Real Nigerians Embrace Diversity; Are You A Real Nigerian?

“There exist in this country a majority that are so mixed-up by tribe, race, religion and zone that whoever is toying with the idea of breaking up Nigeria should have a serious re-think as to how and what he/she is going to place them”-Ambassador Mukhtar Gashash

How can we best prepare children to meet the challenges and reap the benefits of the increasingly diverse world they will inherit? How can we raise children to celebrate and value diversity and to be proud of themselves and their family traditions? How can we teach children to respect and value people regardless of the color of their skin, their physical abilities, their religious belief or the language they speak?

I received an article last week and I have been itching badly to share with you, mainly because, I relate strongly with the story. My late father, Olajire was a Yoruba Muslim who married my Christian, Yoruba  mother, Olufunke in 1983. Their union bore four children, Lola, Bola, Folawe, and Olajire (Jnr). My father was of the belief that we all worshipped the same God, but in different languages and ways, so he will drive us to Arabic/Islamic school on Saturdays and church on Sunday. Growing up was very interesting as we learnt the teachings of both religions and celebrated both religious festivities.  The impact of being raised in such family is that, it made it easy for me to overcome stereotypes and prejudice. In my family, we grew to love everyone, no matter their religion or background.  As our nation grows increasingly diverse, there has never been a better opportunity for us to learn to live respectfully together and benefit from one another's wisdom and experiences. 

Young children form ideas about themselves and other people long before they start kindergarten, it is important to begin teaching anti-bias lessons early. If we reinforce these lessons, children will learn to appreciate, rather than fear differences. We should teach children to be critical thinkers, specifically about prejudice and discrimination. Critical thinking is when we strive to understand issues through examining and questioning. Young children can begin to develop these skills, to know when a word or an image is unfair or hurtful. As professionals who work with families, our willingness to talk openly about identity and to help foster a positive sense of self in children can make an enormous difference in affirming the rich diversity of our human community and helping children make bridges across cultures and traditions. Some people fear that by affirming children's identities in terms of home cultures and traditions, we may be promoting separatism. That is not the case. The more that children have a solid grounding and understanding about who they are and where they come from, the more they learn to move with grace and confidence among communities different from their own, and the closer we get to building a world of respect, curiosity, sharing, and humanity

The article you are about to read cannot but over emphasize the importance of raising children that will learn to appreciate differences and recognize bias and stereotypes when they see them. Our dear nation Nigeria is growing more and more diverse by each day. Now is the time for us to learn to live respectfully together…

THE REAL NIGERIANS

It is ironic that the removal of fuel subsidy will start the process of uniting this country. Even though I am saddened by the cruel policy of the removal of subsidy, a part of me rejoices by the pictures of unity as in observing Muslims and Christians protesting together, protecting places of worships in Kaduna and some other northern cities. It is quite encouraging. We now know that some fifth columnist are trying very hard to see that Nigeria plunges into a civil war, whatever title or names you give them, we also know that they are not real Muslims or Christians as both religions condemned what they are doing.These protest days have also given me the opportunity to reflect on a deeper reason why Nigeria must stay ONE. We are too mixed-up to be messed up. Since we blame our political and religious leaders for the current mess, we all must rise up and speak up, we must reflect on the past, present and future of Nigeria, we must all be sincere and we must all appreciate the uniqueness of our great country Nigeria. In most part of the world, countries are either predominantly Muslims or Christians, or divided into southern part Christians and northern part Muslims, or the countries will be having two major tribes occupying two different zones.

I want all my readers to reflect on this; Nigeria has over 300 ethnic groups, Nigeria is not divided into Muslim north or Christian south (as widely claimed), Nigeria has all religions represented in all the zones. I dismissed the recent ultimatum given by Boko Haram or whoever is using that brand that all Christians should leave the north in 3 days, as a statement issued by someone ignorant of the area. There are indigenous Christian northerners; there is no state in the northern part of Nigeria that does not have indigenous Christians. Even though we have some few uneducated and ignorant people still believing that the north is all Hausa/Fulani Muslims and the south Ibo/Yoruba Christians, this is far from the truth and realizing that is the beginning of understanding that this country will surely overcome this current plot to destabilize it.

