Topic: Can a unified language solve Nigeria's problem of tribalism? - page 2. (Read 572 times)

But if we try to teach the kids only same language or try to change the curriculum at big level for example in different tribes then they all will go against this idea. Just like many people who support Pride flag while some not so many schools try to promote it but when parents got aware of it, they went against it. I did not mean to go against any group either it's supporting pride flag or not. I am just using it as an example to make my words clearer.

I think instead of making a unified language to solve tribalism, the best way is to teach children at schools or at any social event that we all are equal, and we all have equal rights, and we should support each other, and we should not make decisions (biased) on the basis of tribalism. I have a slight idea as tribalism is not something old many countries have faced it and they have overcome it too, but many countries are facing old and new tribalism events.

I think it will be way better to teach them about equal rights and self-awareness and how they could grow if they back each other up.

PS: I do not belong to this board but dear Oduho I have read many valuable posts of you on thread, so during a visit to your profile I saw this thread and I could not stop myself to share my ideas but If you guys think I should not have interfere then I am more than sorry as this is a local discussion and I am not a local here so I hope I will be forgiven.

With the current situation in Nigeria language is not actually the problem but though if Nigeria had gotten one unified language things would have been a bit different so indirectly language is one of the barrier we have in this country, people are so Tribalistic in this country, for example you went for an interview with other persons and it happens that the interviewer and some persons there speaks the same language the interviewer will prefer given his brother the job instead of an outsider even if it was not by merit.

So having one unified language would have helped Nigeria changed some narrative but can never eradicate the corruption and the bad government.

Omo if you catch one politician ehhh, him go dey collect dey explain ... so tey him go explain tire. You totally put everything for politics...that one dey sha.

You are very correct, pidgin is unique to us and resonates with almost everyone. Like you said, we gat rebrand am and give it more attention. If possible self, after some finishing touches, we can attempt to make if one of the official language. Thank you for remind me of this...you see why e good to bring some kind topic up....you don make me learn like this o.


After reading the comments of many people here, I realized the matter is deeper than I was thinking, so I agree with you that it is late to follow this part.

If I dey imagine how we for impact the entire world if to say we fit unite ehh, e dey make me cry. We have everything that is needed to be great... natural resources, good lands, access to see, talented youth and a perfect population... nothing we no get. The most annoying part is that politicians have continued to sustain this tribalism and usurp it to rig and manipulate the system. I just hope that things can change one day. For outside, Nigerians dey relate well... why e come be say for home them no dey everly agree!

I think it's already late for this to solve the problem of tribalism, maybe if our founding fathers been get sense dem for find way unite us with one language that isn't borrowed and things for fit dey better because e no get person wey no know say how you speak or where you're from can get you flavors that your certificate can't get you. Jobs are been gotten because people are from certain tribe and when you look at our greatest exports which is entertainment we can see some certain tribe getting more privilege then others all because they're from the same region. Now imagine if we all had one language and identify as one instead of been divided whenever we get the opportunity. Ask a Nigerian where he's from and first thing that comes to his mind is his tribe instead of identifying as a Nigerian first and that's disturbing.


So which language do you think will become number one, who go gree allow him own mother tongue to be suppressed to give way for another man language. That's why I talk say e dun late already, now we have to settle for the things wey we dun dey use from day one wey be English and recently pidgin we dey gain momentum like scatter, I remember when it used to look like a taboo to speak Pidgin as everybody dey from oyinbo but now it's getting welcomed in all establishments. The solution to this tribalism wahala now na to make the country better. If things dey move as e supposed dey move and all man dey alright nobody go dey reason where you from or which language wey you dey speak. Make the government fix the economy of the country and most of our problems that we're facing now will disappear.

Op, na very nice topic you bring up for discussion so but anyhow you wan take see am, we don already get one unified language and that's pidgin but it's just dat we no rebrand am and sell am to di world. Nigerian na multi ethnic nation with plenty languages and dis language divide dey follow cause problem for our country. For example wen you go for a job interview, di HR go leave competence aside and pick someone from a particular tribe because him too dey speak same language. Wen we dey choose our leaders too tribe dey play a role, but tribalism no fit be di only problem or di root of our problem for dis country. Bad leadership, corruption, bribery... Na some of our problems, di list just too plenty.

