The Futility Of Ethnic Chauvinism
By Pat Utomi

It is amazing how what you think about can define you and hold you hostage. Take ethnicity. There is so much of it around that unless something thrusts it to the fore of your consciousness; you forget it is the prism through which some people see everything. I became sensitive to my good fortune when a reaction of the ethnic dimension on the N628milion House of Representative Scandal hit a List Serve (e-group) that I subscribe to. I probably would have thought little of it all beyond acknowledging that some held and expressed strong opinion, a democratic privilege, until someone I know whose views I shared, felt very strongly about people who made sweeping remarks regarding his ethnic group, and reacted.

I agreed with him that it was improper to attack his ethnic group because a principal player in the scandal comes from that ethnic stock and some chieftains from that geographic group had said the person in question should be defended on account of that persons place of origin. Even if there were not so many people who are of that ethnic origin, that have spoken critically of the House of Representative Leadership and called for resignation, the slamming of an ethnic group for the sin of one, or a few persons, would still be most inappropriate.

But that is not so much the object of my writing as the desire to share a personal testimony on the futility of ethnic chauvinism and how it can hold us captive. As is the nature personal testimonies it will be in the first person and names of individuals, some of whom are well known will be mentioned. Let me apologize up front to those who may not like that mode of narrative.

Earlier this year, someone surprised me by saying that a major challenge to my candidacy for the office of the President of Nigeria was that I was too Nigerian. I found that quite a paradox. Yes, as a young man I fancied myself an All-Nigerian youngster, in the American manner of usage. For some, open mindedness meant your ethnic group could not trust you enough.

I always took pride in my Pan-Nigerian upbringing. How come being seen as free from the captivity of the ethnic group is a handicap. In reaction, I raised the profile of how I grew up, making the point that no other candidate for the office of the President of Nigeria had as complete a Nigerian background: born in Kaduna of parents from Delta State, raised in Jos, Maiduguri, Kano, Gusau, Onitsha, Ibadan and Lagos before University education at Nsukka. I was not going to be apologetic about the fact that I grew up unable to tell the difference between people beyond the content of their character.

Then I ran into Alhaji Bamanga Tukur. His comment, unsolicited, reinforced my disposition. Said he to me: your remarkable strength is that people never think of where you come from. You belong to all Nigerians. It was a comment that made me feel good because that really was how I saw myself. My puzzle was how to make every one else feel that way. Do they have to have nomadic parents, like me, to be Nigerian. Then I thought of the person who made the comment about my being too Nigerian.

He had lived most of his adult life outside of his state of origin. So, even if moving around helped me, I needed to find more reasons. Surely many have been freed of some terrible prejudices by one year of National Service in the NYSC than some have from living in Lagos, Abuja and Kano for most of their adult lives. It occurred to me that friendship, open minds, set people free of becoming captive of simplistic stereotypes about others that makes it easy to judge without difficult evaluation of the content of each character.

My thinking was validated when shortly after the April elections, I went abroad for a bit of rest. Many friends from both sides of the Atlantic were kind enough to invite me, and in some cases my whole family, to be guests in their homes. At the time I did not think much about the scope of the network of friends in terms of the spread of ethnic backgrounds of those who welcome us into their homes. From Charles Gilbert and Mohammed Hayatudeen, of Ondo and Borno States, in Florida, to Linus Ojukwu of Anambra State, in California, Jimi Akiboh and Chris Obeime of Ogun State and Edo origins, in the American Midwest. There was also occasion of being hosted by a group of doctors and other professionals from Katsina and Nassarawa States in London, and across the Atlantic by Bassey Okon, where I found myself exploring the wealth of Nigeria, its people, without even a thought about where their parents claim as states of origin.

It was on one such visit that the true benefit of belonging to all, struck me. As I discussed the idea of a shadow government focused on helping Nigeria re-discover its compass, that plain-speaking Shehu Othman, who came in from Oxford to chat with me, said a welcome idea like that would usually draw suspicion of motives from the North, but for the fact it was coming from someone like me, whose motives were not distrusted in the North, or any part of Nigeria for that matter.

