Millions of Nigerians have today come out to vote to elect a president that will lead the country for the next four years.
468 members of the National Assembly – Senate and House of Representatives – will also be elected.
Amidst all the stories of voter participation and unconfirmed results, from polling units, already trooping in, there is also something that hits us all – something that has been on before now and might not end for a long time.
It is no news that tribalism, heavily spiced with religious sentiments, is what drives many Nigerians, such that, sometimes, when you mention a particular tribe near a bigot, you might get beaten.
Perhaps this became so prominent on the event of the civil war (6 July 1967–15 January 1970) and has continued till now but, how many people who survived through the civil war are still alive? Compared to the many youths who have been ‘fed’ with negative stories and will not hesitate to display a certain level of hatred towards another tribe.
Today, that conspicuous hatred has reared its head again and, it seems like many people have been nursing an opportunity to talk about it for a while; in a bad light though.
It started after reports of violence, ballot snatching and voter intimidation in some areas in Lagos came up – with many saying it is a direct attack on Igbos by Yorubas, who are claimed to have never liked the Igbos.
It will bore you if we go down in history lane, talking about how many years Igbos and Yorubas have co-existed but, it will look incomplete to avoid saying that this co-existence has brought more harm than good to Nigeria and a list will have more advantages than disadvantages.
This is a time when we should be focused on determining who and who leads the country for the next four years. A trend like this will only divide us along ethnic lines. And so, while the new leaders attempt to ensure the progress of the country (we only hoping they do), they will still have big problems like this in their hands.
Or are we going to state how important ‘organised’ followership and unity aids leadership? A Yoruba Vs Igbo trend will only give our already nonchalant leaders the opportunity to look at us and laugh hard.
We complain of bad leadership, but how far have we gone to ensuring good followership? Although it’s a cliche but “together we stand…”
This is not motivational talk but we seriously need to come together and take this country forward.
Let’s present some tweets from the trend:
Yoruba Vs Igbo trend /PHOTO – Twitter
Yoruba Vs Igbo trend /PHOTO – Twitter
Yoruba Vs Igbo trend /PHOTO – Twitter
Yoruba Vs Igbo trend /PHOTO – Twitter
Yoruba Vs Igbo trend /PHOTO – Twitter