That is a good point too, but if the president is selfish what about his cabinet members and those who control the government, remember the state is own by someone else and not the president, the president is only managing the state for the owners, in my school days a borrowed course explain everything to me, so dis not a new thing for me anymore. Di president might wanted to develop di state but those who dey work with am go spoiled everything.and we can see good examples from the former president, president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. He spent money to develop the country but the people wey im give di works to do disappoint am. Look at the South-East road, im spend money but they could not finished di road. Normally, language is not a big deal in Nigeria unity. And what is really affecting the Country's unity is unemployment.

Unemployment is one of the major reason wey dey affect the unity of the country because people wey go to school and come back to di society with empty handed and no hope of getting a job some youths got angry and ask for secession. If Nigeria today create massive employment with bias, then most of the agitations will die off. Hungry man is always angry.

I don't believe that language is the problem of Nigeria. Nigeria only need one president that is selfless then all these other factors won't matter anymore because that self determined president will be at the fore front of any kind of uprising. The problem is to get that selfless leader the corrupt people won't allow that. Nigeria need to cleans up her institution and then have a referendum on what kind of system of government that is best. I think the system of government is the problem and not language. Nigeria is like US that has different ethnicity cumulating into states and they run a kind of presidential system where the centre is powerful but subject to the federating units but Nigeria runs a unitary system in the guise of presidential because the central determines whatever happens in the country. So power has to be diffused to the federating units.

  Smile!!! This is politics and must be handled in a political way. Let's see. Okay, first of all let me ask you some few questions. 1. If you own a business in your locality will you allow only your tribe people to buy your goods or a POS bot, will you sell money only to your tribe people? And that should be a CAPITAL NO, therefore, tribalism only happens in politics and not in economy. Even all those ones you mentioned above are under the category of politics. It is only in politics, these pronouns are used, "we, our, us". And these can be use in the church, school, pressure groups, political parties and the mindset of human and not the product, therefore tribalism is not real but it is political deception to win the minds of his tribe if they are majority in political setting.

Like as you said, the Hausa and the Fulani people that are in South South Geo-Political Zone are always moving in uniform, staying together in one place whenever they found theirselves. And that is a political mindset and not economic mindset. Economically, the groundnut, coconut, indomies, drugs they are selling is not only for themselves but for all. So there is no tribalism in economy but in politics, I am repeating this for you to have cleared understanding.

Tribalism is everywhere, yes, but for those real scholar who have gotten knowledge, does not believe in tribalism, because it is political deception by the leaders. As I have said before, population is also another element in which politicians are using to deceive the masses to win election. In Nigeria nobody, I say nobody knows the actual population in Nigeria. No Government has done a thorough population census in Nigeria except the census of 1979 Second Republic is still used in Nigeria.

Tribalism is very much effective because the politicians monetize it. And that is why they segment each tribe and give them money to vote for them. Politicians are not even interested to unit the people because they will fight against them. So they use divide and rule policy.

With reference to the last general election you can see how tribalism had blindfolded many people particularly my south western brethrens who inspite of APC not fielding the right candidate but our entitlement mentality made them to choose the wrong person now everybody dey feel the hardship imposed by the poor bad economic policies wey dey ground now.

Forget about about adopting a unified language, at least we dey communicate with simple English most especially pigin English an average hausa man understand a bit of pigin however do that make any significant changes in the country? No but tribalism and nepotism had eaten deep into country a visit to national Sectariat in Abuja during Buhari regime you would discover that the major language spoken in various offices is Hausa language.

In as much as we have different cultural, religious and social political differences the best bet or solution to the country is to restructure the country into six zones with each of the zones aligning to their cultural, religious and social values and decentralized the Federal government let each zones elect or appoint a leader that will govern them and a prime minister should be appointed to head the country and each of the zones should control their resources and remit some funds to the FG else the country wouldn't progress at all.

OP, your article seems to be the reality of Nigeria today. I have come to realise  that language difference is one of the major barrier coupled with bad leadership style we have in our system of government. This problem could be traced back to the military regime and that has become the culture of every elected leader in government. It is so bad that it is  no more hidden and it keeps repeating itself every democratically elected dispensation.

The issue of language unification is not possible here in Nigeria. There are lots of tribe and that alone shows how unique and special every tribe would want to cherish their culture and bring it on display. You can not tell the people to do away with their language just for unification purpose. That is not possible. Like one of the replies reads that the problem of Nigeria is in the leadership and not language unification.

Onset, it has become a norm whereby any leadership that comes to power only have the thought of running the government with his own people alone. They get all the juicy position and it has always been the mentality of Nigerians the "chop I chop" reasoning and that has eaten deep into the system.

Lastly, another thing that has been a problem is the pattern of system where the leadership runs the system with their cronies and Lackeys. They do not care about character figure because they are all in the same ship. All they care is their stomach infrastructure.

