DIALOGUE OF ETHNIC NATIONALITIES

DIALOGUE OF ETHNIC NATIONALITIES 

Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua

The Federal Government of Nigeria has given us a serious job. Since the announcement of the National Dialogue, many Nigerians have started to think of what should and should not be. Those who are positive about the national dialogue have started suggesting guidelines and proposals to the National Committee before the actual “table conference”. Those who are suspicious and negative about the national dialogue are proffering reasons why it should not take place and the attendant implications and possible dangers of the project. From all the points of view so far, whether we support or disagree, the truth is that the dialogue has started. The forms and principles of dialogue do not reduce dialogue to a conference hall and table. That we have started talking in the electronic media and writing in the print media is an indication that the National Conference has indeed taken off. These responses to the Federal Government announcement of “national dialogue” fall within the forms of dialogue of life, action, experience, social engagement and intellectual exchange. What will happen in the conference may be a rejection or confirmation of the feelings of the people. In other words the conversation in the conference hall and the conference table would be a “formal ritual” because the real conversation has started. Among suggestions and recommendations so far made towards the formal National Dialogue, I found the “Proposed Suggestions for the National Conference” of Chinweizu very exciting.

In the Guardian, Friday, October 4, 2013, page 11, Chinweizu proposed that “only ethnic nationalities should participate in the National Conference – no states, no religious groups.” This proposal of Chinweizu should draw our attention to our traditional values and Ethics. The proposal on the other hand is capable of generating some questions such as: Do ethnic nationalities still exist in Nigeria? Where are the custodians of our cultural ethics and values? Who are the credible ethnic nationalists that we can easily and immediately identify in Nigeria? Can we easily identify some ethnic traditional rulers who have not polluted and diluted themselves with the modern form of politics and Western values? If we identify these people, will it be possible for us to identify the ethnic groups that are loyal to their traditional leadership? Are the elders still respected and revered in our Ethnic Societies? Which ethnic group in Nigeria today has the homogeneity and unity that is capable of evoking our nostalgia for our ancestral communities?

We may need to remember that although Nigeria is seen as a secular state; life in general is perceived and defined in the context of religion and ethnicity. I do not know if there is a single Nigerian who does not profess faith either in Traditional religion, Christianity or Islam. Even if religious groups are not represented in the national dialogue, religious influence from the “ethnic nationalists” may not be eradicated as we see in some debates of the National Assembly. The debate on the marriage of minors is a case study. Let us also not forget to remember that some ethnic groups in Nigeria are evangelized in a way and manner that the culture of the people is apparently replaced by the new religion which they have accepted as a total way of life.  The exclusion of “religious groups” could therefore be interpreted to mean that we need atheists to decide the future of Nigeria. Unfortunately, atheists may not form a quorum in a national conference given that Nigeria could be recorded among the most “religious countries” in the world.  Therefore religious leaders and religious groups should stand up to actively defend the vision and mission of religion which excludes killing of innocent human beings “in the name of God”. Some people think that appeal to religion in some terrorist activities is partly responsible to the call by many Nigerians for a sovereign national conference.

On ethnic Nationality, we may have a recap of our ethnic groups in the antediluvian Nigeria. Simon A. Rakov in his article on “Ethnicity in Nigeria” (postcolonialweb.org) opined that there are about three hundred ethnic groups in Nigeria. However, only three ethnic groups have attained "ethnic majority" status in their respective regions. In the political theatre of Nigeria, some people think only of the Hausa-Fulani in the north, the Ibo in the southeast, and the Yoruba in the southwest when they are talking about power shift and rotation. Some people hardly remember that there are ethnic groups like, Borgu, Ebira, Etsako, Ora, Esan, Bini, Urhobo,Ishekiri, Ijaw, Egun, Gwarri, Nupe, Kanuri, Shuwa Arab, Buma, Bironi, Angas, Igala, Idoma,  Jukun, Ekoi, Ibibio, Efik, Annang etc. This perhaps may explain why some people see it as luck or chance for a president of Nigeria to come from any of these ethnic groups. Many people who are reading this article would even wonder why their tribes are not mentioned in the above list. This is just to show how sensitive an appeal to ethnic affiliation could be.

Although an ethnic group has a geographical location, many nations have witnessed a migration of people from one ethnic group to the other. Some people have lived all their lives in areas outside their ancestral home. Inter-marriages and commerce have to some extent affected ethnic bigotry except for political and selfish reasons. In onlinenigeria.com, O. Otitie in his article “Nigeria's Identifiable Ethnic Groups” affirms that “within the Nigerian region, there was also a history of long migrations and settlements with such a mixture of social and cultural relationships that it often became difficult to separate the people within these settlements into neat socio-cultural groups”. This should be a basis for inter-ethnic dialogue to arrest the conflicts of indigenes and settlers that is currently destroying the corporate existence of those who have lived together for so many years. If a Nigerian can claim to be an American citizen, why can’t I be accepted in Ibadan as a citizen having stayed there since the dawn of my life?

The suggestion that “only ethnic nationalities should participate in the National Conference” may still be relevant with some considerations. First, the word “only” may be deleted from the sentence so that the proposal could be examined among other considerations. Secondly, this proposal should be a wake up call to intra-ethnic dialogue in preparation for the national dialogue.  The Committee that has been put in place may do well to identify the existing dialogue structures in formulating their proposals and action plan. There are some people in Nigeria who are gifted with dialogue acumen. This new awakening may resonate in the consciousness of Nigerians the need to respect professionalism in promoting our corporate existence. There are many Nigerians who are experts in cultural anthropology. These professionals should design a frame work from the context of our ancient past. Our field work should extend to some of our responsible elders and traditional rulers who remain the custodians of our ancestral heritage. This would enable many of us to know where we are coming from, where we are now and where we would love to be in future. Retrieving our collective consciousness according to ethnic groupings may be a difficult task but with God on our side and readiness to be, we may be able to identify our ancestral origin. Otherwise, we can ask again, “Should our ancestors who died two hundred years ago come back today, will they be able to recognise their homes and people? 

Fr. Prof. Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua is the Director of Mission and Dialogue of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Abuja and Consultor of the Commission for Religious Relations with Muslims (C.R.R.M), Vatican City