THE NEGLECTED ROLE OF ETHNICITY

Valentine Ojo, Ph.D.

____________

The present write-up was inspired by an article that I read not too long ago in the Diasporan Quarterly Newspaper published by the Yoruba Community in California, Yorùbá Nation of April-June 2008, titled ‘The Truth about our Differences’ by Rukayat Aliyu. Rukayat’s article opens with this portentous and sadly, all too true observation that:

“The reason so many African Americans have a false impression of Africa, as being this place where wild Black savages run with the animals, have no food, and live in huts is because someone told them that. Most Americans have never been to Africa. Most Americans have an opinion about Africa. From where do these opinions originate?”

And that for me immediately raised the question: Even if we wanted to correct these frequently wrong and misleading impressions of Africa held by outsiders – and not only African Americans – how do we go about it? What does today’s average African himself or herself really know about Africa? Are his or her own opinions of Africa not frequently just as misleading and as wrong as those opinions that outsiders have of us, albeit for different reasons?

1. Your today’s average African really does not know much about ‘Africa’, and can therefore hardly distinguish between what is false about Africa, what is true.

2. If he or she does not know much about ‘Africa’, how is he or she to disabuse the minds of those who harbor false and erroneous conceptions of Africa?

3. Why does today’s ‘African’ not know much really about ‘Africa’?

4. What is ‘Africa’?

Africa is NOT a monolithic, mono-cultural, mono-lingual, mono-behavioral small village, like some people would like to represent Africa, and where one would expect all ‘Africans’ to speak, act, eat, dress, name our children, bury our dead, go into marriage, etc. the same way. These activities are the usual social preoccupations of any community, what constitutes’living in a community,’ and the manner in which one carries that out, is determined first and foremost, by one’s ‘ethnicity’ – that much feared word among “progressive Africans” and among our self-styled ‘Pan-Africanists’.

This is what constitutes ‘culture’ in its broadest sense, what distinguishes one people from another, one ‘tribe’ from another, one ‘ethnic’ group from another – how we speak, act, eat, dress, name our children, bury our dead, go into marriages, conduct business transactions and other social interactions that human beings ordinarily engage in, etc.

These are the traits that usually distinguish Group A from Group B from Group N, not because one is better or worse than the other – they just do certain culturally anchored activities which ALL human beings engage in, differently.

We have not made much progress in Africa, and especially in Nigeria, not simply because we have had more than our own share of bad leaders, we have corruption, and all the other ills. We would also appear to have been applying the wrong medicine to the wrong disease. We may actually not have diagnosed the diseases plaguing Africa correctly. When you do not know for sure, what the disease is that you wish to treat, how can you ever come up with the right cure or medicine?

African nations like Nigeria have been battling with ‘curing’ tribalism, overcoming “ethnic differences”, but is that really the ‘enemy’?

One of the main reasons often cited for this focus on “fighting tribalism” is that “tribalism” – used here with caution and much reservation - frequently leads to ‘ethnic conflicts’.

Maybe, maybe not.

However, is there any human grouping totally devoid of ‘conflicts’? There are bitter intra-family and inter-family feuds (we all would recall the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet). There are unhealthy rivalries between streets and gangs in the modern cities of today, and even within educational establishments. There are conflicts and rivalries within the family, inside an organization, between organizations/businesses, between towns, within a university, between nations…

Are we now going to ban families, towns, organizations, businesses, nations, schools…?

Why should one then therefore not also expect to have conflicts between ‘tribes’ and ‘ethnicities’? And is that reason enough to dread “ethnic identification”?

The reasons why Africans run away from that dreaded but vital concept of ETHNICITY is the word ‘tribe’, which our European colonial masters have drilled into our heads as a negative, and which they used effectively to manipulate African groups against one another, that odious weapon called “divide and rule”.