Beyond finding such, a complement, the lesson for me was that ethnic chauvinism was clearly an obstacle to communication. It got in the way of men, who could ordinarily have done much good, from getting their ideas across and building solidarity Nigeria writ large. That Pan-Nigerian solidarity is a veritable instrument for nation building. To what do I believe, I owe the good fortune of escape from tribal capture? I guess it has to do with making the most of the privilege of experiencing diversity, and allowing that to define my self worth.

Take my wedding nearly a quarter century ago, as example. On that day, Patrick Ityogheh, the NTA impresario, teased about who should break kola nuts, as Otunba Subomi Balogun sat between Ajie Ukpabi Asika, Chief Tayo Akpata and Chief Arthur Mbanefo. It did not take an effort to have the Northwest, North Central, South West, South South and South East at the wedding. It came natural to my network. The same feeling rises up in me as I engage the young, the old, the traditional and the modern with faith that the ultimate value is the dignity of the human person, the equal dignity of all persons.

It plays through as I reflect on the many young upwardly mobile that I mentor, the Gbenga Sesans, Niyi Adesanyas Linus Okories and Kabiru Mohammeds etc and with the traditional rulers I have known most of my adult life. When Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar, Sultan of Sokoto calls me on occasion, to pull my legs on some issues, he is counting on a relationship that dates back to when he was a young officer and friend to my brother-in-law two decades ago. And when I deal with the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Achebe, I go back 30 years to my visits to the Victoria Island apartment of the bachelor rising manager at Shell. In like manner, when I show up at the Palace in Iloko, I am visiting an Oba Olashore who has been like a family member for decades. But the real lesson from my experience is that being truly Nigerian does not constitute negation of the good of a more primary or parochial base. So the fact that I arrive Kaduna and head straight to the home of a long time friend, Ibrahim Usman, go off to Good Friday service as he goes to the mosque and we return to lunch in his home does not make me any less a Deltan, or Christian.

As Nigerian as I am, I still feel good about my Ibusa progeny, the Igbo heritage it brings me and pride enough at my South South origins to have been the one to give intellectual context to the idea of Resource Control when I delivered the first anniversary lecture at the Delta State Government sponsored celebration of the return to democracy on that sunny morning in Warri seven years ago.

Yet I relish when a Patricia Otuedon marvels at the fact that much older compatriots from across regional divides, like Alhaji Ahmed Joda, are requested to name three people to provide attestations to their life-time efforts for the TV series profiling Great Nation-builders, my name so frequently shows up. This privilege for me is at once a gift and the benefit of socialization. It should be the right of all and civil society will do well to devote resources to helping young people overcome the trap of the tribe.

Utomi, Presidential candidate of the ADC in April 2007 is an academic and businessman.

Robot  Villager

# 1 It is amazing how what you think about can define you and hold you hostage. Take ethnicity. There is...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 28.10.2007 08:38

Adeola Aderounmu  Villager

# 2 Utomi wrote: I was not going to be apologetic about the fact that I grew up unable to tell the difference between people beyond the content of their character If you have to explain this to our unlearned Politicians, how would you put it? I am not going to ask you to explain this to Adedibu, he would never understand. To him, education is too late. Utomi wrote: It occurred to me that friendship, open minds, set people free of becoming captive of simplistic stereotypes about others that makes it easy to judge without difficult evaluation of the content of each character. After 47 years of independence, this remains an illusion in Nigeria. The bases for our politics and interactions in Nigeria are tragic. Recently, I told myself that I am stateless as far as Nigeria is concern. I have been shuttling my state of origin btw Lagos (the only place I know in Nigeria) and Ogun state (where my parents where born). I lost the opportunity to study Medicine in Russia under a Lagos State scholarship (around 1990/91) because I am from Lagos and my parents and their families are from Ogun. The concept of state of origin in Nigeria is a very stupid one. In our modern world, people come from the country where they are born and their origin or that of their parents is very insignificant. Since my naturalisation, no one has asked me what part of Sweden I come from and that has not in any way influenced or affected my existence. Nigeria has a VERY VERY LONG WAY to go. The way we do many things are just wrong. The concept of Federal character in my opinion is the greatest way to promote tribalism. How we departed from MERIT to MEDIORITY is unclear but it seems there is no way out esp as serving Nigeria is a means to cutting from the National Cake. Indeed, our problems are convoluted, more complex than a labyrinth. http://aderinola.wordpress.com Posted by Adeola Aderounmu| 28.10.2007 10:55

