Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Wariboko's Essay on Majority-tribe Privilege in Nigeria

Nimi: Your words are divine! Thanks for doing this. You spoke the truth without hurting anyone; your language of dissent seems polite and quite soothing. I am surprised, though, that you said the majority privilege in Nigeria does not equate with the white privilege in the US. I think we are at variance on that position because I believe it does, in a way; at least, it's the closest descriptor of the situation. As a matter of fact, as I was reading your essay, the phrase rushing at me was "White privilege, White privilege, White privilege."

Honestly, and even as your essay aply demonstrates, I believe the three majority ethnic groups tend to enjoy the aura of being perceived as representative of the idea of Nigerianess. Hausa-Igbo-Yoruba is almost a synecdoche for a complete Nigeria, at the exclusion of all "others." I believe this provides an unfair advantage. It is for the same reason that even our language policy designates what we call major languages, minor languages and other languages. I hope there comes a time when one of the so-called minor or "other" languages becomes the official language of Nigeria, the way Swahili became the official language in Kenya and Tanzania, where it was originally a language of an ethnic minority. Maybe, and only maybe, if that happens, there will be a degree of respect for other ethnicities outside the confines of the Hausa-Igbo-Yoruba confraternity. The only good part of it all is that the three ethnic majority jn Nigeria are too self-absorbed they can't work together, a choice of one over the others would break loose warfare from the pit of hell and so a minority language or minority president over the affairs of the nation may help the the world to know that there are peoples outside the three!

At any rate, thanks for raising this issue.

MOA

On Saturday, November 5, 2022 at 09:03:47 AM CDT, Nimi Wariboko <nimiwari@msn.com> wrote:

Dear Colleagues:

This is an article I published in Punch Newspapers Nigeria yesterday, Friday, November 4, 2022. It is about majority-tribe privilege in Nigeria.

 

Wazobia Republic: The majority-tribe privilege in Nigeria 

Majority-tribe privilege is the advantage the Hausa-Fulani, Igbo, and Yoruba enjoy as members of the three big ethnic groups in the country. The mighty advantage of belonging to one of the Big Three, the Wa-Zo-Bia groups, is both unconscious and conscious. For those who enjoy being part of the big tribes, the advantage is unseen to (majority of) them, but it is highly visible to the rest of us that belong to the minority tribes. When national public officials and the media list ethnicities in Nigeria and routinely name Hausa-Fulani, Igbo, and Yoruba, without bothering to mention even one minority tribe, you are reminded that Nigeria is wazobia and the country does not regard your existence. Minority-tribe persons grate under their skin when they hear Wazobia, a portfolio word that reminds them of their exclusion, marginalisation, and irrelevance in the general description of what Nigerian citizenship means. With the way the 2023 elections have become a three-tribe affair, you would be forgiven for thinking they are the only ones in the country.

 

For more, please click the link below:

 

https://punchng.com/wazobia-republic-the-majority-tribe-privilege-in-nigeria/

 

 

Nimi Wariboko

Boston University

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/2EF73C86-50DF-4DE0-8572-FAC1DC29D6E8%40msn.com.