There exist in this country a majority that are so mixed-up by tribe, race, religion and zone that whoever is toying with the idea of breaking up Nigeria should have a serious re-think as to how and what he/she is going to place them. Let's call them the real Nigerians. This mix stretches from the lagoon of Lagos to the heart of the sultanate in Sokoto, from the deserts of Borno to the creeks of Bayelsa. Let me start from home, my mother had a younger sister who married a Christian, she gave birth to Musa, Rebecca, Joyce and co. Musa is currently married to a beautiful woman from Warri, they have two boys that are now citizens of Ireland. The point I am trying to make here is that I am a proud Muslim as Musa and Rebecca are proud Christians, we are cousins by blood and our kids are 2nd cousins and if you read me very well, you will realize that our bloodline has covered the north, south and has even gone across the borders of Nigeria to Ghana and Ireland. And that is just on my maternal side; on my paternal, my late dad had an uncle that left the north in the early years of the last century to the southwest, he settled there and never came back, married and gave birth to Yoruba children. From his loins came Kingsley Olakunle Adams, who I met in Kaduna for the first time just two years ago. Now, how do you separate me from Kingsley?

Mixed-up families like mine are all over Nigeria, whoever wants to break-up this country should think about the following, and have a map of Nigeria close by; a Hausa/Fulani woman from Katsina married an Ibo man from Imo state almost seventy years ago and gave birth to GEN. IKE NWACHUKWU, who had two sisters that married from Yobe and rivers state. IKE NWACHUKWU married a Yoruba woman, and now we have the grandchildren of this REAL NIGERIAN woman having roots in the South-west, North-east and South-south, Christians and Muslims. Where do you place them if you break up Nigeria? Sam Nda-Isiah, the kakakin nupe, publisher of Leadership newspapers, a Christian from Niger state is married to a katsina woman whose sister is also married to a Fulani man from Fufore, Adamawa state. Their children are now Muslim Fulani from Adamawa and Christian Nupe from Niger. I also know of a lot of families in this country with fathers as Muslims and mothers as Christians, siblings belonging to the major faiths, or fathers from the north, mothers from the south and vice-versa etc.

The above examples are not enough; I believe each and every one of us has a story to tell regarding this very issue. We have all gone to school, at least, made friends. We have colleagues at work from different and divergent backgrounds; we have neighbours and family friends. Our kids go to schools, they have friends, and we meet the parents of their friends at the PTA sometimes. We have business partners and we are continuously striking business deals with people from different backgrounds. My point is, are all these relationships that we have developed over the years useless? Is there anyone among the readers of this note with an exclusive friends list on facebook of only Christians or Muslims?

Don't we know that God has a purpose for creating us differently and from different places and faith?What is the use of our education if we cannot live and survive in someone else's land? If we cannot tolerate or relate to someone from a different land or faith. Of what benefit will be the restoration of the fuel subsidy if there will be no Nigeria? If there will be no peace to enjoy the subsidy? The killing of innocent souls and destruction of places of worship, the tension and suspicion, the contempt we have for each other, is worse than the removal of fuel subsidy. We always claim that the behaviors of a few minorities cannot be the yardstick to judge a vast majority. True, but it is high time that vast majority speak up, before we break up. We have to be less emotional and more rational, what good will it be if you don't have a friend from another divide that you can really show and advertise your way of life, your culture and tradition. Most times your way of life, culture and tradition could be accepted and adopted by that friend if you are a true representative.

I honestly think it is an honour to be created this way and in this land with so much mix, it makes me tolerant naturally, it makes me richer in tradition and culture, it makes me comfortable wherever I find myself. This breed of mixed-up Nigerians should be the bridge to mend our country; they are supposed to be our sources of strength. They need to step out and speak up before some few inconsiderate ones mess us up. I grew up with Chinedu and Ndubusi in the same family house, I went to school with Funsho, Ebisinimi Etete, I played with Willie Uduak, waxed some rap tunes with Oluwole Oniye while growing up, I have kingsley Adams, Musa Aboki, Andy Ikilama as cousins. I am currently working and living the Nigerian dream with Maureen, Nimi, Victor, Joel and Lucky. It does not make me less a Muslim or them lesser in Christianity. Our unity is in our diversity and our love for each other knows no bound and there is absolutely nothing anybody can do about it. It is just that we are truly REAL NIGERIANS!

NAIJA IS TOO MIXED UP, TO BE MESSED UP.

(Courtesy of Ambassador Mukhtar Gashash FCICN)