In finding a national language, it is not expected to adopt any of the languages because that will create problem considering how sensitive Nigeria is. They can coin an entirely new language

Well, this is my suggestion and like I mentioned before, we need more things that can unite us if we still want this country abi una don tire already ? Even though some of you might want to deny it, we know how powerful language is. Assuming you are Igbo and you know how to speak Hausa, one day just dress like and Igboman and go to market to buy something from Hausa man then speak Hausa to him and see if he will not treat you better without minding that you are wearing Isi-agu.

There is no country without their own problem but check those countries with a national language that is like identity to them, most of them are more patriotic and stable than Nigeria here where everything is competition. From Tanzania to South Africa even Kenya... their tribalism is minimal compared to Nigeria. If we continue the way we are going, the hate will be so much that it may implode.... as it stands now, Nigeria is at the verge...
 

Nothing can stop the problem overnight but we need to start the process and I am only suggesting that a common language can be a starting point. I can be wrong and if that be case, that means it is difficult knowing what will solve the problem. Those of you saying good governance are really dreaming. There can never be good governance under the current setting where the politicians have bought over the media houses and social media to spread hates. They deploy divide and rule and tribalism is a powerful tool at their disposal.

Tribalism is everywhere in Nigeria and not only in politics. Even in the churches and mosques,  it is there. Most companies employ along tribal lines, there is no point denying it. Someone already said he would employ his brother if he is in position, that is the Nigeria we find ourselves in. Politicians only take advantage of tribalism that is already in existence.

Firstly, if we both speak the same language there will be no development in our country because everyone will be the same and we will not think positive towards development.

Many developed countries have different languages and ethnicity, and it did not stop the countries from developing therefore I don't think tribalism alone is our problem and I don't also think having one language will be the solution to our country's problems.

The reason why tribalism is been done in most offices and public service commissions is because everyone will want his own people to be among people benefiting from the organization.

The final thing is that our leaders are completely corrupt and can't bring an end to the problem they already put us into in this country that is why some of them are making us to see that tribal religious different is the problem not them.

You are right,tribalism and nepotism also has a great role in corruption because when election is done the majority always wins the minority and that boils down to tribes. Also instead of offices to be given out to the merited ones,the jobs are being giving to friends and families, which makes it hard for corrupt people to be punished when they mismanage or embezzle the funds entrusted to them for development or to carter for the citizens. Let's take a look at how Nigeria presidency is been ruled. Today is Yoruba,tomorrow is Hausa and it repeats again. Now that Buhari left,Tinubu took over,the next person will be a Hausa man. And with this the president can do whatever he likes because he believes that it is his tribe turn to rule. Let's take the case study of Yar Adua,when he died,the northerners was hiding it because they stiil want power not until the law was quoted that the Vice president becomes the President automatically before the northerners piped low.

  you know Nigeria has 250 languages and out of these languages, three called themselves majority because political reason but in reality they are not. Now let me make small mathematics from it.
250 - 3 = 247. And the political map is drawn with this three ethnic groups. Nigeria is the only country in the world which I know that has no SOUTH  in the political setting. Examples, we have North, West East but no South but Instead South South which isa mockery to the South geopolitical zone. The remaining 247 ethnic groups share the same characteristics and that is why they are called minority, but in mere looking they are not.

Now who will give up her language to accept the other is the NATIONAL QUESTION IN NIGERIA. In Nigeria the citizens have two Nationality, everyone in Nigeria first loyal to their ethnic groups before the NATION, and if any country does that , it will be very difficult to build a NATION STATE. and it is only a NATION STATE one language can be built and not in a country that has multiple languages. Nigeria in question is under seize by her colonial masters through the language barrier.

The Linguists in Nigeria, prefer to study foreign languages than the local languages. How many Nigerian linguists can speak fluently with 10-15 languages in Nigeria? None. And that is why the formation of National Language is very difficult. And the problem is from educational background. When I was in Secondary School, they wrote on the four walls "vernacular is prohibited". So this led to the universities and to build National Language became a problem in the country since the linguists could not figured out words to use.
After the independent, the linguists in the country were trying to create a National Language and they used the 3 major ethnic groups languages to form the National Language, which their plan was to fuse the remaining 247 languages to the other three languages and their planned failed. And the language was WAZOBIA. When this failed, they came up of using the Pidgin English which is the combination of the colonial masters language with the native language and that also failed.

