By Ameerah NurjannahAllah has blessed every one of us around the globe with one thing or the other and here in Africa, we’re blessed with culture. And there’s this part of West Africa called Nigeria is supposedly referred to as “the giant of Africa,” but this “giant” might be crumbling.
Muslims don’t consider themselves part of the same Ummah because they’re not of the same tribe.
A lot of people do not know anything about Nigeria as we gained independence in 1960. The country practiced a military regime till later in the years, which ended in the democratic era.
Despite being a democratic practicing country, it has been ruled by the same people since 1960. The politics here is a huge scam and our governance is a joke.
Now, culturally speaking, the country has 3 major tribes: Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba.
The Hausas are from the northern part of Nigeria, the Igbos are from the eastern part, and the Yorubas are from the Western part.
TRIBALISM IN NIGERIA
The majority of the Muslims in Nigeria are mostly from the Hausa tribe, which has adopted their culture from Arabians and Indians. They’re said to be more Islamic than others, and that has caused a lot of criticism in the country. Tribalism is so bad to the extent that marriage becomes a problem.
A Hausa man doesn’t eat in a Yoruba man’s restaurant. Neither do they to any of the tribes.
My mom was saying today that you’d hardly see a Yoruba man praying in the masjid of a Hausa man. Likewise the other tribe. It’s rare to see a man from the Igbo community ever practicing Islam.
Tribalism in Nigeria is so extreme that even people of the same tribe but from different states would not want their children to get married because of probably an ancient dispute.
Practicing Islam in Nigeria is more of hypocrisy than a real application because aside from racism outside, there’s a huge rate of tribalism here.
Same thing with politics. Nigeria is divided because we have a lot of Muslim leaders and for the past 8 years we’ve been ruled by a Muslim leader.
The sharia court in Nigeria tends to misunderstand and hinder female children from doing a lot as they lie against the name of Islam. An example is the 44th miss Nigeria “Shatu Garko” whom they have decided to attack because she’s a Muslim child from Kano. Due to the fact that she contested in a pageant, she was considered immoral.
I’m a living witness of tribalism, and I’m sharing my story. My family is against my relationship because I ended up with someone of a different tribe from ours, although the fact is that he’s a Muslim.
Nigeria is divided because of culture, and we do not plan on moving forward because our eyes are blinded by the customs and traditions of dead people.
Muslims don’t consider themselves part of the same Ummah because they’re not of the same tribe. Every tribe believed that they serve Allah the best, which, in my own opinion, is a piece of crap.
I really hope someday that Nigeria becomes a better place and I hope we realize that the main goal is Islam and not our tribe because it has caused division in our country.