Bigotry is that quiet danger that often enters a society without the sound of gunfire or smoke of burning buildings. It arrives through words that are repeated carelessly, stereotypes that are inherited uncritically, and prejudices that are passed from one generation to another. It breeds hatred and division, while stifling innovation, prosperity, security and development. A country blessed with more than 220 million people, over 250 ethnic groups and two major faith traditions ought to be strengthened by diversity. Instead, energy that should be invested in building the future is often consumed by argument and banter over tribe and religion. One cannot help but ask: if our parents were unable to solve Nigeria’s problems through ethnic suspicion, why should their children embrace the same path and expect a different outcome?
For decades, the cost of division has been paid heavily by Nigerians. Opportunities have been lost because competence was overlooked for identity. Friendships have been abandoned because surnames sounded unfamiliar. Elections have been interpreted through tribal lenses and public debates have been poisoned by religious hostility. Meanwhile, poverty has not respected tribe and unemployment has not recognised religion. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, millions of young Nigerians remain unemployed or underemployed, while inflation and economic hardship have continued to affect households across ethnic and religious lines. Hunger has not knocked only on Christian doors and hardship has not visited only Muslim homes. The burden has been shared by all. Yet while common challenges are being experienced collectively, many citizens continue to retreat into camps that promise emotional comfort but offer no practical solutions. A dangerous contradiction is therefore being sustained. The same youths who suffer under similar economic pressures are often persuaded to see one another as rivals rather than partners in national progress.
History offers painful lessons that should not be ignored. The Nigerian Civil War between 1967 and 1970 left deep scars and claimed countless lives. Beyond Nigeria, the 1994 genocide in Rwanda demonstrated how ethnic hatred can be cultivated gradually until humanity itself is wounded. In that tragedy, more than 800,000 people were killed within approximately one hundred days, according to estimates widely cited by the United Nations. Such horrors were not created overnight. They were nurtured by repeated narratives of division until neighbours became enemies. Although Nigeria’s circumstances are different, the warning remains relevant. Hatred often begins with language before it advances into action. It is therefore concerning when social media platforms are flooded with insults directed at entire tribes or religions. Words that appear harmless today may become seeds whose consequences are harvested tomorrow. As an old African saying reminds us, “The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.” The meaning is clear. Exclusion eventually breeds resentment and resentment rarely remains silent forever.
The tragedy is that many young Nigerians who defend tribal or religious prejudice have rarely benefited from it. Politicians who appeal to ethnic sentiments often send their children to the same schools abroad. Business leaders from different backgrounds trade with one another daily. Professionals collaborate across religious lines in hospitals, universities and boardrooms. The divisions that are preached publicly are often ignored privately by those who profit from them. Meanwhile, ordinary youths are left quarrelling on social media while opportunities pass quietly before their eyes. It was wisely observed by the American political scientist and economist Mancur Olson: “Where small groups have disproportionate power and the costs are dispersed, collective action is weakened.” Although the observation emerged from economic analysis, its relevance is evident. When citizens are divided into competing identities, common interests are neglected and national advancement is delayed. In such circumstances, those who should be demanding accountability are often distracted by arguments that produce more heat than light.
The great books of humanity have long warned against prejudice. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch advises, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.” Those words remain remarkably relevant in contemporary Nigeria. Understanding is weakened when assumptions replace curiosity. Likewise, in Meditations, the Roman philosopher and emperor wrote, “We were born for cooperation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids.” The wisdom is enduring because human progress has always depended upon collaboration. Roads are built collectively. Nations are strengthened collectively. Prosperity is created collectively. No tribe possesses all knowledge and no religion monopolises wisdom. When these truths are forgotten, society becomes poorer in spirit and weaker in practice. When they are remembered, possibilities that once seemed distant begin to move within reach.
Research in the social sciences has repeatedly shown that sustained contact between groups reduces prejudice. The influential psychologist argued in The Nature of Prejudice that meaningful interaction under appropriate conditions can diminish hostility between groups. Decades of subsequent studies have broadly supported that conclusion. This is why campuses, workplaces, sports clubs and professional associations often become places where stereotypes lose their grip. A young person who studies, works and dreams alongside people from different backgrounds gradually discovers that character cannot be determined by ethnicity and that morality cannot be predicted by religion. Human beings become visible beyond labels. The walls of suspicion begin to crack and through those openings understanding enters quietly. In this regard, Nigeria’s diversity should not be feared. It should be embraced as a classroom in which mutual respect is learned and practised.
There is also a Hausa proverb, “Hannu daya ba ya daukar jinka”, meaning “One hand cannot lift a mortar.” Though they emerged from different cultures and distant lands, they convey the same truth. Progress is achieved through cooperation. Nations flourish when citizens recognise shared interests and decline when suspicion is elevated above solidarity. Therefore, Nigerian youths must resist every invitation to hate in the name of tribe and every attempt to despise in the name of religion. The future cannot be built with bitterness and neither can prosperity be secured through prejudice. What is needed instead is a generation whose minds are opened by knowledge and whose hearts are enlarged by empathy. What is needed is a generation that asks not whether a fellow citizen is Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, Kanuri, Tiv or Ijaw, but whether justice is being served and whether competence is being rewarded. What is needed is a generation that understands that the destiny of Nigeria is too important to be sacrificed upon the altar of division.
The responsibility therefore rests heavily upon today’s youth. They inherit not only the challenges of Nigeria but also the opportunity to reshape its story. Every hateful message rejected is a small victory. Every friendship formed across ethnic or religious lines is a quiet investment in national stability. Every act of fairness strengthens the foundations upon which future generations will stand. The choice before Nigerian youths is not merely political. It is moral and historical. They may choose the road of suspicion, which has been travelled repeatedly and has led largely to disappointment. Or they may choose the road of understanding, cooperation and shared citizenship. The second path is harder because it requires patience and maturity. Yet it is the only path that leads towards a Nigeria in which diversity is celebrated rather than feared, and in which every child, regardless of tribe or faith, is permitted to dream beneath the same flag and with the same hope.
Great Ogbeiwi is a medical doctor and life coach
IG:Â @justanigerianman
