I am so
ashamed to be a Nigerian today. Indigene/settler – focusing on this has ensured
that spirited efforts at upholding our unity will continue to suffer. In
September 2011, the Abia State government sent civil servants working in its
Ministries, Departments and Agencies whom were non-indigenes packing. The governor
said he took the decision to enable his state service accommodate Abia
indigenes! Can you imagine such brazen discrimination and racism? This is the
apartied that we fought against in South Africa. What did the Judiciary and the
National Assembly do to protect these people’s rights, uphold the laws and
protect the constitution of the country? It shows how backward we are that
where we come from is more important than a duty of care to another human being
or getting the most competent person to carry out a function.
It is disgraceful that a person born and
raised in a place, works and pays their taxes is referred to as a foreigner and
is in this country thereby deprived of certain rights and privileges in the
state. Lagos State government, one of our more “progressive governments”, in
its bid to clean up the megacity, targeted purported misfits, rounded them up
on the streets then shipped and dumped them in their “states of origin”. Unbelievable!
What crime did they commit? Is it a sin now to be poor, to be an economic
migrant? What about their fundamental human rights? How does destitute transfer
solve the problem of destitution? The Lagos State indigenes that are destitute
should look out. It will be you next! Perhaps they will feed you to the god of
the sea and government spokesmen will ask if anybody has missed you. The
Anambra deportation saga has brought to the fore the inequalities that exist still.
Ethnicity, wealth and religion should not divide us. We should be careful not
to point at others as the cause of our problems. That is what Hitler did to the
Jews. It is called ethnic cleansing. It is an odious crime that no
self-respecting person would ever be associated with.
The struggle
for equality for the black race – discriminated against worldwide just
because of our colour – has left us at the bottom of the food pile. This is
where we should focus our energies: to draw us out of this cycle of poverty, discrimination
and exploitation. That is the big evil that we should band together and fight.
To witness us discriminating against ourselves and being cruel to the fellow
black man leaves me in despair and with a lack of hope. Really this is the
lowest that a man can be. We are discriminating against ourselves. May God
forgive us because home is where the heart is. Has Nigeria ceased to exist as
one nation bound in freedom, peace and unity? Or are we a prototype
confederation of allied states divided by ethnicity, wealth and religion. Is
this what we want? We live then in denial of the ironies in our penchant for
the equity and fairness slogan that we sing daily.
Today, there
are many unresolved social crises in the country caused by how we perceive
people who do not belong to and who do not share the same social affiliation
with us. It is clear that we have not quite found a solution to our larger
socio-cultural identity. We need to start to look deeply into our psyche and
understand the message that we are sending to each other. Mastering this task
and understanding that we are our brother’s keeper will take us to the safe,
equitable and harmonious state that we so desperately need for us as a people to flourish. 
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