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TRIBALISM AND ITS EFFECT ON PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY
TRIBALISM AND ITS EFFECT ON PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY
(NIGERIA AS A CASE STUDY)
In my motherland, my people suffer a mental illness that has been with us from before we existed as a country that is 1914, but this is not an article concerning history.
Truthfully, different ethnic groups in my country suffer from a bad behavior peculiar to them, for instance, the Yoruba believe that they are the wisest, the Hausa think that the country is theirs because they have a larger landmass, the Igbos cannot be trusted with money, the Tivs are perceived for their promiscuity, the Igbira are seen as stupid and a host of other backward thoughts most of my people possess.
Ironically, those thoughts fold inwards too as a Yoruba man may tend to not trust his tribal man because they tend to have a jealous hatred towards each other, therefore they attack each other, in more ways than one, one of which is spiritually, the deceit is scary like a locust plague so it is with other ethnic groups.
Coming to its effects on personal philosophy
Philosophy has been given a whole lot of definitions over the ages, one cannot say for certain that this is philosophy or that is philosophy under a definition for it changes.
As a country, as a group of people who are bounded together by laws, as individuals who are unavoidably connected to a piece of land that we indefinitely call our home, our perception of each other, affects our way of life, our mode of reasoning, our relationship with ourselves, simply put, our perception of each other affects our philosophy in more ways than one.
Upbringing/growth
It is admirable that we have different backgrounds hence the beauty of our diversity, though certain practices, our ideas that we carry may harm said diversity and the beauty of it becomes an ugly scenario that no one wants to look at.
A child who was born in a Yoruba home and brought up in the way of the Yoruba people and sees movies that are produced in his tribal culture has a high tendency to see, in more ways than one, scenarios involving traditional worship of false gods or paganism as well as scenarios of western religion interwoven together, working hand in hand to portray an image of farrago, the analyst then asks, “is this trying to bring both western religion and paganism together, knowing fully well how both practices disagree with each other? What idea is being planted in the mind of the child?”
The said child has associations and affiliations with people who have been raised differently and has their own opinions on their culture and his as well, truthfully and realistically, both do not always agree in many ways, hence the beauty the diversity is said to paint becoming an artistic nightmare, and unfortunately, in the mind of children, who have no opinions of their own, rather swallow what they have been spoon-fed by their associations.
Uncontrolled speech
Unavoidably, issues and disagreement comes up between older people who may or may not be the same in terms of culture and tribe and when issues are discussed, attacks are made, a bull’s-eye is then strapped to their roots. Statements like “the Hausa man just behaves stupidly, anyway that is how they behave” and “that Igbo man is so obsessed with money”, likewise “the Yoruba man thinks he is wise, what a fool he is”.
Such mental illness has eaten deep into my motherland and unfortunately, it has no vaccine and no preventive measures are being taken, we produce offspring and inject them with the same mental illness, poisoning their minds before it even starts to take shape. Such words builds conflicts that a thousand years of dialogue would not be able to resolve. Unfortunately, it would not be resolved.
Nation building
If a product be bad, check the raw materials used. We have a saying in my motherland, “the youths are the leaders of tomorrow” or simply put, “the youths are the future of the country”. I then imagine a child with a fucked up mind, distorted by his elders, living his life in a country, with others who individually, having fucked up mentalities about each other because of tribe and the disgusting behaviors they attribute to each other, relate and build up a country, Nigeria, that has been so decayed, sprouting out maggots, out of her decay and bitterness, transformed into “a land flowing with milk and honey”. My readers would most certainly not agree with this, but statistically, this land cannot be repaired and hope is lost for her.
The religious and optimistic ones would say otherwise giving various reasons but that is fine. I am not a pessimist either, I just give my words based on facts that are obvious, though I would really love to see otherwise happen to Nigeria, especially politically, but I honestly doubt it, for Nigeria is a failed state, a complete write off on the face of the planet, I stand corrected though, provided there be sudden changes. Our leaders failed us and we are as well on the same path, hopefully the good seeds would germinate, but what are the odds of that happening?
Marriage
I always wonder the inception of the thought that tribe actually mattered in matters regarding love, last I heard, love was blind, in other words, not seeing ethnicity, age, physical appearance and a lot more, therefore why would an average Igbo man or an average Yoruba man kick against inter tribal marriages? Looking at it another way, I do not blame them, for if not for the situation of the country, such would not happen and so, such statements would not be uttered. Even inwardly, for instance, a man or woman from Owo local government area in ondo state would not willingly get married to a spouse from Ikale local government area of the same state. I wonder the genesis of this mental infirmity, but like I said earlier, if such was not the case, such utterances would not be made.
Religion
Saving the worst for last, how I detest this word with passion. I would say, with no iota of doubt, that the introduction of the above subtopic to my motherland has done more harm than good, making Nigeria a perfect example of a severely dehydrated and physically, mentally and societally challenged individual. Religious beliefs that contradict each other even within the same religion, is a serious mental illness. Religious supremacy rules everyone everywhere in my country and this has sprouted many a challenge to the land I call my home. Inhuman behaviors reported throughout the country, behaviors perpetrated by groups of mentally insane individuals and religionists that call themselves holy. I always wondered if holiness sprouts such or if the entity they claim to worship taught them to behave as such, as we are, even the animals are civilized, perhaps they should be our next colonial masters. Believe it or not, religion is an invention of man. In other to search for the God that made man, we should stop searching for the god that man made.
written by:
F. Olawale (SAGE)
(NIGERIA AS A CASE STUDY)
In my motherland, my people suffer a mental illness that has been with us from before we existed as a country that is 1914, but this is not an article concerning history.