Goddy  Villager

# 3 “I always took pride in my Pan-Nigerian upbringing. How come being seen as free from the captivity of the ethnic group is a handicap….born in Kaduna of parents from Delta State, raised in Jos, Maiduguri, Kano, Gusau, Onitsha, Ibadan and Lagos before University education at Nsukka. I was not going to be apologetic about the fact that I grew up unable to tell the difference between people beyond the content of their character.” (emphasis mine) God bless you Pat! Reading through your treatise, I could feel and empathize with you. Very much like you, there a some of us who have no apology whatsoever for our Pan-Nigerian upbringing. What is more? It’s been more of a blessing than anything else. Personally, I was privileged to be born as an Igbo, raised by Igbo parents (prior to the civil war), raised by Yoruba parents (during the war) and, finally, raised by Igbo, Yoruba and other multi-ethnic parents (after the war)…in Ebute-Metta, Lagos of those days, everyone that was old enough to be your parent was your parent, period! I grew up among a motley-crew of friends with various ethnic backgrounds---understand various Nigerian languages---served my nation at various parts of the country---served with officers of various ethnic backgrounds---was best man to a Yoruba groom---Had Bini and Calabar friends act as “parents” (at different times) to my kids at PTA meetings in Nigeria whenever I was abroad for one thing or the other---feel at home (all the time) in many parts of the country while on vacations---the list of benefits is endless. Pat, while your statement above will be useful to the politicians as someone earlier suggested, I’m certain that it will be even more of benefit to our younger folks who are branded “leaders of tomorrow”. Most times, one read (especially on the internet) with sadness as many issues of national importance are being trivialized merely out of ethnic sentiments by many of these “leaders of tomorrow”. In this age of the cyberspace, I hope many of them will realize that one day---just one day---they will find themselves campaigning for public offices and, all of a sudden, someone will go on the internet to pile up all their past writings that might be used against them. The mutual enmity, hatred and suspicions among people of different ethnic groups are horribly worrisome! Yet, ours is not the only nation rooted in diversity. In fact, there is hardly any nation worth its salt today with a homogenous people. I was stunned the other day when a Chinese colleague educated me on the various people in his ancestral home (China)…and I had always thought they were all the same people! And talk of ethnic divides in Nigeria, it’s so funny that even among people of the same ethnic backgrounds, there are still some sub-divisions among them. Among the Yoruba, for instance, there are Egba people, the Ijesa people, the omo Eko, the Ibadan people etc. And just some years ago, Igbo who were “non-indigenes” were harassed and sacked from their jobs in Enugu State. In the North, it was my service in the military that enabled me to know the difference among the Bornus, the Tivs, the Hausa, the Fulanis etc. Back in the South, we all simply knew all of them as Hausa people. And this is the same almost everywhere in our nation. It’s not everyone who will have the privilege of being raised a Pan-Nigerian. But it doesn’t cost a dime to imbibe the spirit of national consciousness as demonstrated by the likes of Utomi who are public figures---even if one was born and raised in a parochial environment---it’s never too late! Posted by Goddy| 28.10.2007 12:13

truthsayer33  Villager

# 4 Pat Utomi this write up will not excuse your comment about Nigerians being stupid.....in fact you are using different words to say the same thing.In summary: You have the font of wisdom and Nigeria will not be saved until Nigerians think like you. Posted by truthsayer33| 28.10.2007 13:14

