tribal solidarity by speaking his language to fellow Yorubas in a gathering of all when discretion should have been applied, Yorubas always talk about how they love themselves and dont care about others. They have overtime marketed themselves as the face of tribalism in Nigeria. So why complain when others treat you the way you treat them. Since you dnt care abt others, dont expet them to care about you.

raker300:
the article is talking about other tribe's hate on the Yorubas not just the igbos...keep up!!

As if that matters! It is still going to end up being the igbo and yoruba posters that would end up pulverizing themselves on this thread while the details in the article would be ignored! So in essence maybe you should be the one trying to keep up....I'm just here for the Saturday morning carnage!

Who cares really? Anyone can say anything they want to say about anything. The only important thing is that when the hate reaches the tipping point, the Yoruba must never be caught napping.
We must learn from history and not act like fools. We should continue to seek peace as usual but be ready for any eventuality.

kingzizzy:
As an Igbo man, I will say this much. I would rather cut my own neck than put my trust in a Yoruba man.

seconded o boy I can trust Yoruba CHRISTAIN but not the Yoruba muslim

Ladrang:
Here we go again. Isn't this over-generalisation? Can you provide counter-evidence for. For every one you give, I promise to give two to counter it.

I think we should be careful how we label things over generalization or stereotypes. Nobody is saying that Yoruba don't have their good attributes or that all of them exhibit all these vices you call stereotypes;no.
I will give you instances: why do you think oil companies prefer to have their head quarters in Abuja or Lagos,when the main resources of their business lie in the south-south? The answer is very simple: those guys( most of them in south-south) are very much prone to militancy. Period.
Why is it that most Pentecostal churches or other christian denominations tend to avoid the core northern states in their activities? Reason is the core northerners up there are more prone to religious intolerance and crisis than other regions. Very simple.
You don't have to lie over what is a known fact just to make a particular people feel good or to be seen as a detribalized Nigerian.
Let me tell you the truth: most people traveling for the first time to some southwestern states are warned severely about ritualism,and we see incidences of that occurring almost on daily bases.
And you call all these stereotypes?

Because Yoruba are not self-respecting. Yoruba are the only people who don't stand up for themselves, for and beside their own. What do wicked do to orphans? They abuse and treat them like dirt.Yoruba are just like orphans no one care for. Look at the Ile ife crisis, no self-respecting Ooni would appear in a photo op with Emir Sanusi at that time when he should be calling for immediate unconditional release of the Yoruba arrested. And gov. Aregbe with the silence of graveyard, unbelievable! The ooni looked dumb, I was ashamed for him. I vowed never to bow before any of these low-self esteem monarchs. The thing is other tribes are paying attention, they know Yoruba to always roll over when they should be speaking and speak when to keep quiet. Yoruba are weaklings, that is established. Who else would have others walk on them in their own home if not Yoruba? Shame on every Yoruba man and woman. Yoruba are just stuppid, that's all. It's not too late though, we can fix it, we can start demanding respect and get the boundaries set. It's all in our hands, only Yoruba can fix this. I hope you have seen where your 'sophistication' has landed you. Yoruba are as good as slaves in Nigeria cos a people who can't protect their boundaries and interests are done for.

Our afonja slaves lack respect
they are bitting the finger that fed them
They must ask us for forgiveness