The most destructive “divide and rule” strategy deployed against the African is however the internal one – the one within the the ethnic group, the one within the broken up African families, part of the family or ethnic group being ‘traditional’, while the other half had transitioned to ‘modernity’, with the latter now looking down their “modernized noses” on the ones still clinging desperately to fast disappearing traditions.

This was where words with in-built negativism, pejorative and demeaning expressions like “pagan”, “heathen”, “animists”, “backward”, “primitive”, “tribe”, etc, were introduced to further reinforce the belief that “traditional” African values are inherently inferior to those of the “civilized” Europeans, concepts which have been cloaked in the garbs of “Christianity”, and of “Western education”.

Thus, those members of the family or ethnic group that have embraced “Christianity” and possess a smattering of “Western education”, even the bare ability to read or write in “English” or “French” are deemed to be more “civilized” than those members who have not enjoyed these exposures.

And they, the “educated” ones, frequently have a deep-seated disdain for traditional values which they actually often do not understand or even know.

This is the deep chasm that has been driven between African families and within ethnic groups such that they no longer share a common set of “core values”, which is what definesand distinguishes one people from another – the Chinese from the Japanese or Koreans; the English from the German or the French; the Yoruba from the Hausa or the Igbo. What we now have are a mismatch of kaledoscopic, hodge-podge set of competing values, often contrary, and frequently making no sense whatsoever. Why for example must Yoruba Christians abandon the traditonal climate-approriate ‘agbada and gbariye’, buba and sooro, for ill-fitting 3-piece suits complete with ties in 98 degrees in the shade – in order to worship their ‘God’?

Why are the Euro-American Auntie-Jemima dresses complete with Victorian-era hats worn by “sophisticated” Nigerian female ‘Christians’ more suitable for approaching ‘God’ on Sundays than the more climate appropriate buba, iro, and gele?

The Yoruba for example no longer have a set of common values that majority of Yoruba families would like to see inculcated in their offspring, that value that Yoruba traditional culture refers to as being an “omooluwabi” – a well-raised person from a good home.

What constitutes an “omooluwabi” today depends on several often conflicting factors – if your family is Christian or Muslim, or neither; educated or not educated; resides in an urban or rural area; lives in Nigeria or outside Nigeria; and even where outside Nigeria: in Britain, Canada, the US, Germany, Norway, Finland, China....South Africa.

All these “Yoruba” people and children will live, raise their children, and the children will inevitably grow up with different values and expectations that would only have some shades of Yoruba, but not really Yoruba, often more reflective of the country of residence, than of any coherent or cohesive Yoruba culture or practice.

Now we have come full circle to what started this essay, which has grown rather longer than I really intended it to be. 

So let’s recap:

“The reason so many African Americans have a false impression of Africa, as being this place where wild Black savages run with the animals, have no food, and live in huts is because someone told them that.”

“Someone” who obviously does not know much about Africa. And these false imageries of Africa are among the things we educated and exposed and travelled Africans should endeavor to correct, images that we frequently assimilate and project ourselves, often without realizing we are doing just that.

But then how can we “correct” what we ourselves don’t even know for sure?

Which version of Yoruba culture is the “correct one” – ‘Yoruba Chrstians’, ‘Yoruba Muslims’, the version of the highly educated and travelled Yoruba, or the version of the stayed-at-home traditionalists?

In conclusion: before we can venture out to correct misconceptions about our Yoruba culture (or any other African traditional culture for that matter), the educated members of the Yoruba culture have a major assignment: we first must re-learn that culture, re-define it, and bring it in line with modernity.

It is only then we can begin to attempt to teach our African American brothers and sisters – and others as well who may be interested in knowing something about Africa - the truthabout Africa and about African cultures.

But more importantly, we need to do this – re-visit our fast disappearing African traditional cultures – in order to be able to teach future generations of African children, especially those born and raised outside the continent of Africa, as well as the children of other ethnicities that they play and school and work with, to know who they really are.

The alternative is raising future generations of Africans in states of ‘cultural anomie’.

