Stella Oduah: Tribalism , ethnicity, bane of Nigeria’s development

For the past weeks since the incumbent Aviation Minister, Ms. Stella Oduah, was reported to have purchased, through the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), her two latest and most expensive bullet proof vehicles- BMW 760 Li HSS- at the abnormal price of N255m ($ 1.6m), Nigerians, both at home and abroad have been displeased by this act of flamboyancy
and many- the living, dead, deaf, blind, lame and disable and the poor- have reacted on different platforms.

However, despite the fact that this act of mismanagement as many have described it has generated a lot of debates among ‘patriotic’ Nigerians, the focus of this write-up is not to expose Nigeria’s shame before the world, but to state in clear terms, why Nigeria has failed to develop despite the plethora of resources it possessed- if we like we say ‘oil’ amongst others. The only answer one can give is the existence of tribalism and ethnicity among leaders and followers in the country.

This has robbed Nigerians of the spirits of nationalism of the late 1950s to early 1960s in exchange for parochialism and selfism that have pervaded our political, economic and social climates since the mid-1960s.

Tribalism and ethnicity have penetrated deeply into the fabrics of the Nigerian nation and have distracted many, especially the youth who claim to be leaders of tomorrow, from pondering development as well as gathering the tools to instigate one: that is if they have access to the needed tools. These two are enemies of the Nigerian state and have deprived Nigeria its rightful positions in the world’s stage. Nigeria might be considered as a developing country by the international community, but the Nigerians themselves know that the country is far from that. In short, if there is any qualification below underdeveloped, Nigeria will be glad to embrace this status.

Nigeria emerged after independence in the 1960s as one of the major powers on the African continent and even dominated the political, economic and social arenas in Africa especially with its roles in the founding of the Organization of African Unity (now AU) in 1963 and subsequently, its relentless fight against white rule in Africa. Further, in 1975, Nigeria also played a very important role in ensuring that an economic body called the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was founded in order to foster trade relations and cooperation amongst the countries found on the Western part of Africa.

Nigeria was Africa’s voice on the international scene. Nigeria possessed both human and material resources that other African countries lacked and this was why some smaller countries such as Gabon and Ivory Coast decided to work towards its bifurcation by pitching their tents along with the French in support of the Biafrans against her during the Nigerian Civil War of 1967-1970; a war that had its root in Tribalism and Ethnicity! Nigeria was the dream of many foreigners and tourists destination because of its beautiful climate and resources. At this period, many Nigerians were proud of their roots and the Nigerian passport was cherished like gold, silver and diamond. Nigerians stayed in their country, went about their businesses, had access to the best of academic materials and qualified teachers and professors that were competing on the international arena then, and many Nigerians would dare to say ‘to hell with foreign countries and their passports’ because Nigeria was even a model to some so-called developed countries today!

But where are all these values, pride and comfort today? The answer is that they have been buried in the womb of tribalism and ethnicity. Or better still, consumed by these long-standing enemies of the Nigerian state. What then is Tribalism and Ethnicity? These two enemies are different but share very close domain. According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th edition, Tribalism is defined as ‘behaviour, attitudes, etc. that are based on being loyal to a tribe or other social group’, while Ethnicity is defined as ‘belonging to a particular race’. These two have long been harmonized to determine the course of events in the political, economic and social relations amongst Nigerians.