That is CAPITAL NO and only solution to Nigeria problem is GOOD GOVERNANCE with effective Federal Character. Then the differences can be maintained in some ways. And the leaders know what to do but the problem is the Fulanis not even the Hausa.

Tribalism is not real in real life but it is a political motivation to lure ethnic groups who are ignorant of the system.

Bro apart from language there are other factors that affect tribalism, OK let's say the entire country now speaks a unified language (which is actually true English and pidgin) we'll still find out that tribal food, dressing style, moral etc will still be a barrier to eradicate tribalism, eg the way an Igbo man holds a meeting with kulaknot and tombo is deferent from the way an Hausa man does his own meeting, the way a calabar man take dog meat is different from the way an Ijaw man take fish.


Even if tribalism has lead to the election of bad leaders it still doesn't mean a generally accepted language can unify us, the real fact is that its in our blood line.

Op can you have the opportunity of becoming a hiring manager and then give the job opportunity to a stranger while your brother with same certificate but different qualification is out there searching for job ?

So what language that unified us in Nigeria?

Do you think that tribe can determine which leader would be excellent presidents? Do not let us deceive ourselves.

Responding from your title, which I want to say that the did has been done, despite unifying a specific language doesn't change people whom they are to be and changes from bad to good. As a matter of fact they would change from good to bad, because changing language doesn't reflect the heart of man which I know thinking are of different standard.

We should try to change from consumption to production and after that good management policies, our resources are wasting due to mismanagement and wrong allocation of funds. If all these aren't corrected I don't think there will be changed in Nigeria if we our selves do not effect change from our end, and where it went worse is electing someone whose brain is like a child to manage and lead a very large country like Nigeria.

In other hands, we can say that we need 3 president to solve the problem of Nigeria so that everyone might manage there resources I think there will be peace and would reduced the lack of unemployment rate in our country 9ja since each of them would want their region to look more better whereby causing and increasing a cross competition between the 3 Ethnic groups. Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba.

English was foisted on us by Britain through colonisation and it will remain their identity over us so long as we use it. English is never our language and can never be our identity. The people of Mali are already looking for a way to abandon French that was also foisted on them by France through colonisation.

Tribalism is used to select bad leaders that looth and destroy the country and if you try to demand accountability from them... they still resort to tribalism. Tribalism is the reason it is hard for Nigerians to speak with one voice as any major event is viewed through the prism of tribalism. Good example is Endsars that was seen as a plot by the South to destroy Buhari's government.  Even though we might think tribalism is not the reason Nigeria is not doing too well, it is one of our core problems. Go to NNPC, DPR and various government agencies and see people recruited based on tribe irrespective of whether they are competent or not... this is how to steal and cover corruption.

Nigeria has a unified language which is English. Tribalism and language are different. Without a unified language, there would be nothing called Nigeria.

Tribalism is not the cause of corruption, embezzlement and mismanagement that plunged Nigeria into an unstable economy, poor standard of living and living below poverty line.

It is no longer news that tribalism is a thorn in our flesh as a nation. It's divestating effect can be felt in virtually all sector of our economy... from choice of leadership, recruitment  process, public service to condoning evil done by our tribesmen; these are few of the ways tribalism have rendered us unprogressive.

When I was meditating on what could possibly be the solution to the menace of this monster, the first thing that came to my mind was A UNIFIED LANGUAGE. Language is one of the strongest unifier known to man. It dated back to the Biblical era during the building of the tower of Babel. God stopped that project by simply making them speak different languages so there was no unity and coordination... this will tell you how powerful language is.

 Various socio-cultural, socio-political, religious and peer groups have their style of communication that make them bond together. Even the military and paramilitary are not left behind, they revere their style of speaking as it create that feeling of brotherhood. Remember how good it feels when someone speaks your language... even among your guys them, there is this joy when you relate and vibe on code. That is how beautiful language can be.

So, if Nigeria explore this option of finding a unified language? Couldn't this be the solution to the ugly monster of tribalism? Well, even though it will not solve the problems overnight, I feel it will start the pathway to our unity as it will enable us have something in common as a people because our diversity is really not working to our advantage. We need more things that can unite us and a common language is surely one.  But how do we achieve this seeing that we have hundreds of languages and tribes?

Actually, ut might seem difficult, but it is possible because when there is a will, there is a way. First step will be to develop the language first and set up a commission for it. Thereafter, it can be integrated into our academic curriculum and made compulsory in all levels of education. Secondly, government programs and meetings can immediately be in that language and the religious bodies could also be engaged to champion this. Since it could be like a national emergency, all hands must be on deck. This is my thinking and opinion... what do you think?