Tall Timbers, MD

Ojo Abameta, Osu kejo, 2008

Robot  # 1 | 29.03.2009 19:31

THE NEGLECTED ROLE OF ETHNICITY Valentine Ojo, Ph.D. ____________ The presentwrite-up was inspired by an article that I read not too long ago in the Diasporan Quarterly Newspaper published by the Yoruba Community in California,Yorùbá Nationof April-June 2008, titled ‘The Truth about our Differences’by Rukayat Aliyu. Rukayat’s article opens with this portentous and sadly, all too true observation that: “The reason so many African Americans have a false impression of Africa, as being this place where wild Black savages run with the animals, have no food, and live in huts is because someone told them that. Most Americans have never been to Africa. Most Americans have an opinion about Africa. From where do these opinions originate?” And that for me immediately raised the question: Even if we wanted to correct these frequently wrong and misleading impressions of Africa held by outsiders – and not only African American... Read the full article.

Big-K  # 2 | 29.03.2009 19:47

Val, Welcome to NVS. If there's one thing I want Obama to do for Africa - it will be to teach American kids about the real Africa and its rich cultures and people. Thats the paradigm shift needed and there's no better time than this..

Akanni  # 3 | 29.03.2009 22:05

Thanks for the Welcome. http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/images/smilies/icon_question.gif But what does Obama himself really know about 'African cultures'? Barack Obama is American, even when from an African/Kenyan father. Barack Obama is NOT African! He is an American to the core, raised by a white Middle Class American family in a typical white American middle class hood. What would he know about Africa? About as much as your average educated and exposed African-American or white American I suppose. This is about US, and it is now up to us to teach Obama what we would like Obama to teach Americans about Africa - not a matter of passing the buck. Eleru l' ko nke 'ofe' - it's the one who owns the baggage that must first start the lifting before calling on others to help him lift his luggage. And Africa is much too complex for anyoine person to want to venture to "teach" African culture, since there is no one monolithic 'African culture' as such. Val

Big-K  # 4 | 29.03.2009 22:18

I guess I didnt phrase my point properly. What I meant is for Obama to enable real African history in the US educational curriculum. Not for him to do it himself.

denker  # 5 | 30.03.2009 05:59

I guess I didnt phrase my point properly. ...i have always noticed dat...methinks, your english proficiency is an handicap dat's impeding fluidity in your opination-expression(?)....bad, man!...somebodi needs to go back to queen's college of english mastery....abeg talk to kenn...lol!

aguabata  # 6 | 30.03.2009 08:34

There is a bit of burying our heads in the sand in this article. If i take an American to Nigeria for a two months stay he may realise we are not savages running around in the wild but how far away are we from that expression? they will see a society at the early stages of technology,governance and social maturity.The upper class in nigeria are living in stupendous luxury, this may come as a shock to the typical American but what is the average quality of life? I expected you to argue that it is our sole responsibility to evolve our traditions or cultures not suggesting that our traditions are fine as they are. Do you have any information on the century the yorubas started wearing agbada? There is nothing wrong if they evolve their dress culture not necessarily into a 3piece suit but whatever is beautiful and practical. In my warped opinion we should be scantily clad during the hot seasons like back in the days. We have a long way to go, let us turn the criticism and condesecending attitudes of the west into the energy we need to change our societies.

saemoenl  # 7 | 30.03.2009 11:42

=denker;341483>...i have always noticed dat...methinks, your english proficiency is an handicap dat's impeding fluidity in your opination-expression(?)....bad, man!...somebodi needs to go back to queen's college of english mastery....abeg talk to kenn...lol! I'm not suppose to comment on this but let me as well do couse its one of those things militating against Us (Nigeria) taking too proud of ones language so serious whereas ours have gone to history. Telling him to go back to school have nothing to call upon as where Nigeria are now by spoking BIG gramme whereas puting it in practical will never happen. Italians, Germanys,France and all other non English speakers will tell you to hell with that as the focus on real time. Be warned!!!