tanibaba  Villager

# 5 Prof. i fully understand your feelings about this subject and i am also conscious of its potency and unpredictability. Therefore, as a man who aspires to be the president of this country, it is a subject that you should avoid as much as possible. It is only that way that you can escape the web. let me share with you one article i read in Saturday Punch of 30/09/2007 How and when Zik-Awo rift started By Godwin Nzeakah Published: Sunday, 30 Sep 2007 Apart from the question as to who gave Nigeria its name and when-a question which we (hopefully) resolved here last week, the next single most important question probably yet to be resolved 47 years after we attained independence has to do with Zik-Awo relationship. What or who actually caused the misunderstanding between the two greatest Nigerian leaders of the twentieth century? Was it the 1952 Western election, as some people seem to believe? Or was there a more fundamental incident that forced an embryonic rapport between Azikiwe and Awolowo to snap? The answer is more of the latter than the former, according to an account by a mutual friend of Zik and Awo. Enter Dr Okechukwu Ikejiani, the man who, as the first Nigerian Chairman of the Railway Corporation Nigerianized the establishment the moment he took over from the colonial officials. Early this year, Ikejiani‘s autobiography, ‘The Unrepentant Nationalist’ was launched in Lagos. The 594-page book is a veritable historical compendium crafted by a master storyteller in Homeric prose. Until I read the book, I hardly knew that what sparked off the Zik-Awo misunderstanding could be squarely traced to a lugubrious blunder by one of Zik‘s lieutenants, Dr. Mbonu Ojike. It was a typical case of over-zealousness as well as the poor news management that characterized the early nationalist days in Nigeria. The story of the origins of the Zik-Awo feud as told by Dr.Ikejiani is quite straightforward. According to Ikejiani, about fifty-seven years ago, the National Convention of Nigerian Citizens, NCNC, was the only strong political party in Nigeria. Besides the NCNC however, there were trade union bodies, tribal unions and a number of other organizations, which naturally wanted the country to be self-governing without further delay. The need arose therefore to organize all the associations into a formidable, united front, if the quest for Independence must be pursued in earnest with vigor. A meeting of all those groups was summoned to hold at Glover Memorial Hall, Lagos. It proved to be the first Nigerian all- party confab. In attendance were most of the political heavyweights of the time. They included Chief H. O.Davies, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Alakija, Dr. Akintola Maja, Dr. Kola Balogun, Ernest Ikoli, etc. Dr. Ikejiani, an Igbo, was a private medical practitioner then based in Ibadan, and was chief Awolowo‘s family doctor. Both Awo and his doctor travelled to Lagos in the latter‘s car for the meeting. Zik, Awo, and other top politicians addressed the meeting. According to Dr. Ikejiani, on their way back, ”as Chief Awolowo and I drove towards Ibadan from Lagos, Chief Awolowo told me that he was impressed with Zik‘s speech and would like to work with him. I was elated and told him that it would be in the best interest of the country if both of them worked together in our fight against foreign rule.” Awo also told Ikejiani that he was planning to launch a party to be known as Action Group, but would postpone the plan and work with Zik. Awo therefore asked Ikejiani to arrange a meeting with Zik. ”On the appointed date, Awolowo and I travelled to Lagos in my car. I left Awolowo and Zik alone and visited some friends and came back to pick him.” On the way, Ikejiani asked Awo to tell him something about the meeting with Zik. Awo described it as ”very cordial, friendly and useful.” He also told Ikejiani that he and Zik had agreed to work together in the interest of the country. But sadly, a few days later, tragedy struck. An anti-Awo article appeared in Zik‘s Newspaper, West African Pilot. It was a roundly damaging piece that virulently attacked Chief Awolowo, describing his book, ‘Path to Nigerian Freedom’ as ”the work of an imperialist stooge”. After Awo read the article, he sent for Ikejiani, whose attempt to exonerate Zik of complicity was in vain. The damage had been done. Ikejiani says he could see that ”Awo was not only angry but also upset by Ojike‘s article”, coming just one week after the historic meeting with Zik, during which both men agreed to work together. This was in 1951. According to Ikejiani, a few weeks after Ojike‘s blunder, Chief Awolowo launched the Action Group in Ibadan. Later the Awo camp fired back in the press with a piece entitled, ‘Fraudulent Saints of Africa’, a powerful piece directed at Zik and his camp. Confronted, Ojike explained that he had no benefit in the Zik-Awo rapport, the news of which, unfortunately, the Owelle said he had to keep close to his chest because his meeting with Awo was not an open one. This was the real root of the Zik-Awo schism that apparently defied settlement. The credibility of Ikejiani‘s story had been proved in 1987 when Chief Awolowo, in his characteristic frankness, said the ”Ijebus are regarded among the Yoruba as very proud, and I believe that is true to a great extent, but I have never refused to serve under my contemporaries. You may recall that at least on one occasion I offered to serve under Zik. The second occasion was not publicized. In 1964 when the campaign for the federal elections was going on the United Progressive Grand Alliance (UPGA) did not present a leader … Dr. Michael Okpara came to Calabar to discuss the matter with me. He told me that Zik would like to give up the Presidency to become Prime Minister and that a number of people thought we should work together. I said I agreed entirely; Zik would be Prime Minister and I would be his Minister of Finance… I must say that I would have served with the Sardauna if he had been the federal Prime Minister. The Sardauna was not as polished as Balewa, but you always knew where you stood with him.” (See The Guardian, 11/05/87). PS: After about eight years of continuous writing, I couldn‘t think of a better way of resting this column. I am grateful to my loyal readers. The end result of ethnic chauvinism is a possible conclusion. And do we have Ojike's in the nvs? plenty taslim Posted by tanibaba| 28.10.2007 13:31

