Right from primary school, I have always detested
being asked that or her brother, “Where are you from?”
In my head I always
pondered, “Don’t I look Nigerian?” My next
question always was and still is, especially when it’s a face to face conversation or via
chat.
“I’m a Nigerian, does the state of origin of my parents really matter?”
they always say yes.
Sad truth, in this country your state of origin
matters every step of the way. You might be the brightest student in the batch
to get into a Federal Government college; your state of origin can deny you
from getting in.
To apply for a degree course in a Federal University, you
might have the highest post-ume mark, pass the cut off for Law and they throw
you away from the Law department of the school, the only excuse they will give
you is, “You don’t fall into the catchment area.” In my head, I think, ‘Excuse
you! Was I blind when I knowingly applied to your university? Don’t I know
what state it is in?” You pick yourself up and step out the office. You meet a
law student from the North or from the state that has 43 in the Post-Ume and
you had above 70 plus over 300 in Jamb and your A1 in Government and awesome
WAEC result but you can’t get in because of your state of origin.
You graduate from university with a great result;
you decide to apply for a job. Another sad truth is, be it a federal government
job or a private sector job you will be asked what your state of origin is.
Some employers in the private sector won’t give you a job because of the prejudice and bias they have towards someone or people from your state (tribe). It may
not be a personal experience but something they heard about someone from your
state. You may have been the most qualified for the job but you won’t get it.
Getting a federal government job in a state that isn’t your state of origin
even if you have lived in that state all your life and have a first class in
your first degree plus a master’s degree and a PhD to back it up, you will be
asked to go to your state of origin that you’ve never been to for say three
months your whole life to go apply for the job.
Then you decide to run for political office, let me
go way down, you decide to run for the position of a local government chairman
in a local government you have lived in for forty years plus, in a state you
have paid taxes in for years, your state of origin is a deciding factor. It is
same with every other political position; you can’t expect to represent a
constituency in a state that you didn’t originate from. Even to become president,
state of origin matters, it tells if people will vote for you or not, plus your
religion. It will be hard.
They say they want to keep Nigeria together. They
want to end tribalism. They want every Nigerian not to feel marginalized and
abandoned. I’m sorry; we feel it, every step of the way right from when we are
kids.
What’s my solution?
Can the state of origin question
be taken out application forms in every level and in every part of the country?
You’ll say but someone can tell your tribe just by hearing your name. What does
my tribe and the state I was born into have to do with my competency as a human,
as a professional in my field, as a good or bad person?
No one asked to be born a Nigerian. I’m sure if most
of us had been asked by the Creator what country we’d like to be born into on
earth, Nigeria will not be the most populated Black country in the world. Lol.
In that same way, no one asked to be born into any
state or tribe.
You travel abroad and what you are asked is” What
country are you from?” It’s not what
tribe. You see people’s reaction towards you when they hear Nigeria.
Unfortunately, Nigerians abroad when they meet you the first question they ask is...yep, you guessed right. The tribalism follows us all the way out the country. Some never forget to point things out like "You, Yoruba people...You Igbos...etc".
It has become part of our identity no matter where we go. Some would help someone from their tribe out first before a fellow Nigerian from a different tribe. Not all remember that we are all Nigerians abroad so let's drop the tribalism.
Imagine living in a country like Nigeria where most are marginalized and made to feel like foreigners right from birth no matter how accomplished they are by their fellow countrymen just because they are from a state and tribe they do not like and are not from. We have tribal profiling in Nigeria just like some countries have racial profiling.
I believe the catchment area and state of
origin questions and criteria in schools, companies, federal government
agencies etc should be scrapped.
One should also be allowed to sue anyone be it a school or company
that one feels denied him/her of a job, a contract or a place in their institution despite qualifications and passing their marks just because of one's state of origin. Just like people can be sued for racism, people should be sued for tribalism if it warrants it.
I think this way Nigeria will move forward. The
right students, teachers and lecturers, will get into the right schools and
courses; will be taught by qualified teachers and lecturers and when the
students graduate, we will have competent and highly skilled professionals. Our federal agencies, etc will have competent
people irrespective of what part of the country they are from, same with our political offices.
People put tribe first. That's why some presidents like the present one would get into office and all key and major positions, he gives 80% out to people their names sound and look like his irrespective of their ability to play those roles.
Who I am, what I can do, bring to the table, what
kind of person I am, my personal and professional principles and values are what you
should be eager to know, to see and not what part of the country I am from.
This is what every Nigerian deserves in Nigeria. This is what we should do and
address if we really and truly want to create one Nigeria. It’s part of the many steps to that. Country should come before tribe. You are a Nigerian first, so are others. your loyalty and patriotism should be with the country and not a tribe.
Let’s create the unity we want with actions and
inclusion from wherever we are and not mere words. Stay pro-Nigerian.
Thanks for reading my thoughts. What are yours?
You always hit the nail on the head! Kudos dear. Nice write up.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful write up. I agree completely that the question should be scrapped completely. However,
ReplyDeleteI think they have been exceptions in some places. My father ran for the post of a councilor in the North and won. He had a lovely tenure and well loved by everyone till his death even after.
On the other hand, I remember when I was looking for admission and my dad said we should apply into OAU since he is from Ife. My mom was told that we can never be given admission in Ife because my dad has for a long time given more to the North.
So beyond scrapping it from the system, people need to be reoriented. And it begins from stories we tell others; true or false. We leave impressions in thee heart of it audience.