Ethnocentrism
I have heard the word tribalism over and over again that it has become another academic expression – the Nigerian political history is never complete without the hate and bigotry of ethnic considerations. I even had a roommate back then as a university undergraduate who used to run around a lot to complete one assignment or the other in a particular course called ‘ethnicity’.
Among the list of things I’m forever grateful to my parents for is the sense of self-discovery (not in the New Age religion sense) they cultivated in us the kids- to believe in yourself enough such that it becomes the basis of your identity. I mean such that when people see and relate with you, they come in contact with a persona - your individuality.

Nothing inspires me more than interacting with liberated minds, mentally separated individuals whose mentality isn’t defined by cultural sentiments or ethnic affiliations but rather by humanistic principles of what is ideal and progressive for the common good of all. The crux of the matter in any given relationship whether by divine providence or otherwise is that no other human is created by a lesser God, hence, the institution of a social or ethnic caste system is simply a case of wasted minds desperate for content.
As a young adult, my baptism into the world of ethnocentrism started with the eye-opening experience of Nollywood home videos.
We all know the typical nollywood story line of parents’ seeking subliminal influence over their children, they have even coined it “The African Mentality”, ie the belief that children should exist as extensions of their parents.
In most instances you find this in the plot of intertribal marriages. The pertinent question is why do you define a person by where he is from? Shouldn’t it be the other way round? –where is he going?
The word ‘minority’ is a statistical monster that has connived with the word ‘tribe’ that it has become such a powerful propaganda tool in the hands of a select few who rule their society by the ‘drama triangle syndrome’, i.e the victim-persecutor-rescuer syndrome. On a global scale, most political strategies are designed by these ethnocentric tactics. Take for instance the Rwanda Genocide, I watched with horror the foundation of the crises where power, authority and superiority were determined by the facial structure of different tribes – ‘Tutsies and Hutus’ (source: History Channel). The Holocaust staged the slaughter of over 6million jews, what about the Bosnian war - all in the name of ethnic cleansing!
Who gave one tribe the mandate to declare superiority over the other? Why would a human being be so seared in his conscience that he would commit such atrocities to his fellow man even to children (we all need to read that book by Prof Elie Wiesel who was a prisoner at the Auschwitz Concentration Camp). It was once put that the Nazis stretched the boundaries of atrocities beyond it’s limit so much so that you couldn’t find an expression to adequately describe the horrendous evil committed against humanity in those camps…