Dr. S Adetunji  Villager

# 6 =tanibaba;2091814378>Prof. i fully understand your feelings about this subject and i am also conscious of its potency and unpredictability. Therefore, as a man who aspires to be the president of this country, it is a subject that you should avoid as much as possible. It is only that way that you can escape the web. let me share with you one article i read in Saturday Punch of 30/09/2007 The end result of ethnic chauvinism is a possible conclusion. And do we have Ojike's in the nvs? plenty taslim I ask to what end you decided to revisit the past? And, on the basis of some of your comments here on NVS, those ''Ojikes'', include you, Tanibaba. Typical baby revisionism. Now that you have childishly brought up Ojike's past, could you also bring up the one an Akin or Ayo said/did against people from the other side? That said, thanks Pat, for this refreshing piece. I, for one, am happy to be married from a tribe other than mine. While that may not be the solution to the palpable problem of ethnicism in Nigeria, it will certainly contribute to stemming it substantially. Posted by Dr. S Adetunji| 28.10.2007 14:49

InDiaspora  Villager

# 7 =truthsayer33;2091814373>Pat Utomi this write up will not excuse your comment about Nigerians being stupid.....in fact you are using different words to say the same thing.In summary: You have the font of wisdom and Nigeria will not be saved until Nigerians think like you. @Truthsayer Please can you show me where Prof. Utomi made this statement? Did he really say it or is this another rumour? Posted by InDiaspora| 28.10.2007 16:14