agbajo owo  # 8 | 30.03.2009 13:39

You have oversimplied the issue. It is more complex than that. The average American get their impression from CNN, Sky News etc not from you. Even if you decide by whatever medium to tell them what an average Africans community is; are they likely to believe you or the big media organizations. The change in the image of China and India did not come from the "akedes". They won respect for themselves. There are still slums in India but how many times do you see these on the big media organzations. You have oversimplified a very complex issue. The average American gets their impression from CNN, Sky News etc not from you. Even if you decide, by whatever medium to tell them what an average Africans community is; are they likely to believe you or the big media organization. The changes in Western media image of China and India did not come from the "akedes". They won respect for themselves. There are still slums in India but how many times do you see these TV screen. In 2001 a Chinese told me how sudden realisation that came to the rich and powerful Chinese in the Western countries. Once they are out on the street, irrespective of their riches, position or having dinner with the western elite, they were always seen in the light of Chinese image as played out in the media. That sudden realization made them to turn their investment to their country. I believe it is the same or similar for India. Until those people stealing money and running to enjoy life of luxury in the Western countries come to that realization we have no hope of changing the image. The exclusive luxury they are using our collective resources to enjoy can not buy them respect in Western countries. Unfortunate it is the same for us all black people. Once you are out on the street of London or New York you are seen in the image of the malnourished child in Darfur or other part of Africa. The disgrace suffered by David Mark at the hand of BA cashier is a good example. We need to earn that respect by making our society better. It is the responsibility of everyone. The course can also be helped by our rich American brothers investing in Africa. The Irish economy was ignited by huge investment brought by Irish-Americans

Akanni  # 9 | 31.03.2009 23:01

Oversimplified? How? I believe you may have missed the THRUST of my write-up. It is not abouit the image we present to outsiders. It is about us. What do we really know abouit ourselves? Who are we? Mere clones of Arabs and Europeans? What do the 'ajebotas' at Ikoyi and Abuja who are raising children in Nigeria who speak 'English' only, and their brothers and sisters born and raised in the Diaspora know about their own Nigerian cultures? The Chinese have no doubts about who they are. That was what they projected to the world - take it or leave it - at the Olympics ceremonies, and not a clone of what the West would have done. The Japanese succeeded in merging Western democratic semblance with their traditional imperial culture, just like the British, Belgians and Swedes and even Spain merged their monarchies with some of sembalnce of democratic governance. While still teaching at the OAU, Ile-Ife, I witnessed a colleague, a professor form the Ekiti area, eat pounded yam with fork and knife at a dinner hosted by a visiting German professor where pounded yam prepared by her Nigerian house-keeper was served. The rest of us, about 5 or 6, including the 3 Europeans who were still new to Nigeria all ate with our fingers! This is not about our 'image' on CNN, BBC, Fox or Deutschewelle. This is about your Niegrian child in the Diaspora, who, when you say 'pele o', asks innocently: "Daddy, is that 'Nigerian' you are speaking'? Val

Nok  # 10 | 27.04.2009 13:39

So well, if we were to somehow commence the process of "recognising" ethnicity, where exactly do we eventually want to go with that? How far, really, are we as Africans, even at the level of discourse alone, ready to pursue the elevation of our ethnicities, holistically speaking? I'm beginning to believe that virtually all African collectives are seriously compromised and cannot be trusted to reach a level of self-actualisation which other collectives in the world have attained. Over millenia, ethnicities emerge and disappear like shifting sands anyway. So what's important now for Africa, in my opinion, is that we find an African-based ethnicity (even if it were the nation-state "ethnicity") to genuinely believe in as worthy of development to world-relevant levels and stick with it. All this half hearted talk of recognising "ethnicity" on one hand, while we almost chimerically strive to maintain the vague "Nigerian" ethnicity on the other, wears one down to no end. We are so purposeless as a collective it's enough to derive one crazy.