Truthfully, different ethnic groups in my country suffer from a bad behavior peculiar to them, for instance, the Yoruba believe that they are the wisest, the Hausa think that the country is theirs because they have a larger landmass, the Igbos cannot be trusted with money, the Tivs are perceived for their promiscuity, the Igbira are seen as stupid and a host of other backward thoughts most of my people possess.
Ironically, those thoughts fold inwards too as a Yoruba man may tend to not trust his tribal man because they tend to have a jealous hatred towards each other, therefore they attack each other, in more ways than one, one of which is spiritually, the deceit is scary like a locust plague so it is with other ethnic groups.
Coming to its effects on personal philosophy
Philosophy has been given a whole lot of definitions over the ages, one cannot say for certain that this is philosophy or that is philosophy under a definition for it changes.
As a country, as a group of people who are bounded together by laws, as individuals who are unavoidably connected to a piece of land that we indefinitely call our home, our perception of each other, affects our way of life, our mode of reasoning, our relationship with ourselves, simply put, our perception of each other affects our philosophy in more ways than one.
Upbringing/growth
It is admirable that we have different backgrounds hence the beauty of our diversity, though certain practices, our ideas that we carry may harm said diversity and the beauty of it becomes an ugly scenario that no one wants to look at.
A child who was born in a Yoruba home and brought up in the way of the Yoruba people and sees movies that are produced in his tribal culture has a high tendency to see, in more ways than one, scenarios involving traditional worship of false gods or paganism as well as scenarios of western religion interwoven together, working hand in hand to portray an image of farrago, the analyst then asks, “is this trying to bring both western religion and paganism together, knowing fully well how both practices disagree with each other? What idea is being planted in the mind of the child?”
The said child has associations and affiliations with people who have been raised differently and has their own opinions on their culture and his as well, truthfully and realistically, both do not always agree in many ways, hence the beauty the diversity is said to paint becoming an artistic nightmare, and unfortunately, in the mind of children, who have no opinions of their own, rather swallow what they have been spoon-fed by their associations.
Uncontrolled speech
Unavoidably, issues and disagreement comes up between older people who may or may not be the same in terms of culture and tribe and when issues are discussed, attacks are made, a bull’s-eye is then strapped to their roots. Statements like “the Hausa man just behaves stupidly, anyway that is how they behave” and “that Igbo man is so obsessed with money”, likewise “the Yoruba man thinks he is wise, what a fool he is”.
Such mental illness has eaten deep into my motherland and unfortunately, it has no vaccine and no preventive measures are being taken, we produce offspring and inject them with the same mental illness, poisoning their minds before it even starts to take shape. Such words builds conflicts that a thousand years of dialogue would not be able to resolve. Unfortunately, it would not be resolved.
Nation building
If a product be bad, check the raw materials used. We have a saying in my motherland, “the youths are the leaders of tomorrow” or simply put, “the youths are the future of the country”. I then imagine a child with a fucked up mind, distorted by his elders, living his life in a country, with others who individually, having fucked up mentalities about each other because of tribe and the disgusting behaviors they attribute to each other, relate and build up a country, Nigeria, that has been so decayed, sprouting out maggots, out of her decay and bitterness, transformed into “a land flowing with milk and honey”. My readers would most certainly not agree with this, but statistically, this land cannot be repaired and hope is lost for her.
The religious and optimistic ones would say otherwise giving various reasons but that is fine. I am not a pessimist either, I just give my words based on facts that are obvious, though I would really love to see otherwise happen to Nigeria, especially politically, but I honestly doubt it, for Nigeria is a failed state, a complete write off on the face of the planet, I stand corrected though, provided there be sudden changes. Our leaders failed us and we are as well on the same path, hopefully the good seeds would germinate, but what are the odds of that happening?
Marriage
I always wonder the inception of the thought that tribe actually mattered in matters regarding love, last I heard, love was blind, in other words, not seeing ethnicity, age, physical appearance and a lot more, therefore why would an average Igbo man or an average Yoruba man kick against inter tribal marriages? Looking at it another way, I do not blame them, for if not for the situation of the country, such would not happen and so, such statements would not be uttered. Even inwardly, for instance, a man or woman from Owo local government area in ondo state would not willingly get married to a spouse from Ikale local government area of the same state. I wonder the genesis of this mental infirmity, but like I said earlier, if such was not the case, such utterances would not be made.
Religion
Saving the worst for last, how I detest this word with passion. I would say, with no iota of doubt, that the introduction of the above subtopic to my motherland has done more harm than good, making Nigeria a perfect example of a severely dehydrated and physically, mentally and societally challenged individual. Religious beliefs that contradict each other even within the same religion, is a serious mental illness. Religious supremacy rules everyone everywhere in my country and this has sprouted many a challenge to the land I call my home. Inhuman behaviors reported throughout the country, behaviors perpetrated by groups of mentally insane individuals and religionists that call themselves holy. I always wondered if holiness sprouts such or if the entity they claim to worship taught them to behave as such, as we are, even the animals are civilized, perhaps they should be our next colonial masters. Believe it or not, religion is an invention of man. In other to search for the God that made man, we should stop searching for the god that man made.
written by:
F. Olawale (SAGE)
