I was speaking to some friends recently and they pointed me to
some online debates among Nigerians who “refused to believe” that there are 250
ethno-linguistic groups in Nigeria. Even those that concede there are 250
ethnic groups in Nigeria do not realise that a great many of those 250 are in
the north.
There is a tendency among southern Nigerians to ignorantly refer
to any northerner as “Hausa”.
The recent furore regarding the Jos murders, General Domkat Bali
and Major-General Saleh Maina (GOC of the army’s 3rd armoured division in Jos)
is a case in point. There has been an explosive debate with many Christians,
middle belters and southerners accusing Maina of pro Fulani bias because he is
“Hausa-Fulani”.
The ignorance surrounding the furore is palpable, because Maina
is NOT Hausa or Fulani. He is Kanuri, but has fallen victim to the generic
mindset of “every northerner is Hausa”. Many southern Nigerians ignorantly
label Nigeria’s past northern leaders like Abacha, Babangida, and Abubakar as
“Hausa” when in fact NONE of these men was or is Hausa. I am sure that many are
also unaware that Nigeria’s Senate President David Mark (i.e. citizen no. 3 in
Nigeria) is from the Idoma ethnic group in the middle belt.
The Maina/Bali controversy is not the topic of this article. I
hope our Nigerian and friends from other countries reading this will be
enlightened by the diversity in their own country – especially in the north. A
few sobering statistics (I know some of you do not like stats, but I cannot
help it right now):
The Koma and all those “Minorities” 1) About 700-800 languages
are spoken in Nigeria and Cameroon alone. Two countries with less than 1% of
the world’s population speak over 10% of ALL languages in the world.
2) Which is the most linguistically diverse region in Nigeria?
The North. Many do not realise that there are states in Nigeria where one
encounters different ethnic groups/languages as one moves from one town to the
next. Some groups like the “Big Three”, the Tiv, Kanuri and Ijaw number in the
millions.
However, others are in the mere thousands and are so obscure that
the federal government might not even be aware of their existence.
3) States like Adamawa, Bauchi, Plateau and Taraba are reputed to
have over 50 (yes, I said FIFTY) ethnic groups EACH.
4) Who reading this has nostalgic memories of the Koma people?
With approximately 50,000 people, this was the ethnic group that remained
“undiscovered” in the mountainous highland area to the northeast, living a
naked Pagan lifestyle up in the mountains with no interaction with modern
society. There were “discovered” in 1986 during the administration of Colonel
Yohanna Madaki – then Military Governor of Gongola State. Early missionaries
who tried to convert them had to go naked so as not to make them feel
uncomfortable around clothed strangers.
Christians North, Muslim
South
A few days ago, Libyan leader Colonel Ghaddafi advocated
splitting Nigeria between Muslims and Christians. Sounds plausible right?
Should be easy since the “north is Muslim and south is Christian”? Wrong.
The Muslim north/Christian south discourse has been a massive
myth for decades. Some northern states likeKaduna, and southern states like Oyo
have mixed Muslim and Christian populations. Let’s not even mention Kwara
State.
Aside from having sizeable Christian and Muslim populations, no
one can even agree whether it is in the north or south! Ask anyone about the
far northwestern corner of Nigeria, and they are likely to think of it as the
home area of President Yar’Adua and as the area of Nigeria where Muslim Sharia
law started. Zamfara State in the far northwest was the first Nigerian state to
adopt Sharia law when Ahmed Sani was governor.
Yet right next door the first footsteps of Sharia in Nigeria,
there is an indigenous Christian minority ethnic group. Who remembers Colonel
Dauda Musa Komo – former Military Governor of Rivers State and nemesis of Ken
Saro-Wiwa? Komo, and other famous individuals like Sani Sami,
Ishaya Bamaiyi and Tanko Ayuba are from the minority Zuru
Christian area in what is now Kebbi State.
Nigerians are unaware of the diversity in their own country
because many do not have experience of interaction with the numerically smaller
ethnicities. Most Nigerians who travel outside their home areas do so to get to
big cities like Abuja and Lagos. It is rare (except for NYSC) to find Nigerians
living in the rural/local parts outside their home area.
Nigeria – Earth’s Tower of Babel Nigeria is Earth’s answer to the
biblical Tower of Babel; a kaleidoscope of different cultures, languages and
labyrinthine diversity. Let us open our eyes and minds to the breathtaking
diversity of the area called Nigeria. Before you call that fellow across the
road an [Hausa][Fulani][Yoruba][Igbo], have a hard think, you might be
surprised at what you find out….
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