What part of you really belongs to a tribe? Is it your head, heart, stomach or cells?
On the day of the just concluded election, besides voting, I decided to spend the majority of my day following up events on social media rather than occupy myself with the one-sided, sub-par reporting our media outlets tend to dish out. OnTwitterr, three major hashtags led the trend pack: #AtikuIsWinning, #BuhariIsWinning and #Igbos, while the first two were politically motivated by the two main political parties in contention, the third bordered on tribalism – a common feature of post-election crisis.
The tribal hashtag was a reaction to the violence allegedly perpetrated by Tinubu to ensure the suppression of votes at Igbo-populated areas within Lagos state which were believed to be in favour of PDP. This didn’t go down well with the Igbo tribe and they expressed their disdain at Yoruba’s on social media, sparking a tribal war of words.
What part of you is Yoruba?
The day of the result reading, another trend on Twitter caught my attention: #Northerners. The Northern part of the country racked in massive numbers in favour of President Buhari, much to the disappointment of those from the South who voted against him, going by the numbers. Unfortunately, many weren’t happy with Northerners exercising their autonomous right to vote and they made this clear by hurling bigoted words, steering another war of words.
What part of you is Hausa?
In just two days Nigerians proved that tribe will always come before country. But, why?
I was asked the opening question a few years ago by someone I consider wise. He asked, “If I open your body up, what part of you is Igbo? Is it your lung or your intestine?” Safe to say I had no response, though his words hit my core.
Why do we believe we are so different? What part of you is a tribe?