Collins Uma: How to become a true Nigerian (Y! FrontPage)

by Oge Okonkwo

Collins

As we progress towards 2015 one does not need a crystal ball to see that ethnic affiliations will still play a major role in determining who occupies what position. Awolowo also said “There are various national or ethnic groups in the country…It is a mistake to designate them ‘tribes’. Each of them is a nation by itself with many tribes and clans.

On Friday, November 8 2013, while Nigeria’s victorious Golden Eaglets were busy making mince meat of their Mexican opponents, my senior brother, Ayobami Oyalowo, who was also enjoying the match and observing how good Nigeria’s goalkeeper was, tweeted via his handle (@Ayourb) and asked about the goalkeeper Dele Alampasu’s State of origin, given Alampasu’s not-so-common mixture of a Yoruba first name and a non-Yoruba surname. Being one interested in such name mixtures too, I followed his timeline to see if anyone would provide an answer but, as Mr Oyalowo noted, tribal warlords saw that as a battle ground on which they could assert their tribes’ superiority over others. Knowing Ayobami Oyalowo, I believe he asked the question as a matter of curiosity and not as one who would place ethnicity over merit. Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State is another notable individual with such interesting name mixtures. The Yoruba origin of the ‘Rotimi’ in his name has, however, not made anyone to question his true origins. Why should it matter whether Dele Alampasu is more ‘Dele’ than ‘Alampasu’ or not?

I have often wondered why an Igbo man, for example, would feel more comfortable to give his son or daughter a French, South African, Hebrew or English name while almost saying ‘God forbid’ to a name from another ethnic group within Nigeria for the child. My first name has Gaelic origins even though I am an Igbo man. Would I have been less of an Igbo man if my first name had, say, Efik rather than Gaelic origins? This is a matter for another article, though.

“Nigeria is not a nation. It is a mere geographical expression. There are no ‘Nigerians’ in the same sense as there are ‘English’, ‘Welsh,’ or ‘French’. The word ‘Nigerian’ is merely a distinctive appellation to distinguish those who live within the boundaries of Nigeria from those who do not.” These words were uttered by Chief Obafemi Awolowo in 1947 and, over 60 years later, the words are still true. Our valuation and appraisal of the performance of elected officials have, sadly, been mostly against the background of their ethnicities. This is why a group of young Nigerians under the aegis of Igbo Progressives Union staged a protest in Enugu against the several calls for Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah’s sack following her complicity in the purchase of two bullet-proof BMW cars at N255 million by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for her, an acquisition which clearly flouts Nigeria’s procurement laws. Some of her kinsmen from Ogbaru in Anambra State have also said she is just being unnecessarily victimised. This is also why some Nigerians from Kano and Delta States will rise in support of their ‘sons’ Farouk Lawan and James Ibori, respectively, in spite of the monumental evidence of corruption stacked against the two.

As we progress towards 2015 one does not need a crystal ball to see that ethnic affiliations will still play a major role in determining who occupies what position. Awolowo also said “There are various national or ethnic groups in the country…It is a mistake to designate them ‘tribes’. Each of them is a nation by itself with many tribes and clans. There is as much difference between them as there is between Germans, English, Russians and Turks, for instance. The fact that they have a common overlord does not destroy this fundamental difference.” The unwavering attachment to these nationalities and blind loyalty to ethnic origins irrespective of the corruption of members of our ethnic groups is and will, for a long time, remain our albatross as we attempt to create a Nigeria that will be our identity and not just a ‘mere geographical expression’.

But this need not be so. The corruption of the bad ones among us affects us much more than we realise. Ogbaru indigenes will die in plane crashes, whether or not their ‘daughter’ is the Minister of Aviation, if money that could be used to make our space safer is diverted to buying her amoured cars, for instance

If Goodluck Jonathan will be President in 2015 let it not be just because he is from the South. If Muhammadu Buhari or Sule Lamido or Rabiu Kwankwaso will be President it should be for better reasons than ‘time for power to return to the North’ or some other dimwitted talk like ‘Jonathan promised not run for second term’. Meritocracy over ethnicity. This is what got Dele Alampasu his position as Nigeria’s first choice goalkeeper in the Under-17 squad. This is what should guide our choices.

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Collins Uma is a trained Sociologist with a bias for Developmental Sociology. He is a public affairs analyst and commentator. He is also a husband and father and an ordained Minister of the Gospel. Collins Uma tweets via @CollinsUma

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.

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