Of the biases of a nation: One Nigeria

By Matthew Eloyi

Despite its overwhelming size and power, the Cold War’s global patterns of religious intolerance, ethnic tensions, tribalism, wars, and narrow-mindedness have formed and warped Nigeria, and these have negatively shaped and distorted a nation that plays a key role in African and global affairs. With approximately 250 ethnic groups and 120 different languages spoken in the country, the question of Nigeria’s unity is undoubtedly one of the most difficult in the world. While ostensibly carrying out a task of unifying warring ethnic groups, the colonialists purposefully and methodically segregated the diverse Nigerian people, therefore creating a suitable environment for ethnic tensions/conflicts.

While the numerous rivalries and struggles among these distinct ethnic groups have been attributed to colonial contact, the ethnic component, on the other hand, did not go away with independence; rather, it remains a yardstick for assessing contributions to the national development effort, particularly in terms of power allocation and distribution of national resources. Job opportunities and admission into higher institutions in Nigeria are marked by ethnic bias and favouritism, and citizens are consequently treated unequally in many ways. Often time, government contracts are awarded to unqualified bidders who are in cahoots with family and friends, which frequently lead to poor or non-execution of projects. Ethnic prejudice and favouritism have exacerbated Nigeria’s ethnic division and have been attributed to the country’s low economic performance. Employees who belong to the ‘wrong’ ethnic group, and thus lack proper political representation, are unmotivated at work because they feel alienated by the system, whereas those who have proper political representation, by belonging to the ‘right’ ethnic group, display enormous arrogance and are always protected by the system. Employees in this latter group, the majority of whom hold senior positions, sometimes lack the requisite skills but keep their jobs still, especially because they face little or no competition from their counterparts. This builds animosity and sets the stage for the disgruntled and politically aware masses to reject the nation entirely. It’s also anti-developmental because it’s akin to corruption, diminishing the state’s ability to function effectively.

Nigeria’s ethnic divisions and religious intolerance make establishing a stable administration difficult. Most of the federal government’s development policies are influenced by the country’s strong ethnoreligious identity, which has over time, resulted in tensions and conflicts in the country. This is exacerbated by the fact that some groups of people see themselves as a “superpower” in the country and believe that maintaining the status quo is essential to the country’s unity. Because of this lack of national unity, rather than agreeing on policies that promote economic growth and development, all ethnic groups continue to focus on grabbing the spoils from oil, the country’s main source of revenue, which is perceived to be dominated by the elites.

While there are several other enemies of ‘One Nigeria’, religious extremism is the deadliest of them. Religious extremism appears to be undermining religious freedom in Nigeria. Disparaging publications by various religious groups, such as Christians and Muslims, wrong perceptions of other people’s religion or faith, and wrong religious orientation, among others, appear to be responsible for ethnoreligious intolerance in Nigeria. Consequently, there has been an increase in the number of religious crises in Nigeria, which has resulted in increased religious intolerance that has become more violent with more destructive results, using militias as the executors of religious agendas. This is caused by religious bigotry, which leads to prejudice and a lack of cordial relations among members of different religious groups. Nigeria appears to have had a slew of theological crises, all of which have exacerbated political unrest, community bloodshed, and religious insurgency.

There is no gainsaying that we have failed to develop a national identity, and that political instability in Nigeria is caused by religious intolerance. This is likely due to political leaders’ perceptions of religion as a legitimate tool for manipulating society’s vulnerable masses. Given the foregoing, Nigerians should adopt a spirit of tolerance for each other’s religious inclinations and channel their loyalty to fostering national integration to attain the ‘One Nigeria’ we so much yearn for.