Oguguo Yakere  Villager

# 8 Some of us can almost replicate Prof Utomi's growing up and locational experiences. In fact those of us wearing such shoes thought we were the detribalised group until we were shown how wrong we were by what the Fedral Government sponsored against its own citizens. That, therefore brings one to this question. That is, does the virtue and merits of this article, nullify the greater question as to whether it made any sense that the British lumped together three or more major nations primarily for their own interest? They the British do not hide it any more that Nigeria was an experiment. Wether that experiment is working or not we all know by what we see after 47 years today. Infact the British experimental reagents which they also have admitted, have been corruption, rigging of census and election results, maginalisation of some groups all of which they finally catalysed by sponsoring a genocidal war that is well documented as partly their war. They don't deny it. Coming back to the local situation in those days, one may also ask the question; did Akintola and Awo not belong and work together until their rift? Who pulled Akintola from Awo and why?What is the assurance that if Awo and Zik had cooperated that there would not have been another Ojike or an Akintola somewhere else that would have created a situation of disunity and tribal suspicion? And that brings one to another question which is; When did the North start its pogroms against Ndigbo and whyhas it not stopped? Did the tribal hatred and acrinmonious cold blooded killings precede or depend on Awo & Zik relationships? There have been pogroms in the past and in recent times. No one till date has been held responsible and no compensation paid. What should survivors of the victims say about Pan-Nigerianism? Going back to Ikejiani's book, I have not read it yet. However I would be suprised if he did not narrate the Nigerian microcosmic nature of the Nigeria Railways that he chaired. He Ikejiani and other officers from the old Eastern Nigeria including Ijaws were survivors of some terrible tribal war that raged in Nigeria Railways in those days even though they did a spledid job, because those were the good days of the Railways when you could tour Nigeria with it as Queen Elizabeth did. One could say more, but suffice it to say that if we do not face the fact that we need a national conference to agree or disagree to belong together, we would be going round in circles. What percentage are those of us who have lived in the three other former regions of Nigeria? Remember also that we were the priamary victims of the demon called tribalism. If you remain in your village you won't know what it is. It awaits you as you try to become a Pan-Nigerian in todays Nigeria. Any doubt go and ask Ralf Uwazuruike or even the most recent election and subsequent appointments in the new government. To me, you were the best candidate, but all kinds of excuses came up from those who would not tell us the real reason for not chosing the most adequate candidate. It is good to have those various groups leaders as friends but no one knows what they tell their followers after you would have left. The point is that tribalism is very much alive in Nigeria. I agree with some of Mr. Aderounmu's point of view. Posted by Oguguo Yakere| 28.10.2007 17:04

realcode  JJC

# 9 Patrick Utomi's article makes a great read. It is a delight to hear about his background: the article gives us a chance to see why he is so open-minded about issues such as tribe. That being said, I believe it is impossible for Nigerians to simply get over their ethnic differences and pretend that all is rosy in the country. Some people have suggested that we decouple ethnicity from the political sphere. And my response to this suggestion is invariably: "Since ethnicity plays such an important role in our daily lives, removing it from politics will simply be denying the reality on the ground". The needs, problems and challenges of all the ethnic groups differ, therefore each large ethnic group needs a voice to air their problems and shed light on possible solutions. As for our day-to-day relations, some have mentioned the state-of-origin business as a possible cause of the prejudice and hatred that pervades Nigeria. What is conveniently forgotten is that there are some migrant ethnic groups in Nigeria (Fulanis, Igbos, etc), and there are others who prefer to stay at home (Yorubas, etc). Without the state-of-origin laws to protect indigenous grovernment ministries, I foresee a situation where some regions of Nigeria will be overtaken by these migrant tribes. Are we really asking for the death of some indigenous people in the name of one-Nigeria? Posted by realcode| 28.10.2007 20:45

Wayfarer  Villager

# 10 Sir, What you described as clannishness on the part of the Igbos is common to all of Nigeria's indigenous tribes, and even more blatant among foreigners such as Indians and Lebanese. No Nigerian in his or her right mind should implicitly or explicitly support progroms against any group because they settled in a region to which they are not indigenous. We can always pass laws to ensure that the lands and other strategic assets remain in the hands of indigens, and that the cultural sensibilities are defined by indigens as well. What you are advocating is murder, pure and simple. And if your first post is a harbinger of what we should expect from you in this square, I hope it will be your last as well. Posted by Wayfarer| 28.10.2007 23:32

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