Nigeria’s history is stained with blood shed by tribal bigots and supremacists. Wielding the excuse of loyalty to their ethnic groups as a weapon, they have murdered those they hate by the thousands. From Wukari to Warri, Kaduna to Ohaukwu, we have seen the worst of humanity butcher civilians whose ‘crime’ was belonging to a social group they (the killers) detested.
In 1966, persons who were identified as Igbo (from South Eastern Nigeria) were hunted and massacred in Northern Nigeria. Almost 30,000 persons where killed over the course of several months. The perpetrators—who were often neighbours of the victims –said this was retaliation for a military coup carried out by mostly Igbo generals, which led to the deaths of 22 Hausa, Fulani, and Yoruba political and military leaders.
Readers may judge for themselves if destroying tens of thousands of innocent lives is just recompense for the killing of 22 individuals.
The Nature of Tribalism
But this is just the nature of tribalism, at least when it is taken to its logical end. It begins with thinking that the social, political or cultural group to which one belongs is better in some way than other particular ones. It doesn’t start off with cold-blooded murder. Rather, it first takes the form of hatred and jealousy directed at an out-group by members of an in-group.
Excuses for tribalism—which often range from a need to defend the honour of one’s tribe, to the perceived ills of the hated tribe –are simply that: excuses. They do not rise to the status of cogent reasons for despising whole ethnicities.
Whether it’s MC Oluomo threatening Igbo voters with violence should they vote an opposition candidate at the 2023 Lagos governorship polls, or IPOB broadcasts that label non-Igbo Nigerians “animals”, manifestations of tribalism are never noble. Their ugly godlessness, deriving from the hurt, pain, and death which they incite and instigate, is clear for any honest observer to see.
Sadly, not everyone is an honest observer. Anecdotal evidence suggests that a critical mass of the Nigerian populace subscribes to tribalism of some form.
We see this in the derogatory terms with which they label persons of ethnicities other than theirs. We find it in their voting for their “brother” or “sister” over far more competent persons from other tribes. And we discover it in the stories they tell their children about groups that aren’t their ethnic nationality—hateful tales designed to pass down the bigotry from one generation to the next.
What Does God Think About Your Tribalism?
There’s at least a slight chance that you, my reader, are a part of the critical mass to which we have just referred. You have exalted your tribe in such a manner that your view of people from other tribes has turned negative. And you may be defending your stance on this matter with any of the excuses we’ve already talked about here (or some other supposed ‘reason’).
If this is true of you, I invite you to reconsider your thoughts and your worldview. While I reject the conclusions you have reached about the tribe(s) you hate, I recognize that you are a human like me. You have a fault. It’s called tribalism. I have mine (probably too many to list in this article). So, in this sense, we are all guilty.
However, if you are a Christian, you must realize that God does not look kindly upon your tribalism. At the very least, He calls on you to remember the body to which you belong, a body which He has instituted. One in which “there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).
Your tribe is not greater than any other. Not in God’s eyes. As far as God is concerned, we are all equal. As humans, we are all made in the image of God. To not recognize God’s design in others who are not members of our tribe is to question His wisdom in creating humanity as a diverse unity. To raise your tribe above the good of a fellow human is to rebel against the order that God Himself has instituted. And being a rebel against God is a position that any Christian should dread.
